CAT 2018. The Admit Card is released by IIM Lucknow. The CAT Exam Date is 26 November 2018 (Sunday). CAT 2018 or Common Admission Test 2018 is an assessment exam that all students aspiring to study Management courses in India are aware of and most probably familiar with the courses and strategies as well. The nineteen IIM (Indian Institutes of Management) in India take turns to conduct the Common Admission Test every year. It takes place every year to select students to study postgraduate courses in  MBA entrance exam

This exam is generally considered a tough one and students commonly start preparing for the exam as much as a year before the actual exam. The mock tests follow the preparation as the general perception suggests that it requires a lot of practice and time management skills to ace this exam.

UPDATE:

• The question papers were checked by the experts of IIM and there is no change in the answer keys.
• The objection form for the CAT 2018 exam will be open till 2 pm on 9 December 2018.

Common Admission Test – CAT 2018

Admission for Indian students to the IIMs and mostly all good business schools are on the basis of performance of students in the Common Admission Test (CAT) and their overall percentile. Some other prestigious Management Institutions apart from IIMs that consider a candidate’s CAT percentile for admission are S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research (Mumbai), Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad, IIT, Delhi etc. However, the weightage given to the CAT scores may differ at different Management Institutes.

The CAT score and a lot of other factors together determine which Management Institutions the candidates will get a call from, for the next round of the admission process. Some important factors of these prestigious business schools include work experience of a candidate, overall academic performance, participation in extracurricular activities, candidate’s performance in the Group Discussions (GD), writing assessment scores and Personal Interviews (P.I) etc.

Last year an estimated 2,04,370 students competed for approximately 1600 seats making it one of the most competitive exams in the country.

CAT Exam Important Dates:

The schedule provided below is released by the board responsible to hold the exam. Aspirants need to keep an eye on the calendar as not much time is left. The results will be out soon after the exam date passes. Also, exam takers who are very eager to know their result can check the unofficial answer keys. These will b released as soon as the exam ends with many coaching institutes. Though it should be made sure that these are not the final answers and the solutions of the official answer sheet might differ from them a bit.

CAT 2018 Admit Card

CAT 2018 Admit Card / Hall Ticket will be available for download on the official site of CAT. It is compulsory for the candidates to carry the admit card with them to the test center on the day of the exam. Without the admit card, candidates will not get the permission to enter to the test venue. The Admit card will have printed on it details of the candidate and the exam such as full name of the candidate and application number along with the test center location and date & time of the test. To download the form candidates will have to enter the valid login details that they used while registering on the website for the test.

If a candidate has difficulty downloading the form from the website, he/ she can get in touch with the CAT Help Desk and they will help them resolve the issue.

CAT 2018 Application Form:

Important instructions provided by the CAT conducting body for filling up the Common Admission Test 2018 application form are as follows:

• The first and most necessary step in filling up the CAT 2018 application form is registering on the official website of IIM CAT
• The candidates will have to pay a registration fee in order to successfully register on the website online for CAT 2018 entrance exam. General category applicants need to pay 1600/- INR while the reserved category (SC/ ST/ OBC/ DA/ PWD) candidates need to pay a subsidized fee of 800/- INR only. The applicants can pay the fee online through Online mode.
• In the next step, candidates need to fill in the correct details about their educational qualifications, personal information, and category related information etc.
• In case, a candidate belongs to the reserved category (SC/ ST/ OBC/ DA/ PWD), they will have to upload a copy of their Caste/ DA/ PWD certificate on the website at the time of form submission. Failure to do so will result in rejection of the form as it will be incomplete. The candidates will have to produce the same in original at the time of the interview and have to submit a copy of the certificate at the time of admission.
• Candidates applying for the SC/ST/OBC category status must pay proper attention to the CAT literature and must check that their tribe or caste is listed in the Central List that the Government of India has issued, of the tribes and caste that the government has recognized as SC/ST/OBC.

CAT Preparation Tips

Accordingly, the key CAT 2018 Preparation tips which will guide you how to start CAT preparation at home as per the revised CAT exam pattern, are focused on following points when you start your CAT 2018 exam preparation:

1. CAT Pattern: You must be aware of the CAT 2018 exam pattern
2. CAT 2018 Syllabus
3. CAT Preparation Time
4. How to start CAT preparation at home?
5. How to prepare for CAT 2018 in 6 months?
6. How to prepare for CAT 2018 in 3 months?
7. How to prepare for CAT 2018 in 2 months?
8. How to prepare for the CAT without coaching and with self-study?
9. Books for CAT preparation
10.  CAT Preparation with Coaching
11. CAT Mock Test 2018
12. Strategy to score 95+ percentile in CAT 2018

CAT 2018 Eligibility Criteria

The candidates interested in CAT 2018 must check that they fulfill the eligibility requirements before filling up the form and applying for the exam. Here is a list:

• Applicants must have secured at least 50% marks in their bachelor’s degree or an equivalent score at an institution that is recognized by the Government of India. In case of applicants who belong to the reserved category such as Scheduled Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST), Differently Abled (DA) and People with Disabilities (PWD), the minimum score requirement to appear in this exam has been reduced to 45%
• In case, an applicant’s degree issuing institution follows a different method of awarding scores such as grades/ CGPA, instead of marks in percentage format, the conversion of marks of such applicants will be done on the basis of conversion procedure recommended or followed by that respective university / Institute/ College. If any University happens not to have such a score conversion scheme then a standard procedure will be followed for converting CGPA to equivalent marks. The score equivalence will be drawn by dividing the applicant’s CGPA by the maximum CGPA possible. The result of which will then be multiplied with 100.
• Applicants who are currently in their final year of the undergraduate degree program or a degree program that is equivalent in nature and recognized by the Government of India or such applicants who have completed their final year but are still awaiting the results can also apply. Upon being selected, such candidates will be given the liberty to join the Management degree program provisionally. However, such candidates will be required to produce and submit their undergraduate qualifying degree certificate latest by June 30, 2018. The final score submitted should meet the primary requirements stated in the CAT eligibility criteria. Refer to the instructions provided on the CAT official website or bookmark this page for the latest updates on the eligibility criteria.

MORE ABOUT CAT 2018 Eligibility Criteria

The selection procedure for IIMs is usually very intensive and rigorous and merely meeting the eligibility criteria is not enough to ensure a place at one of the IIMs or any top-notch management institution. This information is here not to discourage prospective candidates but to encourage them to perform better academically and to prepare well for the exams if their dream is to study at one of the top business schools.

In the application, candidates need to provide a unique and working email ID and a phone number on which they are easily available as most of the information about admission procedure will be available online through email or phone notifications/text messages.

Details about Reservation in CAT Exam

A definite number of seats are vacant for candidates belonging to any of these categories:

Candidates belonging to reserved categories listed above must read the information booklet carefully and abide by the rules laid down by the CAT conducting body. While the government has made provisions to accommodate people from all categories, the candidates belonging to all these categories will still have to fulfill the minimum eligibility criteria to write the exam as well as score a minimum required marks in the CAT exam to secure admission at one of the IIMs. The candidates belonging to the OBC category must check an updated list of caste included in Central List by the National Commission of Backward Classes, the Government of India.

The list can be accessed on NCBC site. Go through the list in order to know more about the 

CAT 2018 Paper Pattern

In 2016, the duration of the CAT exam increased to 10 minutes. Candidates now get 180 minutes of total time instead of 170. In 2016, IIM Bangalore conducted the new CAT. The pattern is not available yet for CAT 2018 but most likely it will be the same as last year. Common Admission Test is a computer-based test. The question paper will have multiple choice questions as well as some direct questions. Negative Marking Scheme will also be applicable wherein every incorrect answer to a question will result in -1 mark. However, the direct answer based questions will not have any negative marking scheme and candidates can freely attempt these questions.

Negative marking scheme will be applicable only to the MCQs. From each section, approximately 10% of the total questions will be directly based on the answer.  For every correct answer to a  question, candidates will get 4 marks.

The number of questions that will be in the test is revised and re-distribute under three sections which are as follows:

CAT 2018 Syllabus

There isn’t any syllabus for CAT 2018. However, going by the current pattern, Cthe AT will have 3 sections, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR), Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VARC) and Quantitative Ability (QA). It is important that students devote proper time and solve enough previous year questions to get a grip on the kind of questions that are usual in the exam. It is equally important for students to familiarize themselves with time management skills as it plays a vital role in improving a candidate’s performance on the actual exam.

The QA section will have questions from Speed, Time and Distance, Profit and Loss, Geometry, Trigonometry, Probability, Number System, Permutation and Combination, Logarithmic Equations, HCF and LCM, Ratio, Quadratic and Linear Equations, Algebra, Mensuration, Percentages, progressions, Complex Numbers, Simple and Compound Interest. The DILR section will have questions from Logical Games, Calendars, Cubes, Tables, Graphical Representations, Charts and any diagrammatical representation Clocks, Blood Relations, Seating Arrangements etc.

CAT 2018 Results

CAT 2018 Results be available in the second week of January 2018. Prior to that an answer key with be provided by the CAT conducting IIM, so that the candidates can have an idea of how they did on the exam. Also if the candidates feel that there is a problem with the answer key or the questions in the exam, the candidates can challenge the Answer Key by paying a nominal fee along with their application and proof against the wrong question in the exam or answers in the answer key.

Candidates will have to score a minimum marks percentage in each section to qualify for the next round of the selection process i.e G.D / P.I. The qualifying marks will be in accordance with the performance of other candidates in the exam. Candidates can check their results on the official website of CAT 2018.  CAT 2018 admission process will begin in the first week of July 2018.

CAT 2018 Results Procedure:

• Steps to check the CAT 2018 results are:
• Sign into your account on the official portal of CAT
• Click on the link that says ‘DOWNLOAD RESULTS’
• Enter your login details and solve the captcha correctly.
• As soon as the candidate will click submit, a new page will appear on the screen with the result.
• Download it and consider taking a printout of the result for future.

CAT 2018 Selection Process

CAT is a highly competitive exam that can be quite rigorous. After the candidate completes the first step of the selection process that is writing the CAT exam, they need to wait for the results of the first round. The next two rounds consist of a Group Discussion followed by a Personal Interview. Candidates need a high percentile, usually more than 99% to get a call from the top IIMs. The interview conversion rate is generally dependent on a lot of factors such as prior work experience of the candidate, CAT percentile, academic record etc. Every Institute has their own criteria that they consider while selecting a candidate. Some may give more preference to a candidate’s academic record while others may decide to give more importance to a candidate’s experience and ability to deal with stress.

Read More about CAT 2018.

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