CAT 2018 – Exam, Registration, Dates, Eligibility Critieria

CAT – The Details

To begin with, CAT or the common admission test is a computer-based entrance exam for the aspirants of management-studies at the national level. The exam is held under the aegis of the IIMs, also known as the Indian Institutes of Management, guided by the policy of rotation. Moreover, through the exam, the IIMs provide for the admissions of successful aspirants, to the 20 IIMs and 100 plus B-schools across India. Furthermore, nearly 2 lakh MBA aspirants that look forward to getting admitted into these institutes, through the CAT exam.

CAT 2018

First, the authority and the exam holding agency of CAT 2018 is IIM Kolkata which will hold the exam on November 25, 2018. Next, the authorities are conducting the exam for nearly 4000 seats. Scorecard of CAT 2018 will be valid only for one year. That is, till 31^st December 2019. It is notable that CAT witnesses big as well as new modifications, approximately every year. For example, this year one more B-school of international repute associated itself with the competitive management exam.

IIM Kolkata will notify the candidates about CAT, in the last week of July 2018. Following this, registering for the exam will begin from around August 6, 2018. The convener for CAT 2018 will be Prof., Sumanta Basu. Besides, we at EduGorilla have taken the pains for you to notify and remind you of all the important happenings about the exam – important dates, registrations, notifications, exam pattern, results, cut-offs, etc.

CAT 2018 – A Short Description

Important Dates for CAT 2018

To begin with, one hopes that the time-table of CAT 2018 runs in line with its earlier version of 2017. Therefore, we present before you a tentative schedule of the examination.

Eligibility Criteria for CAT 2018

Academic Criteria for Taking CAT 2018

• First, the CAT 2018 aspirants must have a least of 50% of marks or equivalent CGPA conferred by an institute of higher education or, a university. Then, such an institute or university should be recognized and incorporated by the Central or a State Government. Similarly, such institutes or universities can also be acknowledged as deemed institutions under the light of Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956. Lastly, one more stipulation gives them the freedom to grant the necessary marks. This is that they must possess equivalent qualification acknowledged by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Government of India.
• Also, the CAT 2018 candidates belonging to the reserved category must possess a least of 45% marks in their bachelor’s degree.
• Furthermore, two more types of candidates are eligible for taking CAT 2018. They are the candidates going to take the final year’s exam of their Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualifying exam, along with the students who have done so but are awaiting their results. If successful and cleared the counseling, the authorities will give admissions to such CAT 2018 candidates, only provisionally. This amounts to their admission, provided that they surrender proof of their finishing the necessary requirements for receiving their Bachelor’s degree/equivalent competence.
• Lastly, different universities/institutes will compute the % of marks of candidates in their graduation, differently. If a university/institute provides Grades or CGPA instead of %, the change of this Grade/CGPA to the %, would be according to the rules of that institute/university. In the absence of any provision for such change, the authorities will carry out the conversion following a certain formula. Hence, according to this formula, the authorities will divide a CAT 2018 aspirant’s CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA. They will then multiply the obtained result by 100 to obtain the %.

Age-Criteria for Taking CAT 2018

Presently, there is no age limit for appearing in the Common Admission Test.

Reservation-Criteria for Taking CAT 2018

The authorities of CAT 2018 will admit students as per the rules and regulations of the Government, pertaining to its Reservation Policy. Presently, the division of seats as per this policy is as below:

Besides, it will be useful to mention here that there are 3 sub-divisions of the PwD category. They are:

• Firstly, the blindness of low vision
• Secondly, impairment of hearing
• Lastly, the disability of locomotion/cerebral palsy

Notably, the benefits availed under PwD will apply only on the above-mentioned disabilities remaining for 40 % or more. Also, a certificate needs to be produced mentioning this > or = 40 percent of disability and certified by a competent medical professional. Also, the rules and regulations regarding disabilities have been explained in Section 39 of PwD Act, 1995.

The Minute Details Essential for Reserved Category Candidates of CAT 2018

• First, it is essential that the tribes and castes of CAT 2018 reserved category candidates belonging to the ST and SC categories are listed in the Government of India’s schedule. Hence it will be useful to tell you that caste-certifications of such candidates must contain:
  1. Firstly, the name of a CAT 2018 candidate’s caste or tribe.
  2. Secondly, the verification that the CAT 2018 candidate belongs to the mentioned category (SC/ST).
  3. Then, CAT 2018 candidate’s district/state/union territory of authentic residence.
  4. Also, the right schedule of Government of India, under which a candidate’s caste or tribe is legalized.
• CAT 2018 reserved category candidates will need to upload the ST/SC/NC-OBC/PwD certificate(s) when applying online. The failure of uploading of this/these document(s) consequently can result in cancellation of the candidates from the entire process.
• CAT 2018 reserved category candidates will need to produce the original relevant documents as proofs of their categories, during the admission process. These proofs once again will be needed during the final admission process by the IIMs/Management Institutes. CAT 2018 candidates who fail to make submissions of these proofs consequently won’t qualify for the reserved category benefits. Therefore, they will be treated as candidates of general category.

Details of Registration/Application Regarding CAT 2018

Firstly, the date of the coming of the application form in the online public domain likely is the 8^th of August. The entire application/registration procedure for CAT 2018 is based on online mode. Therefore, the aspirants need to hook on to the official website and click on the registration tab. Subsequently, CAT 2018 candidates will need to fill up the application/registration form with all the particulars. These details are like the candidate’s name, parents’ names, residential address, email address, etc. Thereafter CAT 2018 candidates will be informed about their User Id and passwords via email and SMS. In short, once again, we reproduce the tentative schedule of CAT 2018, particularly, its application aspect:

Sections to Pay Attention to While Filling the Application Form

Logging in through their User Id and passwords, CAT 2018 candidates can register their details by entering correct information about them. As the case is with all the exams, here also we shall like to caution you against the misadventures that they may do mistakenly or otherwise. It is that any misinformation provided by the candidates can result in cancellation of their exam. Continuing with the cautions, CAT 2018 candidates need to pay attention to the following sections while filling in their details:

Firstly, the section asking CAT 2018 candidates’ personal details

Secondly, the section asking CAT 2018 candidates’ residential details

Thirdly, the section asking CAT 2018 candidates’ academic details

Then, the section asking preferring IIMs and other institutes

Lastly, the section asking online test and interview centers

Documents Needed During CAT 2018 Registration

Making the necessary documents ready sufficiently before CAT 2018 online application, play an important role in registering the candidates soundly. It is needless to say that this soundness is useful when all the details of the candidates are filled truest to their knowledge. However, the list of various docs essentially required and for which the candidates can prepare beforehand, are:

• Scorecards/Mark sheets and Certificates/Degrees of Class X, XII, graduation, professional course/higher qualification (if any)
• The work-experience document certifying the working of the candidates.
• Certificates/documents related to CAT 2018 candidates’ reservation status, disability
• Scanned images of candidates’ passport-sized photographs and of their signatures. It will be of use to remind students that, these images mustn’t be older than six months.

Dimensions of Scanned Photos and Signatures of CAT 2018 Candidates

Filling CAT 2018 Application Form – the Procedure

• First, students to register themselves for CAT 2018.
• Then, students need to login to CAT website
• Last, students need to fill up the CAT 2018 application form

Registration of Students for CAT 2018

• First, visit the Official Website. Click the link showing “Register Now.”
• Second, fill the required details like CAT 2018 candidate’s name, mobile number, email address, date of birth, etc, in the allocated fields. Be cautious to enter correct details, as informing wrongly about yourself would amount to your cancellation from taking the exam. For facilitating this process, we provide you the below-mentioned details of the fields for which you need to be careful:
• CAT 2018 candidates’ Names: CAT 2018 candidates must fill their names, as mentioned in their certificates of class 10^th /S.Sc. level.
• CAT 2018 candidates’ DOBs: Candidates must fill their dates of birth strictly according to the same mentioned in their class 10^th or S.Sc certificates. They will fill the DOB details using the virtual calendar provided in the portal.
• CAT 2018 candidates’ Email Addresses: The candidates must mention their valid and working email Id. The email Id is necessary as all the communication regarding CAT 2018, will be done through it. Like, for example, candidates’ CAT 2018 IDs, usernames, etc. will be sent to this email Id. Also, the usernames and passwords to overseas CAT 2018 candidates will be sent through this Id.
• CAT 2018 candidates’ Mobile Numbers: Candidates must fill a valid and working mobile number for communication. Besides, the password for the CAT 2018 Id can also be sent to this number, via SMS. For Indian candidates, it’s necessary that +91 be mentioned before their numbers. Overseas candidates must enter their country’s ISD mobile code.
• Having filled the details, consequently, the CAT 2018 candidates need to fill the captcha code. They may also follow any other security procedure.
• Lastly, the candidates need to tick the checkbox mentioning “I Agree” on it. This will finally complete the process of registration.

Logging in to the CAT 2018 Website

After a few days of the registration of the candidates, they will receive their User IDs and Passwords. The CAT 2018 candidates will subsequently need to use these to log in to the official CAT 2018 website. While logging in, it can happen that a candidate forgets his/her password. The same (i.e. the new password) will be resent to him/her when he/she clicks on the “Forgot Password” tab. This tab will be on the login window, mentioning “Existing User” on it. The candidate then will receive the new password via the candidate’s earlier registered email Id.

Filling and Submitting the CAT 2018 Application Form

The act of filling and submitting the application form follows the logging into the official CAT 2018 website. The below-mentioned fields essentially need to be filled properly:

Individual/Personal Details of the Candidates: This includes the names of the guardians, fathers, mothers, husbands of the candidates. Categories of the reserved candidates are also included in this, which would require to be filled appropriately by them. Such candidates must select appropriately applicable categories of reservation for themsellves – Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe or People with Disabilities. Similarly, they need to be careful about their serial number, names of the States and Union Territories they belong to, apart from their Caste and Tribe. Filling their nationality for all the candidates – Indians or the overseas ones – is necessary. Lastly, CAT 2018 candidates should take care of address of communication – they must correctly provide their postal and permanent addresses.

Academic Details: CAT 2018 candidates need to enter their academic records in this section, like:

• Candidates’ scores of their class X/S.Sc./equivalent exams
• Scores of their class XII/H.Sc./equivalent exams
• Marks and other details of their graduation program
• Scores and other details of their professional programs and courses.

Candidates must remember that they will need to fill the details like their boards, subjects, aggregate marks/CGPA for each of the above sections.

Some More Details

Work Experience of the Candidates: Firstly, the CAT 2018 candidates who carry the work experience after their graduation, will mention it in the form. As a result, they need to fill the number of working months for which the criteria date is July 31^st,2018. That is, on the basis of July 31, 2018, the candidates will calculate their total months of work experience. In this section, candidates also need to fill the type of the industry, they have worked in. Also, we should remind the candidates that only a work-experience of their fulltime job, pursued after graduation, is required. Therefore, work experience detailing part-time jobs, internships, pre-graduation jobs aren’t applicable.

Programs Selected by the Candidates: Firstly, the candidates need to choose the IIMs/B-schools and the full-time management programs for which they want to apply. They also need to go for the interview city of their choice, provided in this section. The authorities of CAT 2018 will consider the candidates opting for IIM Indore, as eligible for IIM Mumbai also. But, the finalization of seats will depend on the admission criteria of IIM Mumbai. Also, the CAT 2018 candidates who opt to go with PGP/PGDM programs at the below-mentioned IIMs, should exercise a caution. They must choose the same interview city for all the selections:

IIM Raipur

IIM Udaipur

IIM Rohtak

IIM Kashipur

IIM Tiruchirappalli

IIM Ranchi

Details Regarding Payment

CAT 2018 Application Fee

Before finalizing the payment of the fee, candidates must review the form for any errors. If there is any, they must be sure to make it error-free. For this, CAT 2018 candidates must fill all the details in the form, most true to their knowledge. Hence, they must fill exactly the same details in the form, as have been provided in their documents.

Transaction Fee for CAT 2018 Application Form

Receiving Email of Confirming Submission of the Application Form

Subsequently, after filling and successfully submitting the CAT 2018 application form, the authorities will email the CAT 2018 candidates. This receiving of the email by the candidates means that their application form is successfully saved with the authorities. Furthermore, the email carries the details about the admit card and the “to-date “communication of the candidates with the authorities.

Online Corrections in CAT 2018 Application Form

Notably, the CAT 2018 authorities provide a chance to make corrections in the CAT 2018 application form for only one time. Also, this correction is only for the limited fields. This facility of correction is for a limited time which usually lasts for a day or two. The fields for which the authorities have permitted making corrections are only a selected few and not all of them. The CAT 2018 candidates can correct errors in the fields like work experience, marks %, and their selected programs. Candidates can’t correct fields like re-preferring exam cities/centers, academic details (leaving the % of marks), personal details.

CAT 2018 Exam Pattern

Firstly, the Common Admission Test is a competitive test of online mode. It spreads for a good 3 hours. Then, the test contains 100 questions made up of the objective multiple answered questions and non-multiple answered questions. The fields from which questions are drawn include the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Quantitative Ability (QA), Data Interpretation (DI) and Logical Reasoning (LR). Hence, to facilitate CAT 2018 candidates, a relevant table has been produced below. Here, the description shows the numbers, types of questions and the scores they carry:

Details of Providing Marks in CAT 2018

First, each question in CAT 2018 carries 3 marks. Then, 1 mark gets deducted for each answer given wrongly. However, there is no deduction for the non-MCQ questions. The non-MCQ problems are the ones that require to Type In The Answer in the online mode of the exam.

Syllabus for CAT 2018

CAT 2018 Notes and Sample Papers

Firstly, CAT 2018 candidates can avail the lucrative benefit of freely downloading the CAT 2018 study material in the form of notes and sample papers from EduGorilla’s repository. Rehearsing and practicing through this study material, will certainly provide the extra edge to CAT 2018 aspirants. We at EduGorilla promise you that you hardly will get the chance to get disappointed after visiting the marketplace of EduGorilla.

Regarding the Mock Test of CAT 2018

The authorized IIM for CAT 2018 – IIM Kolkata will make open the mock test papers in October last week. Rehearsing through these mock test papers consequently will benefit the CAT 2018 practitioners in getting familiarized with its online format. It will certainly help them in getting a beforehand idea of the actual test. Furthermore, the authorities will also provide an online calculator and timer for the test. Lastly, the aspirants must remind themselves time and again that the mock test is only a medium of practicing problems. They certainly must not take them as samples of actual problems. This is because there is very less sameness in both kinds of them.

Regarding CAT 2018 Admit Card

Firstly, IIM Kolkata will release the admit cards for CAT 2018 from October 24 to November 25, 2018. Consequently, CAT 2018 candidates will have to follow the full online procedure to download the admit card to take the exam. Notably, the admit card/hall ticket is one of the most needed things in an exam, that must be kept carefully. This is because with the admit card only a candidate gets permission to sit in the exam and take it. Also, this hall ticket is needed for many other purposes after the exam.

The Procedure to Download the Admit Card

• Visit the official website of CAT 2018.
• Enter your logging in licenses – CAT login/User Id and Password.
• CAT 2018 admit card will pop up on the screen.
• Download the hall ticket/admit card in the pdf format.
• It will be good for the candidates to print two copies of the admit card. in case one gets lost/spoilt, the other one can come in handy.

Issues in Downloading the Admit Card

Every aspect of CAT being online, CAT 2018 candidates probably can also encounter some problems when downloading the admit card. some of these problems and their solutions have been discussed below:

Forgetting Login Licences: It may happen that the User IDs and passwords of CAT 2018 candidates may get forgotten by them. In such a case, the candidates need to press the “Forgot Password?” tab. Pressing the tab will result in candidates receiving their User IDs and new passwords via their registered email IDs. The same can also be sent through the text messages on their phones.

Necessary Documents Required along with CAT 2018 Admit Card

Apart from having the hall ticket/admit card with them, CAT 2018 candidates need to have any one of the following photo-identity cards:

• Voter ID Card
• Aadhar Card (it will be best to carry with you)
• PAN card (if any, for Indian Nationals)
• Passport (essential for overseas candidates)
• The photo ID Card issued by candidates’ current educational institute or the employer.
• Driving License

The EXAM DAY Instructions

There are some advises and instructions for the CAT 2018 candidates. One expects the candidates to follow them for the smooth passing of the test. These are as following:

The hard copy (print out) of CAT 2018 admit card should be clean, clear and perfectly readable. Candidates need to pay attention that it doesn’t carry any smear/stain. If so happens, they must use the second copy or take another printout of the card.

CAT 2018 Candidates need to paste their colored passport-sized photograph in the admit card, in the space provided.

Candidates mustn’t sign in the space provided for signature. They need to sign in there in the presence of the invigilator.

Candidates must essentially verify the exam they are going to take and also the timing of it from the admit card. Reporting time for the first slot is 7:30 am. For the second slot, it is 1:00 pm. The candidates won’t be allowed to take the test if they fail to reach the exam center within the maximum point of time. This maximum point is of 8:45 am and 2:15 pm for the candidates of the I and II slots, respectively.

CAT 2018 candidates don’t need to carry anything else except their admit card and the photo ID cards. If the invigilators find any other material, it will simply be confiscated by them. Moreover, they will provide the candidates with pencils and rough sheets, for working out the problems.

Keep the CAT 2018 admit card safe with you as it is needed at the exam-center to take the exam. It is needed for further formalities in the case of their counseling and further proceedings after the exam.

Regarding CAT 2018 Exam Centers

Important Points in Selecting CAT 2018 Exam Centers

• CAT 2018 Candidates to choose a maximum of 4 exam-cities.
• CAT 2018 authorities to allocate the exam-center for the candidates, as per their preference.
• The authorities will assign a near-by/close exam-center if the exam-center of the candidate’s choice is not available.
• CAT 2018 candidates, therefore, must hurry to register themselves, as quickly as possible after the application process begins on August 8. Only then they can expect to get the exam-center and city of their choice.

New Exam Centers Added in CAT 2018

Regular Exam Centers for taking CAT 2018

CAT 2018 Results and Cut Offs

The exam holding authority – IIM Kolkata will announce the results of CAT 2018 most probably in the IInd week of January 2019. The candidates can know their results online using their CAT 2018 User Id and password. The results will consist of scores and percentiles of the candidates covered by them in the exam. There will be a general and section wise display of scores and percentiles in the scorecard/result card. The authorities at IIM Kolkata will also send the results/scores to candidates’ registered mobile numbers and CAT 2018 email IDs. We would like to remind/inform the candidates that their scorecards are legal for a period of one year (up to December 31, 2019) only. The table below mentions the category wise cut offs of the IIMs, for CAT 2017:

Result Dates of CAT 2018

A Sample of CAT 2018 Score Card

Calculation of Results in CAT 2018

Results/scores of CAT 2018 will be computed according to the marking scheme of the exam.

As per this method of marking, the authorities allow 3 marks for each correct answer.

The authorities deduct 1 mark, for each wrong answer.

Authorities have no provision of negative marking for non-MCQs.

Regarding CAT 2018 Percentile

CAT percentile is calculated on the basis of the marking scheme embraced by the IIMs. This equals to different methods of percentile calculation as there are different IIMs to hold the exam each year. A short description of this point is given below:

IIM Ahmedabad: This management institute provides 70% weightage to the CAT score obtained by the candidates. The remaining 30% is for the academic record of the candidates, their work experience, and co-curricular activities. On average, the cut off of IIM Ahmedabad is 99.5 percentile.

IIM Kolkata: 67% of the weightage is for the CAT score. 30% of the remaining is for the candidates’ academic records. The final remaining 3% is reserved for the girl candidates. Averagely, the cut off for IIM Kolkata is expected to be at 99 percentile.

IIM Bangalore: The management institute emphasizes the academic records of the candidates and their CAT percentiles. The percentile criteria of this institute are not considered to be very tough for the IInd round of shortlisting.

IIM Lucknow & IIM Kozhikode: These Institutions give 70 to 80% weightage to the CAT Score.

Other IIM Institutions: All the other Institutions give overall weightage to the CAT score.

The lowest percentile expected for a call from the new IIMs should be in the range of 96-97 percentiles.

Trends of CAT Results of Past Several Years

Details Regarding CAT Normalisation Process

• Through the process of normalization of CAT results, the authorities try to obtain similarity in different CAT percentiles. They try to equate the scores of the CAT candidates of both the slots of morning and afternoon. Thus, the authorities also make sure that none of the candidates of both the slots remain benefited or unbenefited for the scores. The CAT normalization process is the same as that used for computing GATE scores. Through the normalization process, the authorities look to bring fairness and equity to compare performances of the candidates studied under different test sessions.
• In the process, first, the authorities normalize the real raw scores of the CAT 2018 candidates. Later they use these normalized scores to calculate the percentiles of the candidates. The authorities don’t disclose a candidate’s raw score.
• The procedure makes adjustments in location and scale differentiations for different forms. The authorities carry out further normalization of scores across different sections.
• The authorities report and publish the final Scaled Scores (for each of the 3 sections of VARC, QA, DI & LR), the total and the percentiles of the candidates.

Scenario Post Declaration of CAT 2018 Results

Post the result-declaration process, the authority (IIM Kolkata) will announce the cut-offs, officially. Institutes participating in CAT 2018 will then begin the process of selecting candidates for the next round. This round consists of the Writing Ability Test (WAT), Personal Interview (PI), and Group Discussion (GD).

It is a fact that percentile cut off for CAT 2018 differentiate institute wise. Also, the IIMs and some reputed B – schools declare their admission criteria, along with the cut-offs, before result-declaration. But, contrary to it, quite a number of B – schools announce their cut-offs post the event of result-declaration. As discussed above, the finally selected candidates are called for the WAT, GD, and PI under the name of the Common Admission Process (CAP).

Regarding CAT 2018 Counselling

Hopefully, the process of counseling for CAT 2018 will begin in the month of January 2019. It must be noted that a common counseling process is not carried out by CAT authorities for final admission. Institutes that participate conduct their selection process separately. Nevertheless, the new IIMs carry out a Common Admission Process (CAP) for the candidates that have been shortlisted by new IIMs. Moreover, shortlisted candidates for 2018 CAT counseling by new IIMs need to appear for Personal Interview (PI) and Essay Writing (EW). Besides these new IIMs, other business schools do not execute CAT counseling process. They follow their own process for it.

Regarding Participating Institutes of CAT 2018

In CAT 2017, 115 B – schools from India and alone one from Singapore participated in the intake of the successful CAT candidates. The same story can be said about CAT 2018. Therefore it won’t be wrong to expect that 100 plus B – schools will participate in CAT 2018, of which 20 will be the IIMs. Reputed institutions like NITs, FMS Delhi, MANAGE Hyderabad, IISc Bangalore, MDI Gurgaon, SPJIMR Mumbai, IMT Ghaziabad adorn the list of the participating institutes.

Different IIMs and their Seat-Intakes in CAT 2017

Details Regarding Fee Details of Various IIMs

Regarding CAT 2018 Conducting Authority

The toll-free number for any query: 1800-266-0207

Or,

email at: cathelpdesk@iimcat.ac.in

Note: The toll-free number works from 9 am to 5:30 pm from Monday to Saturday. The number doesn’t work on Public/National holidays.

With the sea of these words, we the EduGorilla team, bid you all a good preparation for your upcoming opportunity to bell the CAT. Have a great time planning and studying!

Study Material for CAT 2018 :

• CAT Verbal Ability: Word Power Made Easy-Book PDF

• CAT Verbal Ability: Reading Comprehension-Book PDF

• CAT Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension-Book PDF

• CAT Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation-Book PDF

• CAT: Quadratic Equations-Formulae PDF

• CAT: Linear equations-Formulae PDF

• CAT: Inequalities-Formulae PDF

• CAT: Ratio and Proportion-Formulae PDF

• CAT: Number System-Formulae PDF

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