Common Admission Test (CAT) Entrance Examination

Entrance Examination for admission to various IIMs.

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is jointly conducted by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) - Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow. Some of the most prestigious Indian Business Schools such as SP Jain, MICA, and T A Pai also take CAT score as an important criteria for their selection process.

Eligibility

Students who have completed their graduatation or who are going to complete their graduation the following year are eligible to apply and appear for the CAT Examination.

CAT Syllabus

The syllabus for the CAT Examination changes every year (or is tentative to change). Generally, questions from the following categories are frequently have appeared in the past: Verbal ability and reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative skills, Data Interpretation and Analytical and Logical reasoning.

Examination Dates

The CAT examination is generally conducted on the second Sunday of December. However, the previous Common Admission Test (CAT) was held on Sunday, November 20, 2005

Scholarships/Financial Assistance

It is the endeavour of all IIMs that no student be denied opportunity to pursue the Post-Graduate Programme in Management for want of adequate financial resources. Substantial need-based scholarships are available for students belonging to economically disadvantaged families. (Please see the write-up on each IIM in the CAT Bulletin for details.)

Reservations

As per Government of India requirement 15% and 7½% seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates, respectively. 3% seats are reserved for Persons with Disability (PWD). The three categories of disability are: a) low-vision/blindness, b) hearing impairment, and c) locomotor disability/cerebral palsy.

Examination Centers

Ahmedabad, Allahabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, Patna, Pune, and Vishakhapatnam.

Generation information on selection process

The examinations were conducted in a very strict sense and have the reputation of being one of the best exam conduction and student selection system round the world. One IIM Director once said that he received letters from ministers and high authoritians but he categorically declined them all. This shows that even an IIM Director could not influence the selection process.

SCHOLARSHIPS IN THE ADITYA BIRLA GROUP

THE ADITYA BIRLA GROUP (SCHOLARSHIPS)

The Aditya Birla Scholarships is an endeavour to encourage students who have the potential to emerge as tomorrow’s value-based leaders. By teaming up with select IITs, BITS (Pilani) and IIMs, The Aditya Birla Group strive to incubate extraordinary well-rounded leadership talent that also factors the ground realities of our nation.

Selection Procedure: The selection process entails inviting the top 20 students from each of these premier institutes. The applications of aspiring students’ are evaluated on parameters pegged not only on their academic excellence but also on their extracurricular activities, the demonstration of their leadership qualities and an articulation of their values, their social vision and their aspirational goals.

IIMs hike price of CAT application forms

New Delhi: Inflation seems to have hit even the Common Admission Test (CAT) which is conducted by the elite Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs).

The IIMs have increased the cost of application forms by Rs.200 for general category & OBC students and by Rs.100 for SC/ST candidates for CAT 2008.

Common Admission Test Notification 2008

Last year the form was priced at Rs.1,100 for general category candidates and Rs.550 for reserved category candidates.

The cost was increased in 2004 and 2005 to Rs.1,100 and Rs.1,200 respectively for general category and Rs.600 for SC/ST candidates.

The Common Admission Test (CAT) brings in large revenues for the IIMs.

A report by the V.K. Shunglu Commission had said that IIM-Ahmedabad netted Rs.168.96 lakhs in the 2002-03 CAT against Rs.4.25 lakhs in 1991-92.

At IIM Bangalore, the collection was Rs.247.07 lakhs, while the expenditure was Rs.51.4 lakhs.

1.72 lakhs students appeared for CAT 2006 and the number increased to 2.07 lakhs last year.

The IIMs have also confirmed that the Common Admission Test (CAT) will not be conducted online this year, as was thought earlier.

Subrata Mitra, admission chairperson at IIM Calcutta said, "Though we are in talks with several agencies for conducting the test online, it will be a pencil-paper test this year."

IIM in Shillong inaugurated

Shillong: The seventh Indian Institute of Management started imparting lessons here on Friday, becoming the first IIM in the northeast. Meghalaya Chief Minister Donkupar Roy would do the formal inauguration in the evening.

The institute, which would connect the region with the world's growing marketing and management realities, is named Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management (RGIIM). It will functioning in the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) campus for the time being.

"This is a dream fulfilled for the people of the region and we hope this prestigious institute would contribute to the manpower of tomorrow, not only in the northeast, but also in the whole country and abroad," the chief minister said.

IIM Shillong is the seventh IIM in the country after Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode.

Initially, 60 students, who cleared the the Common Admission Test (CAT), will attend the institute's flagship programme - Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM).

The intake of students will be subsequently increased to 120 in the third year and 180 in the sixth year. The permanent campus, currently under construction, is spread over a sprawling 120 acres provided by the Meghalaya government.

"The institute would provide a new impetus to the quality management education in the northeast with its mission of modernising and globalising the country through the promotion of higher education," Roy said.

The institute would later introduce courses like tourism and hospitality management, tele-services and telemedicine, information systems and technology, and subjects such as horticulture, besides hydel power. IANS

IIMs confirm - No online CAT this year

New Delhi: The Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) have confirmed that the Common Admission Test (CAT) will not be conducted online this year, as was thought earlier.

Subrata Mitra, admission chairperson at IIM Calcutta said, "Though we are in talks with several agencies for conducting the test online, it will be a pencil-paper test this year."

Common Admission Test (CAT)

The official CAT-IIM website says, "An article appeared in Business Standard dated February 4, 2008 which gives an impression that a decision has been taken that the IIMs will introduce online CAT from CAT 2009. This is totally incorrect. In view of increasing number of candidates, the IIMs are considering various alternatives for modifying the process of conducting CAT, if necessary. Online testing is one of those alternatives. The proposals are at a preliminary stage of discussion."

The decision of conducting the test online will impact thousands of students, who, each year appear for the highly competitive entrance exam at centers across the country, with the ambition of making it to the hallowed corridors of IIMs.

Read More:

- CAT may go online very soon

- Bell the CAT online from November 2009