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Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: July 18: The much-awaited notification about the Common Admission Test 2006 is finally out. CAT, abbreviated for Common Admission Test is the stepping-stone for MBA aspirants who want to get admitted in reputed management schools of India. It is conducted by Indian Institute of Management- IIMs for admission to various levels of management courses. Apart from the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, and Kozhikode, CAT is also a mandatory entrance examination for several other leading institutes like Kirloskar Institute of Management, Mudra Institute of Communication (MICA) Ahmedabad, Nirma Institute of Management, S.P. Jain Institute, TAI PAI and others.

The exam will be held on November 19, as scheduled. This year too, like other years, one can expect a certain amount of unpredictability that makes this exam different. Given below are answers to basic queries, which would have to be considered by every candidate forming strategies to “Bell the CAT”.

Who is eligible to write CAT 2006?
Any student who has completed his Bachelor's degree -- including engineering, medicine or their equivalent -- and has scored at least 50 per cent or more (or its equivalent in the Cumulative Grade Point Average/ Grade Point Average system) is eligible.
All students who are in the final year of their Bachelor's degree are also eligible, provided they have more than 50 per cent aggregate marks in each of their preceding years of the Bachelor's study. In other words, a B Com student, for example, should have got an aggregate of 50 per cent or more in FYBCom and SYBCom. Similarly, a final year engineering student who has more than 50 per cent aggregate marks in each of his first three years of engineering can write this year's CAT.
The eligibility for the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe/ Persons With Disabilities category is 45 per cent or more.

Application

Sale of CAT bulletin by banks/ post offices:

The CAT Bulletin containing the CAT Application Form and other information can be obtained at branches of UTI Bank/ Post offices listed below, between July 17 and August 17, 2006 for Rs. 1100/- (Rs. 550/- for SC/ST candidates). Please note that a candidate needs to buy only one CAT Bulletin irrespective of how many IIMs he/she is applying to. Candidates buying the form from UTI Bank/ Post Offices / IIMs must enclose the Copy of Bank's/IIMs' Pay-in Slip bearing the Candidate's name with the CAT Application Form. SC/ST candidates should submit a copy of SC/ST Certificate to the Bank /IIM at the time of obtaining the CAT Bulletin. Candidates should ensure they meet the eligibility criteria of the programme in which they are interested, before procuring the CAT bulletin. CAT application forms of ineligible candidates and application forms with incomplete information will be summarily rejected. No claim of refund will be entertained on sold Bulletins. The candidates can also download CAT bulletin from IIM’s website.

Important Dates

• Last date for receipt of completed Applications:9th September, 2006
• Dispatch dates for Admit Cards : 16th October, 2006
• Date after which IIM should be contacted : 3rd November, 2006
(in case of non receipt of Admit Card)
• Examination Date : 19th November 2006
• Call for interview : 02nd January, 2007
• Last Date for receipt of completed applications : 31st January, 2007
• Interview Schedule February : March, 2007

What is the duration of CAT 2006 exam?
The duration of this year's paper will be two and a half hours, instead of the two hours it was earlier.

What are the implications of this change?
This is one surprise nobody anticipated. However, it might actually be a good thing; you now have about 30 minutes more to crack the exam!
One of the basic reasons could be that the paper is difficult; scoring in two hours has become very tough so giving half hour more can raise the total marks a student scores at various levels.
However, this does not really make sense; in CAT, marks are relative and, hence, the duration of the paper does not matter. If you see the bulletin in detail, IIM-Ahmedabad has given the minimum required marks to get the coveted Group Discussion and Interview call. Try and score more than these cut-offs.

Will CAT 2006 have more sections?
If you look at the fine print of the CAT notification (which has featured in major national dailies in the last few days) as well as the bulletin, you will find CAT is a three-section paper this year too.

How do I prepare for CAT now that the time frame has changed?
First and foremost, the CAT bulletin instructions clearly say CAT is going to test students in Verbal, Quantitative, Data Interpretation and Logic areas. This clearly means you should continue your preparation in the same way you have been doing till now.

What are the cut-offs for CAT 2006?
This is the first time an IIM has clearly said there will be a minimum requirement in each section as well as an overall minimum in the entire paper. Till now, this information was hidden in a statement like, 'You are required to exhibit your competence in all the sections of the test.'
IIM-A has gone on record with the cut-offs for each of the three sections. Here is the exact text.
'The criteria used for short listing would be disclosed on the IIM-A Web site along with the list of short listed candidates on January 2, 2007. Please note that the cut-off for short listing SC/ ST/ PWD candidates for group discussion and personal interview would not be less than 17 percent score in each of the three sections of CAT 2006 and no less than 25 percent score in aggregate. For other categories, it would be no less than 25 percent in each of the three sections and no less than 33 percent in the aggregate. The actual cut-offs used for short listing, however, may be higher than the above mentioned percentage scores and would depend upon the performance of candidates in CAT 2006.'

What do the above cut-offs signify?
If the CAT 2006 paper is a three-section paper with 50 marks in each section and a total of 150 marks, then a General category student should get a minimum net score of 12.5 in each of the sections and overall net score of 50 to have a chance of getting a call from IIM-Ahmedabad.
For a SC/ ST/ PWD category student, the corresponding marks are 8.5 and 37.5 respectively for individual section cut-offs and the overall cut-off. Though the cut-offs for the other IIMs may vary, they will be in the same vicinity as that of IIM-A.

Is there an OBC reservation? Will it be introduced now?
Since the notification was released, there has been no communication from the Government Of India to the IIMs regarding the OBC reservation. As and when this information reaches the IIMs, they will take a decision to incorporate the same.
Therefore, those students belonging to the OBC category should get their certificates ready and send them along with the application form so that the same can be considered if or when the GOI directive on OBC reservations reaches the IIMs.

By V2P Correspondent