The CAT or the Common Aptitude test is conducted by the IIM's for all the MBA aspirants who are seeking admission in the top notch management institutes in the country. This test is conducted by the IIM's every year in the month of November.
Any graduate of any stream may it be commerce, science, arts, engineering or medical is eligible to give the Common Aptitude test when he is in his last year of graduation. Students having completed their education need to have secured atleast 50% and above to be eligible to sit for the exam. This percentage is relaxed to 45% in the case of SC's, ST's and PWD's.
There used to be 6 IIM's in all namely namely Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkatta, Lucknow, Indore, kozhikode. Shillong is yet to join the list in the next few years. The Government wants to set up more IIM's in the country. Several other colleges other than the IIM"s are also affiliated with CAT.
Students studying in their final year of graduation need to show the proof of them having scored more than fifty percent in their previous exams. They, thus need to approach their college principal and get an application saying that the student has secured the desired percentage which makes him/ her eligible for taking Cat.
This exam which takes place in the month of November is the most challenging and unpredictable and it throws a surprise every single year. The test can be of about 2-2and a half hours and generally has 3 sections which test your Verbal Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Data interpretation and Logical Reasoning skills. After the CAT exams students are short listed for Group Discussions and Personal Interviews.