CAT 2021 Notification, Syllabus PDF, Books, Test Date, Eligibility, Notes
Common Admission Test(CAT)
About CAT 2021
Contents
- About CAT 2021
- CAT 2021 Notification
- CAT 2021 Form Fee
- CAT 2021 Syllabus PDF
- CAT 2021 Books
- CAT 2021 Study Material
- CAT Past Question Papers with Solutions
- CAT Formulas PDF
- CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria
- CAT 2021 Registration Process
- CAT 2021 Test Pattern
- CAT 2021 Marking scheme
- How to prepare for CAT 2021 test?
Common Admission Test or CAT is a national level entrance for admission to MBA/PGDM courses across the colleges of the country. It is one of the biggest and the toughest tests for MBA/ PGDM and every year about 2,40,000 students take this test.
The test is conducted across the country in almost 156 cities. It is the test through which one can get admission to colleges like, the IIM’s, DOMS IIT, FMS Delhi, SP Jain, MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad, IISc Banglore, etc. Almost all the colleges across India accept CAT score for admission to their management programs.
Every year a different IIM conducts the CAT test on a rotation basis. It is a computer-based test and is conducted annually. Preferably it is conducted in the month of November, on Sundays. The duration is 3 hours. Section-wise allotment of time is given, i.e one hour for each section.
CAT 2021 Notification
The first CAT 2021 Notification is already released. The interested candidates can check information about Registration deadlines, Eligibility criteria, Application form fees, test cities where the test will be conducted, etc.
| Particulars | Date |
| Registration process starts | 4th Aug to 15th Sept 2021 |
| Availability of Admit Card | 27th Oct 2021 |
| CAT 2021 test Date | 28th Nov 2021 |
| CAT 2021 Result | January 2022 |
CAT 2021 Form Fee
| Category | Fee |
| Open and NC-OBC | Rs. 2,200 |
| SC, ST, PwD | Rs. 1,100 |
CAT 2021 Syllabus PDF
The syllabus for CAT 2021 is spread across 3 areas – Verbal ability and reading comprehension, Data interpretation and Logical reasoning, Quantitative aptitude. The section-wise distribution of the syllabus is given below as.
QA
|
DILR
VARC
|
CAT 2021 Books
The 4 books written by Arun Sharma are considered to be the best books for CAT 2021 preparation.
- How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT
- How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT
- How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT
- How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT
First of all, you should understand the mindset behind purchasing books for offline study.
- Of course for conceptual clarity and practice
- Whatever you read online on different websites etc., you have to write down notes for preparation purpose. A hardcover book is always handy against straining your eyes on gadgets
- A book will help you to swap between topics very easily
The total cost including all books(Arun Sharma) is Rs. 2200+
If you find the cost of books on the higher side then you can involve a friend who is also preparing for the CAT test. Both of you contribute and purchase – Smart Work.
If you have coaching material from IMS, TIME, Career Launcher, etc. then the same is sufficient for preparation.
CAT 2021 Study Material
Everyone cannot make it to the coaching centres, nor do all coaching provide free study material.
The links will take you to some free sources available on the internet and some are prepared by Team UOT. Click on the links, download the data and get started.
Don’t forget to SHARE this page and SPREAD Awareness
CAT 2021 VA/RC Notes
| CAT VARC Topics | PDF Notes |
| 99 RC with Solution | Download |
| Sentence Correction | Download |
| Parajumble | Download |
| Reading Comprehension Tricks | Download |
In order to excel in the RC section, one must accept the fact that a lot of reading hours are required.
You can read Newspapers, Novels, Magazines etc. You must allocate at least 45 minutes from your daily schedule to the reading activity.
The RC passages in the actual CAT test stretch to a good length and in order to solve them, you must retain the information you read. This retention ability will not develop overnight. Besides retention, there are tons of benefits from reading daily.
CAT 2021 will be dominated by a lot of RC passages and it’s definitely an exhausting section as you have to concentrate a lot.
In addition to offline reading, I would personally request everyone to carry out the reading activity on screens like smartphones, laptops etc. The actual CAT paper would be on Computer Screen so do develop a habit of reading on screen.
CAT 2021 QUANT Notes
| CAT Quant Topics | PDF Notes |
| Handwritten Notes | Download |
| 101 Quant Shortcuts | Download |
| Quant Tricks | Download |
| 100 Must Solve Quant Questions | Download |
| Quant Question Bank | Download |
This can be a painful section for engineers as well as non-engineers. The past question papers show the ability of the Quant section to ruin the happiness of CAT aspirants with its level of difficulty.
The plan for Quant is very simple:
- Understand the concept
- Practice the concept questions without a timer
- Sectional mocks to explore strong and weak areas
CAT 2021 DILR Notes
| CAT DILR Topics | PDF Notes |
| Handwritten Notes | Download |
| 300 Sets of DILR | Download |
| Solved DI Sets | Download |
DILR, again a mate who ruins the complete game but definitely not an uncertain section. You can be very obvious about your scoring ability in Quant and DILR with practice sessions.
CAT test couples up DI and LR to bring up some interesting sets that have a practical orientation. You can master the DILR section with a good hold on calculation tricks and solving different varieties of DILR sets.
Remember, it will require patience to handle this section because some sets will seem to be like out of this universe.
CAT Past Question Papers with Solutions
It is recommended to check out past CAT question papers in order to understand the types of questions asked, number of questions asked from a particular topic, toughness level etc.
It will help you to figure out test strategies as per different sections and the number of questions to attempt.
| Year | Question Paper | Solution |
| CAT 2020 – Slot 1, 2, 3 | Download | |
| CAT 2019 – Slot 1 | Download | Download |
| CAT 2019 – Slot 2 | Download | Download |
| CAT 2018 – Slot 1 | Download | Download |
| CAT 2018 – Slot 2 | Download | Download |
| CAT 2017 – Slot 1, 2 | Download | |
| 2008 | Download | |
| 2007 | Download | |
| 2006 | Download | |
| 2005 | Download | |
| 2004 November | Download | |
| 2004 February | Download | |
| 2003 | Download | |
| 2002 | Download | |
| 2001 | Download | |
| 2000 | Download | |
| 1999 | Download | |
| 1998 | Download | |
| 1997 | Download | |
| 1996 | Download | |
| 1995 | Download | |
| 1994 | Download | |
| 1993 | Download | |
| 1992 | Download | |
| 1991 | Download | |
| 1990 | Download | |
CAT Formulas PDF
| HKF CAT Formula | Download |
| TIME CAT Formula | Download |
| CAT Formula PDF by Cracku | |
| Permutations and Combination | Download |
| Simple and Compound Interest | Download |
| Mixtures and Alligations | Download |
| Bayes Theorem & Conditional Probability | Download |
| Progression & Series | Download |
| Time, Distance, Speed & Work | Download |
| Number System | Download |
| Geometry/Mensuration | Download |
| Linear Equations | Download |
| Quadratic Equations | Download |
| Venn Diagrams & Set Theory | Download |
| Profit & Loss | Download |
| Inequalities | Download |
| Logarithm, Surds & Indices | Download |
| Ratio and Proportion | Download |
| Remainder Theorem – Fermat | Download |
| Remainder Theorem – Euler | Download |
| Remainder Theorem – Chinese | Download |
| Remainder Theorem – Wilson | Download |
| Handwritten CAT Formula Book by Non-Engineer | |
| Averages and Mixtures | Download |
| Mensuration | Download |
| Coordinate Geometry | Download |
| Geometry | Download |
| Trigonometry | Download |
| Time, Speed, Distance | Download |
| Time and Work | Download |
| Simple Equations | Download |
| Simple & Compound Interest | Download |
| Ratio and Proportion | Download |
| Profit and Loss | Download |
| Number System | Download |
| Percentages | Download |
| Permutations and Combinations | Download |
| Golden Book for CAT | Download |
CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria
The eligibility criteria for general category students is:
- The candidate must have passed at least a 3-year bachelor’s degree, from a recognised institute/ University recognised by the University Grants Commission or Association of Indian Universities in any discipline
- The candidate must have an aggregate of 50%
- If the marks are given in CGPA format, then the conversion of marks should be done as per the guidelines/ method given by the university/ institute
- The percentage should be rounded off with two digits after the decimal point.
The eligibility criteria for the reserved category is
The candidates belonging to SC, ST, VJ/DT (NT (A)), NT (B), NT(C), NT (D), OBC SBC and SEBC categories and Persons with Disability belonging to Maharashtra State only
- The candidate must have passed at least a 3-year bachelor’s degree, from a recognised institute/ University recognised by the University Grants Commission or Association of Indian Universities in any discipline
- The candidate must have an aggregate of 45%
- If the marks are given in CGPA format, then the conversion of marks should be done as per the guidelines/ method given by the university/ institute
- The percentage should be rounded off with two digits after the decimal point.
CAT 2021 Registration Process
- Visit the official website of CAT i.e. iimcat.ac.in
- Register with your email id, name and mobile number.
- Click on ‘Generate OTP’. An OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number, through which one can verify it’s an account for registration.
- A registration number and password will be sent to the registered mobile number and email id.
- One can use this registration number and password to fill the complete form.
- Fill in all the details, viz academic details, marks of 10th and 12th standard, work experience(if any), the city preferences that the candidate wishes to opt for, etc.
- The institutes in which the candidate wants to take admission, i.e the preference of IIMs and other institutes can also be selected by the candidate.
- Click on the ‘SAVE & NEXT’ option, so that the information fed is saved for further process.
- After all the details are filled in, click on the ‘FINAL SUBMIT’ option.
- Proceed for payment.
CAT 2021 Test Pattern
Duration of test: 120 minutes
| Particulars | Number of questions | Maximum marks per question | MCQ questions | Non MCQ questions |
| Verbal ability and reading comprehension | 26 | 3 | 21 | 5 |
| Data interpretation and logical reasoning | 24 | 3 | 18 | 6 |
| Quantitative ability | 26 | 3 | 18 | 8 |
Important points:
The test is conducted in 3 slots, viz.,
- Morning
- Afternoon
- Evening
There is a negative marking of 1/3rd marks per question, i.e. for each wrong question, 1 mark is deducted from the total score.
CAT 2021 Marking scheme
- The total number of questions for CAT 2021 is 76.
- Each question carries 3 marks.
- Section-wise distribution of time is given. Every section needs to be completed in the given time, i.e 40 minutes.
- For every wrong answer, 1/3rd of marks will be deducted, i.e., 1 mark will be deducted.
- There is no negative marking for not attempting any question(s).
How to prepare for CAT 2021 test?
By now everyone has understood the importance of the CAT test and the related details. So, WHAT & WHY is clear but HOW is still pending.
For any student aspiring to pursue a coveted MBA degree from most top B-schools in India, the Common Aptitude Test or CAT is the mother test to be mastered and cleared. Apart from the IIMs, it also opens doors to prestigious institutes like SP Jain Mumbai, FMS Delhi, NITIE Mumbai and a lot more.
Hence, more than 2 lakh students register for this test annually, with this number rising to 2.4 lakhs in the 2019-20 season. In the current season, this number is expected to further rise in light of the job crisis that the Covid-19 crisis might bring upon.
Read More: CAT 2021 Preparation
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