150 days left for CAT 2013; Know important dates & past CAT pattern

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
May 16, 2013
With about 150 days left for CAT 2013 exam date, it's high time for MBA Aspirants to dedicate themselves to a focused preparation based on CAT exam pattern of previous year.
The common Admission Test (CAT) 2013 will be held in a 20 days window between October 16 and November 11, 2013.
With about 150 days left for CAT 2013 exam date, it’s high time for MBA Aspirants to dedicate themselves to a focused preparation based on CAT exam pattern of previous year. A well though preparation strategy around CAT exam pattern will open opportunities for you to enter into your dream B-school dream B-schools like IIMs and other top institutes such as FMS, JBIMS, SPJIMR, MDI etc.

Important dates for CAT 2013:

The common Admission Test (CAT) 2013 will be held in a 20 days window between October 16 and November 11, 2013.

According to Indian Institute of Management Indore, which is conducting CAT 2013 on behalf of all 13 IIMs, has announced that the Registration for CAT 2013 will begin on July 29, 2013. The voucher sale for CAT 2013 will begin from July 29 and close on September 24, 2013 at selected Axis bank branches across India. The candidates can register for the online test until September 26.

As you begin your CAT 2013 preparation, MBAuniverse.com will continue guiding you on different stages of preparation. We will also bring you a series of articles on section-wise analysis and expert guidance on CAT 2013 preparation.

CAT 2013 Exam Pattern:

Before moving on the tricky path of CAT 2013 preparation module, you necessarily need to know what and how to prepare. The best way is to analyse the previous year question pattern along with the Past CAT patterns.
CAT 2013 exam pattern is, however, expected to be the same as the previous year CAT exam.

Speaking to MBAUniverse.com, CAT 2013 Convenor Dr Rohit Kapoor said that CAT pattern this year will not be much different from CAT 2012.

“I would use the word ‘no surprises’ as such. There will not be any major change. We are not going to add or remove any section that existed in CAT 2012 test papers,” he told MBAUniverse.com.

Expected Sections & No of Question:

The CAT 2013 questions are broadly expected to be divided into two sections comprising areas like Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning.
Total No of Qs - 60
Verbal Ability – 30 (Logical Reasoning- 10)
Quant- 30 (Data Interpretation- 10)
Duration: 140 minute

The duration for these two sections will be implemented sequentially with separate time limits. The examination will be of 140 minutes. Candidates will have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions within each section which will have an on-screen countdown timer. Within the 70 minute provided for the section, candidates can review the answers. Once the time ends for the first section, they will move to the second section and will no longer be able to go back.

A 15-minute tutorial will be provided before the start of the test. The total duration will be of two hours and thirty five minutes including the tutorial.

Important Changes in CAT over years:

It will be interesting for you to know that CAT Exam Pattern has changed a lot in past. The test pattern, however, has stabilized in last three years. Few of the major changes are listed below:

1. CAT has gone green since 2009. Instead of using paper-pen/pencil mode the candidate has to appear online, attempt the question and move ahead.
 
2. Since 2010, the number of sections in the examination has been reduced from three to two. Earlier there used to be one section of Quant, one section of Verbal Ability and one section of Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning.
Now questions on Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning sections are clubbed with Quantitative and Verbal Ability sections respectively. But, the difficulty level has increased and more accuracy is desired.

3. Number of total questions which were 240 in 1990 to be solved in 120 minutes were reduced to 75 questions in 2007 (quite difficult-no doubt), and increased to 90 questions in 2008. However, since 2009 total questions have remained 60 and have become moderately tough to attempt. Number of questions, although, in comparison to 2008 in CAT, have been reduced but the ratio of the same has increased.

Begin now

With just five months to go for the most coveted B-school entrance examination, MBA Aspirants need to focus on hardcore in- depth preparation, where nothing can be left to chance. Therefore, don’t wait and start now.

MBAUniverse.com also offers a comprehensive preparation package coupled with over 200 online interactive classes with Top CAT experts including from IIMs for CAT 2013 preparation.

Visit the link below for more information and new batch schedules:

http://www.mbauniverse.com/mba-exam-preparation/CAT_Preparation/mba_preparation_package.php


Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more prep guide articles on CAT 2013.