CAT 2016 registration process begins

The registration process for the CAT has already begun on the official website iimcat.ac.in.

The registration process for the Common Admission Test (CAT) has already started on August 8 at the official website iimcat.ac.in. The Indian Institute of Management will be conducting the examination on December 4, Sunday, as per scheduled.
 
Interested candidates need to have a Bachelor's degree in any discipline with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Persons With Disability (PWD) categories) from a recognised institute/university.
 
Candidates in their final year or awaiting results can also apply. If selected, will be allowed to join the programme provisionally, only if they submit a certificate from the Principal / Registrar of their University/institution (issued on or before the date as stipulated by the respective IIM) stating that they have completed all the requirements for obtaining the Bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification on the date of the issue of the certificate.

 

Registration and fees

The exam will be conducted in 138 cities. Candidates will be given the option to select four cities as options for test, in order of preference. Test cities and centers will be assigned to the candidates only after the last date for CAT 2016 registration.
 
According the official notification, IIM Bangalore, Convener, CAT 2016, Prof. Rajendra K. Bandi, has assured that candidates will be allotted examination centre in their first preferred city and they need not rush to block slots and sites in the initial days of registration. In case it is not possible, the authorities will be assigned another city following the given order of preference. In the rare case that a candidate is not allotted any of the preferred cities, he/she will be allotted to an alternate city. However, candidates will not be able to select the session because it will be assigned randomly. Details of test centres will be made available from October 18 onwards at the official website only.

 
Candidates from General/OBC category need to pay Rs. 1700 as application fee, while SC/ST/OBC applicants need to pay Rs. 850 only. The registration fee can be paid only through online mode, including Credit Card, Debit Card, and Net Banking.
 
Here is a step-by-step guide to register

1.      Log on to the official website iimcat.ac.in

2.      Click on Register Now button

3.      Fill in the required details including name (exactly as it appears in 10th standard / SSC certificate), date of birth, email address, country, mobile number in the space provided

4.      Read the declaration and click on the I Agree check box

5.      System generated user id and password will be mailed to the registered email id

6.      Use the id and password to open the application form

7.      Fill in the requisite information in prescribed format. The Application Form is categorized into the following sections: Personal details, academics, work experience, programmes   

8.      Make the payment

9.      Submit the application

10.  Take printout for future reference

Dates to remember

Online registration starts	August 8, 2016 from10:00 AM
Online registration ends	September 22, 2016 till 05:00 PM
Admit card download	From October 18 2016, 1:00 PM till Exam Day
Test date	December 4, 2016 (In two sessions: forenoon and afternoon)
Result announcement	In second week of January 2017 (Tentative)

Examination details
CAT 2016 will be conducted in two sessions, forenoon and afternoon, on one day. Two different test forms shall be administered in the two test sessions. In order to ensure fairness and equity in comparison of performances of the candidates across different test sessions, the scores of the candidates shall be subjected to a process of normalization
 
The selection of candidates will be done on the basis of Written Ability Test (WAT), Group Discussion (GD) followed by Personal Interviews (PI) round.
 
The duration of the examination will be 180 minutes. It will be divided into three sections:

1.      Verbal ability and reading comprehension
2.      Data interpretation and logical reasoning
3.      Quantitative ability
 
Candidates will be allotted exactly 60 minutes for answering questions in each section and they cannot switch from one section to another while answering questions in a section. In each section, some questions may not be of multiple-choice type. Instead, direct answers are to be typed on the screen. Basic on-screen calculator for computation will be allowed.
 
Tutorial to understand the format of the examination will be available on the CAT website from October 18, 2016. Candidates are advised to work on the tutorials, available on the website, well in advance.

 
CAT 2016 results
The CAT 2016 results will be tentatively available starting second week of January, 2017 on the official website. The list of candidates shortlisted for the next level of selection will be made available on the website of the respective IIMs. Each IIM will send interview letters to the shortlisted candidates directly.
 
Although performance in CAT 2016 examination is an important component in the admission process, IIMs may additionally use other factors like previous academic performance of the candidates, relevant work experience and other similar inputs in short listing and ranking of candidates at various stages of the admission process. The processes, academic cut-offs and the weights allocated to the evaluation parameters may vary across IIMs.

 
Queries and issues

Candidates can contact the helpdesk over mail or phone in case of queries on any matter related to CAT 2016.
Contact Information:

Help desk email ID: cathelpdesk@iimcat.ac.in

Help desk number: 1-800-266-3549 (Monday to Saturday 09:00 a.m. to 05:30 p.m.; not available on National / Public Holidays)

Correspondence Address:
CAT Centre 2016C/O
Admissions Office IIM Bangalore
Bannerghatta Road
Bangalore 560 076
Contact Number: 080-2699 3388