CAT Exam 2024: Admit Card, Exam Dates, Preparation, Exam Pattern, Syllabus, and Cut off

CAT Exam Highlights 2024

The CAT exam is a competitive exam conducted by IIMs for entrance into their MBA Program. Every year lakhs of students appear in the exam for admission into IIMs, and other Business schools like FMS Delhi, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras Goa, MDI Gurgaon, and SP Jain. Major CAT exam highlights have been listed below:

CAT 2024 Important Dates

The CAT exam is held every year on the last Sunday of November. Moreover, the Indian Institute of Management or IIM serves as the conducting body for the exam as well. According to the data, the CAT Exam 2024 will be conducted by IIM Calcutta. The following table provides information about the registration, exam, and result date necessary for student consideration:

All the candidates must mark their calendars with the CAT exam Registration, Admit card release, and actual exam date to avoid any kind of confusion or discrepancy.

CAT Examination Eligibility                                           

The CAT Exam 2024 requires candidates to fulfil the eligibility criteria. Though there is no upper age limit for the candidates, students need to fulfil CAT exam eligibility criteria to appear in the exam. The CAT exam eligibility has been tabulated as below:

Candidates who possess professional degrees like chartered accountancy can even appear for the exam as well. The final-year students are eligible to appear for the exam as well. The final admission is based on the final year marks scored by the candidate in their bachelor's program and the CAT score.

CAT Registration 2024

CAT Exam 2024 registration dates start from August 4 to September 20, 2024. Students must follow the following steps to complete the CAT exam registration:

• Visit the official website. 
• Navigate to the registration tab and click on it 
• Candidates are required to enter personal details like name, city, state, etc. Academic information like 10+2 and bachelor's marks must be provided as well.
• Candidates have to input their preferences concerned with city and slot timing. 6 city options are given starting with the highest city preference along with 3 slots.
• Digital copies of passport-sized photographs, signatures, and other essential documents like mark sheets must be uploaded as well. 
•  A CAT exam fees of INR 2400 must be submitted for general category Candidates and INR 1200 for ST and SC category candidates.

After successful registration, candidates receive an official confirmation on their email address. On the date of admit card release, students must download their admit card as well providing information about their candidate number, exam date, and slot. 

CAT Exam Admission Process 2024

The candidates who wish to appear for the CAT exam must fulfil the minimum eligibility criteria of possessing a bachelor's degree. He or she has to register for the CAT exam as well. After appearing for the exam, the governing authority i.e. IIM Calcutta releases the cut-off list for various IIMs and business schools. The following procedure is followed for the admission process:

1. Candidates are shortlisted based on their performance in the CAT 2024 exam. The percentile list is released which students must clear to move further with the admission process. For example, a candidate must score at least 92 percentile forgetting admission into IIM Udaipur. 
2. After clearing the cut-off list, students are invited for the group discussion and written ability test. Group discussions are conducted between the candidates on various topics followed by a written ability test to understand the language, grammar, and communication skills of the candidate. 
3. The candidate who clears the GD and WAT rounds moves for the personal interview with a dedicated panel. Interviewers assess the candidate based on various aspects like communication skills and past academic records etc. 
4. The final list of selected candidates is released based on their performance in the CAT exam and previous academic records. Overall performance in group discussions, personal interviews, and written ability tests are considered as well. Candidates with past work experience are given extra points. Candidates belonging to a particular category and women candidates are given preference as well for selection.
5. Candidates after clearing all the rounds are selected for a particular Business School or IIM for their selected program like MBA.

CAT Exam Syllabus 2024

The CAT Exam syllabus for the MBA is divided into 3 sections. These include:

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)

The section contains questions that test the proficiency of the students in the English language. Language, grammar vocabulary, and various other concepts are tested.

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)

Data interpretation and logical reasoning help the examination to understand the thinking ability of the candidates. Logical reasoning, critical thinking, and interpretation skills are tested through questions based on bar graphs, diagrams, and puzzles. 

Quantitative Ability (QA)

Quantitative Ability helps in the analysis of the arithmetic accounting and mathematical skills of the students. As a management student, the candidate must possess an understanding of various mathematical concepts like arithmetic, geometry, and algebra which are analysed through the questions in this section.

The following table provides information about the CAT exam syllabus for MBA containing the type of questions and concepts that students must understand, practice, and go through thoroughly 

CAT Exam Pattern for 2024

The CAT exam is divided into three sections containing a total of 66 questions. 40 minutes are provided to the students to complete the three sections giving a total of 2 hours to the student to complete the CAT exam. Being a time-based exam, students have to complete each section within the provided time. For example, the first 40 minutes are allotted to verbal ability and reading comprehension. After the end of the first 40 minutes, the page refreshes itself to the second section of logical reasoning and data interpretation. 

The CAT exam pattern contains a total of 66 questions which are divided into the following -

According to the above table, each question carries 3 marks making the total 198 marks for 66 questions. Moreover, the questions are a mix of MCQ and non-MCQs. Non-MCQ questions are type-in-the-answer or TITA-based questions that require candidates to type the answer rather than selecting the option. Approximately 16 to 17 questions are TITA type while the rest are MCQs.

CAT Exam Cut-Off 2024

Indian Institute of Management or IIM is the statutory body that conducts as well as releases the CAT cut-off every year. Students need to clear the cut-off list to get admission into IIMs and other business schools. The shortlisted candidates have to go through a selection procedure like personal interviews and written exams to complete the admission process. The CAT exam cut-off 2023 for various IIMs is as follows:

CAT Exam Preparation Strategy

The CAT exam for MBA requires thorough preparation on behalf of the candidates. Proper knowledge about various concepts, types of questions, and continuous practice are required to clear the exam as well as the dedicated cut-off for admissions. A proper strategy must be created and followed to get a higher percentile and therefore secure a position in the top IIMs and other business schools. The following tips can prove beneficial for the candidates and serve as a preparation strategy for each section:

Logical Reasoning

To solve the questions based on logical reasoning, candidates have to understand the importance of practice. Previous year question papers must be analysed to understand the type of questions put forward. Moreover, questions based on topics like blood relations, games tournaments, and arrangements must be solved regularly to improve the overall thinking ability. Various books and practice papers are available that students can take the help of for solving the logical reasoning-based questions.

Quantitative Aptitude

Quantitative Aptitude-based questions are based on the understanding of mathematical concepts. Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, and various other topics are included in the quantitative aptitude section. Moreover, students must analyse and find the topics based upon which most questions are listed in the exam. For example, work and time, profit and loss, percentage, and average are some topics that carry more weight than others.

Data Interpretation

There is no set pattern for the data interpretation-based questions. Candidates must solve more questions and practice as much as they can to become proficient in the data interpretation-based questions. Type, level of difficulty, and diversity can be understood through continuous practice.

Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

Candidates are encouraged to practise reading passages from various sources like newspapers, books, and magazines. Speed reading and comprehension are essential to solve questions based on a passage. Carrying the maximum weightage, Reading Comprehension-based questions require daily practice, understanding of English vocabulary, and solving previous year's papers. Verbal Ability questions like para jumbles and sentence completions also need English Language proficiency and an understanding of vocabulary that can be built through reading and building a habit of reading and comprehension.

Mock tests also serve as a beneficial tool in the journey of CAT exam preparation. Mock tests help students understand the actual exam pattern. Moreover, the candidates get a real picture of the type and difficulty of questions in the CAT exam. Problem-solving and time management skills are built through the mock exams. 

Candidates must also realise the importance of negative markings. One must answer all the TITA-based questions as these do not carry any negative marking. Also, each question must be allocated a certain time to ensure exam completion within the specified period.

Cat Previous Year Question Paper

The CAT exam for MBA requires understanding and knowledge about various concepts like mathematical concepts, English Language proficiency, and data interpretation skills. CAT's previous year's question papers serve as the best source for the candidates to get an overview of the type and difficulty of questions. Solving previous papers helps the candidates understand the CAT exam 2024 exam pattern as well. Also, one can comprehend and narrow down the most important topics for clearing the CAT exam as well. Question trends and frequently asked questions can be understood through the previous year's paper.

CAT Previous Year Paper Analysis

Major CAT previous year exam paper highlights are as follows:

• The previous year's question paper for CAT 2023 contained 66 questions in total.  
• All three slots were almost similar in terms of type and difficulty of questions. 
• The Quantitative Aptitude Questions in Slot 2 were slightly more difficult than last year. The number of numerical geometry questions was low as compared to the previous year and slot 1 exam. 
• The Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section had a slight change. The odd sentence questions made a comeback but were solvable.

Overall, the paper was of moderate difficulty with QA being the most difficult as compared to older papers.

Here is the analysis table of the CAT 2023 paper for MCQ and NON-MCQ questions:

CAT Examination Marking Scheme

The CAT examination marking scheme is as follows:

Also, the CAT exam follows a ratio of 3:1 for MCQ and NON-MCQ-based questions. The most important part about the exam marking scheme is that there is a negative marking. For every wrong answer 1 mark is deducted which reduces the whole score and ultimate percentile. Only the MCQ questions carry negative markings. The TITA-based questions do not carry negative markings.