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ABOUT
CAT 2019
ALL ABOUT CAT
CONTENTS
Introduction 03
IIM Programmes 05
Important Dates 06
Eligibility Criteria 07
Application Procedure 09
Admit Card 14
Exam Pattern 16
Syllabus 18
Sample Paper 21
Mock Test 22
Participating Institutes 26
Exam Centres 32
Normalization Process 35
Question Papers 36
Answer Key 37
Result 39
Cutoff 42
Selection Procedure 49
Expert Take on Pattern and Preparation Strategy 51
When and How to Begin Preparations 56
Must Read Books for Preparation 60
Topper Interview 62
Know CAT Evolution Over the Years 65
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ALL ABOUT CAT
INTRODUCTION
CAT or the Common Admission Test is the most competitive MBA entrance exam of India
taken by around two lakh candidates each year. Conducted by the Indian Institutes of Man-
agement, CAT is the most popular entrance exam for the admission to 20 IIMs and around
100 B-schools across India. The Common Admission Test (CAT) is conducted by the IIM annu-
ally on a rotation basis. This year the conducting body is IIM Kozhikode.
CAT application process commenced on August 7 this year. CAT notification was released
on July 28, 2019. The exam will be conducted in computer-based mode on November 24,
2019 in two sessions. In terms of exam pattern, there has been no change introduced by
IIM Kozhikode.
Cracking the Common Admission Test or CAT is first and foremost priority for an MBA
aspirants in order to get admission to IIMs or a top B-School.
Fast Facts
●● Exam Name: Common Admission Test
●● Commonly known as: CAT
●● Exam Type: National
●● Exam Category: PG
●● Exam Conducting Institute: IIM Kozhikode
●● CAT 2019 Convenor:Prof. Shubhasis Dey
SC (Scheduled Caste) 15
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ALL ABOUT CAT
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ALL ABOUT CAT
IIM PROGRAMMES
There are 20 IIMs which will accept the scores of CAT for their flagship Post Graduate
Management programmes. The following list brings to you the list of programmes offered
by IIMs.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
CAT 2019 last date of application September 18, 2019 (till 5 PM)
CAT 2019 Question Paper & Answer Key First week of December 2019
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ALL ABOUT CAT
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ALL ABOUT CAT
●● 7.5 per cent of the seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST)
●● 27 per cent seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) belonging to non-creamy layers
Three per cent seats are reserved for Persons With Disability (PWD) candidates. The three catego-
ries of disability are: a) low vision blindness, b) hearing impairment and c) loco motor disability/
cerebral palsy. This provision is applicable if the candidate suffers from any of the listed disabilities
to the extent of not less than 40 per cent, as certified by a medical authority as prescribed and
explained in the said PWD Act, 1995 (Section 39).
The candidates belonging to the reserved categories have to score minimum cutoff percentile
at CAT along with the eligibility criteria in order to be shortlisted for the admission process.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Candidates have to select four exam centres as per their preference while filling up CAT
application form. Candidates will be allotted any one of their chosen exam centres after their
registration. The test centre and schedule will be communicated to the candidates through
the admit card.
Documents to keep handy before applying for CAT Before approaching for completing the
application form of CAT, aspirants must keep the following documents ready:
●● Mark sheets of Class X, Class XII, Bachelor’s Degree and or higher education
●● Applicable certificates to upload
●● Scanned images of passport size photograph and signatures. The photo should not be more than six
months old and should have a white background.
●● List of IIM programmes to apply for Now we will bring to you the step by step procedure to apply
for CAT.
Step 1 – Registration
The first step to CAT application process is to register at the official website in order to gen-
erate the log in credentials. For this, applicants have to first visit the CAT website and follow
the instructions given below:
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ALL ABOUT CAT
To avoid entering erroneous information, follow the given instructions while filling up the
fields on CAT registration form or application from:
●● Name – Applicant’s name must be the same as that appearing in 10th Standard or SSC Certificate.
In case there is change of name due to marriage or any other reason, he/she has to submit valid
document like court affidavits or marriage certificate
●● Date of birth – Candidates have to use the virtual calendar to enter your date of birth ensuring that
they enter the correct date.
●● Email address -The email id should be valid and unique and must be functional. The CAT ID or
username will be sent to this email address itself. For overseas candidates, both Username and
Password will be sent through email.
●● Mobile number – The mobile number must be valid and unique as the password will be sent
through SMS at this number itself. The number should be India based and of 10 digits. Other mobile
numbers should be prefixed with area code. Special characters such as ‘0’ or ‘+’ are not allowed.
iii. Enter the Captcha or retype the special characters displayed on the screen to verify and
authenticate your registration.
Candidates will receive your CAT login credentials through Email and SMS. The CAT Serial
Number or User ID will be sent to them in the email address provided by and the password
will be sent as an SMS to the registered mobile number. Select the ‘I Agree’ checkbox to
ensure successful submission of the registration form.
The CAT application form is divided into five sections: a. Personal Details b. Academics
c. Work Experience d. Programmes e. Payment Candidates have to carefully read all the
instructions before filling the information in CAT application form.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Personal Details
●● Father’s/Husband’s/Guardian’s Name and Mother’s Name and Gender
●● Category – Candidates who do not belong to the General category have to select the applicable
category among Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Serial Number, State or Union Ter-
ritory and Name of Caste and Tribe.
●● Select your Nationality from the Drop Down menu.
●● Click on Yes or No for Person With Disability (PWD) field.
In order to apply under the PWD category, the Disability Percentage should be equal to or
more than 40 per cent.
●● Communication address – Enter full postal address along with alternate email and mobile number
which will be used for further communication by IIMs
Documents Upload
Within this section, candidates have to upload the following documents in support of the
information provided.
●● Passport size photograph and signature: Applicants have to upload scanned image of passport size
photograph whose dimension should not be more than that stated by exam authorities. Refer to
the below table for photograph and signature dimensions. The photograph and signature should be
clearly visible and legible.
●● Dimensions for Photo and Signature for CAT Application Form
Academics
Applicants have to enter their past academic records in this section under the following
sections:
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Under each section, candidates have to enter the Board, Subjects, Aggregate marks or CGPA.
Work Experience: If the applicants have prior work experience or are working professionals,
they have to enter the work experience in number of months completed as on July 31, 2018.
Candidates have to also enter the industry type. Only full time work experience pursued
after the completion of Graduation will be applicable. Internship, part-time job, article ship,
pre-graduation experience should not be entered.
Programmes
In this section of CAT application form, candidates have to select the IIMs and the full
time management programmes where they want to apply for. They have to also select the
interview city from the drop down menu provided under this section. Candidates applying
for PGP or PGDM programmes at the below given IIMs are requested to choose the same
interview city for all the selections:
●● IIM Udaipur
●● IIM Tiruchirappalli
●● IIM Raipur
●● IIM Ranchi
●● IIM Rohtak
●● IIM Kashipur
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section before you click the Submit and Pay button and proceed to the payment gateway. The
following table brings to you the CAT application form fee according to candidate categories.
Along with the above-mentioned application fee, candidates have to also pay the online
transaction charges, which will vary according to the mode of payment.
Before proceeding towards payment, candidates must preview the entire CAT online appli-
cation form and the information provided and cross check with official documents in order
to avoid erroneous application which may not be rectified later.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Last date to download CAT admit card Until the day of the exam
●● Forgetting login credentials – In case the candidates forget their login ID and password which
were generated at the time of registration, they have to click on the ‘Forget Password’ tab. They will
receive a link to reset the password to their registered email address. They have to visit the link and
create a new password.
●● In case of any other doubts or queries, candidates can contact the CAT Helpline Desk number:
1800-266-0207 (Toll-Free) or email at cathelpdesk@iimcat.ac.in
●● Aadhaar Card
●● Voter ID Card
●● Passport
●● PAN Card
●● Driving License
●● Photo ID issued by current education institute or employer among others.
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The sections are likely to appear in the same order as mentioned in the table above. Now,
check the overall exam pattern of CAT.
Overall and Sectional Duration – Candidates need to know that apart from the complete
test duration, the exam will also have sectional duration as well. Each section is time bound
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ALL ABOUT CAT
for one hour (60 minutes) and candidates are not allowed to switch between sections within
this one-hour duration. However, applicants are free to answer any question within a par-
ticular section.
Non-MCQs – IIMs have introduced subjective questions from 2015. In these questions,
candidates have to type the answers in the space provided with the help of a mouse through
a virtual keypad. These questions do not have options. Each section carries non-MCQs but
the number is not fixed. Based on last year’s structure, the following table brings to you the
ratio of MCQs and non-MCQs.
DI & LR 32 8 24
QA 34 7 27
Total 100 25
Marking Scheme – It is very important for the candidates to be aware of marking scheme
of the CAT exam. Each correct answer will be awarded three marks and one mark would
be deducted for each wrong answer. However, this marking scheme is applicable only for
MCQs. For Non-MCQs, there is no negative marking.
Rough Sheet – The conducting authority of CAT provide pages for rough calculations;
however, one needs to submit the same after completing the examination. Candidates are
not allowed to carry anything inside the examination hall except their Admit Card.
CAT Mock Test – IIMs provide online CAT mock test prior to the actual test to make the candi-
dates familiar with the overall exam pattern and navigation. The mock tests will be available
from October 16, 2019, on the official website of the exam.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
CAT SYLLABUS
Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode, the conducting body of CAT, does not release
any official syllabus for the exam. Based on previous years’ question papers, a list of tentative
topics and sub-topics is compiled by the experts which can be used as the syllabus.
The CAT syllabus is majorly divided into three major sections – Verbal & Reading Compre-
hension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR), and Quantitative
Ability (QA).
Now, let’s have a look at the CAT syllabus and the important topics under each section.
English Language-
Fact Inference
Judgement
Para Completion
Para Jumble
Sentence Correction
Verbal Reasoning
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Bar Graph
Combination of Graphs
Caselet
Data Sufficiency
Line Graph
Pie Chart
Tables, etc.
Logical Reasoning–
Assumptions
Constraint-based puzzles
Data Arrangement
Family Tree
Matching Puzzles
Proposition
Statements
Seating Arrangement
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Algebra
Arithmetic
Geometry
Higher Maths
Mensuration
Modern Mathematics
Number System
Trigonometry etc.
Sub-topics-
Arithmetic progression
Arithmetic mean
Average
sphere’s rectangles
Quantitative Ability (QA)
cubes and cone
BODMAS
Clocks
Harmonic mean
Lines
Percentage
Partnership
Partnership
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ALL ABOUT CAT
●● Visit bschool.careers360.com
●● Candidates need to Register first
●● Login with Careers360 credentials
●● Candidates can also login with their Google or Facebook accounts
●● Visit Sample Paper Store
●● Click here to download CAT Sample Paper
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ALL ABOUT CAT
The duration of CAT Mock Test will be 1-hour and will include the following aspects:
●● Instructions
●● Mock questions of each section
As per the last year’s CAT Mock Test, the order of the sections on the exam day is likely to
be as follows:
1. Visit the website and click on the CAT Mock Test link (will be available in October 2019).
A screen like given below will appear. The first screen will have the system name, number,
subject, and photograph along with a log-in window. While checking the mock test, candi-
dates can proceed by just clicking on the green ‘Sign-in’ button, but at the time of the actual
test, they must enter correct login id and password.
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2. After login, candidates will be re-directed to a new window. The instructions will be given
here for the colour scheme, explaining the status of each question. Read all the instructions
and understand the color scheme well, as it shows how many questions you have left unan-
swered, how many are answered, and how many are kept for review.
3. As candidates click Next, a screen like below will appear. This will show the Duration of
the exam, which is 180 minutes, along with the maximum marks – 200. As the test will have
sectional limit and candidates will not be allowed to switch from one section to another, they
will have to attempt sections in the same order as given. The first section to attempt will be
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) followed by Data Interpretation &
Logical Reasoning (DILR) and last Quantitative Ability (QA). Read instructions, select the
‘I agree’ button and click on the ‘I am ready to begin’.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
4. The actual test begins. Read the questions, answer, skip or mark for review, and proceed
with ‘Save & Next’ button for next question. Candidates can visit a question back by clicking
on the numbers under the question palette.
5. As and when candidates will attempt the MCQs, all the Non-MCQs will appear. This
section is a bit different; you have to read the passage which has alternative summaries.
Candidates have to choose the best sequence fit for the question. Candidates can select the
numbers as provided or can type the same from their keyboard. After you answered all the
questions, if you have time- review your answers or wait for 60 minutes to get over and next
section to appear.
The CAT Mock Test will have a similar pattern for attempting other sections i.e. Data Inter-
pretation & Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Ability. It will follow the same procedure to
attempt or mark the answers. Candidates must note that they will not be allowed to review
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ALL ABOUT CAT
any section once the time is over. After all the sections are complete, in the end, candidates
will have to click on Submit tab to submit their test. In the last after the duration of 180 min-
utes is over, a screen with summary will appear. This will have a total number of answered
questions, unanswered questions, or questions left for review. You will also see a Feedback
form, where candidates will be asked to enter their feedback about the test. Enter the details
as like, and click on submit.
On-Screen Calculator and Timer – The mock test will also have the on-screen calculator.
It would be placed at the top right side of the screen, right below the timer. Along with the
basic calculations, it also includes calculation options for Algebra and Trigonometry. The
on-screen timer will show the countdown of one hour and right after that, the section will
automatically switch to the next one.
Option for Mark for Review – Just like last year, the candidates will also get the option to
mark a question for review. After answering the rest of the questions, candidates can revisit
the marked questions to review their answer. Candidates can also identify the Answered, Not
Answered, Marked and Not Visited questions of the section.
Although candidates can revise a particular section after completing the questions, there is
no scope for overall revision since the sections are time-bound.
The purpose of CAT Mock Test is to provide the impression of the test. The difficulty level,
question types, numbers of MCQs and Non-MCQs may vary in the actual test.
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IIM Visakhapa-
6 IIM Indore 550 16 tnam 60
Note: The number of seats may change for the academic year 2020-22.
Both Government run and private B-schools fall in the list of CAT participating institutes.
There are around 90 private B-schools in the list. Here is the list of top government and
private B-schools:
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Indian Institute of Social Welfare & Busi- Prin LNWelingkar Institute of Management Development and
ness Management, Kolkata Research, Mumbai
The following table brings to you the state-wise CAT participating colleges excluding IIMs.
MICA
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Alliance University
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Galgotias University
University Of Lucknow
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Goa Mapusa
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Mizoram Aizawl
Meghalaya Shillong
Nagaland Kohima
Puducherry Puducherry
According to IIM Calcutta, cities and centres will be assigned to the candidates only after
the last date for CAT 2018 registration and hence candidates need not rush to block slots
and cities in the initial days of registration.
Concerned authority will try their best to assign candidates to their first preferred city. In
case it is not possible, they will be assigned a city following their given order of preference.
In the rare case that a candidate is not allotted any of the preferred cities, he/she will be
allotted an alternate city. However, candidates will not be able to select the session because
it will be assigned randomly.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Previously there were 147 cities wherein exam centres were located. Now IIM Khozikode will
conduct CAT 2019 in 156 cities. The list of 9 new cities is given below:
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The CAT normalization process is an established practice for comparing candidate scores
across multiple Forms and is similar to those being adopted in other large educational selec-
tion tests conducted in India, such as Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). For
normalization across sections, we shall use the percentile equivalence.
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As time management is the key to success in CAT exam, candidates are advised to solve
the question papers in a time-bound manner to know their level of preparation. Analys-
ing the performance after solving the papers is one of the most important factors while
preparing for the exam. It will allow the candidates to focus on their weak points and
work on them accordingly. It is important for the aspirants to get their performance in
mock tests analysed by experts or mentors to give their preparation a right direction.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Rs 18.00 per transaction for HDFC, ICICI, AXIS and SBI Rs 15.00
Net Banking
per transaction for rest of the banks
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ALL ABOUT CAT
CAT RESULT
IIM Kozhikode will declare the CAT result tentatively in the second week of January 2020 and
it will be available online for download. Candidates will be able to check the result using
their user ID and password provided at the time of registration. The result will be available
in the form of scorecard displaying the percentile and section wise & overall scaled scores.
IIM Kozhikode will also send the result to the registered mobile numbers of the test takers
mentioning their overall CAT percentile. No hard copy of the result cum scorecard will be
sent to the candidates.
Based on the CAT result, candidates will be shortlisted for further selection rounds by IIMs
and other participating institutes.
Candidates are advised to print and keep the CAT scorecard till the admission process is
complete.
What are the Details Printed on the Result cum Score card
The following information will be mentioned on the CAT result cum scorecard:
●● Registration number/User Id
●● Candidate's name, category and gender
●● Date of birth (DOB)
●● Date and time of examination
●● Candidate contact details and email id
●● Scaled Score of Section 1 (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension)
●● Percentile of Section 1 (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension)
●● Scaled Score of Section 2 (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning)
●● Percentile of Section 2 (Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning)
●● Scaled Score of Section 3 (Quantitative Ability)
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CAT Percentile
IIMs declare CAT result in the form of percentile. A percentile is a measure used to indicate
the value below which a given percentage of test takers fall. On the basis of the percentile,
IIMs and other CAT participating B-schools shortlist candidates for admissions. The CAT
percentile will be calculated on the basis of the normalisation process adopted by the IIMs.
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No. of
Conver-
No. of candi- CAT Result
Declaration of Scores sion
Year Regis- dates Declaring
CAT Result obtained into per-
trations given the IIM
centile
test
IIM
CAT 2018 2,40,338 2,09,405 January 5, 2019 Kozhikode - 100
220.09 –
CAT 2016 2,32,343 1,95,000 January 9, 2017 IIMBangalore 100
241.68
254.61 –
100
249.90
242.33 99.99
January 8th, IIM
CAT 2015 2,18,664 1,79,602 235.33 99.98
2016 Ahmedabad
215.54 –
99.89
215.43
180.02 99
268.700 –
100
261.740
CAT 2014 December 27th, 245.92 99.97
1,96,988 1,67,829 IIM Indore
2014
227.65 99.87
178.02 98.07
Shortlisted candidates will be called for the selection procedure which include Writing Abil-
ity Test, Group Discussion/Group Exercise/Case Study and Personal Interview. The final
result or the merit lists at the B-schools will be based on candidates’ performance in CAT
2018, selection rounds and overall profile.
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CAT CUTOFF
The cutoff of CAT refers to the minimum marks or percentile a test taker must obtain in
order to qualify for the next round of selection process. The cutoff depends on various fac-
tors such as total number of test takers, difficulty level of the exam, total number of seats,
etc. Candidates who are planning to appear for CAT exam must qualify the sectional as well
as the overall cutoff in order to get shortlisted for the next rounds of the selection process
– WAT-GD/PI.
Usually, the CAT cutoff for old IIMs and top B-schools such as FMS (University of Delhi), MDI
Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, etc. goes over 99 percentile. New IIMs including IIM Sambalpur,
IIM Ranchi, etc. and other top B-schools have cutoff 90 percentile and above. On the other
hand, the cutoff for B-schools belonging to tier two to four range from 80 to 50 percentile.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Let’s have a look at the CAT cutoff for various B-schools and IIMs.
SC 60 60 60 70
ST 50 50 50 60
SC 55 55 55 70 55 55 55 65 55 55 55 65
ST 50 50 50 65 50 50 50 60 50 50 50 60
OBC-NC 77 77 77 82 72 72 72 77 72 72 72 77
PWD 50 50 50 65 50 50 50 60 50 50 50 60
SC 50 50 50 60
ST 30 30 30 40
NC-OBC 60 60 60 78
DAP 30 30 30 40
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NC-OBC 75 70 70 80
SC 60 60 60 75
ST 50 50 50 55
DA 50 50 50 50
OBC (NC) 70 70 70 80
SC 55 55 55 60
ST 45 45 45 50
PWD 45 45 45 50
OBC (NC) 70 70 70 80
SC 55 55 55 60
ST 45 45 45 50
PWD 45 45 45 50
SC 50 50 50 65
ST 40 40 40 55
NC-OBC 70 70 70 80
PWD 40 40 40 55
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SC 50 50 50 60
ST 30 30 30 40
NC-OBC 60 60 60 78
PWD 30 30 30 40
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General 80 80 80 95
SC 50 50 50 60
ST 30 30 30 40
NC-OBC 60 60 60 78
PWD 30 30 30 40
SC 60 60 60 78
ST 30 30 30 40
NC-OBC 60 60 60 78
PWD 30 30 30 40
NC-OBC 60 60 60 78
SC 50 50 50 60
ST 30 30 30 40
DA 30 30 30 40
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SC 60 60 60
ST 50 50 50
DA 50 50 50
PWD 50 50 50
SC 50 50 50 60
ST 30 30 30 40
NC-OBC 60 60 60 78
PWD 30 30 30 40
NC-OBC 60 60 60 78
SC 50 50 50 60
ST 30 30 30 40
DAP 30 30 30 40
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Now let us take a look at the expected CAT cutoff of non-IIM CAT participating institutes.
As the CAT cutoff depends largely on the difficulty level of the exam, it’s important to know
that the exam last year was moderately tough on the difficulty scale.
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●● MBA aspirants will have to apply separately to the institutes accepting CAT scores within the dead-
line.
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●● The admission committee of the institutes assesses the candidates’ eligibility based on their CAT
percentile, past academic records, work experience, etc.
●● Qualifying candidates are shortlisted for the next round of CAT selection procedure – GD, PI and
WAT.
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‘CAT PREPARATION
STRATEGY: IDENTIFY
STRONG AND WEAK
AREAS BY GIVING
FULL-LENGTH MOCKS
EARLY ON, SAYS MANEK
DARUVALA,
T.I.M.E. DIRECTOR’
One of the most challenging management entrance test - CAT, is a few months away. Every
year over two lakh aspirant gear up to take the most awaited exam of the year with a hope
of clearing the entrance exam with exceptional scores. According to the official notification
released by IIM Calcutta, the exam pattern for CAT will remain the same.
Manek Daruvala, Director and Founder of T.I.M.E in an interview with Careers360 shares his
insights on CAT preparation strategy for each section and the importance of mock tests. He
also shares key points on time management for each section of CAT. To guide prospective
candidates, Careers360 brings you an expert interview of Manek Daruvala.
Careers360: Is enrolling in a coaching institute a good idea for aspirants who have not started their
preparation with just four months or less to go?
Manek Daruvala: For those who believe in themselves that they can put in serious preparation
between now and the CAT, the time available is certainly adequate. However, they need to recog-
nise that a lot of time and hard work needs to be put if they want to realise their dreams. Identifying
strengths and weaknesses by taking a couple of full-length mocks early on and focusing on improving
on the weak areas would be useful for this group of students.
Careers360: For the ones who have already started preparing on their own without coaching
classes, please recommend a strategy for the next four months.
Manek Daruvala: In general, I would strongly recommend that students enrol in a classroom pro-
gramme to ensure that they get a first-hand feel for the competition they are going to face. By joining
such a course, they would also understand quicker and faster application of concepts to problems,
test-taking strategies etc., which are very important for success in the CAT.
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However, there would be some students who, for whatever reasons, can not/do not enrol in a class-
room program. Such students should ensure that they enrol into a mock test series and take mocks
regularly and analyse them. Inputs from the analysis should be used as pointers for the preparation
ahead.
Careers360: What are the must prepare topics in each section which should not be avoided at any
cost? Please share some preparation tips on those topics.
Manek Daruvala: While there are some areas from which questions do come frequently and some
from which questions are relatively less frequent, given CAT's unpredictability, students should not
avoid any topics and prepare on all of them with equal rigour.
Careers360: Please mention some top books and study materials to be referred by CAT aspirants.
Manek Daruvala: While the material issued by institutes like T.I.M.E. is self-sufficient in itself, some
of the books that students can refer to are – How to improve your Reading Speed, and, Word Power
Made Easy by Norman Lewis, Puzzles to Puzzle you by Shakuntala Devi etc.
Careers360: How should final year graduation students vis a vis working professionals balance their
daily routine with CAT preparation?
Manek Daruvala: The big advantage that students who are studying have, over those who are
working is that they have a more-or-less fixed academic calendar. This allows them to have a clear idea
of the time available to them for CAT preparation. For those who are working, the work pressure/load
at the office can, at times, play havoc with their CAT prep plans.
Allotting a fixed duration in a day for CAT preparation is strongly advisable for both the groups. Consist-
ently sticking to this prep-window is very important to keep the preparation going at a healthy rate.
Working students, in particular should ensure that in spite of losing out on the prep-window on some
days due to work pressure, they adhere to the window on the remaining days and see if they can
extend it whenever possible to compensate for the losses that may have occurred earlier.
Careers360: When is the ideal time to start taking mock tests? Also, mention the frequency
in which mocks should be taken.
Manek Daruvala: Students should start with their full-length mocks around six to seven months to
CAT. For those starting their preparation having less than this amount of time on hand, it is advisable
that they start-off their preparation by taking a full-length mock. This will help them get better insights
into their strengths and weaknesses so that they can put-in focused preparation which will help them
to utilise the time they have effectively. It is advisable to take one or two AIMCATs a week.
Careers360: How can one analyse their performance in mock tests? Please share some tips
for analysis and the way forward.
Manek Daruvala: Students should spend about two hours analysing each section of the paper.
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This will undoubtedly help them extract the most out of the learnings that mocks have to offer them. It
is an essential part of the preparation for CAT and students should not make the mistake of failing to
analyse their performance in mock tests.
Step-2: Try solving questions that may still be left over. Only after giving all the questions a good try,
check the answer key to find out which questions you could answer correctly and re-attempt all those
questions that you answered wrongly. You would be able to learn a great deal from this step since you
would actually be pushing yourself to think harder and find out where you have made mistakes. Do not
look at the solutions until you are finished with this step.
Step-3: Refer to the solutions and compare your approach with that given in the solutions. You should
keenly observe and learn anything new that you may find in the solutions. At the end of this stage of your
analysis, you should try to categorise the questions into levels of difficulty based on the understanding
required and the amount of time that you would take to solve each of them in an exam situation.
Careers360: How should CAT aspirants balance their preparation with other entrance tests like XAT,
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Careers360: What can one expect from CAT in term of exam pattern and difficulty level?
Manek Daruvala: As CAT is known to spring surprises, one can use past trends only to understand
the changes that the exam has been going through. One cannot predict anything about the pattern/
difficulty-level as any such predictions can be rendered ineffective by the sudden turns that CAT
may take. The CAT exam pattern has been stable for the last three CATs with no changes while the
difficulty level in QA & VARC has been consistently on the moderate side. LRDI has been the tough
section for the students in these CATs.
Careers360: What should be the exam day strategy in terms of time management, maintaining
accuracy and fulfilling sectional cut-offs?
Manek Daruvala: Cut-offs are a function of the difficulty level of the section and the paper. Hence
you should always be on the lookout to maximise the score in the given conditions of difficulty levels.
If the sections are individually timed, as they are in CAT, you will have a fixed time to negotiate the
section and hence the task on hand is clear. Sectional cut-offs need not be worried about as the time
for each section is fixed.
For exams that have all the sections available throughout the test, the number of
attempts per section should be decided during the test, based on the difficulty level of the
sections. Targeting a certain number of questions to clear the cut-offs even before look-
ing at the paper should not be done as this may not let you perform at the optimal level.
Also keep in mind that sectional cut-offs play a key role only for the schools in the top
30-40. Below this, schools focus only on the over-all cut-offs and not on sectional cut-offs.
Hence it important that students should focus mainly on maximising the overall score.
Question selection plays a key role in maximising the score while also helping the students
maintain a good accuracy which helps them extract optimum returns out of the time and
efforts put in.
Stay away from blind guessing – CAT and all the other tests have negative marking. The
negative marking is to deter students from attempting an extravagant number of ques-
tions even without solving them. Blind guessing almost always leads to a negative/low
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ALL ABOUT CAT
score and is hence to be avoided. However, if you are able to eliminate two/three choices
(out of the four or five) on a proper basis, then, you may consider making an “educated
guess”, based on what your instinct tells you. Keep in mind that your “instinct” will be able
to guide you only if you have fed it well, i.e., if you have prepared well.
Careers360: Please share detailed preparation strategy for three months, two months and last
month for CAT-takers.
Manek Daruvala: It will help immensely if you have a focused and measurable plan for the com-
ing 3-4 months. For example, in the Verbal Ability area, one could target completing a pre-decided
number of exercises in each of the areas every day. Or, a day each for the different question types on
Paragraphs (Para formation, Para completion and Para summary), followed by three days of intensive
grammar prep covering all the standard models of questions. You may include reading a few novels
in your plan. You can take a call on Vocabulary, based on the level you are at currently. A targeted plan
like this will help you track your progress on a real-time basis.
If you think your performance in any one of the areas is trailing that in other areas then you
could begin with getting the weak area on par with the others areas. It will be important
to devise a plan for each topic/question type within each subject and define targets for
the same. Similarly, if you look at the QA area, you should apportion your time according
to Arithmetic, Numbers, Geometry & Mensuration, Pure maths etc. Do a realistic analysis of
your comfort level with each of these areas. For an area in which you are strong, you could
just revise difficult/very difficult problems. For an area where you tend to skip/get most
questions wrong, you should begin with the basic problems and go all the way to the very
difficult problems.
The first couple of months from now on should be dedicated to concept building and
eliminating weak areas. The month after that can be focused on improving the understand-
ing and application levels of the concepts learned earlier by attempting higher level of
questions and taking a good number of mock tests. The last month should be spent on
fine-tuning the test taking strategy by focusing on better question selection, spotting tough
questions so that one can veer away from them.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Data Interpreta-
tion & Logical Rea- 24 8 32 96 60
soning (DI & LR)
QuantitativeAbility
27 7 34 102 60
(QA)
Although there is no specific syllabus for CAT, based on previous years' analysis, the major
topics include Number Systems, Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Mensuration, Higher
Maths (Quantitative Ability); Reading Comprehension, Grammar, Vocabulary, Fill in the
blank (Verbal and Reading Comprehension) and Graphs, Charts, Caselets, Series, Arrange-
ment etc. (Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning).
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ALL ABOUT CAT
test series to take a few mock CAT online. Also, you must re-visit previous year CAT sample
paper and solve it to have an actual feel of the test. Putting yourself in the actual testing
environment will help you to take CAT on the test centre on your D-day. Shikhar Sachdeva,
who had secured 99.98 percentile in CAT 2017 mentions, "The best strategy for an aspirant
would be to take 2 mock series from renowned institutes, 1 booklet series, and then make
use of any one web course."
#Analysis is must
After every CAT mock test, you must analyse your performance and evaluate your scoring
areas based on CAT exam pattern. Shiv Raj, an IIM Calcutta student and 99.94 percentiler in
CAT shares, "Whenever you take a mock test, assess not only the wrong questions but also
the right ones. Sometimes you may score very high, while on other occasions you might get
a low score. Do not get demotivated with a low score and don’t become overly confident
when you score high. The key to success in CAT is perseverance and not hard, but smart work."
Rohan Joshi, CAT 2017 topper with 99.63 percentile says, "During weekends I took full-length
tests and analysed them. In parallel, I kept working on my weaknesses and the areas which I
wasn’t comfortable with."
In order to prepare for CAT, you also must go through the explanation of answers and
see whether you already knew the core concept for solving each question. You should
list down the questions which you could not solve despite having the conceptual clar-
ity on the same. Once you know these areas according to CAT test pattern, you must go
back to the textbook or your CAT preparation material and revise the concepts along
with practising a few questions on the particular areas. This exercise will help you reap
the hard work that you have been putting for CAT preparation for last few months.
Sharing his CAT preparation tips, Kamlesh Sajnani, Managing Director, IMS Learning
Resources in an interview with Careers360, says that more important than taking the mock
CAT test is its analysis. “If you don’t learn from each test before proceeding to the next, there
is no point in taking a large number of them,” he says, adding, “Try out various strategies for
each test such as dividing your time equally in each section or spending more time on the
weaker sections by working quickly in the stronger sections. It is also important to attempt a
variety of tests because you may score well in a test that is more suited to your strengths while
the CAT may carry more questions of the kind you are uncomfortable with. An exposure to a
range of problems and the rationale behind them will ensure that you are better prepared.”
#Focus on strength
In order to know how to prepare for CAT, it is of utmost importance to identify your strengths
and weaknesses. Going by your own evaluation, you must focus on your strong areas and
build on the same. As most of the questions in CAT syllabus are based on the application of
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ALL ABOUT CAT
basic concepts, learning both concepts and application at this stage is not advisable if you
are aiming to crack CAT. Instead, you should put all your efforts towards the areas which
you have nearly been able to control and solve questions on the same. "I had a very strong
basis of the concepts used in Quant and DI & LR, along with a lot of practice in working fast
from my JEE preparation, although that was a long time ago. Even then, my strength was my
judgment of whether a question was worth my time, and that helped,” says Arvind Menon,
who secured 100 percentile in CAT 2017.
#Practice a lot
CAT Experts suggest that you must practice a lot so that you can make an instant connect
with the question during your CAT exam day. Regular practice with a scheduled stretch
will not only help increase your question-solving speed but also make you habituated to sit
for three hours. Chhavi Gupta, one of the two female CAT 2017 toppers who secured 100
percentile mentions, "I rigorously practised the Mock CAT series, selected some random
tests online and sample CAT. To be precise, I solved 35 practice tests and analysing them
critically."
#Time management
With 60 minutes allotted for each section during your CAT test duration, you should first
attempt the questions which you can solve quickly. If you are doubtful on a question at the
first glance, you leave it in the first round and come back to it in sequence after you have
completed the first round of attempts. As you quickly solve a few questions, it will instil a
higher level of confidence to attempt the difficult questions during the second round of
attempts. Sharing his section wise time management strategy regarding how to prepare
for CAT, Madhur Gupta, CAT 2017 100 percentiler says, "In DILR, I focussed on question wise
approach. Did the easier questions of the set and marked the tough ones of later considera-
tion. In this was completed five sets and later came back to the tougher questions. I found
this very convenient. Quant and verbal sections were too easy for any strategy. You either
knew the answers or didn't know them."
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#Reverse action
In case you find questions a little difficult during the second round of your attempt, you must
go reverse while solving the questions and scan the answer options first. Sometimes, answer
options hold crucial clues towards solving the questions. You can also go by eliminating
wrong options first, which reduces the number of answer options making it a little easier to
find the right answer. Sai Praneeth Reddy, another 100 percentiler mentions, "I started with
DILR but I found that first few questions were really tough and time-taking. So, I skipped
first four questions. Gradually, I realised that skipping questions won’t lead me anywhere.
Then I started from the last question followed by whatever I could answer first."
Now that you know how to prepare for CAT, you must also remember that CAT only meas-
ures your intellect and the kind of effort that you have put. As you have already made the
best efforts, now you need not worry about CAT results and CAT selections. Focus on max-
imising the number of attempts with high accuracy. Leave the rest on to your honest effort.
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●● How to Prepare for the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Arun Sharma and
Meenakshi Upadhyay (Tata McGraw-Hill) is a workbook with practice questions and tips based on
previous CAT papers.
●● Nishit Sinha’s The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (Pearson) covers a wide
range of topics explained in an easy-to-understand manner.
●● Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis.
●● Barron’s Pocket Guide to Vocabulary.
Best Books for CAT Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR):
The questions from this area are mainly in the form of caselets. The test takers have to ana-
lyse the data given in various ways and answer the questions. The topics covered in this area
are Data Arrangement, Seating Arrangement, Blood Relations, Bar Graph, Data Sufficiency
etc. The books to refer include:
●● How to Prepare for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning for CAT (Tata McGraw-Hill) by Arun
Sharma covers all the fundamental concepts of Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning.
●● Trishna's Verbal Ability And Logical Reasoning For The CAT And Other MBA Examinations by T.I.M.E.
Publisher: Pearson
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Careers360: What was your CAT 2018 overall and sectional percentile?
Rickshesh- Although I secured 99.99 percentile in CAT 2017, I wasn’t very confident about the GD/
PI/WAT rounds in my first attempt. So, I took a calculative risk and appeared for CAT 2018 once again.
But my plan worked by God’s grace and I got 100 percentile.
Careers360: Apart from CAT, did you appear for any other entrance examination/s like XAT,CMAT,
SNAP, etc.?
Rickshesh- No. I appeared for CAT only as my chosen institutes were those which require the CAT
percentile alone to clear their qualifying round. So, wanted to focus all my attention towards CAT
examination.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Careers360: When did you start preparing for CAT and how did you prepare – Self-study or Coach-
ing?
Rickshesh- Due to the professional commitment I couldn’t prepare much for CAT 2018, however,
my last year’s preparation worked for me this time.
I studied all by myself. However, I had purchased several test series to analyse my preparation. I took
the mocks and analysed my mistakes intricately.
Careers360: How did you balance your preparation with studies or job?
Rickshesh- I had a full-time job while preparing for CAT 2018. This made it difficult for me to main-
tain a regularity in my preparation. My preparation comprised many sectional exams and four to five
mocks which I took in the last week before CAT 2018. My primary motive was to maintain the exam
temperament more than preparation.
Careers360: What was your exam day strategy in terms of question selection, time management,
accuracy and sectional attempts/cutoffs?
Rickshesh-I had no particular strategy as such. I believe in impromptu strategy. If one has a set
strategy in mind for the exam, he/she might falter during the exam as candidates are not sure of
the CAT questions. Plans may fail; so it is better to make instant plans after one views the questions.
Careers360: Can you state the difference between CAT 2017 and CAT 2018?
Rickshesh- Surely. The VARC section was quite similar in both the years. It was on the easier side. The
DILR section was very difficult in CAT 2017 as compared to CAT 2018. There was a stark difference in
the difficulty level of the QA section. In CAT 2017, QA section was very easy as compared to CAT 2018
which proved to be very difficult. I feel this year’s CAT was a balanced paper.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
Careers360: Which are the colleges/institutes you are looking forward to? Have you started preparing
for GD/PI/WAT?
Rickshesh- I am looking forward to IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Kozhikode, IIM
Lucknow, and FMS, Delhi.
I am yet to start my GD/PI?WAT rounds. I just started reading a book called ‘The 10-Day MBA’ to enrich
knowledge of management skills.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
The following table brings to you the test structure of CAT over the past 6 years.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
2016 100 (32 in 1 Quantitative +3, -1, no 180 minutes IIM Banga- -
section and Ability (QA), negative lore
34 in other 2 Verbal and marking for
sections) Reading Non-MCQs
Comprehen-
sion (VRC)
and Data
Interpre-
tation &
Logical Rea-
soning (DI &
LR).
2015 100 (32 in Quantita- +3, -1, no 180 minutes IIM Introduc-
one section tive Ability, negative Ahmedabad tion of Cal-
and 34 in Verbal and marking for culator/
other two Reading Non-MCQs Induction
sections) Comprehen- of Non-
sion and MCQ
Data Inter-
pretation
& Logical
Reasoning
2014 100 (50 per Quantitative +3, - 1 17 0 minutes IIM Indore Test was
section) Ability & or 2 hours divided
Data Inter- and 50 min- into two
pretation, utes sections/
Verbal Abil- Introduc-
ity & Logical tion of
Reasoning two-day
(not in test win-
particular dow
order)
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ALL ABOUT CAT
In the year 2014, CAT was conducted by IIM Indore in an absolutely new pattern. There were
two sections with 50 questions each. While in CAT 2013, there were two sections and each
section had 30 questions.
CAT 2011, conducted by IIM Calcutta also underwent a major change in terms of the exam
pattern. Instead of three, the exam had two sections, namely Quantitative Ability & Data
Interpretation and Logical Reasoning & Verbal Ability. While the areas of testing remained
same, the four areas were merged into two. The total number of questions remained 60 with
each section having 30 questions.
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ALL ABOUT CAT
In the year 2009, from the traditional paper pencil based test, CAT became a computer based
test with a duration of 2 hours and 15 minutes. IIM Ahmedabad conducted the test and it was
Prometric India Pvt. Ltd.’s first year as the online testing partner. Owing to the huge shift
in pattern, the first year of the computer-based CAT experienced massive technical glitches
resulting in a retest. CAT takers also questioned the normalisation process of the test. Also,
as per the Non-Disclosure Agreement, the question topics and the number of questions per
area cannot be disclosed in detail. The overall difficulty level was even easier in the retest
which was conducted in January 2010.
Preferring the single day window, Gautam Puri, Vice Chairman, Career Launcher said that
the single day testing helps minimise controversies around normalisation processes. He
even expected that CAT 2016 will see a higher number of test centres and a single day and
single slot testing window. Echoing the thoughts, Arks Srinivas had last year said, “I would
be extremely happy if by CAT 2016, they conduct the exam in just one slot. The heartburn
of flawed normalisation techniques would be gone and students can then compete and get
judged on the same platform!”
Since its inception year 2009 till 2013, computer based CAT was conducted in a 20-day win-
dow starting from October to November, in two slots each day. In the year 2014, the conduct-
ing body-IIM Indore announced CAT as a two-day test to be conducted in November. While
the test window was reduced gradually the number of slots continued to two throughout the
years. However, candidates were not given any liberty to select their preferred slots from the
year 2014 onwards. The following table brings to you the year wise testing window of CAT.
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Also, prior to 2014, applicants the had liberty to choose their test date, slot, and
CAT exam centre while filling their CAT application form. The option was, however,
scrapped from 2014 as applicants could only provide exam city preference and rights
to allotted test schedule and centre remained with CAT authorities.
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