Hi, hope you’re well!

The Common Admission Test (CAT ) is used to admit students to MBA/PGDM programmes at 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other top MBA colleges in India, including FMS Delhi, IITs, IISC, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, IMI New Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad, and other 1200 MBA colleges.

CAT Eligibility Criteria

- The applicant must have completed a bachelor's degree programme from a recognised board or university with a minimum of 50% aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45% aggregate for SC, ST, and PWD/DA categories).

- Or, Candidates who are in their final year of a bachelor's degree/equivalent qualification or who are awaiting results can also apply for CAT 2021.

If you are in your final year of college in November 2021, you are eligible to apply for CAT 2021.

CAT 2021 Important Dates and Information

Registration

Notification Release: Last week of July, 2021

Registration Commencement: First week of August, 2021

Registration End: Third week of September, 2021

Application Fee: INR 2000/- (General) and INR 1000/- (SC/ST)

Admit Card

Release Date: Fourth week of October, 2021

Main Examination

Exam Date: Last week Sunday of November; 28th November 2021 (Tentative)

Mode: Computer based exam

Exam Session: Conducted in 2 sessions – Morning & Afternoon on same day (Anyone will be allotted)

Result Declaration

Answer Key Release: First week of December, 2021

Result Announcement:  First week of January, 2022

How to fill the CAT 2021 Application Form

The CAT registration and application form submission are all completed online. Candidates will create a login ID and fill out CAT application forms online on the official website.

The following are some key points to remember about the CAT 2021 registration process:

• Only the official CAT website can be used to register for CAT 2021. (iim.cat.ac.in)

• Next, Candidates must generate a login ID using their mobile phone number and email address in order to apply for CAT 2021.

• At the time of form filling, documents such as a passport-size photo, a scanned signature, and a Category/PwD certificate must be uploaded.

• In order to be assigned a CAT test centre, candidates must choose a test city in the application form. They can choose up to four cities as their top choices.

• In the CAT form, candidates must choose their preferred IIM courses and IIM campuses. Following the announcement of the CAT result, candidates may only apply to the IIMs that they specified in their submission.

• The application fee for the CAT must be paid with a credit/debit card or via internet banking.

Pattern of CAT 2021

The CAT is a three-hour computer-based entrance exam with 100 questions divided into three parts and a one-hour time limit for each section.

• Candidates will receive three points for each correct answer.

• Candidates will be negatively marked for each incorrect answer on the objective questions.

• In the subjective questions, there will be no negative marks.

CAT Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Section

The primary goal of the CAT VARC section is to assess test takers' English language abilities, as well as their comprehension and interpretation of paragraphs.

The CAT VARC segment has 34 questions, 10 of which are from the Verbal Ability section. The remaining 24 questions are based on passages in reading comprehension.

Preparation Tip:

To gain proficiency in this domain, it is important to read on a regular basis. You can read 500–600 passages and increase your reading pace to prepare well. To develop your reading skills, read newspapers, journals, blogs, and posts on a regular basis and watch English visuals. Try your hand at comprehension, summaries, and para jumbles questions.

For details about preparation of VARC, you may refer: https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-cat-quantitative-ability

CAT Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation Section

This segment is designed to assess CAT test takers' data analysis skills as well as their comprehension of logical assumptions. In the CAT LR & DI, there are a total of 32 questions.

Preparation Tip:

This segment appears to be the most difficult on the CAT test, but it isn't if you practise a lot of logical reasoning questions and solve a variety of hard core problems to improve your problem-solving abilities, which is a requirement for this section.

To gain a better understanding of this subject, go through some basic topics like arrangements, blood ties, syllogisms, and patterns.

For details about preparation of DILR, you may refer: https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-cat-di-lr

CAT Quantitative Aptitude Section

It is the segment of the CAT quantitative aptitude exam that consists solely of numerical-based questions from various math topics. In this section, there are 34 questions in total.

Preparation Tip:

The fundamental understanding of mathematical principles is required for this portion. Benefit and loss, the number system, and geometry should all be clear to you. You should also experiment with sample papers and take some mock exams.

For details about preparation of QA, you may refer: https://bschool.careers360.com/articles/how-prepare-for-cat-quantitative-ability

Please Note:

- The total number of questions in 2020 was 76, with both MCQ and non-MCQ formats.

- The time limit for answering these questions was 120 minutes (2 hours).

- There was a 40-minute time limit for each segment.

For information on other entrances similar to CAT for MBA admission:

GMAT: https://www.careers360.com/exams/gmat

NMAT: https://bschool.careers360.com/exams/nmat-gmac

MAT: https://bschool.careers360.com/exams/mat

XAT: https://bschool.careers360.com/exams/xat

SNAP: https://bschool.careers360.com/exams/snap

CMAT: https://bschool.careers360.com/exams/cmat

For complete details about CAT 2021, you may refer: https://bschool.careers360.com/exams/cat

Hope this information helps!

All the best!

Hello dear aspirant,

Since you are in the second year of your graduation, you are not yet eligible to apply for CAT 2021 exam. So you have two options, either apply in the beginning of your last year or in the last semester of your graduation. Furthermore as you are aiming CAT from this time itself, so you can also give your best in graduation marks as they also have a particular weightage in the final selection process.

I recommend you to get detailed information about CAT 2021 eligibility criteria here.

Hey,
You should probably apply for CAT when you're in the start of your 3rd year/final year. If your college follows a semester system then you'll able to apply for CAT in your 5th semester/(7th sem if the degree is of four year). The eligibility for CAT specificy you to have a graduation degree at the time of your admission. So you will get to appear for the same only if you are in your 3rd year/final year.
I hope this helps

Hello karthiga

Only final year students or students who have passed their graduation degree with minimum 50% marks or equivalent for general and 45% marks for SC/ST/PWD.

you can start your preparation now but you can only participate when you are in your final year of graduation.

I hope it helps,

Best of luck.

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