• CAT 2018 Exam: Nov 25

The detailed notification for CAT 2018 will be released in July/August. 

The CAT 2018 question paper will consist of the following sections:

Section	Questions	Time
Quantitative Aptitude (QA)	34	60 minutes
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)	32	60 minutes
Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC)	34	60 minutes
Total	100	180

Candidates will be given 180 minutes to answer the questions. Each section is allotted 60 minutes. The candidates cannot choose any section to start with or switch from one section to another. They will have to follow the question paper chronologically, from section 1-3. 

Some questions in each section may not be of multiple choice type, thus the answers will have

to be typed on the screen.

Use of basic onscreen calculator will be allowed for computation.

CAT analyses the skills of the aspirant in four sections: Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability, Logical & Analytical Reasoning and Data Interpretation. It is also a test of time management.

1. Mathematics or Quantitative Section 

Some of the core concepts in maths and quant subjects are: 

 

Geometry	HCF & LCM	Averages
Trigonometry	Algebra	Partnership (Accounts)
Mensuration	Profit & Loss	Time-Speed-Distance
Ratios and Proportion	In-equations Quadratic and linear equations	Surds and Indices
Number system	Geometric Progression	Inequalities
Work and time	Percentages	Logarithms

 

2. English or Verbal Section

Promiment topics in this section are:

Fill in the blanks	Verbal Reasoning	Sentence completion
Grammar	Syllogisms	Jumbled paragraphs
Para Completion and inference	Contextual usage	Foreign language words used in English
Reading Comprehension	Analogies	Sentence correction
Verbal Logic	Different usage of same word	Idioms
Parajumbles	Antonyms	One word substitution

3. Analytical Reasoning Section

Important topics under AR are: 

Blood Relations	Series	Proposition
Direction Sense	Coding-Decoding	Assumptions
Puzzles	Clocks and Calenders	Statements
Data Arrangement	Family Tree	Binary Logic
Seating Arrangement	Venn Diagram	Sets
Data Structures	Syllogism

4. Data Interpretation Section

Problems related to organised and unorganised data are quite common in this section. Core topics are as follows:

 

Tables	Pie Charts	Caselets
Bars	Line Graphs	Data Sufficiency

 

 

The CAT results are announced by the IIM which conducts it in a particular year, in the first week of January. The scorecards are made available for download on the official CAT website, from where candidates can access their results by using their login IDs and password. Following the trend, CAT 2018 results are also likely to be announced in January 2019.

The CAT 2017 results were announced by IIM Lucknow on January 8, 2018.

Admit card for CAT 2018 will be available for download from the scheduled date till the examination date. Registered candidates can download their admit cards by using their login ID and password.

The test takers must download their admit cards and take a printout of it before the last date as no hard copies will be sent by post.

Admit card is a mandatory document to be carried to the exam hall. Any candidates found without the admit card will not be allowed to take the test. Thus, the candidates must keep their admit cards safe.

To download the admit card, a candidate needs to follow the below mentioned steps:

• Visit the official website: Click Here
• Enter registration ID and password
• Once logged in, click on CAT 2018 Admit Card tab
• Download the admit card
• Take a print out of the admit card

The admit card will carry following details:

• Candidate’s name
• Category
• DOB
• Registration Number
• Date and time of exam
• Instructions regarding exam

The candidates must check the information printed on the admit card and incase of any error, must immediately contact the exam conducting body to get it rectified or obtain a duplicate card.

Paste a recent passport size colour photograph on the admit card and sign it.

Candidates appearing for the exam must ensure that they preserve the admit card even till the end of admission process.

Candidates also need to carry an identity proof along with the admit card to the exam centre. They are advised not to carry mobile phone, calculator, IPad or any other gadget to the exam hall. Anybody found carrying any such article will be barred from the exam. 

In the first ever, CAT has allowed test takers to file objection if they find any discrepancy in the answers of CAT 2017 question paper. The examination conducting authorities released the question papers of CAT 2017, answer key and objection form on December 7, 2017. This is the first time since 2009 that CAT questions, answer keys and objection forms have been issued. In 2009, CAT moved from offline mode to online mode and since then no original question papers have been released.

It is quite likely that CAT will continue with releasing the answer keys in the coming years too. CAT 2018 aspirants can hope that they will also get the opportunity to register their objections, if any, with the exam conducting body.

This this a golden opportunity for CAT 2018 test takers to tally their answers and file objection if any to ensure they get appropriate marks. In the absence of answer keys, it was nearly impossible for candidates to judge their own performance and they had to wait till the final result declaration to actually know how they performed. This step taken by CAT authorities will help lakhs of candidates in analyzing their performance and make better admission related decisions.

The test takers can access the answer keys and objection from by using their CAT login ID and password. The window to file objection is open only for two days (till Dec 9, 2017). The objection can be filed with payment of Rs 1000 as fees.

Final CAT 2017 result was announced on January 8, 2018. 

The campuses of Indian Institute of Management fix their own minimum cut off percentile to screen candidates for admission. The cutoff remains high every year (90-100). However, final offer of admission is based on the composite score of candidate’s academic performance, CAT score, GD/PI score and other aspects.

According to reports, IIM Ahmedabad fixed 81.53 percentile as the minimum cut-off for General category students for AWT-PI round for 2018-2020 batch. Actual cut offs for rest four institutes are not known yet.

IIM Bangalore’s stage 2 of admissions will be held between February 12 and March 17, 2018. According to reports, some candidates with less than 95 percentile have been shortlisted for the WAT-PI round.

Before the announcement of the test result, all the IIMs announce their admission policy for the year with detailed explanation of composite score, normalization process, marks relaxation for reserved category students, etc.

Candidates are selected on the following parameters:

• CAT score
• Class 10 score
• Class 12 score
• Graduation score
• Gender diversity
• Academic diversity
• Work experience

Minimum cut-off (overall and section wise cut-offs) for reserved category students is lesser than General category students.

Mentioned below are IIM cut-offs of previous years:

IIM Ahmedabad:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	0.426	80	80	80	80.02
NC-OBC	0.414	75	75	75	76.46
SC	0.361	70	70	70	72.75
ST	0.293	60	60	60	61.58
DA		70	70	70

 

IIM Calcutta:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	35.9	80	80	80	95.6
NC-OBC	31.75	75	75	75	75
SC	28.59	65	65	65	56.01
ST	10.89	60	60	60	35.21
DA	25.24	65	65	65	40.07

 

IIM Indore:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	75.34	80	80	80	90.01
NC-OBC	66.96	70	70	70	80.08
SC	63.42	55	55	55	61.38
ST	34.05	45	45	45	50.03
DA	41.47	45	45	45	50.59

IIM Bangalore:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	57.2	85	80	80	NA
NC-OBC	48.14	75	70	70	NA
SC	38.84	70	65	65	NA
ST	27.08	60	60	60	NA
DA	37.14	60	60	60	NA

IIM Kozhikode:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	64.91	85	80	80	95.57
NC-OBC	47.57	70	70	70	81.54
SC	40.62	50	50	50	68.46
ST	30.5	40	40	40	55.23
DA	25.2	40	40	40	63.38

 

IIM Shillong:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	70	70	70	93.56
NC-OBC	NA	70	70	70	93.56
SC	NA	60	60	60	64.79
ST	NA	50	50	50	56.37
DA	NA	50	50	50	53.95

IIM Kashipur:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	80	80	80	96
NC-OBC	NA	72	72	72	78
SC	NA	60	60	60	60
ST	NA	50	50	50	42
DA	NA	50	50	50	40

IIM Raipur:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	80.06	80.38	80.02	96
NC-OBC	NA	60.08	61.64	60.29	78
SC	NA	50.9	51.89	50.47	60
ST	NA	30.07	30.9	30.69	42.07
DA	NA	30.07	30.9	30.69	40.19

 

IIM Udaipur:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	80	80	80	96.13
NC-OBC	NA	72	72	72	78
SC	NA	60	60	60	61.93
ST	NA	50	50	50	46.77
DA	NA	50	50	50	63.56

IIM Rohtak:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	222.37	80	80	80	97
NC-OBC	199.31	70	70	70	85.06
SC	160.92	45	45	45	75.04
ST	168.58	40	40	40	60.3
DA	186.52	40	40	40	74

 

IIM Trichy:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	80	80	80	96
NC-OBC	NA	60	60	60	78
SC	NA	60	60	60	60
ST	NA	40	40	40	42
DA	NA	40	40	40	40

 

IIM Ranchi:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	80	80	80	96
NC-OBC	NA	72	72	72	81
SC	NA	60	60	60	75
ST	NA	50	50	50	65
DA	NA	50	50	50	65

 

IIM Bodhgaya:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	80	80	80	96
NC-OBC	NA	72	72	72	81
SC	NA	60	60	60	75
ST	NA	50	50	50	65
DA	NA	50	50	50	65

IIM Sambalpur:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	80	80	80	96
NC-OBC	NA	70	70	70	65
SC	NA	55	55	55	50
ST	NA	45	45	45	30
DA	NA	45	45	45	30

IIM Nagpur:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	80	80	80	90
NC-OBC	NA	72	72	72	81
SC	NA	60	60	60	75
ST	NA	50	50	50	65
DA	NA	50	50	50	65

 

IIM Amritsar:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	70	70	70	94.9
NC-OBC	NA	58	58	58	75.09
SC	NA	50	50	50	55.42
ST	NA	30	30	30	36.83
DA	NA	30	30	30	35.33

 

IIM Visakhapatnam:

Category	Composite score	VRC (%ile)	DILR (%ile)	QA (%ile)	Total
General	NA	85	80	80	90
NC-OBC	NA	75	70	70	80
SC	NA	60	60	60	75
ST	NA	50	50	50	55
DA	NA	50	50	50	55

CAT 2018 Application Procedure

CAT 2018 application form is to be submitted online with payment of application fee through Credit Card, Debit Card or Net Banking. 

CAT registration process is a three-step online process. 

The three step registration process involves – registration, log in and filling the application form. After registering, applicants have to fill the application form on the official website.

As per the rules:

• Candidates will have four options to select the test cities in order of preference. Candidates need not to rush during the initial registration days to block slots.
• Candidates do not have the option to choose exam centre. They will be granted their first preferred city as test centre. In case, they do not get the first preference, the same process will be repeated for the second, third and fourth preferred city. 

Test Fees

The registration fee is Rs 1800 for General and NC-OBC candidates and Rs 900 for SC/ST/PWD (DA) categories. 

Mode of Payment

The test fee can be paid via Debit/Credit cards or through internet banking. 

To register for CAT 2018, the aspirant will have to log in to the official website as new user. On successful registration, user ID and password will shared with the aspirant on email. Thereafter, the applicants can fill the form using the user ID and password.

Candidates will have four options to select the test cities in order of preference. Candidates do not need to rush during the initial registration days to block slots.

Candidates will be given their first preferred city. In case, they do not get the first preference, the same process will be repeated for the second, third and fourth preferred city. It will be allotted by CAT Centre on random basis. Candidates do not have the option to choose.

Things to keep in mind:

• Do not leave vacant any field that is marked mandatory
• Incomplete forms will be rejected
• Enter correct information as if any information is found to be incorrect, candidate’s admission can be cancelled
• Cross check all the information filled thoroughly before hitting submit/save key
• Once submitted, the form cannot be edited