By and by, the relevance of MBA education in India-one of the emerging economies in the world-has increased immeasurably. Countless number of management institutions has sprung up in patches in the country to inculcate professional MBA trainings to deserving candidates, and this new development aims at eliminating the current shortage of qualified and well-trained managers sprawling across all the industries in the country.
CAT (Common Admission Test) is India's most reputed management examination, and it is also the foremost screening process for admission in premier Indian Management Institutions (IIMs). The CAT score determines not only an MBA aspirant's dream to qualify for admission in IIMs but it inadvertently validates management admission of MBA aspirants in mid and low rung institutions.
Every year, tens and thousands of students irrespective of their fields of academic study or specialization take their trysts with CAT.
Apparently, the trend in the CAT examination follows 'twist and turn' and this year it has recorded a drastic drop of about 15% in the number of candidates compared to last year's 2,41,000 students who took the test. Industry experts blame the prevailing post-recession market (to some extent) responsible for unleashing insecurity among MBA aspirants.According to statistics, nearly 60% of the total number of CAT applicants is candidates with job experience, and it is this segment of the data that have shown a drastic drop in numbers. CAT examination is especially designed for students who are interested in pursuing post graduate level management degree from prestigious B-schools in India. It is held once annually and the level of difficulty is comparatively higher to other management entrance examinations, plus this kind of examination is conducted at a national level.
Technically, the CAT written examination consists of various sections whose objectives are to test the overall intelligence and proficiency of the candidate in the areas of general awareness, logical reasoning/ ability, data interpretation, quantitative ability and so on.
Owing to the high difficulty level of the examination, interested candidates are recommended thorough practice and preparation before going ahead with it.This management entrance holds the highest value in MBA admission in India that is why it stirs waves among students who are keen on applying for admission in renowned B-schools. The management entrance examination is conducted for admission to the following post graduate programs namely- Management, Agri-business management, Software enterprise management, Computer aided management, Public policy and management, Management for executives and lastly, Fellow program in management.
A graduation degree from any recognized university with not less than 50% aggregate marks in any stream is the standard requirement for CAT application. Leading management institutions like IMT which ranks third amongst private B-schools in India admits CAT qualified students annually in their post graduate management programs offered at various locations- IMT Ghaziabad, IMT Dubai, IMT Hyderabad (underway) and IMT Nagpur.
