MBA is one of the most lucrative and sought-after Post-Graduation courses for graduate students belonging to any stream. It is so famous because it is known to cut short the climbing of corporate ladder and makes an individual reach the top comparatively easily, since managerial skills are mostly required at top positions. Hence it is imperative that MBA(CAT 2020) is considered to be among the best career paths for management-aspiring students post graduation.
The National Institutional Ranking Framework(NIRF) India Rankings 2020 for various categories was released by Ramesh Pokhriyal on June 11,2020. The rankings have been done amongst all the MBA colleges across India. The IIMs(Indian Institute of Managements) have always maintained top rankings in India in this regard.
First we need to know more about the CAT Exam before starting to prepare for it. According to latest updates, CAT is conducted by the IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) once every year. Each year one IIM gets selected to prepare the question paper for CAT Examination and to conduct the exam procedure. In 2020 the exam will be conducted by IIM Indore, the date of examination has been fixed to November 29, 2020. (this date is only tentative and is liable to further future changes keeping in mind the current pandemic situation.)
Common Admission Test or CAT 2020 exam notification was announced on July 29 along with the exam schedule. The CAT exam is conducted by one of the IIMs on rotational basis and is a gateway to India’s top MBA institutes, the IIMs and over 1,200 other business schools.
HIGHLIGHTS OF CAT 2020—EXAM DATES, EXAM PATTERN, ELIGIBILITY
▪Exam date- CAT 2020 is scheduled to be held on the date of 29th November, 2020. Exams will be held across 156 cities all over India.
[Depending on COVID-19 situation, the schedule of Gate 2021 may be altered.]
▪Mode of Exam- CAT 2020 will be an entirely Computer Based Test(CBT), it will be conducted in 3 slots, with 60 minutes allotted for each. The 3 sections test the following abilities of the aspiring candidates, namely, Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC),Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) & Quantitative Aptitude (QA).
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CAT 2020 Eligibility Criteria-
a)Candidates having a graduation degree with minimum 50 per cent aggregate or equivalent CGPA (45 per cent for Reserved category) can apply for CAT 2020
b)Candidates who have completed professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA) with minimum 50 per cent aggregate or equivalent (45 per cent for reserved category)
c)Candidates in their final year of graduation degree are also eligible to apply for CAT exam (provided all the other criterion are met).
Registration and Application process
CAT 2020 Registration is an online process where the candidates are required to fill an online application form and pay the requisite amount of fee money to register for the examination. Registration procedure for CAT 2020 have already started on 5th August, 2020. The last date to register is 16th September, 2020.
Given below is a detailed stepwise description of how to do the same.
- Open CAT 2020 website at iimcat.ac.in
- Click on ‘New Registrations’ as visible on the screen
- Enter personal details such as the likes of name, nationality, gender, date of birth, mobile phone number and email ID
- An OTP will be sent via email ID and SMS to the entered mobile number
- Use that OTP to authenticate phone number and email ID. This is done for safety verification purposes
- Upload scanned signature and image in prescribed dimension and make fee payment to complete the CAT registration process.
CAT Registration Fees:
| Category | CAT fees |
| General/NC-OBC | INR 2,000 |
| SC/ST/PWD/EWS | INR 1,000 |
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CAT Exam Pattern:
| CAT exam pattern: Highlights | |
| Exam timings | Slot 1: 9 AM to 12 PM; Slot 2: 2 PM to 5 PM |
| Number of sections | Three |
| Names of the sections |
|
| Duration of exam | 60 minutes per section (Total 180 minutes) |
| Language of question paper | English |
| Total number of questions | 100 |
| Section-wise number of questions |
|
| Number of answer choices | Four |
| Type of questions | MCQs and Non-MCQs |
| Section-wise difficulty level |
|
| Total marks | 300 |
| Marking Scheme |
|
Exam Syllabus:
CAT 2020 syllabus will include important topics from the following three sections:
- Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
- Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)
- Quantitative Ability (QA)
Since the exam is conducted in online mode, the candidates cannot choose the order of sequence to solve the questions. The total number of questions is 100. Section-wise, the questions are usually divided among the three topics as follows:
34 questions- for VARC
34 questions- for DILR
32 questions- for QA
Declaration of Result:
Results for CAT 2020 are most likely to be announced in the second week of January, 2020.The result cum scorecard will be available for download on the official website of the IIMCAT. The CAT 2020 result cum scorecard will contain each candidate’s scaled scores (sectional and overall) and percentile (sectional and overall). The CAT 2020 result will be valid for admission to MBA batch of 2021-2023.
Following the announcement of result, IIMs will begin shortlisting of candidates for admission. There is no indication of change in schedule due to COVID-19 pandemic as of now.
