Undoubtedly, the mother of all B-school entrance examinations, CAT has the widest coverage in quantitative, verbal and reasoning areas of testing. It also has the reputaion for throwing up surprises every year. Proficiency in all the sections is essential for getting call from any of the IIMs. That’s because you need to score above an unspecified cut-off in each section in order for your examination to be valid.

CAT 2006 Pattern

For Example, CAT 2006 was relatively simpler compared to the CAT exams held in last few years. Especially Quants and DI section were simple and the top scorer in individual section is likely to be one who got all the questions correct in the respective section. There were 75 question in CAT 2006 to be done in 2.5 hours. CAT 2006 had 3 Sections, each with 25 Questions (There were a few errors also in the questions). Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and DI/ Reasoning. For once, many felt the Quant (quantitative analysis) section was easier than on previous occasions. But Verbal was a bit tricky. Fifteen of the 25 questions in this section were dedicated to reading comprehension, a time-consuming aspect of CAT.

Also the number of choices in this multiple-choice paper were increased from four to five.

Some programmes (other than the flagship full-time PGP) offered by IIMs have special eligibility requirements. For example, IIM Ahmedabad’s PGP in Agri-Business Management (PGP-ABM), IIM Banglore’s PGP in Software Enterprise Management (PGSEM), IIM Calcutta’s Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Aided Management and IIM Indore’s Executive Post-Graduate Programme in Management have special eligibility requirements

For Eligibility and other important Info Check out COMMON ADMISSION TEST (CAT 2008) Notification

CAT 2005

CAT Pattern

The pattern of this test has often been changed in the past. 2005 test included the following: three sections—data interpretation / reasoning, quantitative analysis, and reading, comprehension/verbal ability.

Duration: 2 hours

Total number of questions: 90

Total marks: 150

Negative marking: 1/3 of the marks allotted to a question is docked if the answer is wrong

DI/Reasoning

Number of questions: 30

Marks: 50

Quantitative Analysis

Number of questions: 30

Marks: 50

Reading Comprehension/Verbal ability

Number of questions: 30

Marks: 50