CAT Application Form 2017 – The registration and application form of CAT 2017 will be available in online mode only. To access the CAT application form 2017, first, the aspirants are required to register for the test. Only after the candidates successfully submit the CAT registration form 2017, they will receive their login ID and password. After logging in with the provided credentials, applicants will be able to access the CAT 2017 application form. While filling in the application form of CAT, candidates are advised to enter all the details carefully. In case of any error in the entered registration or application details may lead to the cancellation of the candidature. It is not common in CAT to provide a correction window, but last year, for the first time the correction window was available. Also, the candidates are required to upload the required scanned images such as passport size photograph, signature and category certificate (if necessary). To conclude the CAT application process, the candidates are required to pay the fee. It must be noted that the application fee is non-refundable and can be paid only via online mode. The application fee amount is yet to be disclosed, however, it is expected to be close to Rs. 1700/- (SC/ST/PwD/DA: Rs. 850/-).

Important Dates for CAT Application Form 2017

CAT Application Form 2017 – Registration Trends

Looking at the past 10 years of CAT registration, there has been steady ups and downs in the total number of applicants. However, last year the number of CAT applicants broke the last 7 years record. The table below provides the trends in the total number of management aspirants applying for CAT.

MBA aspirants who are willing to appear in Common Admission Test needs to have an aggregate of 50 percent in Bachelor’s Degree final examination. The eligibility criteria for CAT 2017 will be declared officially in the last week of the month of July. The eligibility criteria have remained same for many years. It is expected to remain same this year as well. The eligibility criteria, however, varies in accordance with the category of the candidate. Prior to applying, it is a prerequisite to have knowledge on the eligibility criteria.

Highlights of CAT Exam Eligibility Criteria 2017

In order to appear for CAT, it is essential that candidates should have a bachelor degree with at least 50% aggregate marks or a CGPA equivalent to it from a recognized university. Reserved category candidates need to have 45% aggregate in order to appear for CAT.

Candidates who are in the final year of bachelor degree and aspirants who are awaiting results of their bachelor degree also have the eligibility for application. They will, however, be offered provisional admission if they are capable of submitting a certificate from the registrar of the university or principal of the Institution stating that they have all the requirements to obtain the bachelor degree on the date on which the certificate is issued.

During application time, candidates require fulfilling any of these conditions: Completion of bachelor degree with the prerequisite percentage of marks2. Completion of professional degree along with the prerequisite percentage of marks3. Candidates who are in appearing in the final year of graduation degree with the required percentage marks have the eligibility to appear for the entrance test.

The percentage marks are calculated according to the practice followed by the specific Institute or University. In case the University or Institute offers CGPA or grade, the conversion of marks would be dependent on the procedures that are certified by the respective Institute. If there are no similar conversation process followed by the respective Institute, the calculation of equivalent marks are done by dividing the CGPA of the candidate by maximum CGPA, after which the result is multiplied by 100.

CAT 2017 Exam Eligibility – Reservation Criteria

According to the legal requirements, IIMs and other government institutes have to follow the reservation criteria as given below:

• 15 per cent of the seats to be reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC)
• 7.5 per cent of the seats to be reserved for Scheduled Tribe (ST)
• 27 per cent seats to be reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) belonging to non-creamy layers
• Three per cent seats to be reserved for Persons With Disability (PWD) candidates. The three categories of disability are: a) low vision blindness, b) hearing impairment and c) loco motor disability/cerebral palsy. This provision is applicable if the candidate suffers from any of the listed disabilities to the extent of not less than 40 per cent, as certified by a medical authority as prescribed and explained in the said PWD Act, 1995 (Section 39).
• The candidates belonging to the reserved categories have to score minimum cutoff percentile at CAT 2017 along with the eligibility criteria in order to be shortlisted for the admission process.

The first step towards your CAT preparation is to have the complete information and knowledge of CAT Syllabus and important areas for CAT. CAT syllabus has been designed to assess the prospective admission-seekers’ suitability for MBA education. The CAT is a primary filter used by all the 20 IIMs and several hundreds of other reputed colleges like S.P. Jain, FMS, MDI, etc. for admission to their MBA programs. It is a multiple- choice based test with penalties for wrong answers. IIMs don’t specify the syllabus as such but based on previous year papers we have developed a comprehensive list of important topics and areas for CAT.

The CAT Syllabus divided into four sections: Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning.