CAT 2019 registration commences today, on August 7, at 10 am. MBA aspirants can fill and submit the online application form at iimcat.ac.in until its last date that is September 18, 5 pm. As over 2 lakh B school admission seekers across the country get ready to apply online for the Common Admission Test, let us take a look at the key details of the exam.
First point of importance are some basic facts of the exam. CAT is short for Common Admission Test and it is held every year in rotation by the IIMs. This year IIM Kozhikode is the conducting body, and Prof Shubhasis Dey is the examination convenor. Score of this exam are accepted as one of the factors of admission by IIMs, and several other B schools in India such as FMS, JBIMS, SPJIMR, IITs to name a few.
Second thing to note is the schedule. The important dates are July 28 for publication of notification, August 7 for registration opening, September 18 for last date of registration, October 23 for admit card download, and November 24 is the exam date. Result will be announced by the second week of January.
Third important fact about the MBA entrance exam is its eligibility that defines who can apply. It is required to have a bachelors degree with at least 50% marks, or 45% in case of SC, ST, PWD category. Candidates yet to complete an undergraduate degree, and are appearing in their final year exams can also apply, however such applicants need to submit a certificate from their Principal or Registrar. There is no other criteria to be fulfilled.
Fourth piece of information pertains to how to apply. To register, candidates need to go to iimcat.ac.in and click on register button under new candidate registration. The registration process including filling of form, paying fees, selecting centres and everything else is completely online. There are three steps (1) registration for user id and password, (2) login to CAT website, (3) fill application form. In step 1, only name, DOB, email address, country, mobile number are required, and lead to generation of OTP. Validating the OTP leads and thereafter submitting declaration leads to generation of user id (received via email). Then candidates need to login with the received set of login credentials. Then they have to fill personal details, academic qualifications, work experience, programs, interview centre city preferences, exam centre city preferences, and then pay fee.
Fifth thing to note is the registration fee, which is Rs 950 for SC, ST, PWD candidates, and Rs 1900 for all others. The former group of applicants need to upload relevant category certificate during registration.
Sixth important point is directly related to registration; it is about documents to be uploaded in the online form. Candidates need to upload passport size photograph, signature, category certificate, and pwd certificate. The first two are applicable on all whereas the next two are as to be uploaded only if applicable. Photograph, not more than 6 months old and with white background, should be 30 mm x 45 mm. Signature must be 80 mm x 35 mm. Each should be in either .jpg or .jpeg format, and within 80 kb size. The certificates should be in pdf format.
Seventh important point is the exam pattern. CAT exam 2019 will be a computer based test of 180 minutes or 3 hours. There will be three sections namely verbal ability and reading comprehension (VARC), data interpretation and logical reasoning (DILR), and quantitative ability (QA). It is pertinent to note that each section will show up on screen a in pre-defined order, candidates will get exactly one hour for each section, and they cannot switch between the sections. Also relevant to note is that there will be a mix of multiple choice questions and numerical answer type; there is no fixed split between the two.
Editor’s note: MBA aspirants are recommended to read the documents titled “CAT 2019 information bulletin”, “CAT 2019 eligibility”, and “CAT 2019 registration guide” uploaded officially by IIM Kozhikode at iimcat.ac.in before applying.
