WHY IS MBA THE MOST COVETED CAREER OPTION FOR MILLIONS?

Updated On : 18 Feb, 2022

MBA is a formal program in Management/Business Administration. Some simply understand it as Masters in Business Administration while some take it deeply as Masters in Business Acumen in this modern era. More specifically this is a 3 letter word which has shaped millions of success stories around the world. An MBA is not just a degree, it announces to the world that you have a credible combination of modern business oriented knowledge and skills along with the drive to perform and succeed, rather it equips you with specialized expertise in the functional areas of management such as Finance, Marketing, Operation, System and Human Resources, there by translating into an assurance to the businesses investing in you. Moreover MBA being an applied knowledge, the derived learning can be put to good use in every walk of life and in every field of interest that entices you to take the plunge. Even an MBA opens up newer avenues and provides the modern manager with tools and skills needed to identify new opportunities for organizational success.

What is CAT?

The Common Admission Test (CAT) is India’s most prestigious national level management entrance examination which is usually held in the last week of November every year. This examination is the gateway for millions of aspirants to get into crème de la crème (the best person or thing of a particular kind.) Management Institutes such as IIMs. This is undoubtedly the biggest Management entrance test in the country. The IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) conduct the CAT exam on a rotational basis. This examination is a computer based test which is held across 160 cities in India.

Though any graduate can pursue MBA, but practically the MBA advantage is more widely open to fresh graduates, Entrepreneurs and working professionals in both public and private sectors. It is a well accepted fact in the B-Schools that students should have some work experience before they pursue an MBA. However in the Indian context, even fresh graduates apply and get selected to the best B-Schools. Further, graduates from almost every conceivable discipline like arts, science, commerce, media, management, engineering, medicine can pursue an MBA degree. In fact, some of the top B-Schools have modified their post-test selection criteria in recent years to ensure that the short-listed students can come from diverse academic backgrounds. Before you commit to embarking and then encashing on an MBA, you must take time to reflect on your work experience, your abilities and your aspirations.

CAT is perhaps the most uncertain and unpredictable top notched examination in the national level where past trends never repeat. This is highly unpredictable in the sense of examination pattern, number of questions, difficulty level of questions, examination duration, examination marking scheme etc. However, the following table shows a brief tentative summary of the examination in a nutshell.

Name of the Exam	Common Admission Test
CAT Official Website	Click Here
Conducting Body	Any of the IIMs ( On Rotational Basis)
Exam Duration	2 hours ( 160 Minutes for PWD candidates)
CAT Exam Fees	INR 1100(Reserved Categories) INR 2200(Other Categories)
CAT Exam Date	Any Tentative date(Sunday) in the last week of November
Medium Of Exam	English
CAT Exam Pattern	Computer Based Test (CBT) having 3 Sections such as VARC (24 Questions), QA (22 Questions) & LRDI (20 Questions). The total number of questions varies between 64 and 66. Each correct answer is awarded 3 marks and each wrong answer of MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) invites a penalty of 1 mark. However a wrong answer of any Non-MCQ [TITA] never invites any penalty. The answer of each Non MCQ has to be typed by the candidate in the Answer Box given. TITA means type in the answer
CAT Exam Question Type	MCQ and Non-MCQ (TITA) questions
CAT Exam Syllabus	Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) Quantitative Aptitude (QA) Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation
CAT Exam Eligibility Criteria	Bachelor’s Degree with 50% aggregate ( 45% aggregate or equivalent for reserved categories)

Every year, around 2.5 lakh students register for CAT exam which is tentatively expected to be held in the last week of November. The exam official notification is usually released in the last week of July or in the 1st week of August.

Iimcat.ac.in is the official website where the CAT Exam notification comes out. The tentative calendar of events for CAT Exam in a nut shell is given below.

CAT Exam Events	Expected Date (Tentative)
Release of Online Notification	Last week of July
Commencement of Online Application	First week of August
Date of CAT Exam	Last week of November
CAT Exam Result Declaration	First week of January

To make CAT strategic journey smoother and productive, a thorough understanding of CAT Exam syllabus is most importantly required. Having a reasonable understanding of the CAT syllabus can make the work much easier to determine how much time one should spend on each segment. Following is a table having a brief description about the CAT Exam syllabus.

CAT Exam Syllabus	Topics
Quantitative Aptitude	Number system, Elementary Geometry, Coordinate Geometry, Mensuration, Algebra, Arithmetic
Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation	Puzzles, Sitting arrangements, Blood Relations, Syllogism, Coding & Decoding, Tables, Graphs, Data Case lets
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	Reading Comprehension, Para Jumble, Para Summary, Verbal Ability, Odd Sentence Out

For each correct answer, a candidate receives 3 marks and for every incorrect answer for the MCQs, a negative marking of 1 mark is penalized. However for the Non-MCQ type questions, negative marks will not be deducted. The table shown below gives an outline of the MCQ and Non-MCQ (TITA) questions for CAT.