By Om Deshmukh

Indian institute of Management located in 6 cities of India are the asset for India in Management studies. These institutes are top ranking & highly reputed in Business World. The MBA degree from these institutes is mighty in management streams. The average packages offered to students of these B-Schools is around 10 lakh INR p.a. in India & around US$200000 p.a. abroad.

To get admission to such reputed institutes is not a easy task. The exam called Common admission test or CAT is entrance exam for these B-Schools. This exam is one of the toughest exam in Asia. The CAT tests English, maths & reasoning of the candidate. More than this its a nerve testing exam. After written test GD & PIs are the next hurdle to get into IIMs.

The CAT is held once a every year in November. Besides IIMs, many other B-Schools accept CAT score for admission to their Management programs.

There are three sections in CAT exam. Quantitative section, Verbal ability & reading comprehension section & last one is Data Interpretation. The quantitative section is all about Maths, the areas tested are geometry, mensuration,numbers, & coordinate geometry. Speed, approach & accuracy are key to crack CAT.

For CAT one should know extensive theory & almost all concepts. you have to pick & choose certain areas that you are master of because of time limitations. Many steps of complex calculations required.

What Does CAT Tests?

Your logical & verbal abilities through type of questions. Your ability to make strategy for format of test, sectional cut-offs, differential marking & time constraints.:-)

The MBA CAT changes its question pattern over years. The number of questions has been reduced & the type of question are quite same. If you look at CAT history, in CAT 1992, there were 4 sections of 175 questions. In CAT 1995 the number of questions increased to 185. In CAT 1996 the number of sections was reduced to 2 & number of questions remained same. In CAT 1999, the pattern again changed, with 3 sections & 165 question. In 2004 number reduced to 123 & diffirent marking was introduced. In CAT 2005, CAT brought down the number number of question drastically to 90. For more on CAT exam visit CATMBABLOG