IIM CAT 2018 Notification unleashed: Online Registration to commence on 8th August

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta has released the official notification for Common Admission Test (CAT) 2018. Prof Sumanta Basu of IIM Calcutta, being the convenor will conduct the CAT 2018 on behalf of 20 IIMs on Sunday, November 25, 2018.

This year the exam will be held in 147 centres across the country (including 5 newly added ones). The syllabus for CAT 2018 remains unchanged, which is of great relief for those who had been preparing it for a year now.

The CAT 2018 entrance examination is held for admission to these 20 IIMs and more than 100 institutes across India:

Centres: Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Bodh Gaya, Calcutta, Indore, Jammu, Kashipur, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Nagpur, Raipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Sambalpur, Shillong, Sirmaur, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur, Visakhapatnam.

Know your Eligibility

Candidates must have a completed Bachelor's degree from any recognised university under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 of India with at least 50 per cent marks or equivalent CGPA for General Category

Candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste [SC], Scheduled Tribe [ST] and Persons With Disability [PWD] categories) can apply with at least 45 per cent marks

Candidates appearing for the final year of Bachelor's degree/equivalent qualification examination and those who have completed degree requirements and are awaiting results can also apply

Further, candidates can get more details on eligibility criteria once the official notification is released on iimcat.ac.in.

How to Register?

As per the notification, the online registration for the CAT 2018 will begin on August 8 and will continue till September 19.

- Candidates can log in to iimcat.ac.in

Open the online registration form

Fill out the form and upload all necessary documents

- Pay the registration fees (INR 1900 for General and NC-OBC candidates and INR 950 for SC, ST and PWD category candidates)

CAT is held to test your merit and skills to allow you to pursue various courses related to the HR, Finance, Marketing domain etc. from the most prestigious business schools of the country

Courses offered by IIMs are:

Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management

Post Graduate Programme in Management

Post-Graduate Programme in Food and Agribusiness Management

Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management

Post Graduate Programme in Securities Markets

CAT exam paper consists of 3 sections with a total of 100 questions. Candidates get a total time of 180 mins (60 mins for each section) to finish the test.

The test will have three sections namely:

Section I: Verbal ability and reading comprehension

Section II: Data interpretation and logical reasoning

Section III: Quantitative ability

What lies ahead after qualifying the CAT?

Qualifying CAT does not ensure your entry into the coveted institution like IIMs. Cut-offs are released by individual colleges. The candidates falling into the cut-off bracket can apply for admission. The candidates are then screened through various methods like Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD), followed by a Personal Interviews (PI) round for allowing them entry to the institution.

Important dates:

Registration process: August 8

Registration ends: September 19

Admit cards download begins: October 25

Test day: November 25

Declaration of results: Second week of January 2019

If you are willing to take part in CAT 2018, yet have not started preparing yet, you can browse through the guidelines laid down in this article for assistance.