Common Admission Test (CAT)

Here's a step-by-step guide to the CAT (Common Admission Test) application process, especially relevant for CAT 2025, which begins August 1, 2025.

📝 CAT 2025 Application Process: Step-by-Step

🔹 Step 1: Registration

• Visit the official website: https://iimcat.ac.in
• Click on "Register" as a new user.
• Enter:
  • Name (as per academic documents)
  • Date of Birth
  • Email ID
  • Mobile Number
• Verify your email and phone via OTP.
• You'll receive a User ID and Password on your email/SMS.

🔹 Step 2: Filling the Application Form

Log in using your User ID and Password, then fill out the form in the following sections:

1. Personal Details

• Name, DOB, Gender, Nationality, Category (General/SC/ST/OBC-NCL/EWS)
• PwD status (if applicable)
• Upload scanned passport-size photo and signature

2. Academic Details

• 10th, 12th, Graduation marks and details
• Postgraduate (if applicable)
• Professional courses like CA/CS/CFA (optional)

3. Work Experience

• Total experience (only full-time jobs after graduation considered)
• Industry type and duration

4. Programmes

• Select IIMs you want to apply to
• Choose preferred cities for interviews (if shortlisted)

5. Test City Preference

• Choose 6 preferred test cities (in order of priority)

🔹 Step 3: Upload Documents

Upload these scanned documents:

• Passport-size photograph (JPEG/JPG, <80 KB)
• Signature (JPEG/JPG, <80 KB)
• Category certificate (SC/ST/OBC-NCL/EWS), if applicable
• PwD certificate, if applicable

🔹 Step 4: Pay the Application Fee

• Payment Modes: Credit/Debit Card, Net Banking, UPI, Wallets

🔹 Step 5: Submit the Form

• Review all details thoroughly.
• Once submitted, you cannot edit most details.
• Take a printout of the confirmation page for your records.

📌 Key Points to Remember

• One application covers all 21 IIMs.
• No hard copy needs to be sent to IIMs.
• You can edit limited fields (like test city) during the correction window, usually open for a few days in September.

Here is the detailed syllabus for the Common Admission Test (CAT), which is divided into three major sections:

📘 CAT 2025 Syllabus Overview

CAT does not have a predefined official syllabus, but based on previous years’ patterns, the following topics are most commonly covered:

🔹 1. Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)

Total Questions (Expected): ~24
Time Limit: 40 minutes

📖 Reading Comprehension (RC) – ~16 Questions

• 4 passages with 3–4 questions each
• Topics: Economics, Sociology, Psychology, Current Affairs, Literature, Philosophy, History, etc.

✍️ Verbal Ability (VA) – ~8 Questions

• Para Jumbles (PJ)
• Odd Sentence Out
• Summary of a Paragraph
• Sentence Completion (rare)
• Grammar & Vocabulary (very limited or none)

🔹 2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)

Total Questions (Expected): ~20
Time Limit: 40 minutes

📊 Data Interpretation (DI)

• Tables
• Charts (Pie, Bar, Line)
• Caselets
• Graphs & Combinations
• Data Sufficiency

🧠 Logical Reasoning (LR)

• Arrangements (Linear, Circular)
• Puzzles (Team selection, Scheduling)
• Blood Relations
• Venn Diagrams
• Binary Logic
• Games and Tournaments

Note: DILR sets are often integrated, with 4–6 questions per set.

🔹 3. Quantitative Ability (QA)

Total Questions (Expected): ~22
Time Limit: 40 minutes

📐 Key Topics:

➤ Arithmetic (highest weightage)

• Percentages, Profit & Loss, SI & CI
• Time, Speed & Distance
• Time & Work, Ratio & Proportion
• Averages, Mixtures & Alligations

➤ Algebra

• Linear & Quadratic Equations
• Inequalities
• Functions & Graphs

➤ Geometry & Mensuration

• Triangles, Circles, Polygons
• Area, Volume, Coordinate Geometry

➤ Number Systems

• Factors, Multiples, Remainders
• Divisibility, Base Systems
• HCF, LCM, Factorials

➤ Modern Math

• Permutations & Combinations
• Probability
• Set Theory
• Logarithms, Progressions (AP/GP/HP)

🧾 CAT Exam Key Facts

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