CAT 2012 dates announced

NEW DELHI: This year's Common Admission Test (CAT) will be conducted from October 11, 2012 to November 6, 2012. CAT 2012 will be coordinated by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode on behalf of Indian Institutes of Management.

According to the CAT committee, the computer-based test, like in 2011, will have two sections with separate time limits. Each of the sections will be one hour and ten minutes. There will be 30 questions in each section. The sections are Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation, and Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning. Once time ends for the first section, the aspirants will move to the second without the option of coming back to the previous one.Candidates will also be given a 15-minute tutorial before the commencement of the main examination. The section on Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation will be presented first, followed by Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning.

Sale of vouchers will start from July 30, 2012 and will continue till September 17, 2012. Aspirants can register between July 30, 2012 to September 19, 2012. The test days this year are from October 11, 2012 to November 6, 2012. The results will be announced on January 9, 2013.

This year, apart from the IIMs, more than 130 B-schools across the country are subscribing to CAT score. The number of CAT aspirants peaked in 2008 when 2.76 lakh aspirants registered for the test, which was a pen and paper mode test then. 2009 not only marked the CAT shifting to to computer-based mode, but it also remained one of the most controversial with major technical snags being reported from across centres raising serious questions on the test, because of which the testing window was extended to 20 days in 2010.

CAT 2009 also witnessed around 20% dip in registration as well, to record 2.42 lakh registrations. CAT's online presence bugged candidates again in 2010, literally, as the site began acting up. CAT 2010 aspirants received a scare when they visited the official site www.catiim.inon third day night of registration as they found the portal hosting malware files.

The timing of the bug made it even scarier as the sale of CAT 2010 vouchers and online registration started just two days ago, reminding people of the virus attacks during CAT 2009. In CAT 2010 2,04,267 aspirants registered for the test. CAT 2011 not only remained glitch free, it also witnessed a marginal increase in the number of candidates recording 2.06 lakh sale of vouchers and 2.05 lakh aspirants actually registering for the test.

The CAT is an all-India entrance test for admission to the IIMs at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore, Shillong, Kashipur, Ranchi, Rohtak, Tiruchirappalli, Udaipur and Kozhikhode, and other reputed institutes such as the Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad S P Jain Institute, Mumbai, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, Delhi School of Economics, New Delhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Dwarka, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, and TAPAI, Manipal. It was started in the 1960s and was initially the preserve of the IIMs alone. The new entrants in 2011 included six IITs, Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University, and Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar.

The test is designed to evaluate the management aptitude of a student by testing his analytical and communication skills. It demands up to three to four months of intense preparation. The test is open to all graduates. A decade back in 2003, CAT recorded 1.5 lakh aspirants taking the test.

Source:TOI