Date of Issue: Sunday, August 30, 2009
Date of exam: November, 28, 2009
Last Date for Submission: Thursday, 1 October 2009
Examination name : Common Admission Test (CAT) – 2009
Further detail:
www.catiim.in

Prospective candidates must maintain a valid email account throughout the selection process.

Application procedure:

The CAT 2009 Vouchers can be obtained from branches of Axis Bank and their associated outlets during the period from Wednesday, 9 September 2009 to Thursday, 1 October 2009 for Rs 1400/- (Rs 700/- for SC/ST candidates). Please note that a candidate needs to buy only one CAT 2009 Voucher irrespective of the number of institutes he / she is applying to.

Note that the Voucher must be bought only in the name of the candidate as it appears in the school leaving certificate. If the name has been changed due to events such as marriage, the candidate must show the relevant document such as a marriage certificate and submit a photocopy at the time of the test, interview and at the time of joining a programme. SC and ST candidates must show a copy of their SC/ST Certificates at the time of obtaining the CAT 2009 Voucher from the Axis Bank branches.

Voucher once sold cannot be refunded under any circumstance including but not limited to loss of voucher, inability to read voucher number due to mishandling of the voucher by candidate, candidate being ineligible for taking CAT, CAT not being a pre-requisite for a programme, and rejection of candidate registration due to incomplete and / or wrong information. If the voucher is lost, voucher number is not readable due to mishandling of the voucher by candidate, and / or candidate thinks he / she has made mistake(s) in filling out information during the online registration, then the candidate can purchase a new voucher and re-register online.

REGISTRATION FOR CAT:

On purchasing the CAT 2009 Voucher, prospective candidates must log on to the website www.catiim.in to register for CAT 2009. The registration window starts on Wednesday, 9 September 2009 and will close on Thursday, 1 October 2009. Details of the registration process are provided at the website given.
Programme Offered
A. Post Graduate Programmes in Management

* IIM Ahmedabad PGP, PGP-ABM and PGP-PMP
* IIM Bangalore PGP, PGSEM and PGPPM
* IIM Calcutta PGP-PGDM and PGP – PGDCM
* IIM Indore PGP and EPGP
* IIM Kozhikode PGP
* IIM Lucknow PGP and PGP•ABM
* RGIIM Shillong PGP

B. Fellow Programmes in Management (FPM) [equivalent to Ph.D.] of IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Indore, IIM Kozhilwde, and IIM Lucknow.

Test Centers & Test Pattern
The test will be conducted in venues across many centres. These centres are Ahmedabad. Bangalore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi. Durgapur, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, Patna, Pune, Ranchi, Siliguri, and Varanasi. IIMs reserve the right to change or cancel any test venue /centre and / or change the test window time and dates at their own discretion.

The duration of the test is 2 hours and 30 minutes including initial 15 minute tutorial. No breaks will be given during the test. The test consists of questions that evaluate a candidate’s quantitative, verbal, and logical & data interpretive abilities. Therefore, there are a total of three sections in the test. There will be about 60 to 70 questions in the test.

At the test venue, each candidate will be seated at a desk with a computer terminal and he/she will be provided with a scratch paper for calculations. After the test, candidate must leave the scratch paper at the desk. Rough work cannot be done on any other paper/sheet, as nothing will be allowed inside the testing room.

Important Dates

Sale of CAT Vouchers : Wednesday, 9 September 2009 – Thursday, 1 October 2009

Registration for CAT 2009 : Wednesday, 9 September 2009 – Thursday, 1 October 2009

CAT Test Dates : Saturday, 28 November 2009 – Monday, to 7 December 2009

CAT Result : Friday, 22 January 2010 onwards

Rescheduling Window : Wednesday, 9 September 2009 – Thursday, 1 October 2009

CAT tests the skills of candidates in five broad areas i.e., verbal ability and reasoning, reading comprehension, quantitative skills, data interpretation, and analytical and logical reasoning.

The duration of the test is of 120 minutes. The number of questions asked in Common Admission Test vary every year and a typical CAT question paper can have anywhere between 75 and 150 questions.
All the questions are of multiple-choice nature with four/five alternate answer choices and the candidate has to choose the best answer for each of the questions and mark it on a special Optical Reader answer sheet.
For every correct answer, one mark is awarded and for every wrong answer, 1/4th of a mark is deducted. Differential marks are allotted to the questions. A question may be of 0.5 marks, 1 mark or 2 marks.

The CAT consists of questions that evaluate a candidate’s quantitative, verbal, logical and data interpretive abilities. The test booklet contains several sections. Each section contains several items/questions. Directions are given for each group of questions in each section of the test. Read them carefully, skipping the directions may lead to mission the main idea and losing credit for some questions in that section. Applicants are free to work on the sections in any order and to demonstrate competence in all the sections of the test. Wrong answers carry negative marks.

The first stage of CAT is a paper-based exam with multiple choices. Spread over 4 sections, the test is for 2 hours or 120 minutes. The total number of questions varies from 150 to 180 and generally it is considered very tough to attempt all the questions. It is best not to expect a preset pattern of question paper, as CAT pattern is slightly unpredictable. You may have 48 seconds to answer a question. Negative marking for incorrect answers (1/3rd of the marks allocated) is an integral part of CAT evaluation.

Quantitative Aptitude (QA): Arithmetic, algebra, geometry are the topics covered to analyze your quantitative skills.

Data Interpretation and Logic: Data in the form of Caselets, pie diagrams, line graph, bar graphs are provided. 4-6 questions based on basic mathematics evaluate candidate’s skill in interpreting the given information.

Data Sufficiency: Can be part of Quantitative section or Data Interpretation sections. A problem will be given followed by a question and two statements. Evaluation is based on analyzing whether the questions can be answered based on the information that forms part of the two statements.

Verbal Ability, reading comprehension: Tests your vocabulary, English grammar/usage and verbal reasoning. This section consists of 6-8 passages of 4500-5500 words. You will have to answer 50 questions in 30 minutes.

The second stage is a personality assessment test. Those candidates who qualify through written test are eligible to go through two stages of personality assessment. Subsequent to the written test, on the basis of their performance in the CAT, scholastic achievement and relevant work experience, candidates will be short-listed for the interview. The assessment includes group discussion, leadership tests, case study and personal interview.

For Practice of CAT Exam Please Click the following link :

CAT Multiple Choice Questions for Practice