CAT'17: 2.31L students appear for India's biggest MBA entrance exam
Today, 2,31,067 candidates across 140 cities will be appearing for the CAT, India's biggest entrance test for MBA. This time, it is being conducted by the IIM-Lucknow. Apart from the 20 IIMs, CAT scores are also accepted by over 100 colleges for admission into their business courses, including the IITs and IISc's. After a seven-year high in 2016, registrations declined a bit this year.
What will the exam be like?
The CAT will be held in two sessions of 180 minutes each. Each will have three sections to measure candidates' verbal ability and reading comprehension (Section I); data interpretation and logical reasoning (Section II) and quantitative ability (Section III). Candidates will get exactly 60 minutes for each section. Basic calculator can be used. There will be both subjective and objective questions.
Results will be out around the second week of January
The IIMs have their own criteria for selection of candidates. Once shortlisted, they will send interview letters to the chosen ones directly. Results will also be up on the CAT website at www.iimcat.ac.in around the second week of January, and on the IIMs' own websites.
Women and transgender candidates increased, but overall registrations lessened
The number of women candidates this year increased by 1.16% from last year: of the total, 78,009 are women this time. The number of transgender candidates also increased from 22 to 31, but physically challenged applicants decreased from 921 to 910. However, despite extending application dates, the total number of registrations decreased from 232,434 (2016) to 2,31,067 this year.
