CAT 2019

What is CAT?

Common Admission Test or CAT is the most popular management entrance exam in India. It is a national-level test that is conducted every year by the Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) on the policy of rotation to shortlist candidates for admission to the MBA programs at IIMs. Apart from IIMs, the result of the CAT score is accepted in over 1000 institutes.

• The CAT is a computer-based test that is designed to assess a candidate’s aptitude skills in the sections of Quantitative Ability (QA), Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DI& LR).
• The entire exam is conducted in two sessions(Morning and Afternoon) on the same day.
• All applicants get 180 minutes to complete the CAT paper that consists of 100 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Type in the Answer (TITA) questions.
• CAT scores/percentiles are a prerequisite for candidates seeking admission to the MBA courses of several colleges. The percentile obtained by a candidate in each section and overall determines the shortlisting of the candidates for the next rounds of graduate management programme’s admission.
• The shortlisted applicants are called to attend the second stage of the MBA admissions process: the Group Discussion (GD), Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI).
• Only applicants with valid CAT scorecard will be eligible for appearing in this stage. The CAT scores also play an important part in a candidate’s selection in the final merit list as all colleges give a minimum of 20% weightage to the CAT index score.

CAT 2019 Highlights

Registrations for CAT 2019 opened on 7th August and lasted till 18th September 2019. The 2019 CAT was conducted by IIM Kozhikode.

• CAT 2019 was held on 24th November 2019 in 2 sessions across 156 cities.
• The total duration of the computer-based CAT 2019 was 3 hours.
• The paper contained 100 questions that were divided into 3 sections: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Ability.
• The sectional time limit set for each section was 1 hour. The difficulty level of the paper remained from moderate to difficult. The VARC section contained trickier questions as compared to the QA and DILR sections.

The results of CAT 2019 were announced by IIM Kozhikode on 4th January 2020. While 10 candidates managed to obtain the perfect 100 percentile, 21 applicants secured 99.99 percentile. As of the fourth week of January, several management institutes like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta has published the list of shortlisted candidates for the Group Discussion (GD), Written Ability Test (WAT) and Personal Interview (PI) stage.

CAT 2019 Important Dates

*Can vary from college to college

CAT 2019 Eligibility Criteria

According to the official notification of CAT 2019, candidates meeting the following criteria are eligible to appear for CAT 2019:

• Must have a Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized institution with a minimum of 50% marks or equivalent CGPA.
• Applicants belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Persons with Disability (PwD) categories must obtain a Bachelor’s Degree with a minimum of 45% marks or equivalent CGPA.
• Students awaiting results or appearing for their final year exam of Bachelor’s degree are also eligible to apply for CAT 2019.
• Applicants with a professional degree like CA/CS/ICWA are can also apply.

What is the minimum/maximum age limit for CAT?

One can give as many attempts he/she wishes to when it comes to CAT. There is no minimum or maximum age limit for the CAT. All applicants meeting the eligibility criteria can appear for the exam.

CAT 2019 Admit Card

The admit card for CAT 2019 was available for download from 23rd October 2019. Candidates were required to download and take a print out of the admit card on an A4 size paper. It is mandatory to carry the admit card on the day of the exam. Failing to do so will deem an applicant ineligible for appearing in the exam.

Details mentioned in Admit Card: Name, Registration Id, Test Shift, Test Date, Test Center Name and Address, DOB.

1.   Documents Required on CAT Exam Day

• CAT 2019 Admit Card along with the affixed photograph.
• Original and Verified ID (Voter Id, Aadhar, Passport, PAN Card, etc)
• For PwD candidates- Scribe affidavit.

2.   CAT Exam Centers

The CAT 2019 exam was held in 156 cities across India. The applicants had to report by 7:30 am for the morning session and by 1:00 pm for the afternoon session. The state-wise list of Exam Cities are as follows:

CAT 2019 Result

Answer Key

The official answer key was released by the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode on 29th November. The candidate response sheet was also released along with the answer key. The answer key displayed the correct option along with the wrong responses for all 100 questions. Applicants willing to determine their score can compare the official answer key with their response sheet. Applicants could also raise objections to the answer key till 6th December 2019.

CAT 2019 Result

IIM Kozhikode declared the results of CAT 2019 on 4th January 2019. Applicants can download the scorecard by logging in to the official website of CAT 2019. The scorecard will be valid till 31st December 2020. The result of CAT 2019 will be accepted by more than 1000 management institutes.

Ten candidates obtained the 100 percentile and 21 candidates secured 99.99 percentile. All the toppers were from either technological or engineering background.

CAT Cutoff

The CAT cut-off is the minimum criteria of institutes to shortlist applicants for the GD/WAT-PI rounds. The cut-off for each B-schools differs as per several criteria. Factors determining CAT 2019 cut-off are:

• The total number of candidates appearing for the exam.
• The total number of qualifying candidates.
• The difficulty level of the exam.
• The intake capacity of an institute.

Cut-offs of top MBA colleges

Selection Process

Many management schools accepting CAT scores will publish the shortlist for WAT/GD-PI rounds starting from the second week of January 2020. Each institute will send the call letter by email to the shortlisted candidates. The list is determined by the CAT percentile of applicants.

The second stage of the admission process can include Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD) and Personal Interviews (PI). The process and weightage component of the GD/WAT-PI stage vary for all institutes. It is mandatory to attend this stage to be eligible for the final merit list.

Colleges can also use other factors like academic performance, work experience, gender and academic diversity of candidates in shortlisting and preparing the final list of candidates at different stages of the selection process.

Documents needed for Verification

Candidates have to bring the following documents on Interview Day for verification:

• Original Marksheets of 10th, 12th and Bachelor’s Degree
• Professional Certificate (if any)
• Work Experience related documents like Joining Letter, certificate, payslips (if any)
• Original Caste Certificate (if applicable)
• Valid Id issued by government like Aadhaar/Voter ID/ Pan Card
• CAT Scorecard
• Others