CAT Exam: Admit card, Exam Pattern, Syllabus & Preparation; Countdown begins

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
October 15, 2018
CAT Exam Count Down has started. Hardly 45 days left for CAT 2018 exam day. This is right time to gear up for the exam preparation. A high score in CAT 2018 can give you an admission chance in one of the 20 IIMs. Before the exam, IIMs will release your CAT Admit card and official CAT Mock Test. All the top IIMs have announced their admission criteria and cut off requirement for admission
CAT Exam

Countdown to CAT Exam has begun. The largest MBA entrance test will be conducted by IIM Calcutta on November 25, 2018 in two slots. CAT 2018 is a computer based test of 3 hours duration but it is not an online test. The exam will offer admission opportunity to 20 IIMs and other top MBA/PGDM colleges like FMS Delhi, SPJIMR Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon among others.

The application process for CAT exam has already closed on September 26, 2018 after an extension of a week’s time in last date to apply. There are around 147 cities and around 600 test venues where CAT 2018 will be conducted.

There are hardly 45 days left for CAT 2018 exam day. This is right time to gear up for the exam preparation. A high score in CAT 2018 can give you an admission chance in one of the 20 IIMs. Almost all the top IIMs have announced their admission criteria and cut off requirement for admission to their flagship management programmes.

CAT 2018: Time Lines & Key Activity
The next three most important activities regarding CAT exam, to be taken by IIM Calcutta are:

  • CAT 2018 Admit Card on October 24, 2018
  • CAT 2018 Official Mock Test on October 28, 2018
  • CAT Exam 2018 is on November 25, 2018

How Important is CAT Admit Card?
CAT 2018 admit card is your passport to the CAT exam day. It is mandatory to carry the CAT admit card to exam centre. You are required to download your CAT Admit card from CAT website. The admit card will be available for download from 1PM onwards from October 24, 2018 till the CAT exam day.

After completing the CAT Admit Card 2018 download process, you should take a print of the Admit Card on A4 size paper, check all your details including test venue, test time, reporting time. You should also affix your photograph on the CAT admit card in the given space. Please also keep your photo ID ready as per the instructions in the CAT 2018 Admit Card as you will have to carry the same alongwith your CAT admit card to the CAT exam centre.

Please go through all the CAT exam day instructions in the CAT admit card and ensure their compliance.. Read More about CAT Admit Card

CAT 2018: Exam Pattern Revised
CAT 2018 exam pattern despite being on the lines of last year CAT can be revised with the changes in sectional composition of question pattern, sectional weightage, number of MCQ and Non-MCQ questions among others.

CAT 2018 will have 3 sections – Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC); Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA). The composition of questions carrying negative marking and the questions without negative marking is likely to change in CAT 2018 exam. However, total number of questions in CAT 2018 will remain 100 and will have to be solved in 3 hours duration.

All the sections have almost equal weightage with a slight difference. It is high time that CAT 2018 preparation should be put on fast track whether with coaching or self as per the CAT exam pattern without any delay.. Read in Detail the CAT 2018 Exam Pattern

CAT 2018 Syllabus: Important Source of Preparation
CAT exam syllabus goes on changing every year with the change in sectional composition, question composition and pattern, weightage to topics. During the last 4-5 years CAT syllabus has substantially changed. There are many topics in CAT syllabus which do not exist in CAT syllabus any more as there have been no question on them for last 3-4 years. On the other hand, the weightage on many topics in CAT syllabus has increased. For example, VARC section has less Verbal Ability questions now while RC based questions have increased  significantly and now have 70% weight in VARC section.

It is necessary that CAT exam preparation should be in accordance with the CAT syllabus as it is the right document on which the pace of CAT preparation is based.. Read here the complete CAT Syllabus

CAT 2018 Preparation: 10 Important Tips  
The time to prepare for CAT 2018 is short now. If you are preparing self or preparing for CAT with the help of coaching, you need to know the essence of CAT preparation:

  1. Till the CAT 2018 Exam day change yourself to Mission CAT Mode
  2. Prepare as per the CAT Syllabus and CAT Exam pattern
  3. Solve variety of Verbal Ability Questions
  4. Improve your Reading speed for RC Passages
  5. Check your strong & weak areas in Quant and improve
  6. Take the right approach to prepare for Data Interpretation
  7. Understand the Logical Reasoning and Practice More
  8. Read the best CAT preparation Books
  9. Solve more CAT Mock Tests & Previous Test Papers
  10. After taking Each Mock Calculate your score and improve further

CAT 2018: Key Facts

  • More than 2.41 lakhs candidates have applied for CAT 2018
  • IIMs will offer admission to about 6000 candidates based on CAT 2018
  • CAT 2018 Result will be declared in the second week of January 2019
  • Around 9 IIMs will conduct Common Admission Process after CAT 2018 result is declared
  • All the IIMs will finalize their admission merit list without any role of any other IIM

Apart from the 20 IIMs including IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Calcutta, and the newest IIMs, other top rated MBA colleges in India namely FMS, SPJIMR, MDI, MI, IMT, NITIE, Management departments of IITs, TAPMI among others will also accept CAT 2018 scores for admission to their flagship programme 2019-21.

CAT 2018: Minimum scores for IIMs
All the IIMs will adopt different parameters in admission 2019. While IIMs would need high sectional as well as overall CAT 2018 scores, other B schools like FMS, SPJIMR would also consider overall and sectional CAT 2018 percentile.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2018