What Matters is Just the D Day!

India won all their matches in this world cup except 1. Australia lost 2, one of them to India itself. But Australia will still go down in cricket history as World Cup 2023 Champions. No body would remember that they lost 2 matches. Nobody would care. Those 2 matches are irrelevant.  And no body will care that India won most matches in the tournament-10 out of 11. Those matches don't count either. India lost the one that mattered most. That's the truth of life- you don't have to win every battle but just a few key ones!

Same is true for you CAT '23 aspirants too. Even if you rarely ever scored a 80%ile in your mocks but score 95%ile in CAT, it is the 95%ile that will count. It cuts the other way round too! If you consistently scored 97+ in mocks but could manage just 85%ile, then 85%ile it is. You don't get to claim your mock scores. No B-school is going to consider your mock %iles, no matter how impressive.

Coming back to Australia's victory, how did this happen? India are surely a stronger side, clear favorites for the cup throughout. In this very tournament, India bowled out Australia for less than 200 and then handed them a 6-wicket defeat with around 9 overs to spare. It was not even a competition that day. How did Australia beat a stronger side that was on a victory juggernaut and had high morale? Simple- it's all about that one day!! And we all know that the wind can blow in any direction on a given day.  History of cricket is full of such examples where David defeated Goliath when it was David's day. 

In my 14 years of experience, I have seen the same in CAT: students who never managed even 70s ending up in 90s! Those who did not even bother to apply for FMS, believing it was not even within the realm of possibility for them to get 98%ile, eventually clearing the FMS cut off (though still not getting FMS call because of not having applied for it) and those of other top B-schools. The point is- ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE ON THAT ONE DAY. Just as it is in Stock Market, past performance does not guarantee future returns and each day is a new one. So keep your chin up and believe in the possibility that 26 Nov '23 could be that one good day that you need! And one good day is indeed all you need 🕺

Talking about Stock Market, I hope Suzlon crosses 50 by the time I return from Pushkar. Those of you who know me, will know how Suzlon and I have a long history 😛

All the best
Your VARC mentor
Lokesh Sharma

Telegram Main group to get unique material/useful posts- https://t.me/Lokesh_varc

Telegram Discussion group to ask queries from me & discuss questions among yourselves- https://t.me/joinchat/rfu79hhiUeo4ZjY1

CAT Form- Your One Stop Guide to CAT Application form

Author's Note
This blogpost is a work in progress. I will update this blogpost daily to address in it all aspects of CAT form and also include all the queries asked by students. 


Background

CAT, the abbreviation for Common Admission Test conducted by IIMs, is the test whose score is used by hundreds of B-Schools in India as the first filter to shortlist students for subsequent selection process. By filling this form, you will also be applying to ALL THE IIMs but ONLY TO IIMs. You will have to separately apply to the non-IIM B-Schools that accept CAT score. The last date to apply to such a college will have to be confirmed from the college's website. Some important facts, figures and dates related to CAT are:

Important Dates
1. Application window 2nd Aug '23-  5 pm of 13th Sept 2023

2. Registration Form Edit Window: Shortly after 13th Sept for a brief period. Only those who had successfully submitted form will be able to edit 
i. photograph
ii. sign
iii. test center

3. Admit card download: October 25 – November 26, 2023 

4. CAT: 26th Nov '23

5. Result Declaration: 2nd week of Jan

Other details

Registration fee: Rs 2,400 (1200 for SC, ST, PwD)

Eligibility criteria: 50% in graduation or in professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA/ FIAI). 45% for SC, ST, PwD.

Participating colleges: 1211 (last year's figure)

CAT Score validity: Only for this academic session

About CAT

1. 3 slots of 120 minutes each

2. 3 sections:
Section I: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning
Section III: Quantitative Ability

3. 40 minutes for each section (PwD get extra) 

4. Cannot switch from one section to another 

5. Tutorials on the CAT website in Oct

Caution: Beware of Youtubers desperate for views!

General Instructions

1. DO NOT RUSH to fill the form. Every year many students fill 2 even 3 forms simply because they make some rookie mistake in the earlier form and submit it too soon. Know that once you make the payment, you CANNOT EDIT the form. So do not make the payment before September. 

Also, filling the form sooner DOES NOT increase your chances of getting the preferred center. Center allocation is done through a computerized algorithm which is set into motion after the window for form filling closes. 

2. I will update this blogpost in coming days on the various Dos & Don'ts wrt CAT form filling. Read it patiently and then fill the form. You can fill form in multiple sessions. Just keep saving whatever you fill each time.

3. In the meanwhile, find a new email id and mobile number for form filling, because whichever number/id you fill will get calls/mails from the marketing team of all the 3rd class B-Schools for many months.

4. In case you are a reservation beneficiary on account of your caste/physical challenge/parents etc, make sure you apply for the relevant certificate now, in case you do not have an updated one. You CANNOT SUBMIT the form without a valid certificate this year.  No change in the category will be entertained after CAT registration

5. Take out your 10th, 12th and college marksheets. In case you have CGPA/Grades instead of marks, see if the marksheets have a formula to convert those into %age. If not, contact your college/University to find that formula.

6. A photo in white background. You must look in photo as you presently do. You will need same photo on exam day in hardcopy. 

I. Registration

This is something that must be done before you can fill the CAT form. You must create a User id and password on CAT website, using which you will later fill the form. 

FAQ 1: I am a repeater. Can I use my last year's user id and password?
Answer: NO. You cannot use any previous years' user id and password and must generate a new one. However, you can use the same email id and/or mobile number you used in the previous year. Basically CAT does not recognise any previous year's user ids and passwords for present year CAT registrations. It is for this reason that you cannot download your admit card from last year now unless CAT provides a separate login for last year's CAT takers (CAT '22 scorecard download) where your user id and password from last year will still work.

FAQ 2: There is a login for Registration of Non-IIM institutions for CAT 2022. Shall I register here to apply for non-IIM institutes?

Answer: No. This login is NOT FOR YOU. It is meant for non-IIM institutes like MDI, IMI, IMT etc to register themselves. You have no business here. Kindly ignore this login. 

Go to iimcat.ac.in and click on New Candidate Registration

In case the page does not upload, use a different browser. Usually latest versions of Mozilla Chrome and Edge browsers work best

i. Your name: Enter your name strictly as per your 10th Certificate. If your 10th certificate lists your name as Tyagi Ashish, then make sure you enter it as Tyagi Ashish and not Ashish Tyagi. Also, even if your name is different in 10th certificate and Aadhar, follow what is there in the 10th certificate. Basically, consider what your name is on 10th certificate and ignore any other document. In case you changed your name following due procedure after 10th class, you must enter your changed name and provide the supporting documents for change of name at the time of examination, interview and admission. Your name will automatically be filled in capitals whether your caps lock is on or off.

ii. Date of Birth: Again strictly as per your 10th certificate

iii. Email id: you may use your regular email id. However, in case your usual email id gets too many useless mails or if you would like to keep your mailbox from being spammed by every tom dick & harry BSchools that contact students, you may create a new email id which you can use for all BSchool applications and exams. Suggestion- ManikSarkarMBA2023@gmail.com! CAPITAL or small letters do not matter in email ids.

iv. Country: Ofcourse you will select India. Why do they ask it anyway? So that NRIs can apply and pay a much heavier fees, should they choose to join an IIM. 

v. mobile number: I STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you not use your own mobile number, especially if you are one of those who pick their calls. Instead use the mobile number of your grandfather, maid, younger sibling or some spare mobile number you have. Why do I suggest this? Nothing on earth can prepare you for the continued assault by the representatives of the most worthless Bschools who will keep calling you for next 2 years, hard-selling their ‘premier college’ to you. My father still gets calls that begin with the typical ‘Hi, I am calling from XYZ management school. Am I speaking with Mr. Lokesh Sharma?’. But what if the college is indeed a decent one? Well, my suggestion would be- never take admission in a college that calls you. 

Do ensure that you have access to this mobile number as and when needed. Though, I would highly recommend that once you create user id and password, let your browser save the credentials so that you remained permanently logged in and thus never need this mobile number for OTP. But should an OTP be needed, you should have access to this number. 

Name, Date of Birth, Mobile Number and Email Address  cannot be changed once the registration is complete.

Once you have filled these details, click on GENERATE OTP and then carefully enter captcha. Note that you will receive the SAME OTP on both mobile number and email id. Enter the OTP in the space for it. Note that once you have verified the OTP, your mobile number and email id cannot be edited. 

As the last step, checklist the ‘I agree’ box under Declaration at the bottom of the page and then again fill the captcha. 

NOTE: The captcha is case-sensitive and it is alright to take 4-5 attempts to get it right.  If you have trouble reading the characters, click the refresh icon right next to the captcha. 

Click on SUBMIT and you will get a confirmation message. 👇

Also, you would get a pop up from the browser, asking you whether you wish to save the details. I strongly suggest that you click on Yes, unless you are not using your own personal computer. You will now receive an sms on the mobile number and a mail on the email id, both containing the same info i.e. your user ID and password. This user Id will now be your identity for CAT. Also this User ID is also your application number. Do save it somewhere safe, perhaps in a mail or in your mobile or on a whatsapp group where you keep all important info. In case you do not find the mail in the inbox, check your spam and other folders.

In future, if you forget your User ID/Password, click the Forgot User ID/Password button at the bottom of the login page after clicking on Registered Candidate Login on the

main page of iimcat.ac.in. The User ID/Password will be sent to your registered email address, and not on the registered mobile number.

In case you make a mistake in the registration, such as your name, date of birth or gender, and realise it once you have generated User Id and password, the only way then is to re-register with correct details using a different email id and same or new mobile number.

II. FILLING THE ACTUAL FORM

Having registered successfully, it is now time to fill the actual CAT form. For that you can either simply click on 'Click here to login' in the email from CAT (as highlighted in the image above) or login again to iimcat.ac.in and click on Registered Candidate Login (since you are a registered candidate now) which is right below New Candidate Registration. In either case, you will be directed to an entry page where you will fill your user id, password and captcha. You will now again be taken to the same page that you saw after successful registration completion. You will see 2 tabs right under CAT 2022 Application view- Applicant Details & Help Desk. 

Tab 1: Applicant Details

This is the default tab that you will be at each time you log in after successful payment. Here you will see all the application details that you had filled during registration and your user ID

Tab 2: Help Desk
This is a new feature that you will now see. You can use it to ask your queries to CAT-appointed personnel. Click on this tab and then on the + button at the right side, right next to the refresh button (as shown in the picture 👉).

Once clicked, this icon will take you to a new page where you will find options to choose from the drop down list of Problem Category comprising 3 options- Application Form Related, Payment Related & Admit Card Related. You can then choose the query type from a second dropdown list (to choose the subtype of the nature of your query). Know that there is the option of 'Others' in the Problem Type dropdown list, in case you do not find any of the given options matching your concern. You can then explain the nature of your query in the Problem Statement in the form of text in approximately 150 characters. Finally you can attach a relevant photograph (in jpeg or jpg format) or pdf file in the Document Upload section. Click on blue-coloured tab that says SUBMIT at the right corner of the page. You can now expect a reply from CAT on your query in a few days.

Tab 3: Application View Pdf
You will not see this tab now but after you have successfully submitted the form. 

However, the most important tab to appear will be the one at the upper right corner- GO TO APPLICATION.

Click on Go To Application and you will now be taken to the actual CAT application which comprises 6 different tabs-

A. Personal Details B. Academics
C. Work Experience
D. Programmes
E. Test City
F. Payment

Know that the information you fill here MATTERS and affects your chances of being or not being called for the next stage of selection. So it is of utmost importance that the information furnished here by you be accurate and as per the directives of CAT. Also, know that you can edit this form as many times as you want until you make the payment. Once you have made the payment, this form cannot be edited and you will have to refill a new form to correct a mistake, wasting your time, effort and money. Therefore, I would highly recommend that you fill this form not in one go but in rounds. In round 1, fill the all the details you have and note all that you don't. Then keep updating the remaining info in subsequent rounds. Whenever you wish to move to a different tab, click on SAVE & NEXT button at the bottom to save all the info entered. This way, you won't have to fill this information again when you login next time. Also, know that the boxes with a star/asterisk (*) are mandatory while others are not. So in case you do not have a middle name or a spouse, you can leave those boxes blank. 

I will now take you through different tabs one by one.

A. PERSONAL DETAILS

This tab has 5 sections

A1. Personal Details

i. Name: this box is auto-filled using the info provided in the registration form

ii. Candidate's Name: It is not necessary that the first name here should match with the first name in i. In fact, the very purpose of asking your first name and last name again is to let you convey what you actually use as your first name, since some people have their first name and last name jumbled in 10th certificate (Sharma Lokesh instead of Lokesh Sharma). In case you do not have a middle name or even a surname, you can leave it blank. In case you have more than 3 words in your name- Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra-, then let Rakesh be your first name and Mehra be the last name. Put everything else in the middle name. 

iii. Parents/Guardian: You can enter the name of your parents or guardians. Know that you can put the name of the same guardian in the boxes for Father and Mother. There is no need for any prefixes like Dr. Mrs, Mr, Col. etc. Just write their names as they appear on their PAN/Aadhar card. My father's name is Dr. J. B. Sharma but on Aadhar and PAN it is Jagar Bahadur Sharma, which is the one I would use in my CAT form. Also, in case there is any discrepancy in your parents' name (father's name is different in your 10th class certificate and his Aadhar card), then use the one in your 10th class certificate. 

A2. Other Personal Details

i. Date of Birth: this is again pre-filled from the registration form. 

ii. Gender: You would know this, hopefully.

iii. Nationality: Check your passport to be sure. Unless you are Akshay Kumar or something, you would fill Indian

iv. Category- This one is crucial. You cannot afford to make a mistake in this one. Know that General is the default category of any individual who does not have belong to any other given categories. So if you do not belong to Schedule Caste (SC), Schedule Tribe (ST), Non Creamy- Other Backward Caste (NC-OBC) or Economically Weaker Section (EWS), then you automatically belong to General category. Also, there is no certificate needed to support your claim of belonging to General category. However, for any other category, you would be required to furnish a certificate to that effect. But it is worth going through that hassle of getting and producing that certificate as members of these reserved categories have lower cut off than general category students and thus stand benefitted.  

PS: You cannot choose any 2 of these categories. For example, you cannot choose both EWS and SC. EWS by default is meant only for those students who are from General category but meet certain criteria of financial challenges. Also, know that you self-belief that you are from EWS category is not enough. You must have a certificate from a  competent authority that you belong to EWS category.

FAQ 3: I belong to XYZ category but I do not have an updated certificate/ but my old certificate expired some time ago. Can I still fill the form as a student of XYZ category?
Answer: YES. You can fill the CAT form using your old certificate and fill in all the details as per the old certificate. However, you will have to upload a consolidated pdf (merged pdf) containing
1. Your old/expired caste certificate
2. Duly filled undertaking. 
You can download the undertaking format from the CAT website iimcat.ac.in under the heading Certificates. You can then take a print out of this form and fill it. Then take a picture of this filled undertaking and your existing caste certificate. Now use your mobile/computer to merge these two pictures into a pdf which you must upload in the Documents Upload section. While selecting the date of the certificate, if the date of your existing/old certificate is not acceptable to the software (let's say it accepts only certain years and your certificate is older than that), then put any date that is acceptable tot he software. You may put the date on which you are filling the form. 

FAQ 4: I belong to XYZ category and I have a valid certificate but that certificate will expire before my CAT interview. Shall I apply for and wait for the new certificate to fill the form?
Answer: Apply for the new certificate ASAP and wait for it till the 2nd last date of the registration window. In case you get the new certificate by then, that would be perfect. If not, then fill the form using the present valid certificate normally (since your certificate is still valid as on date). Make sure you preserve this certificate till the interview to prove why the details of the caste certificate used while filling the CAT form are different from the new caste certificate which you will have by the time of interview. You must carry both certificates to the interviews. 

FAQ 5: I belong to XYZ category but I do not have any certificate to support my claim as of this moment. Can I still fill the form as a student of XYZ category?

Answer: This is a little bit of an issue honestly. Ideally, a certificate has to be uploaded while filling this form. In case you di not have it, begin the process to get it immediately and see if you can get it before the last date of application. In case you are unable to procure it before the last date, then I suggest this: ask yourself - 'Am I absolutely sure that I belong to XYZ category?' Because if you claim in the form that you are but later during the interview you are unable to support your claim, then that would mean a disqualification. Now fill any date from 1 year ago and fill the State/UT you would be applying to for the certificate. Fill the other details as explained in FAQ 3. Finally, upload just the undertaking (explained in FAQ 3) in the Documents Upload section. And now make sure that you have that certificate before your interviews and hope that CAT accepts your application provisionally. 

FAQ 6: I belong to EWS category but I do not know Serial/Entry Number of the Caste that I belong to. What do I enter?

Answer: You can leave that box blank. You would anyway be considered non-SC, non-ST, non-OBC category student if you have selected EWS category.

FAQ 7: I belong to SC/ST/OBC category but I do not know Serial/Entry Number of the Caste that I belong to or the Caste/Tribe name that I belong to. What do I enter?

Answer: Once you select your category (SC,ST,OBC), you will see some new boxes appear in the form. While you can fill up the Certificate Issue Date (only in case of EWS & NC-OBC) and State/UT using your old certificate, you can check Serial/Entry Number and Name of the Caste by clicking on the symbol 'i' in front of the respective boxes. Please note that these numbers may vary for the same caste from one state to another. So make sure that you look out for the number applicable to the caste in your state/UT. 

FAQ 8: The caste cerificate issued to us by the government is in Hindi. Is it aceptable?

Answer: Yes. Your certificates can be either in English or in Hindi but not in any other regional language. 

FAQ 9: I have a caste certificate but not exactly in the same format as the one on website. Do I need to get a new one? Can I fill the CAT form using this one?

Answer: It depends on whether the certificate you have has all the required information or not.  If your SC/ST certificate fulfils the following conditions, you can upload the same certificate:

a. The certificate should have been issued by a competent authority.

b. The name of the caste and caste number should appear in the certificate.

c. The Ministry's resolution/order number should be available.

d. The certificate should be in Hindi or English only.

For OBC-NC certificate, following additional requirement should be met. 

e. District and the State or Union Territory of your ordinary residence.

To know whether you belong to the NC-OBC category, see the following website: www.ncbc.nic.in/Home . Refer to the updated list of state-wise OBCs eligible for availing of the benefit of reservation, and information in respect of the creamy layer. The central government norms will govern the validity of the NC-OBC certificate.

The authorities competent to issue the certificate are: District Magistrate /Additional District Magistrate /Collector /Deputy Commissioner /Additional Deputy Commissioner / Deputy Collector / Ist Class Stipendiary Magistrate /City Magistrate /Taluka Magistrate /Executive Magistrate / Extra Assistant Commissioner /Chief Presidency Magistrate / Additional Chief Presidency Magistrate /President Magistrate /Revenue Officers not below the rank of Tahsildar /Sub Divisional Officer of the area where the person and his family normally resides /Development Officer.

Note: The certifying authority should be the one concerned with the locality in which the person applying for a certificate has his permanent place of abode. Revenue Authorities have been empowered to issue certificates on the basis of a certificate issued by an MP, MLA, Gazetted Officer, etc. 

In conclusion, if your certificate meets the above requirements, you can use the certificate regardless of the format. However, if it falls short on even 1 of the above requirements, use the certificate to fill the CAT form as per FAQ 3 and then get a new certificate prepared ASAP. 

FAQ 9x: The OBC certificate I have was issued by the state. Do I need OBC-NC certificate issued by the center?

Answer: You can use the certificate you have for now but do get one furnished by the center so that you can use the same in all states. For now, go as per FAQ 3

PwD & Scribe certificates

v. Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwD): In case you are a PwD, make sure you have a valid  certificate before you fill up this part. Know that you cannot mention an approximation of your own assessment of the %age of your disability. This %age is determined only by a medical expert who then records it in the certificate. So it is highly advised that you first get this certificate prepared from the competent authority and only then fill this form. Get a UDID card made if you don't have one. Although UDID number is not mandatory in CAT application, it will ease the process in many such situations. 

Know that you are required to upload a PwD certificate (as per the nature of disability), the format of which is available on the website under the heading Certificate. In case you do not have the certificate ready, you can still apply as a PwD candidate. You can download the undertaking format from the CAT website iimcat.ac.in under the heading Certificates. You can then take a print out of this form, fill it and upload after converting the picture to a pdf file and upload in the Documents Upload section.

Also, depending upon the nature of your disability, you may request for wheelchair support (although most such candidates bring their own wheelchair to avoid the hassle). Similarly, you may opt for a scribe/writer to write your paper in your stead. Note that CAT/IIM will not provide you with a scribe. You will have to arrange a scribe to accompany you on the test date along with duly filled scribe certificate, which you can download from the website (check picture above). On the day of the test, the scribe must bring a valid proof of identity and a passport sized photograph, and sign a declaration about his/her educational qualifications at the test venue.

vi. Covid Vaccination: this is optional. You may choose to leave this blank. However, if you have been vaccinated, all you need to do is download your vaccination certificate from https://www.cowin.gov.in/ using your mobile number and download the certificate which will have the dates mentioned. I suggest you keep this certificate in your phone for ready accessibility. 

A3. Communication Address

i. Address Line 1: this is mandatory and other lines are optional, but try not to cram this one box. Use address line 1 for house number and floor, address line 2 for road/area name and address line 3 for village name. However, don't feel the need to use all the lines if your address is rather short
ii. Country, State, District: Once you select India from dropdown list, choose your state/UT and then from the list of districts, choose your districts. It's alright if you end up choosing the wrong district, which happens for many Delhites (you may think that you live in Central Delhi but technically your house lies in West Delhi). Just make sure you get your pincode right. You will have to manually fill your town/city. Just write the name of your city (Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Patna) if you are not sure. 
iii. Email address & phone: Your email id and phone number would be auto-filled from your registration form. You may add an alternate email id or just leave it blank.

A4. Emergency Contact Details

This is used only in cases of medical emergency. You can fill your parent's/friend's/relative's number here but make sure you choose someone who would actually pick up the call should it come to that, and not someone like me who keeps his phone on silent 24*7. 

A5. Document Upload

FAQ 10: Is it necessary to self-attest the documents before uploading?

Answer: No. You need not attest any document except the undertaking form, in case you fill it, at the space where it asks for your signature.  

This is the last step of this tab. You must attach the relevant documents. For a non-PwD general candidate, this would mean just the passport-size photograph and signature. Contrary to what the website says, you can absolutely use your mobile phone to click your picture as well as capture the photograph of your signature on a white sheet. Similarly, you can click the picture of your other documents using your mobile and then convert them to pdf format after cropping them as required. 

i. Passport Size Picture: Make sure that your picture is clear, against a white or very light background/wall, without any accessories such as cap, jewelry goggles and with a straight face looking straight into the camera. The picture should display your face & neck clearly. Note that only a Jpeg or Jpg format of file is uploadable here. So in case you have a different format, open that file with Paint software (present in all windows) and save the file as a jpeg file. Do not worry about the physical dimensions (length and breadth) of the photograph. As long as it is a passport-size photograph, it's dimensions don't have to be accurate. Also don't worry about how many pixelate. But do get

physical prints of the SAME photograph that you upload in your CAT form as you will have to affix the same photograph on your admit card which CAT will release in October and you will carry the same to your test center. I would highly recommend that you go through the Do's and Don't of the photograph, the link to which is given in the Upload Documents section and displayed here 👉 

Note: The picture has to be a normal (colourful, not black & white) picture against a while or very light (light blue, light yellow) background

FAQ 10: The photograph I have is too big in size and also in a different format. How do I bring it to an acceptable format and size?

Answer: Click the photograph using your mobile, keeping in mind the pointers above and then mail this photograph to your desktop PC/laptop. Now save this file to your computer. Right click on the file to open it with 👈Paint. Now resize 👇 this photograph as displayed below. Once you have resized the photograph, click on Save As (check the screenshot below 👇) to save the photograph as a Jpeg image. Check the size of the new saved photograph and keep repeating this exercise till you get the desired size. In the example below, I have reduced a 6 mb file to 510 kb size. Follow the same process for signature as well. 

FAQ 11: Do we need our name and DoB under our photograph for cat form filling?

Answer: No

FAQ 11: How recent should my photograph be? Can it be 9 months or 1 year old?

Answer: Actually, it DOESN'T MATTER how recent your photograph is as long as you look like your photograph. If your photograph is a year old, perhaps from last year's CAT and you still look the same, you might as well use the same photograph and you won't have any issues. However, if your photograph is 2 months old but your face has changed substantially since then- you have lost/gained a lot of weight, have a different beard style or hairstyle, you now wear spectacles- then you must get a new picture. The person at the entrance will match your photograph with your actual face and the two should be identical enough for him to be confident that the person in the photo graph is same as the person in front of him. 

Trivia: My Guruji was not allowed to enter the examination premises as his face (with a thick beard) did not match the clean-shaven look in his photograph 😄

ii. Signature: take a white paper and sign on it using a blue/black colour pen. Use the same process (described in FAQ 7) to resize the picture to less than 80kb. 

iii. Other certificates: In case you belong to a category other than General and/or are a PwD candidate, then upload the relevant documents in pdf format.  Click clear pictures of your documents using your mobile and then convert them to pdf format after cropping them (if required) using Paint or Microsoft Office Picture Manager. 

FAQ 12: What is the criteria governing EWS category? Who is eligible to benefit from the reservation for EWS candidates?

Answer: Persons who are not covered under the scheme of reservation for SCs, STs

and OBCs and whose family has gross annual income below Rs 8OO lakh (Rupees

eight lakh only) are to be identified as EWSs for benefit of reservation. Income

shall also include income from all sources i.e. salary, agriculture, business,

profession, etc. for the financial year prior to the year of application.

Also persons whose family owns or possesses any of the following assets

shall be excluded from being identified as EWS, irrespective of the family income:-

a. 5 acres of agricultural land and above;

b. Residential at of 1000 sq ft. and above;

b. Residential plot of 100 sq. yards and above in notified municipalities;

d. Residential, plot of 200 sq. yards and above in areas other than the

notified municipalities.

Note 1: The property held by a "Family" in different locations or different places/cities

would be clubbed while applying the land. or property holding test to determine

EWS status.

Note 2: The term "Family" for this purpose will include the person who seeks benefit

of reservation, his/her parents and siblings below the age of 18 years as also

his/her spouse and children below the age of 18 years. 

Once you have uploaded all the documents, you will see UPLOADED right next to Click here to upload.   

Click on SAVE & NEXT at the bottom of the page to move to the next tab.

PS: The form will not let you SAVE & NEXT until you have filled all the *mandatory columns, including photograph and signature. So fill some random info for the time being in order to move to the next tab, if you do not have the answers to some questions. You can always edit this info later. 

B. ACADEMICS

This tab too has 5 sections

B1. SSC/10th equivalent Details

Make sure you have in front of you your 10th class marksheet when you fill this section. All the details you need here will be on that Marksheet

i. Board name: choose from the drop down list the name of the board. You will find the name of your board at the top of the marksheet. While for a lot of us it would either  be Central Board of  Secondary Educator or Indian Certificate of Secondary Education, many of you would have state boards which you can choose from the list. However, in the remote case that you do not find your board in the list, you can choose the last option in the list i.e. Other Boards

ii. Month/Year of Completion: it is usually mentioned at the end of the marksheet in the form of complete date. In case it is not mentioned, you can simply put the month in which you took your 10th class exams (usually March or April). Know that as long as your year mentioned is correct, it doesn't really matter what month you had filled. 

FAQ 17x: I passed 12th in May, 2016 but appeared for improvement in 2017 whose result was declared in April 2017. What should be the year of completion?
Answer: It depends on when you started your graduation. If you graduation began in 2016 itself on the basis of your original marks, then you will have to put May,2016 as your 12th completion month, year since your graduation cannot begin till your 12/diploma is complete. The form will not accept August 2016 as your graduation commencement if your 12th completion is April 2017. However, if your graduation started after April 2017, then you may choose April 2017 as completion month, year for 12th. 

iii. Maximum Marks: Usually each subject carries maximum 100 marks. So add the maximum marks of each subject. If there are 5 subjects, the maximum marks would be 5*100 i.e. 500. Similarly for 6 subjects it would be 600 marks, 

iv. Total Marks Obtained: Add the actual marks you obtained in each of the 5/6/7 subjects and enter them here. 

v. Aggregate Percentage: to calculate the %age, keep the Total Marks Obtained in the numerator, Maximum marks in the denominator and then multiply this fraction with 100. For example, if someone has scored 421 marks out of 600, then the %age will be 421/600 * 100 = 70.166. This must be rounded off at the 2nd decimal point i.e. to 70.17. Similarly, 416 out of 600 will lead us to 416/600 *100 =  69.333 which will be rounded off at the 2nd decimal point to 69.33. Basically, the box accepts score only till the 2nd decimal point. So if the number at the 3rd decimal point is equal to or greater than 5, then increase the number at 2nd decimal point by 1 (70.166 to 70.17). But if the number at 3rd decimal place is less than 5, then let the number at 2nd decimal place be what it is (69.333 to 69.33). In the marksheet attached, the student has scored 497 subjects across 6 subjects. Hence his %age is 82.833, rounded off to 82.83.

Similarly, in  👈 this marksheet, the student has scored 497 marks from 6 subjects with each subjects carrying maximum marks of 100. Hence the %age will be 497/600 * 100 i.e. 82.833 which will be rounded off to 82.83. Please note that the %age calculated by the board here is 85.40 since it has considered the best of 5, however, the %age to be filled in CAT form by this student (and he is one of my favorite students) must take into account all the 6 subjects mentioned on the marksheet. The relevant guideline on this released by CAT is: "for computing percentages of marks obtained in SSC/10th/Equivalent examination and HSC/12th/Equivalent/Diploma examination, the total marks of all subjects that appear in the mark sheet/grade sheet would be considered irrespective of the Boards regulation". It would be a grievous mistake on account of the student to fill 85.4 instead of 82.83, especially since it would bump his %age from the 80-85 bracket to 85-90 bracket. His candidature may be disqualified at a later stage because of this error. In case someone has made this mistake and submitted the form, the only way to rectify it is to fill another form, which will automatically supersede the previous erroneous form.  

The student need not consider the other 5 subjects (Social Service, Personality Development etc. )for which only grades have been awarded without any guidance on how to convert those grades to marks. However, if there is way to convert those extra subjects to CGPA/marks mentioned on the marksheet, then you must convert those grades to CGPA/marks and then calculate the final aggregate CGPA which would include the earlier subjects for which clear CGPA/marks were given and these subjects for which only grades were given. 

FAQ 13: I have 6 subjects in 10th out of which 1 was an elective subject/language which was not compulsory but I chose to take it. Can I calculate my %age on the basis of the other 5 and leave the elective out? Or will I have to include all subjects?

Answer: You must include ALL SUBJECTS' MARKS MENTIONED on the marksheet while calculating your %age. It could be a huge disadvantage for some one you who have very low marks in one or two subjects, bringing down the entire %age significantly, but know that you do not have option here. You have to mandatorily include all subjects that are mentioned on your marksheet.  Read the explanation in 'v. Aggregate Percentage' above to know more.  

FAQ 14: In my 10th class marksheet, instead of marks I have grades/grade points (GP) for each subject as well as overall CGPA. How do I calculate my total marks, marks obtained and aggregate %age?

Answer: In such a case, you need to use the overall CGPA and convert it to %age. Every board/institute has a formula for such a conversion and it is usually mentioned on the marksheet, mostly on the backside but can be on the front as well (as is the case in the marksheet above 👆). In most such cases, the board/institute asks you to multiply the CGPA by a factor to reach the overall %age. For example, in the above marksheet, the board has mentioned that Overall Indicative Percentage of Marks = 9.5 * CGPA. Since the overall CGPA is 8.6, the Percentage will be 9.5*8.6 = 81.7. Now you can use this %age to reverse calculate the marks obtained as follows: since we have total 5 subjects and we know that the overall percentage ('per cent' means 'per 100'), the Maximum Marks would be 500. Total Marks would be 81.7% of 500 i.e 408.5.

Note: The Maximum Marks box requires a whole number but Total Marks Obtained can have a decimal, hence 408.5 will be accepted.

 Let's take a look at another example

👈The student here has a perfect 10 CGPA. As per the board's guidelines, Overall Percentage is to be calculated by multiplying 9.5 with the CGPA. Hence the %age = 9.5 * 10 = 95%. Now that we have the %age, we can calculate the Total Marks Obtained by calculating 95% of 500 (since there are 5 subjects and we know that per cent means per 100). So 95% of 500 is 475, which is the number to be entered in Overall Marks Obtained. 

FAQ 16: What if my marksheet has grades/CGPA but no mention of how to convert those grades/CGPA to %age?
Answer: Although this is highly unlikely, but in such a scenario where any Board/Institute/University awards only letter grades and CGPA without providing an equivalent percentage of marks on the grade sheet or a way to convert those grades/CGPA to %age, the candidate should obtain a certificate from the Board/Institute/University specifying the equivalent marks or the conversion procedure, and the conversion to percentage of marks would be based on this procedure as certified by the respective board/University/Institution. If any board /University/Institution confirms that there is no scheme for converting CGPA into equivalent marks, the equivalence would be established by dividing the candidate's CGPA by the maximum possible CGPA and multiplying the result with 100. For example, if the CGPA obtained by the student is 8.7 and the maximum CGPA is 10, then the %age will be calculated as 8.7/10 * 100 - 87%.

PS: The original equivalence certificate needs to be submitted at the time of interview. 

FAQ 16x: My marksheet has 6/7 subjects with Grade Point (GP) for each subject but the combined CGPA given takes into account only 5 main subjects. What should I do?
Answer: You need to disregard the given CGPA and calculate a new CGPA taking into account the GP of all the subjects on the marksheet. Calculating CGPA is pretty much like calculating %age. Simply add the GP of all the subjects and then divide this sum by the number of subjects. For example, in the adjacent picture, the student has secured GP in 8 subjects- 8,8,7,7,9,9,9,10. If you add all of these, the sum would be 67. Dividing 67 by 8 (number of subjects) gives us 8.375. Since the CGPA have maximum 2 decimal points, we can round off the 2nd decimal point to 8 (next number at 3rd decimal point is equal to or greater than 5), making is 8.38 as displayed in the marksheet. You can now convert this final CGPA into %age as per the formula on your marksheet or the one provided by your college/university. 

FAQ 15: I have 11 subjects in 10th out of which marks/Grade Point (GP) were awarded for 6 and rest of the subjects were assessed in grades. Also, there is no prescribed formula in the marksheet to convert those grades to marks or GP. How shall I include them in my aggregate percentage?

Answer: Leave those subjects. They are not to be considered. In the 10th marksheet shared alongside, there are 5 such subjects for each of which the student has been awarded grade A. These grades is not to be included in the CAT form anywhere. However, the student must include the marks of all the 6 subject given on this marksheet and calculate his aggregate %age which would come out to be 74.33, and not enter 78.60 (displayed on the marksheet and calculated on the basis of top 5 subjects).

FAQ 17: There are 6 subjects on my marksheet mentioning their individual grade point/score but the overall cgpa/%age given on the marksheet is based on only 5 subjects as 6th subjects is my optional subject. What should I do?
Answer: You must ignore the CGPA/%age given on the marksheet and instead calculate new %age/cgpa taking into account the marks/grade point of all the subjects, as demonstrated in the previous FAQ. You will then convert this new CGPA (it case you have GP for individual subjects instead of marks) into %age as per the formula on your marksheet. 

FAQ 17: I have 7 subjects in 12th class marksheet but was absent in one of the exams for which no marks have been awarded, instead it says 'Ab' against that subject. How do I include that in my aggregate?
Answer: CAT has not answered/addressed this till now. One interpretation could be to consider Absent as zero but that significantly decrease your aggregate. My suggestion would be to leave this subject out for now. You can anyway claim innocence later in case they question you on this, hiding behind ambiguity/lack of clarity. This is only a suggestion which you may follow at your own risk. You may also write to CAT desk asking for clarification. 

B2. HSC/12th/Equivalent/Diploma

Everything here is same  as for SSC/10th. So in case you have any query/concern here, I suggest you read B1 in its entirety. Chances are you will get your answer

In case you have a diploma, click on the radio button next to Diploma and fill the details. The only extra info required in case of Diploma would be the Duration and the Commencement date. Apart from this, all details are same for 12th and Diploma. 

PS: You cannot select both 12th and Diploma. So even if you have completed both, you can fill just one. Use the one where you have greater %age. 

FAQ 17x: I had appeared for the improvement exam in 12th. Which marks do I need to fill in there for CAT form, the improvement one or the original?
Answer: You can fill the improved marks (assuming they were more than the original) but do carry to the interview both the original marksheet as well as the one with improved marks. 

B3. Bachelor's Degree Details

I believe this is the one which would require most explanation and will have most queries.

FAQ 18: I have just entered 5th semester. Am I eligible for CAT this year?

Answer: Depends. If you are in a 3-year (6 semester) degree and you have entered the 5th semester i.e. your final year of graduation, then yes, you are eligible. A student can take CAT in his final year of bachelor's degree. Similarly, if you have just entered or are about to enter the 7th Semester/4th year of your 4-year bachelor's degree, you are eligible for CAT. However, if you have just entered or are about to enter 3rd semester of a 3-year degree or 5th semester of a 4-year degree, then you are not eligible. You can take CAT next year. In short, ask yourself the following question- will all the exams of the last year of my bachelor's degree be complete by August next year? If the answer is yes, then you are eligible for CAT this year, otherwise not. 

i. Are you in the final year of bachelor's degree: if you are in the final year of graduation, then of course you will choose YES. However, if you have otherwise completed your graduation, but there are some exams/backlogs whose results are still pending, then too you need to choose YES (and enter 6th semester/8th semester i.e. the final semester of your bachelor's degree). Basically, if  you expect any change in your aggregate graduation %age, perhaps on account of pending result or some compartment/retest without which your degree won't be complete, then you need to mark YES, here.

Also, if you are pursuing a dual degree (Bachelors+Masters like BA-LLB or BCA-MCA), then too you must click No, regardless of whether you are in your final year or not. 

Only 3 type of students can afford to mark NO here.
a. Those who have completed their graduation and hence their graduation score will not change henceforth
b. Those who never went for graduation/ do not wish to declare their graduation and will fulfil this eligibility criterion throng some professional course like CA/CS etc.
c. Those in the final year of their dual degree 

FAQ 19: I have aggregate percentage of all my three years degree. Should I consider that percentage or CGPA marks which is for only third year?

Answer: Use the marks of ALL THE SEMESTER whose results have been declared till now to calculate your aggregate %age as on date. So if the marks for first 4 semesters have been declared, but the result of 5th semester is pending, use the marks of all 4 semesters and whatever %age they lead to must be filled. In short, jitne semesters ke marks hain, unko use karo aur %age calculate karke fill kar do. Similarly, if you have the results of first 3 years of an 4-year degree, calculate aggregate %age till now taking into consideration marks of all the subjects form all the 3 years. 

FAQ 20: I am in the final year of my bachelor's degree. Do I need to submit any final year certificate in my CAT form?

Answer: No. You not need to submit any proof of your percentage nor submit any certificate in the CAT form. All you need to do is to enter your aggregate %age of the results declared so far. I have explained this in detail ahead. 

ii. Have you completed your bachelor's degree: If your answer to the question in the previous step was Yes, then you need to skip this question altogether. However, if you marked NO as your previous answer then
a. Mark YES if you have actually already completed your graduation or dual/integrated course with no result pending. 

b. Mark YES if you are in the final year of your dual/integrated course.
b. Mark NO only if you do not intend do declare your graduation/did not purse graduation and will fulfil this eligibility criterion through some professional course like CA/CS etc. which you MUST HAVE COMPLETED by the time of filling this form. 

iii. Total Duration of Degree: choose from the dropdown list. In case you have a dual degree, you can bifurcate the total duration into bachelor's and master's. For example, if you have a 5 year dual degree, then you may split it into 3 years of bachelor's and 2 years of masters' degree. Alternatively, you may keep 4 years for bachelor's and 1 year of master's. It would be best to ask your college seniors/professors/administration on what part of the course is considered bachelor's and what part master's. Note that you will have to fill separate marks for graduation and master's degree accordingly. 

FAQ 20x: I did  diploma after 10th, after that I got admission in 2nd year of engineering which I completed in 3 years after diploma but engineering is of 4 years course. In CAT form they are asking about course duration then what should I select 3 years or 4 years

Answer: Choose Diploma in B2 and fill the details as explained above. Now while filling Bachelor Degree details, choose the duration as 3 years since the duration for you was 3 years.

iv. Current Semester: you will see this column only if you had marked YES in i. Please choose from the drop down list your ongoing semester. Don't be bothered by whether you have the result of all the previous semesters or not. Just pick the semester presently underway. In case your college does not have semester system, choose semester 1 for 1st year, semester 3 for 2nd year, semester 5 for 3rd year and semester 7 for 4th year. In case your final year/semester exams are over but you have not received the result yet or some other exams like practicals are still to be conducted or you have appeared for some supplementary exams whose result is awaited, choose semester 8 (if you have 4 year/8 semester degree) or choose semester 6 (for 3 year/6 semester degree).

v. Type of University/Institution: you would know if you are in an IIT, NIT or foreign university. If you are not, you may confirm with your seniors/professors/administration whether your university is deemed to be a university (like Thapar University, Patiala), State University (like GGSIPU, Delhi) or Central University (like Delhi University) or Private University (like Lovely University). In case you are not sure, you may make your best guess and move ahead. This is one information which you can afford to be wrong at. It doesn't really matter if you get this one wrong. 

vi. State/Union Territory of University: Most universities have on their website clearly mentioned their state/UT of affairs. In case you are in doubt,  just choose the state/UT where you attend college. In case you are a distance education student, choose the state/UT where this university if physically located if you are unsure. This is yet another piece of info which is not crucial and thus you need not be too concerned here. 

vii. University/Institute Name: in case you are able to find the name of your university in the drop down list, select it. Else, just choose 'Others', in which case you know that your University is definitely not a great one.

Note: If you are from Delhi University, choose 'Delhi' from the dropdown list. 

viii. Name of College/Institution: you need to type in the name of your college/institute. In case the name of your university is same as that of the institute (TIET, DTU, NSTU), just type the same here. Type the full name of your college/institute here  i.e. type Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology instead of MSIT, if the space allows.

ix. Degree Name: choose your degree from the drop down list which is pretty comprehensive. In the off chance that the name of your degree is not in the list (I would be really interested in knowing what the fish you are studying), choose 'Others' from the bottom of the list. 

x. Discipline: choose your discipline/specialization from the drop down list which is again very comprehensive. In most cases, the name of your discipline would be mentioned in your degree itself. In the off chance that the name of your degree is not in the list (you must be studying some really strange subjects), choose 'Others' from the bottom of the list. 

Note: If you are pursing BA English/Urdu/Hindi, you can choose 'Languages' 

xi. Graduation Stream: there are just 2 choices here - engineering and non-engineering. In case you are in a 4 year Btech /BE degree (which you may have joined directly from 1st year or after diploma from 2nd year) or a dual degree that includes Btech (for example Btech+Mtech, Btech+MSc), then pick engineering. For anything else, pick non-engineering. 

PS: Know that weirder/less common your graduation stream, higher the chances of a call by top Bschool because of the diversity you bring. Which is the one stream at highest disadvantage- engineering!!

xii. Month/Year of Course Commencement: this is usually mentioned on your degree (August 2009- July 2013). However, in case you are unable to find it or if you do not have your degree yet, just fill the month and year in which you joined college i.e. when you attended your first class or enrolled. This is not a column that matters. 

FAQ 21: My college eventually started in January 2021 even though it was supposed to start in August 2020 (due to the pandemic). What should I fill as the month and year of my course commencement?

Answer: Course completion Month, Year (minus) Course duration = Course commencement

If your course completed in June 2022 and it was a 3 year degree, enter June 2019 as course start. 

xiii. Probable Month/Year of Completion: the word 'probable' would be visible only to those in final year of graduation i.e. those who chose Yes in i. Fill the month and year in which the final year exams of your degree would be conducted in best case scenario. To those who have completed, you can find this on your graduation degree. In case it is not, you too can enter the month and year in which you appeared for the last exam of your bachelor's degree. This column would matter to those who have work experience. In case you do have work experience, fill the month and year in which you took the last exam of your bachelor's degree. For example, if you took your last graduation exam in July 2021,. you can show work experience from August, 2021, even if your graduation degree shows November 2021 as the date of award of degree. 

 xiv. Marks % awarded by University/Institute: if your graduation is complete, enter the aggregate %age provided by your college. CAT guideline says, "for graduates and postgraduates, the aggregate percentage of marks awarded by the Board / Institute / University will be treated as final. If the Institute/University does not award the aggregate percentage of marks, it will be calculated based on the marks obtained in all subjects listed in the mark sheet". So remember, if your graduate degree/consolidated marksheet does specify an aggregate %age, then that's the one you need to fill. In case it has just marks, then calculate the aggregate %age taking in account ALL THE SUBJECTS ON THE MARKSHEETS and enter the %age upto 2 decimal points, rounding off as demonstrated for 10th class %age above. In case, your college/University does not provide clear %ages, then look for the formula given on the marksheet (front or back) to convert the final CGPA into %age and use that. In case your college/university does not have any way to convert CGPA to %age and the same has been communicated to you by the University over mail or in writing, then use the following formula to convert CGPA to %age : divide the CGPA obtained by maximum CGPA and multiply by 100. For example, if you have final CGPA of 6.8 and the maximum CGPA was 10, then divide 6.8 by 10 and multiply the result by 100, making it 68%. 

FAQ 22: I am in the 5th/6th/7th semester of my graduation degree but I do not have the marks of the last one/two semesters as those marks are yet to be declared or because those exams have not been conducted yet or because there was mass promotion without exams. How shall I calculate my aggregate %age? 

Answer: Use the marks of the semesters whose results have been declared to calculate your aggregate %age. So if the marks for first 4 semesters have been declared, but the result of 5th semester is pending, use the marks of the first 4 semesters and whatever %age they lead to must be filled. In short, jitne semesters ke marks hain, unko use karo aur %age calculate karke fill kar do. Similarly, if you do not have marks for first 2 semesters because of mass promotion without any exams but have the results of next 2-3 semesters, then use those 2-3 semester results to calculate your aggregate %age. You need not mention anywhere how many semesters' results you have used to reach this aggregate %age nor do you need to provide any justification for the semesters whose results you do not have. You may simply calculate the percentage by adding the marks obtained in all semesters and divide this sum by the total maximum marks of all semesters. Now multiply this value with 100. In case your college awards SGPA/grades instead of marks, confirm with your college/university the way to convert these grades/SGPA to marks or %age. In case there is no clear way, simply take into account the marks obtained and calculate simple %age. 

Note: You must take into account the marks of ALL THE SEMESTERS/YEARS WHOSE RESULT YOU HAVE and you CANNOT fill as per the marks of the most recent/last semester/year.

FAQ 22: I am in 3rd year of my college. My university has not declared the results of 2nd year still. What should I do? Is it possible to fill form on just 1st year result marks? 

Answer: Yes. Calculate the aggregate %age on the basis of 1st year marks and fill that. 

FAQ 23: I am in XYZ semester of my graduation degree but I do not have ANY MARKS since no exams were conducted or because the results of whatever exams have been conducted have not been declared yet.  How do I calculate my aggregate %age? 

Answer: CAT does not recognise this scenario anymore. There was a provision for this till CAT 22 as there were some students whose graduation started in 2020 and did not have any exams in 2020 and 2021. However, CAT assumes that all graduation/undergraduate students will have atleast some marks to show. 

xv. Have you completed or are you undergoing a dual or 5-year integrated course: Mark YES if you are pursuing or have completed a dual/integrated programme like BBA+MBA, Btech+Mtech. Note that in case you are in the final year of the dual/integrated programme, it would be considered that you have completed your graduation and are pursuing masters. In case you have completed your dual/integrated programme, then it would be considered that you have completed both your graduation and masters.  In both the cases, you will fill in the details of the graduation years & marks of your dual degree (as prescribed by your institution) in the section for Bachelor's Degree Details. Similarly, you will fill in the details of the post-graduation years & marks of your dual degree (as prescribed by your institution) in the section for Master's Degree Details. 

FAQ 24:  I am a General/EWS/NC-OBC category candidate and got 49% in the Bachelor’s degree. I have also completed Master’s degree with 51%. Am I eligible to apply for CAT 2022?
Answer: No. As per the CAT eligibility norms, you should have obtained 50% or more in the Bachelor’s degree (45% for SC/ST/PwD). Following the norm, you are NOT eligible to apply for CAT 2022.

FAQ 25: I have not pursued graduation OR I have entered 2nd year of graduation but I have a professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA). Am I eligible for CAT?
Answer: Yes. All those who have any one or more of these professional degrees- CA, CS, ICWA- are eligible for CAT even if they do not have a graduation degree. Note that your professional degree must be complete at the time of filling the CAT form.

PS: While your professional degree makes you eligible for exams like CAT and XAT, some other exams and colleges do not recognise professional degree as eligibility criterion and require a bachelor's degree to meet their eligibility criterion.

FAQ 26: I have not pursued graduation OR I have entered 2nd year of graduation but I am in the final year of my professional degree (CA/CS/ICWA). Am I eligible for CAT?
Answer: No. In order to be eligible for CAT, you either need to
a. be in the final year of graduation while you take CAT in November and thus be able to complete your graduation by August next year. OR 
b. should have completed your graduation already while filling this form. OR
c. should have completed your professional degree by the time you fill this form. 
In case you fulfil any one of the above 3 conditions, you can apply else you are ineligible. In short, those who have neither pursued graduation nor completed their professional degree cannot apply for CAT.   

xvi. Click here if you have more than one Bachelor's Degree: in the off chance that you have more than one bachelors (for example BCom + LLB or BE + BPharm or Bsc + Btech or Bsc + MBBS) then you may click on the checkbox and proceed to fill the details of the other bachelor's degree, just as you did for the previous one. While it won't fetch you any extra marks for having 2 bachelor's degrees, it will help you justify the otherwise long gap in your academic cycle which would be hard to explain in the absence of this 2nd bachelor's degree. 

FAQ 27. In case a student fills the details of 2 bachelor's degrees, which one will be considered by CAT for shortlisting i.e. which one would be considered for assigning diversity marks and also score for graduation %age?
Answer: We do not know this. We have sent a query to CAT and will update this section once we hear from them. It is possible that they too may not have a defined policy on it yet.

B4. Master's Degree Details

While this section is optional i.e. you may choose to enter the details of your master's degree, I would highly recommend that you do fill the details of the master's degree if you have completed the degree or will have completed it (will have appeared for the exams of the final year) by August next year. My recommendation is based on the following benefits
a. some colleges award extra marks for students with master's degree
b. it will help you justify the gap between your bachelor's degree and CAT
c. you may get some extra consideration on the basis of the diversity you would bring as there are only a few applicants with master's degree. 

However, if you are in the first year of your 2-year or 3-year master's degree, I suggest that you do not declare your master's degree as you will not get any extra marks for master's degree and will also have to justify during the interview your intent of leaving the master's degree for MBA.

The process of filling the details of master's degree is same as that for bachelor's and hence we are skipping it here. 

B5. Other Professional Degree Details

This section is mandatory for those who have not shared the bachelor's degree details or those who are neither in the final year of bachelor's degree nor completed their graduation. Basically, if you do not meet CAT's eligibility criterion through bachelor's degree, then you must have a completed professional degree to meet the eligibility criterion of CAT. Note that if you do not meet CAT's eligibility criterion through graduation and your professional degree too is not complete, then you are NOT ELIGIBLE for CAT this year.

For others (who meet CAT's eligibility criterion through bachelor's degree), this is an optional section. However, I would suggest that if you have completed or are pursuing any of these professional degrees, you mention the details to showcase another aspect of your academic versatility. Besides, it might also justify a gap in your academic cycle or below par performance in your graduation subjects. 

The process of filling the details of professional degree is same as that for bachelor's and hence we are skipping it here. 

FAQ 27. I have completed CA Inter and also done 7 months articleship after which I left pursuing CA. Should I still mention it? I do have a graduation degree through which I meet the eligibility criteria. 
Answer: If there is no gap in your education cycle even on leaving out CA details (your CA was absolutely congruent with your graduation or work ex), then you can leave it to avoid questions on why you left CA midway and whether you may dropout of MBA as well. Else, you should fill the details to justify what you did in that gap. For example, if you completed 12th in 2016 and then pursued CA till 2018 and alongside in 2017 or 2018 joined a bachelor's degree, then CA details will help you justify the 2016-2017 or 2016-2018 period. 

I would suggest that you could fill. it's alright to have tried and not succeeded. There are many people who give up CA after a 2-3 failed attempts.

Click on SAVE & NEXT at the bottom of the page to move to the next tab.

PS: The form will not let you SAVE & NEXT until you have filled all the *mandatory columns. So fill some random info for the time being in order to move to the next tab, if you do not have the answers to some questions. You can always edit this info later. 

C. Work Experience

Before, anything else, let us understand what work experience is. Word experience is full-time paid job taken after graduation. For your work to be counted as work experience, it must fulfil all the following 3 criteria
a. It should be full-time i.e. all your part-time work like taking tuitions of individual students at their or your place/projects like building some website for a client or filing someone's ITR for a fee /Internships which may last 2-3 months / Articleship which you do to complete your professional degree cannot be included in work experience.
b. It should be paid i.e. any unpaid labour is not work experience. Know that you will be required to prove the financial remuneration of your labour in form of bank account statements of last 6 months reflecting credit of salary by your employer/organisation and/or salary slips of last 3 months issued by the organisation you worked for. 
c. It should be after completion of your graduation or to, to be more specific, it should be after you took the last exam of your bachelor's degree. So even if you built and entire multi-billion dollar organiastion (in which case you would anyway not be considering CAT) before or during your graduation, that will NOT be counted as work experience while filling your CAT form. In case you have 3 years of work ex out of which 1 year was during your graduation and 2 years after graduation, only the part after your graduation i.e. 2 years will be counted. 

In case whatever you have done as work fails to meet even 1 of the above 3 criteria, do not enter it as work experience in any Bschool application form. You may however include such work under other relevant sections such as 'projects', 'internships', 'other information etc'.

I would highly encourage you to watch this video 👇where I have explained various aspects of gap and work ex in detail

Gap Year and Work Experience

FAQ 29. What is the minimum work experience needed for CAT?
Answer: There is no minimum work experience needed for CAT. This tab is entirely optional. In case you do not have work ex, you can simply click on SAVE & NEXT at the bottom of the page and move to the next tab. It will be assumed that you have zero work experience. 

FAQ 29. I have 1.5 year work experience as a Medical Lab Technician/ Call Center Executive/Primary School Teacher. That kind of work experience would be considered or not?
Answer: EVERY full-time paid job done after graduation will be counted as work ex, regardless of whether you were a watchman or sweeper or bus driver. Any job for which you can prove full-time paid employment and was done after graduation is counted as work ex.


FAQ 30. I have started businesses in third year of my graduation.It is registered one and I have all documents regarding it.But my final exam ended in June 2022. How should I calculate my work ex?
Answer: The part of your experience at this business during your graduation will not count but you may consider the day right after your last graduation exam as your start date for work. So if your last graduation exam was on 31st June 2021, then let 1st July 2022 be the start of your work ex. Put 31st July 2022 as your end date (as per CAT form). 

FAQ 31. Uptil what date would the work ex be counted? Shall I count my work ex to this date?
Answer: You need to count your work ex till July 31 of the ongoing year. So even if you may be still working and may continue to work till you join a Bschool next year, you must count your work experience only till 31st July of the present year, whatever that comes to be.

FAQ 33. I joined a job in March this year? My work ex till 31st July will be less than 6 months/180 days. Does it make sense to enter my work experience?
Answer: Yes, you should enter your work experience as it will help you justify what you have been doing since March this year. Also, once you are shortlisted by a Bschool for 2nd stage, you will again fill a college-specific form which will also ask for your work experience, and by then your work experience would have been almost a year. Besides, entering your work experience ensures that you get quizzed on your job-related questions which you can prepare well for. It's like ensuring that you get a particular question in an exam. You can now prepare extremely well for this question and prepare impressive answers for the same. 

FAQ 35. I have been working in my family business for 6 years. Can I show that as work experience?
Answer: Yes, you can show the duration after your graduation as work experience if your family business is a registered business. For example, if you appeared for the last graduation exam in Aug 2020, then you can count your work ex from 1st Sept 2020 to 31st July of the present year. However, you will need to further the following documents at the time of interview:
a. Experience letter- this should not a be a problem since it is your own business. Just issue yourself an experience letter clearly specifying your designation/title. 
b. Bank account statement and/or salary slips- make sure you start transferring salary from your business to your personal bank account every month starting from next month (on a fixed date every month, say 4tth of every month). Most colleges will ask for bank account statements for the last 6 months. Some may give you a choice of providing either bank account statements or salary slips. In very rare cases, some Bschools may ask you to furnish both. So you may need salary slips later but that is something that you can get made later when needed. 
Apart from the above documents, the panel will ask you a range on questions on your business and your role & contribution to it in order to judge if you actually worked or are you simply bluffing. 

FAQ 37. I have work ex in various sectors/industries. Shall I fill all of that or just the relevant work ex?
Answer: You can fill all the work ex you have along with the duration of each of those different work experiences. Leaving out some of these work experiences will create a gap in your professional work ex which you may not be able to justify. Besides, it is alright to have worked multiple organisations and even across sectors/industries. A lot of young professionals try out different things before they discover their calling.  

FAQ 39. I have work ex of over 1 year but in fragments of 2-3 months at different palces. Shall I mention all these work experiences?
Answer: This is a a concern. If you mention all of these work experiences, will will get the marks for work ex since work ex is looked at quantitatively while according marks by institutes but at the same time it will be hard for you to justify during the interview why you could not stick to any one place for long. It might make give an impression that you are not a serious/sincere person. In case you have one relatively sizeable work ex of, say, 8 months and one or two smaller past work experiences  of 2-3 months each, I suggest you simply do not mention the smaller ones. However, if all or many of your work experiences are in smaller fragments of 2-3 months, I leave it upto you. If you are a regular student of mine, you may contact me to discuss this further. 

FAQ 40. I have work ex of 3 months. Should I add it in my form?
Answer: Depends. If you started working 3 months ago and that job is your present employment, you may choose to enter it. It will just you justify the said duration and also give you opportunity to fend questions from your job. Besides, you will have a ready answer if they ask you your plan B. However, if you worked for 3 months in between an otherwise job-less duration of 1-2 years, then you can skip mentioning it as it will not put you in a difficult spot since justifying why you left a job within 3 months would be hard. Also, there is no benefit of 3 months of work ex in terms of marks awarded for work ex. 

i. Industry Type: From the given options, choose the industry that your organisation belongs to. Please note that here the industry is to be chosen as per the nature of product/service your organisation is into and NOT on the basis on the basis of the work you do within the organisation. For example, if you work as an IT personnel in a bank, your industry would be Banking/Financial Services, not Information technology. In case you do not find your industry mentioned in the options, pick one which is very close to your industry. If you do not find any industry close to what your organisation does, then you may check box 'Others' at the bottom of the list of options and then fill the name of the relevant industry in the space provided in front of 'Others'. For example, I have worked with educational institutions all my professional life and I do not find any industry option that matches the work that these institutes do, so I have check-boxed 'Others' and filled 'Education' as industry (see the picture 👉).  However, you can choose 'Others' option only once. Hence, if you have worked across 3 industries, atleast 3 of those 3 must find a match in the given options for industries and for 3rdyou may choose others. 

ii. Start Date: you must know the exact date of your joining a particular industry. For example, if you have worked in 2 IT companies, say, TCS and Infosys, such that you first worked with Infosys for 1 year and then joined TCS where you are still employed,  then enter the date on which you joined Infosys. This date will be mentioned on your joining letter. You may choose this date by clicking on 'Start Date' and then selecting from the calendar appropriate year, month and date.

iii. End Date: note that this is NOT the end date of your tenure in an organisation but the end of your duration of experience in a given industry i.e. the date you finally exited that particular industry. For example, if someone had joined Nestle on 12 Oct 2019 and then left the company on 15th Oct 2020 for RB where he worked for another 1.5 years and finally left RB on 20th May 2022, then for him the start date would be 12 Oct 2019 and the end date would be  20th May 2022 since both the organizations belong to the same industry FMCG. However, had he joined some other industry, say, Tata Motors, then his industry would have changed to Automobiles/Autoancillaries. In that case, the student would separately fill the details of the 2 work experiences in front of the relevant industries i.e. the work experience details of Infosys under Information Technology and details of work ex at Tata Motors under Automobiles/Autoancillaries. In case you continue to work at the organization, then 31st July automatically becomes your end date for the given industry your organization falls under. 

iii. Break in Experience: in case there was any break in continuity in work experience within the same industry, usually because of some gap between leaving one organization and joining the next, then that gap must be quantified in terms of number of days and entered here. For example, I joined Tathagat on 3rd August 2011 and left on 3rd August 2016. However, I joined the next organization MBA Guru on 16th August 2016, thus creating a gap of 12 days within the same industry. You would see that I have entered this number as 'Break in Experience'. In case someone does not have any break in experience, then the number '0' should be entered here. Also, if someone moved from one industry to another (Infosys to Tata Motors), then too the break experience will be zero as both the experiences will be filled under different industries.  

Note that this box does not accept decimal and hence the value must be a whole number. 

iv. Experience (in days): you do not need to fill this. The value in this box will be automatically calculated on th ebasis of your inputs in i, ii & iii. 

v. Total Work Experience: just as the previous box, this too will be auto-filled, adding up your work experiences across industries. This is the number that will decide how many marks you would get for work ex at a given Bschool on the basis of the policy for distribution of marks adopted by that Bschool. 

FAQ 41. What all documents do I need to upload in the CAT application form to supoort my work experience?
Answer: None. No document has to be attached for work ex. The work ex must be quantified here, as explained in the above section, so that they can assign you marks for work ex which will enhance your chances of a call for 2nd stage from various Bschools. However, be clear that various documents supporting your work experience- joining letter/experience letter, Bank account statements and/or salary slips will be scrutinized later on once you are called for personal interview. 

FAQ 44. I worked for a  company through my campus placement for 10 months.They had 2 years bond but I broke it and work only for 10 months , because of which the company hasn't provided me with any experience letter/relieving letter. I just have offer letter and last drawn payslip. So are these documents i.e. offer letter and payslips enough to provide proof of my work ex later at the time of interview if I enter my work ex in CAT form, or should I not enter any work ex in form?
Answer: You should enter work ex with whatever documents you have and also clearly ask the company for work ex letter. They are bound by law to issue you the same for whatever duration you worked there. The 2 years bold was illegal unless they paid you some loan which you were to return. Even if they do not issue a work ex letter, your pay slips, bank account statements reflecting salary and offer letter should be sufficient to prove your employment. 

FAQ 43. I am a Bcom graduate (June 2021) and from next month onwards I joined my family business and have been doing that since then. I have not withdrawn any salary or made any payments from the organisation to my personal account. Can I fill that as full-time work ex and then explain that I received cash in the range of 10-15 k monthly for that one year, so my income is not taxable as well, hence no returns filed?
Answer: Yes, you can show this as full time work ex starting from July 2021 (right after your graduation was over) till the cut off date mentioned in CAT form. Start taking salary in your account from this month (any suitable amount for the role you choose for yourself) and do that every month. Don't worry about ITR...no one checks that. 


FAQ 43. After completing my 12th class, I did 2 months internship in a company and after some time I was offered job and I worked there for 6 months. I know this won't be counted as work ex but as internship. So now how should I mention this in the form like I did 8 months internship or what should I mention specifically?
Answer: This won't be mentioned anywhere in the CAT form since CAT form has no space for internship or 'Anything else' where you can enter extra info. However, you can mention this in other forms that have space for internships. You may also mention this in your interview. 

FAQ 43. I got a job in Dec 2020 (at the end of BTech 4th Year). But I had a back which I appeared for and cleared in 2021, hence the graduation date is July 2021. From when shall I start my work ex?
Answer: As discussed above, work ex is paid full-time job after graduation, hence you must count your work ex from July 2021 and not Dec 2020.

FAQ 43. Why do they want to know the industry I have worked in?
Answer: Most top Bschools, including IIMs, award marks for educational diversity i.e. they try to make it easier for students from minority streams (fashion technology, statistics, dentistry) to get through the selection process. Similarly, Bschools also try to have diversity among work experience. It is for that purpose they ask for the industry you have worked in.  

Click on SAVE & NEXT at the bottom of the page to move to the next tab.

D. Programmes

Now there are 2 ways to go about with it
a. Easy and quick way (Recommended)
b. Long and tedious way

I will explain both and let you choose.

a. Easy and quick way (Recommended)

i. Simply checkbox the on 'Select All' option at the top left corner, just under the 'Note' (highlighted in the picture 👉). This will auto-select all the programmes offered by all the IIMs, even those you are ineligible for. There is absolutely no downside of taking this option. You will simply not be called by most of the courses (executive courses and others) as absence of required work ex will make you ineligible. For courses where you would be eligible and where you do end up getting a call/invite but you find that course outside your interest (ABM, HRM, FAPM etc), you can simply decide not to fill the subsequent form after CAT result (CAT asks all successful aspirants to fill a form where again a lot of information is sought and only those who express interest by filling that form are invited for second round of selection process). So by not filling that form, you would automatically be rejected/ruled out for those programmes. However if you get an invite from a course of your interest (PGP, MBA) from an IIM, you may choose to fill the form for subsequent selection process and proceed further. 

ii. Interview City: for some programmes, especially for the core programmes that most CAT aspirants aim for (PGP, MBA) you will see two preferences. In the Interview City Preference 1 pick the city among the options that would be your first choice, usually the city of your residence or one closest to your residence. In the Interview City Preference 2, pick the city where you would be most comfortable travelling to should you not get the city of your 1st preference, usually a city which is nearby or one where you have ready accommodation because of friends/relatives. In the picture above, I have filled Delhi as Interview City Preference 1 since I live in Delhi and I have filled Mumbai as Interview City Preference 2 because my brother stays there. You cannot select the same city in both Interview City Preference  and Interview City Preference 2.

Note: It is almost certain that you will be interviewed in the city filled in Interview City Preference 1.

FAQ 45. Would it give me some advantage to take IIM Ahemadabad's interview in Ahemdabad itself and likewise for other IIMs?
Answer: No. The panel does not discriminate against or prefer students taking interviews in the same city as the institute. So your chances of selection remain the same regardless of the city you are interviewed at. Also, all interviews are taken by faculty of that very institute. Besides, you will have multiple interviews (10-30) to take in a period of around 2 months, and hence it would help to have all the interviews in the same city, instead of taking flight from one city to another.   

In some courses (the non-popular ones which many of your wouldn't even be aware), there would be very few choices and may not include the cities you have chosen in Interview City Preference 1 & Interview City Preference 2. Choose the least inconvenient one from the options. In fact for many programmes (mostly PhD programmes), there may not be a choice at all and you may have just one city as the option (the city that the institute itself is located). 

This step will be monotonous and when you click on SAVE & NEXT you may realise that you have missed some columns, but the good thing is that the software will keep taking you to those missed columns every time you hit SAVE & NEXT till you have filled them all. 

Suggestion: Look at the options of cities and decide in your mind the cities to be entered as 1st and 2nd preference. Now look for only these 2 cities where there are options, else select from the other options. Once completed, recheck to ensure that your selection of Interview City Preference 1 is correct for all programmes. This is the column that matters here.

b. Long and tedious way

This option requires you to make informed and conscious selection of programmes that you wish to apply to. I will help you decide which ones should be your target. 

General Information on programmes

• Whenever you see the word 'Executive' on any programme, know that it has a work       experience requirement and thus not meant for those without any.
• FPM/PhD are doctoral programmes and take a minimum of 4 years (best case scenario)
• PGP/MBA/PGDM is the flagship programme of all Bschools in India, just as Btech is the flagship programme of al IITs. THIS is the programme that almost CAT takers want to get into. 
• The date takes as cut off to determine work experience varies greatly from course to course and IIM to IIM. So while the work ex filled in the CAT form will be as per 31st July, different individual courses use different cut off dates to determine work ex. 

Core- Post Graduate Programme (PGP), Masters in Business Administration (MBA)- these are the flagship 2-year residential programmes offered at all IIMs. Any given IIM will have either PGP or MBA. No IIM will have both MBA and PGP. Know that this is the programme that you are preparing so hard for. You must select this programme for every IIM. 

Note: PGP and MBA are same for us for all practical purposes. 

Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM)- same as PGP. Some IIMs (IIM Trichy) offer their flagship PGP programme by this name. Ofcourse you will select this. 

Others
1. MBA in Human Resource Management (MBA-HRM)/ Post Graduate Programme-Human Resource Management (PGP-HRM/ PGPM-HR)- 2 year residential MBA in HR specialization. Well suited for those who have already decided HR as their specialization. In case you still haven't locked your specialisation, do tick this course. You may have greater clarity on this aspect by the time you get a call or by the time you convert that call. This separate specialisation is offered as a separate course by IIM Amritsar, IIM Ranchi, IIM Trichy and IIM Indore.

2. Post Graduate Programme in Finance (PGP-F)- 2-year residential programme by IIM Kozikode for those who want to specialize in finance (just as some IIMs offer specialised course for MBA in HR fromt he start). 

Note: If you decide to join any of the above 2 programmes, you will not have the option to change your specialisation in the 2nd year of the programme, an option that you get in PGP/MBA programme.

3. Post Graduate Programme In Food and Agri-business Management (PGP-FABM)- this is a niche' specialisation and meant only for those who are already in this line of work and are sure of building an career/enterprise in this line. Others may leave it. Although after pursuing this course you can claim to be an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad (just as someone can pursue a 6 month post-graduate course from IIT Delhi and call himself an IITian), this is not the course that will launch you it the corporate world the way you desire.  This course is offered by Ahmedabad. A similar course is offered by IIM Lucknow by the name PGP-ABM.

4. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) / Doctoral Programme in Management (DPM)- this is an advanced course, a PhD actually, which lasts more than 4 years (4-6 years mostly) and is meant for those interested in research or those who eventually intend to work as professors, perhaps in Bschools. Almost all IIMs offer this course. IIM Ahmedabad offers it to those who hold a 4-year B.Tech. degree with 6.5 CGPA are eligible for this programme. Also eligible are those with a 3-year degree with a master's or post graduate diploma (2 yrs.) or professional qualification (CA/ ICWA/CS). Note that the admission criteria, mode of conduct and number of on-campus sessions in this course may vary from IIM to IIM. 

5. Doctor of Philosophy Executive (PhD Executive)/ Executive Fellow Program in Management (EFPM) / Executive Doctor of Philosophy (EPhD) / Executive Doctoral Programme in Management (EDPM) - this is a PhD program where only those with certain amount of work ex are eligible. For example, IIM Nagpur offers this program (PhD Executive) to those with 10 years of work ex. Similarly IIM Trichy offers its EDPM to those with 10 years of work ex while IIM Raipur asks for 7 years of work ex for its EFPM. 

6. Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA)/ (ExMBA)/ (MBA Executive) / Executive Post Graduate Programme (EPGP)/ Post Graduate Program for Executives (PGPEX)- IIM Amritsar, IIM Kashipur, IIM Kozikode and almost all other IIMs offer this 2-year degree program in non-residential hybrid mode for those with a bachelor’s degree in any discipline and a minimum 3 years of working experience in managerial /entrepreneurial /professional role.

Note: Every IIM offers executive program for those who have work experience. However, the amount of work experience needed and other details of course conduct may vary from IIM to IIM. 

7. ePost Graduate Diploma in Advanced Business Analytics (ePGD-ABA)- it is again a niche' specialisation and meant only for those with a strong drive for Business Analytics (BA). In case you are wondering what BA is, this course in not for you. IIM Ahmedabad offers this course to a candidate with a minimum of 2 years’ work experience (preferably in the domain of business analytics); the experience criterion may be waived for candidates with exceptional academic qualifications. Besides CAT, this programme also accepts candidates through other exams like GMAT, GATE etc. 

8. Post Graduate Programme Business Analytics (PGPBA) / MBA-Business Analytics (MBA-BA)/ Masters in Business Administration (Analytics) - same as above , although details of eligibility and conduct of course may vary. These are usually 2-year residential programmes and do not ask for mandatory work ex. 

9. Executive Masters in Business Administration Analytics (EMBAA)- offered by IIM Kashipur and similar to 3. Minimum of three years of full-time work experience, where number of months of work experience is considered as on date of announcement of the online application process for admission. Participants will be eligible to apply for the programme based on their overall profile and credentials. Eligible applicants will have to appear for EMBA (Analytics) Admission Test and Personal Interview.

10. Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM)- 2-year weekend MBA for working professionals.  Bachelor's degree (minimum 50%) in any discipline as per the 10+2+3 norms and a minimum 4 years work experience in any industry after the bachelor’s degree is needed for this.

11. Master of Science in Data Science and Management (MSDSM)- one of its kind course offered jointly by IIM Indore and IIT Delhi. The course intends to combine aspects of management with technology/data science and covers courses on algorithms, data structures, big data infrastructure, big data analytics life cycle, data security and management. No work ex needed for this programme but it is limited to certain graduation streams only (6.0 CGPA in BTech/ BE/ BS/ BPharm/ BArch/ BDes/BFTech Four years BSc/ MSc/MCA/ MBA). The programme accepts students through CAT/GATE/GMAT/GRE/JAM test score obtained anytime in the last three years or through DMAT (Data science and Management Aptitude Test) by the institute. 

 

12. Post Graduate Programme in Liberal Studies & Management (PGP-LSM)- 2-year full-time master's programme offered by IIM Kozikode. Does not require any work ex. 

13. Post Graduate Programme in Business Leadership (PGP-BL)- one-year residential programme offered by IIM Kozikode. Eligibility for it is as follows:

i. Candidates with not less than 50% marks in graduation or post-graduation or CA. 

ii. Minimum 3 years’ relevant work experience after completion of graduation/CA.

iii. GMAT/GRE/CAT score of last 3 years

14. Post-Graduate Programme in Management for Working Executives (PGP-WE): program is offered by IIM Lucknow but is conducted at the Noida, UP campus of IIM Lucknow for those with atleast 3 years of work experience. It is a two-year weekend programme; the first year consists of four terms and the second year consists of three terms. Students come to the campus on Friday afternoon and go back on Sunday afternoon, every alternative weekend. Each term (except Term-5) has 7 visits distributed over 3 months' period; Term-5 has 5 campus visits on alternate weekends and a two-week International Module. 

15. MBA for Working Executives (MBAWE)/ Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration for Working Executives (PGDBAWE)-: this unique 2-year programme offered by IIM Shillong & IIM Udaipur is conducted online over weekends, hence suited well for those who cannot leave their jobs nor move to campus for offline classes. It requires a minimum 3 years of full-time work experience. There will be written eligibility test for admission – Working Executive Management Aptitude Test (WE-MAT) by IIM Shillong. Similarly, IIM U may have its own test. These tests would follow a similar pattern as the Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by IIMs. However, those having a certain percentile in CAT or certain score in GMAT are eligible to be exempted from the above tests.

16. Post Graduate Programme in Sustainable Management (PGP-SM): offered by IIM Lucknow, this 2 year program offer courses on systems thinking, social entrepreneurship, externalities, lifecycle management, stakeholder management and public policy. A candidate needs 2 years of work ex to be eligible for this course. 

17. Executive Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Management (EPGDSM): this one of its kind 2-year programme is offered by IIM Rohtak and is meant for sports graduates and sports enthusiasts. There is no mandatory work ex requirement by work ex in relevant field will be an added advantage. Besides, all applicants will have to undertake Sports Aptitude Assessment Test.

18.  PhD for Working Professionals (PhDWP): a PhD programme for those who wish to continue working and cannot afford to take up a full-time residential programme. This is a 4 year doctoral programme (with possibility of extension if the student needs) with online learning but also on-campus immersion a few times in a year. 

19. The Master of Business Administration in Tourism & Hospitality Management (MBA-T&HM)- unique 2-year residential programme offered by IIM Sirmaur. It is a niche specialization like agro-business management and Business Analytics

20. Post Graduate Programme in Business Management (PGPBM)-  2-year on-campus MBA at Chennai campus of IIM Trichy for working professionals as classes will be held on weekends.  The candidate applying for this programme must have a minimum of three years of full-time work experience as on August 1, 2022.

21. MBA in Digital Enterprise Management (MBA-DEM): 1-year full-time programme offered only by IIM Udaipur. It is a highly specific specialisation and requires students to hold 3 years of work ex. 

22. MBA in Global Supply Chain Management (MBA- GSCM)- 1-year full-time programme offered only by IIM Udaipur. It is a highly specific specialisation and requires students to hold 3 years of work ex. 

23. Post Graduate Program in Digital Governance and Management (PGP-DGM)- this unique programme offered by IIM Vishakhapatnam is meant for those willing to learn management of digitalization and digital management initiatives. Such programmes are usually run for government officers and are sponsored by the government. 

i. Pick the programmes that suit your aspiration. In case you are a fresh graduate or in your final year of graduation with no intent of pusuing a PhD, at least not now, then pick the Core programmes and among others pick 1 &2. 

ii. Choose the Interview City Preference 1 & Interview City Preference 2 as described in step a above.

E. Test City

You can opt for 6 cities among the state-wise choices given in the drop down menu. There is a very real possibility of your not getting the city of your first preference. Hence choose your 2nd and 3rd preference wisely. You can choose cities which would be either very close to your residence or where you have ready accommodation so that you can go there a couple of days and advance and be comfortable with the new surroundings so that you can sleep on time the night before the exam and also reach the center timely. It would be a disaster to travel 2-3 hours to your test center for the morning slot (8:30 am- 10 :30 am) and take CAT with a sleep-deprived body. So think wisely and choose our 2nd and 3rd preferences. I have in past been assigned by 3rd preference many times. I have never got my first preference (Delhi) in last 5 years! 

Suggestion: keep the city of your residence as your first preference. For 2nd and 3rd preferences, either choose a nearby city that you can easily access on the test date from your residence itself (Noida, Ghaziabad for Delhites) or a nearby city where you have a close friend/relatives (Jaipur, Mathura, Agra as I have close relatives there and hence I can stay with them without worrying about safety, food, accommodation etc)

PS: New Delhi means all of Delhi. 
Noida and Greater Noida have been clubbed as one choice
Similarly, Faridabad & Gurugaon have been merged as one choice

Likewise Hubli & Dharwad have been merged as one choice

Here is a alphabetically-arranged state-wise list of cities 👇 that you can choose from. 

STATE- CITIES

Andaman and NIcobar- Port Blair
Andhra Pradesh- Guntur, Kakinada, Kurnool, Nellore, Rajahmundry, Tirupathi, Vijaywada, Vishakhapatnam, Vizianajram
Arunachal Pradesh- Itanagar-Naharlagun. Both these cities have been clubbed as one option. So if you pick this option, you can get either of the two. 
Assam- Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar, Tezpur
Bihar- Patna, Muzzafarpur, Gaya, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Arrah
Chandigarh- Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh- Raipur, Bilaspur, Bhilai Nagar
Dadra & Nagar Haveli- Silvassa
Goa- Madgaon, Panaji
Gujrat- Vadodara, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Ahemadabad, Surat, Rajkot, Anand
Haryana- Ambala, Faridabad-Gurugram. Both Faridabad & Gurugram have been clubbed as one option. So if you pick this option, you can get either of the two. 
Himachal Pradesh- Shimla, Hamirpur, Bilaspur
Jammu & Kashmir- Jammu, Srinagar
Jharkhand- Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Hazaribagh
Karnataka- Udupi, Shivamogga (Shimoga), Mysore (Mysuru), Mangalore (Mangaluru), Bangalore (Bangaluru), Belgaum (Belgavi), Kalaburgi (Gulbarga), Hubli-Dharwad (Both Hubli & Dharwad have been clubbed as one option. So if you pick this option, you can get either of the two.)
Kerala- Trivandrum, Thrissur, Kozikode, Kottayam, Kollam, Kannur, Ernakulam
Ladakh- Leh
Lakshadweep- Kavaratti
Madhya Pradesh- Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Sagar, Satna, Ujjain

Maharashtra- Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Vasai, Thane, Solapur, Satara, Palghar, Navi Mumbai, Nanded, Raigad, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, Boisar, Bhiwandi, Aurangabad, Amravati, Ahmednagar 
Manipur- Ukhrul
Meghalaya- Shillong
Mizoram- Aizawl
Nagaland- Kohima
New Delhi- New Delhi
Odisha- Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Balasore, Rourkela, Dhenkanal, Behrampur

Punjab- Amritsar, Jalandhan, Patiala, Ludhiana, Bhatinda, Mohali
Rajasthan- Ajmer, Bikaner, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Sikar, Udaipur

Tamil Nadu- Chennai, Vellore, Madurai, Puducherry, Coimbatore, Salem, Tirunelveli, Tiruchirappalli

Telangana- Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Warangal
Tripura- Agartala

Uttar Pradesh- Agra, Mathura, Merut, Aligarh, Bareily, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Jhansi, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Prayagraj, Noida- Greater Noida (Both Noida & Greater Noida have been clubbed as one option. So if you pick this option, you can get either of the two.)

Uttarakhand- Dehradun, Haldwani, Roorkee

West Bengal- Kolkata, Siliguri, Asansol, Bankura, Burdwan, Hoogly, Kalyani, Durgapur

F. Payment

Not much for me to explain here really. Would just remind you NOT TO RUSH to make the payment. Even if you have filled the form, wait till 10th September to make the payment. Many a time, students discover wrong details filled or some guidelines which they were unaware of later. And since by then they have already made the payment, no changes can be made to the form. Hence leaving them with no option but to re-fill the form, wasting the hard-earned money of their parents. There is absolutely no incentive to filling this form early. 

F1. Net Banking/Credit Card/Debit Card/Cash Card/Wallet

These are basically the options available to you to make the payment. In this section you will see your name and application fee (2300/1150 depending upon the category you selected) 

F2. Payment Details

Again nothing for you to do here

F3. Payment Mode

You can choose either PayU or CC Avenue as your payment gateway. You may choose either, it's the same for you. 

F4. Declaration

i. Checkbox the declaration like you always do. 
ii. Fill the captcha which is thankfully not case sensitive this time. If you have trouble reading the characters, click the refresh icon right next to the captcha. 

Now click on 'PREVIEW' at the bottom of the page to view the entire filled form on a single page and verify all the pieces of information filled by you. Once reviewed thoroughly, click on 'OK' at the bottom. In case any changes are to be made, go to the relevant section and make those changes. If not, click on 'SUBMIT' at the bottom of the page to reach the payment gateway. You will have 15 minutes to make the payment. Choose the payment method as per your convenience and make the payment. 

Note: There is no option to make the payment in cash. 

In case your payment fails or if you try to go back to the form, you will be logged out and you will have to log in again and re-fill the payment page as this page, unlike the other pages in the form, does not get saved. Any money deducted will be credited back to you via the same mode through which the payment failed. 

In case your payment is successful, you will see your entire filled form in its final form on the screen, as if it were opened as a pdf. You should download this form as pdf (click on Print bottom at the top right corner and then save it). 

Also, you will receive a confirmation mail confirming successful submission of the form (as shown in the picture 👈). After this, changes to any information provided on the application form is not possible. You can only print or save the form from the website. The only way to make changes is to re-fill a new form after fresh registration using a different email id and same or different mobile number. You may fill as many application forms you want. In case of multiple applications by same individual, CAT will consider the last application that was submitted by the individual. 

Whenever you next login to the CAT application form as a Registered Candidate on iimcat.ac.in, you will see the Application Summary that will give a Read-only view of the details you have entered. You will now see 3 red-colour tabs at the top

A. Applicant Details
B. Help Desk
C. Application View Pdf
D. CAT Admit Card (this will appear later)

A. Applicant Details

This is the default tab that you will be at each time you log in after successful payment. Here you will see all the application details that you had filled. Note that in the Payment Details section you will the Payment Status as 'S' which means successful. You will also see Payment Transaction Number. 

B. Help Desk
This is a new feature that you will now see. You can use it to ask your queries to CAT-appointed personnel. Click on this tab and then on the + button at the right side, right next to the refresh button (as shown in the picture 👉).

Once clicked, this icon will take you to a new page where you will find options to choose from the drop down list of Problem Category comprising 3 options- Application Form Related, Payment Related & Admit Card Related. You can then choose the query type from a second dropdown list (to choose the subtype of the nature of your query). Know that there is the option of 'Others' in the Problem Type dropdown list, in case you do not find any of the given options matching your concern. You can then explain the nature of your query in the Problem Statement in the form of text in approximately 150 characters. Finally you can attach a relevant photograph (in jpeg or jpg format) or pdf file in the Document Upload section. Click on blue-coloured tab that says SUBMIT at the right corner of the page. You can now expect a reply from CAT on your query in a few days.

C. Application View Pdf
You can use this tab to download your submitted CAT application form. Click on the hyperlinked 'here'  in the 'Click here to download Application view PDF' (as shown in the picture 👇). On clicking it, an automatic download of the pdf file of your application form will begin. 

D. CAT Admit Card
This tab does not exist as of now but will appear sometime in October once CAT uploads your admit cards here. You can download your admit card after that, just as you downloaded the form in tab C. Your admit card will contain the name of your test center and the slot assigned to you along with some instructions for the D day. Also, you must take a normal printout(black & white or coloured) and affix on it the same photograph that you have submitted in your CAT form on the designated space for photograph. 


FAQ 70. Will the last date to submit CAT form be extended?
Answer: It may be extended for a week, which has happened in recent years. However, a serious student would not wait for or bank upon that extension. In my experience, those who fill the form during the extension are not the ones who are even in the race for a worthy %ile. Hence kindly do not wait for such extensions nor should you wait for the last day to fill the form. In case an extension is given, know that it would be last. There is no 2nd extension of CAT form submission deadline.

IMPORTANT: A practice test will be available on the CAT website: www.iimcat.ac.in You MUST familiarize yourself with the functionality and navigation of the actual exam. The CAT Mock Test link will be available by the end of October.

CAT Contact for queries via email/call

In the event you do not receive a confirmation email after completion of the application process or for queries regarding CAT registration, application and payment processing, document uploading, you can connect with the Candidate Help Desk by e-mail (cathelpdesk@iimcat.co.in) or call 1800 210 8720 from Monday to Saturday 9:00AM to 6:00PM (excluding National holidays). Please have your User ID and/or Payment Transaction Number details at hand for reference.

For Academic queries like eligibility, category and PwD certificate, please contact CAT Centre office by email (cat2022@iimb.ac.in) or call +91-080-26993388 / 3017 / 3013 Monday to Friday excluding holiday, from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Please note that CAT Centre should NOT be contacted for any issue related to CAT registration, application, or payment processing.

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