Common Admission Test or CAT 2024 is a dedicated entrance exam conducted by IIM in India. Considered to be one of the most competitive exams in India, the CAT exam follows a thorough admission and registration process. The CAT registration is completely online where students need to fill out the dedicated CAT form and submit it online as well. The link for the CAT registration is iimcat.ac.in which students can easily access. Starting from the first week of August, the CAT registration process continues till the third week of September every year. In 2024, the CAT form is available for registration till the third week of September 2024.
In order to register for CAT 2024, students need to provide various personal details like name, father’s name, past education records like mark sheets, and even submit the dedicated registration fee. Valid ID proof, passport-size photo, and signature need to be uploaded as well for the registration. Students need to upload their caste certificate and disability certificate as well in case of specific situations. All the documents for CAT registration and personal information are verified by the concerned authorities. Therefore, students must provide correct information. The CAT registration fee must be paid as well which is INR 2400 for the general category and INR 1200 for the SC/ST and PWD category. Students opting for CAT registration will be provided with a correction window as well where they can make any changes to their CAT registration form. The window for correction in the CAT registration form will open in the fourth week of September 2024 tentatively.
Key Points for CAT Registration
CAT registration is an online process. All the important documents for CAT registration and personal information must be uploaded correctly by the candidates. Students must therefore take proper precautions in filling in the information and uploading documents. Following are the key highlights related to CAT registration that students must read and understand:
CAT registration mode
|
Online
|
CAT registration fee
|
INR 2400 for the general category
INR 1200 for the SC/ST/PWD category
|
Mode of payment
|
Debit Card/Credit card or online banking
|
CAT registration link
|
iimcat.ac.in
|
Important documents
|
- 10+2 pass certificate
- Bachelor’s degree certificate
- Recent passport-size photograph
- Scanned signature of the candidate
- Caste and disability certificate
|
The following table provides information about the key CAT registration dates that students must keep in mind:
CAT registration starting date
|
3rd August 2024 (tentative)
|
CAT form last date
|
September 20, 2024 (tentative)
|
Opening date of CAT form correction window
|
Fourth week of September 2024
|
CAT exam date
|
2024 November 24, 2024 (tentative)
|
The dates mentioned above are completely tentative. The actual dates will be announced on the official website of the IIM. Therefore, students are recommended to keep themselves updated about the CAT application dates.
CAT eligibility criteria
All the candidates opting for CAT registration must fulfil dedicated CAT eligibility criteria. After verification of all the documents and personal information, the application will be considered by the statutory authority. Students must refer to the following mentioned CAT eligibility criteria before going further with the registration:
- Candidates must be citizens of India. Foreign nationals and NRIs are even permitted for the CAT registration.
- Candidates must possess a bachelor's/graduate degree in a relevant discipline from a recognized university. Moreover, he or she must score at least 50% in aggregate in their bachelor/graduate program to be eligible for the CAT registration. Students belonging to the reserved category (SC/ST and PWD) must score at least 45% marks in their graduate program. Students in the last year of their bachelor's program are even allowed to register for the CAT examination.
- Candidates with a professional degree like ICAI, ICWAI, and ICSI are eligible for CAT registration in 2024
- Candidates of any age group can apply for the CAT registration. There is no upper age limit for the CAT application.
- Candidates are also provided with the flexibility to apply for the CAT registration any number of times without any kind of restriction. The CAT exam does not put any kind of limit on the number of attempts by the students. However, past scores will not be considered for admission into universities, B schools, and IIMs for the current admission process in 2024.
- Candidates also do not require any experience for CAT registrations. However, candidates with work experience receive an extra edge and benefit at the time of admission into the top business schools and IIMs.
Apart from all the guidelines related to CAT eligibility criteria mentioned above, candidates must keep in mind to fulfil the specific eligibility criteria of universities and institutes. IIMs, business schools, and other universities have their eligibility criteria related to work experience, entrance exam, marks/percentage, etc. which students must fulfil.
CAT Registration Fee
The candidates can refer to the below table for information about the card registration fee:
Category
|
Fees
|
General/EWS and OBC
|
INR 2,400
|
SC/ST/PWD
|
INR 1200
|
Candidates can make the payment for the CAT form fee online through various modes. These are as follows
- Debit card
- Credit card
- UPI
- Net/Internet banking
The CAT form fee once paid is not refundable and transferable
CAT 2024 Registration Guide
After understanding all the necessary details concerned with the CAT application, documents for CAT registration, and fees, we can move further towards providing details related to the CAT registration steps. CAT registration is possible only through an online medium. The following mentioned steps must be followed for CAT registration:
Enrol yourself for CAT registration 2024
- All the candidates must enrol themselves for the CAT registration by visiting the official website.
- Candidates must then click on the register button to fill in the necessary credentials. Registration as a new candidate tab must be clicked for the first-time registration candidates.
- A page consisting of all the necessary details related to eligibility will pop up on the browser window. Students must read all the information provided before moving further with the registration process.
- Personal details like name, date of birth, country, email address, and mobile number must be filled in the registration boxes by the candidates. The candidates will receive an OTP on their registered email address which they must verify to move further.
- The captcha code must be entered and submitted. Candidates are encouraged to verify all the details before moving further to the next step.
- After reading the declaration form, the candidates must take the I agree box to complete the enrolment process. The candidates will then receive their application number on their registered email address and mobile number.
Fill out your CAT registration form
After enrolment/registration for the CAT exam, candidates must then fill out the CAT registration form. All the important details must be provided and filled in by the candidates. The step-by-step process for filling out the CAT registration form has been mentioned below:
- Candidates must go to iimcat.ac.in using their browsers and navigate to the login section for the registered candidates.
- User ID/application number along with password must be filled sent to the registered candidates on the registered email address. Captcha code must be filled in as well as a security mandate.
- After successful login, all the application details and information will be shown on their computer screen which must be verified by the candidates. After verification, candidates can click on the go-to application option.
- At this step, candidates must fill in details like.
- First name
- Last name
- Father’s name
- Mother’s name
- Spouses name
- Date of birth
- Gender
- Nationality and category
Candidates must tick the option whether they belong to the PWD category or not.
- In new section for providing information about the Covid vaccination has been included in the application form which these students must complete as well.
- Residential address, city, state, country, pin code, email address, and mobile number must be provided as well. An emergency contact along with the relationship with the person is to be provided by the candidate.
- Candidates are then required to upload a scanned copy of a passport-sized photograph, signature, and category certificate. All the important rules, regulations, and details concerned with the digital upload of the documents for CAT registration will be mentioned that students must adhere to.
- Academic details concerned with the 10th and 12th exam board, marks, month of completion, maximum marks, and marks obtained and average percentage must be filled in by the candidates.
- At this step, candidates must enter the information about their bachelor/graduate program. These details include
- Bachelor’s degree duration
- The current semester in which the candidate is studying
- Name and type of university
- The degree name like B.Com
- Discipline
- Course commencement year and month
- Probable month and year of completion
- Marks scored in the bachelor’s program
- Candidates with dual bachelor/graduate degrees must provide information about the same as well.
- Students currently studying or having completed their master’s program must provide the necessary details as well. Information about a professional program like CA or CS must be entered in the application form. Work experience details must be provided by the candidate as well if any.
- In the next step, students must select the program he or she wishes to pursue. Students receive the flexibility to tick the box for their preferred course mentioned on the CAT application form.
- Candidates have to select the city for the interview according to their preference. Candidates can fill up to two interview cities for every program selected at a time.
- Candidates then must select the city according to their preference for taking the CAT exam. Up to 6 cities can be selected in the order of the preference of the candidates.
- In the last step, candidates must verify all their details and move further to the payment process.
Make a payment for the CAT registration form
- After filling in all the necessary details and information in the application form, the candidates must pay the CAT form fee. Candidates need to fill in the declaration details and instructions, fill in the capture code, and click submit. Here they will be redirected to the payment page.
- Students belonging to the general category have to pay INR 2400 for the CAT form fee. On the other hand, candidates belonging to SC/ST and PWD categories have to pay INR 1200 for the CAT application.
- Candidates at this step have to choose from the available payment options. UPI ID for UPI, bank details for net banking, and debit/credit card details for debit/credit card payment must be filled in according to the candidate’s preference.
- After making the payment, candidates will receive a confirmation email on their official email addressing a successful registration completion.
Following these steps can help with the completion of the final registration for the CAT exam 2024. Candidates must however keep in mind to make the payment after filling out the registration form to complete the registration process. Applications without any payment will not be accepted by the statutory authority.
Documents Required for CAT 2024 Registration
Students must be aware of the important documents that must be submitted before the CAT registration last date. Soft copies of the documents need to be uploaded by the candidates. These are as follows:
- Class 10th and 12th mark sheet
- Bachelors/graduation mark sheet
- Date of birth certificate
- Address proof
- COVID-19 vaccination proof
- Final year bachelor’s degree certificate for students in the last year of their degree
- Passport size photograph
- Digital signature
- Category and disability certificate if applicable
- Work experience proof documents
- Credit card/debit card details for payment
Photo Size Guidelines for CAT Registration
The latest passport-size photograph has to be uploaded by the candidates to complete the CAT registration process. Following are the guidelines related to the scanned passport-size photograph that students must adhere to at the time of upload:
Scanned Passport Size Photograph
|
Recent passport-size photograph (Not more than six months old)
|
Dimensions
|
1200 x 1200 pixels
|
Format
|
JPG or. JPEG
|
Resolution
|
Not less than 150 pixels per inch
|
File size
|
Less than 1 MB/ Not more than 80 KB
|
Which Documents are Uploaded with the CAT Registration Form?
Following is the list of the important documents and their dedicated guidelines to be uploaded for CAT registration:
Documents
|
Guidelines
|
Passport Size Photograph
|
- Recent photo
- Dimensions - 1200 x 1200 pixels
- Format - jpg or .jpeg
- Resolution – not less than 150 pixels per inch
|
Scanned Signature
|
- Dimensions - 80mm X 35mm
- Format - .jpg or .jpeg
- Clear white background
- Resolution - not more than 80 KB
|
NC-OBC/SC/ST Certificate
|
- Download the caste certificate
- Self-attest
- Online upload of scanned copy as a PDF document
|
PwD Certificate
|
- Download the PwD certificate
- Self-attest
- Online upload of scanned copy as a PDF document
|
Final Year Certificate
|
- Upload the Final year certificate
- At least 50% marks and 45% in case of SC/ST/PWD candidates
- Certificate format can be downloaded from iimcat.ac.in
|
Students can use online compression tools to reduce the size of the files for online document upload.
Guidelines for Reserved Students
Reserved category students like SC/ST and PWD must follow the below-mentioned guidelines for a hassle-free CAT registration process:
- Candidates must first identify their respective caste/tribe by visiting the official website for Backward Class.
- Reserved category form specifying their category status is essentially at the time of CAT registration. Candidates have to download and upload their official SC, ST, OBC, and PWD category certificates in PDF format from the CAT website. Moreover, the document should be self-attested.
- Candidates with a disability have to follow the same process as well. The certificate for disability must be downloaded, filled, and uploaded. Also, it should be scanned, self-attested, and uploaded in PDF format.
- Candidates must also select the PWD category in the CAT registration form. Any special requirements like wheelchair support must be selected as well.
- Candidates can even take the help/assistance of a scribe. A dedicated scribe affidavit form must be downloaded from the CAT registration website, filled out, and uploaded by the candidate before the CAT registration last date.
- Candidates should not wait for the CAT form last date for registration. Timely registration and upload are necessary.
Common Errors to Avoid in the CAT Registration Form
In case of any errors or discrepancies in the CAT registration form, candidates can take the benefit of the CAT registration correction window. Any error can be rectified when the window opens. However, students must keep in mind the following points to avoid any errors:
- Use of the correct email ID and phone number by the candidate. Official and latest email ID and phone number must be provided to get the latest updates and information.
- Candidates must take proper precautions while selecting their interview and test city preferences. Once allotted, candidates cannot change their test city. Also, the selection must be made in the order of their preference with their current city of residence taking the first place.
- Care must be taken to select IIMs on the CAT registration form by identifying their eligibility criteria.
- Candidates must provide accurate academic details for class 10th and 12th board and bachelor's degrees. Accuracy is essential as the business schools and IIMs will consider these academic scores at the time of admission.
- Work experience and category certificates (SC, ST, and PWD) must be uploaded with the CAT registration form.
- The CAT admit card is issued after the payment for CAT registration by the candidate. Upon payment, candidates receive an acknowledgement number on their mobile number and email ID which they must check to ensure successful payment.
Form Correction for CAT 2024
A special application form correction window opens after the CAT registration last date i.e. CAT registration ends. Candidates receive the option to make the following changes in their application:
- Passport size photograph and signature with better resolution
- Test City preference
- Uploaded documents
The following steps can be followed to make CAT form corrections:
- Login on iimcat.ac.in using candidate user ID and password
- Selection of the application form
- Navigate to the section for changes like photo, signature, and test city preference
Enter the Captcha code and click submit for completion of the correction