Introduction To CAT Exam
CAT (Common Admission Test) is a national level examination conducted by IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) as a prerequisite exam for management studies. This exam makes a pathway for the candidates to get admissions in the top premier management colleges across India which include IIMs, XLRI, FMS, ISB, SPJIMR, etc. These colleges offer MBA (Master of Business Administration) and doctoral programs through the CAT exam. Graduating from these premier colleges makes a good carrier path for the students as world-class companies visit these institutes for recruiting them in the management domain for hefty salary packages. Thus, lakhs of students register every year for the CAT exam with a dream of studying in these institutes but unfortunately only a few get a chance.
CAT Exam Pattern
Understanding the exam pattern is very much essential as it helps to create preparation strategies for the exam. If you see the history, the exam pattern was changed multiple times but from 2015 to 2019 pattern remained unchanged. In 2020 the pattern was changed with lesser questions and duration and it’s highly recommended for candidates to visit the official website regularly.
The following table will give the exam pattern of CAT for previous years.
| CAT Exam Pattern | 2015-2019 | 2020 (Questions) | |||||
| MCQ | Objective | Duration | MCQ | Objective | Duration | ||
| Syllabus (Questions) |
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) | 24 | 10 | 60 | 18 | 8 | 40 |
| Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) | 24 | 8 | 60 | 18 | 6 | 40 | |
| Quantitative Ability (QA) | 24 | 10 | 60 | 18 | 8 | 40 | |
| Marking System | Correct Answer | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ||
| Wrong Answer | -1 | 0 | -1 | 0 | |||
| Total | Total Question | 100 | 76 | ||||
| Total Marks | 300 | 228 | |||||
Eligibility
The eligibility criteria for CAT exam is given below:
- Bachelor’s degree/equivalent with 50% or CGPA equivalent (45% for SC/ST/PWD).
- Final year students who are perusing Bachelor’s degree/ equivalent.
- Age no bar.
Score Calculation Theory
Calculation of scores for CAT is done in different ways. The structure of the exam is created such that every individual’s performance is considered and scaled to get the final score of each candidate.
In simple terms, the calculation goes like:
- Standard deviation and Mean of the raw scores considering all the students for each section and each session separately.
- Standard deviation and Mean of the raw scores considering all the students for each section but all sessions combined.
- Mean raw score of 0.1% candidate for that particular session and section.
- Each individual’s score is calculated by the following formula:
Where,
- Rs = Normalized score of an individual for that particular section.
- R = Individual’s raw score for that particular section.
- M0.1= 0.1% candidate’s mean raw score of whole CAT exam for that particular section.
- M10.1 = 0.1% candidate’s mean raw score of that session and that particular section.
- G = Sum of standard deviation and mean of that particular section.
- G1= Sum of standard deviation and Mean of that particular section and that particular session.
Thus, the summation of Rs for all sessions gives the final score (scaled score) of that candidate.
Concept Of Percentile
After calculating the scaled score, the candidate will be given a percentile score and top colleges will call for an interview only if the candidate secures certain percentile.
The procedure for calculating percentile is as follows:
- Finding the number (N)of candidates who appeared for the CAT exam.
- Assigning the rank (r) for the candidate based on his/her scaled score. (Candidate securing same scale score will be given the same rank).
- Percentile score P=
And rounding off to 2 decimal places.
Applying For CAT Exam
The official website for applying for the CAT exam is iimcat.ac.in. The latest exam notifications will be notified by this website and should visit regularly. This link is common for getting monk tests, the guide for applying the CAT registration forms, media releases, etc.
A candidate needs to analyze himself before and while preparing for the CAT exam and also during his tenure in MBA college. MBA is a bit expensive and needs to choose the course after extensive research. Even though top colleges provide good placements, candidates who show intent and value towards their profile have a better chance to get good placements than just an MBA degree.
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