CAT 2019 Exam: Facts Fixed, Myths Busted!

With 2019 almost halfway through, the management entrance exam fever for this year is slowly gaining momentum. As always CAT 2019 is likely to lead the path this year too. Going by past trends, the official CAT 2019 notification is expected to be out by the second week of May 2019.

The Common Admission Test 2019 is the mother of all exams and is one of the toughest, conducted not only in India but across the world. It is your gateway to the twenty prestigious IIMs and a hundred other top B-schools like MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad, and IMI Delhi to name a few.

MBA Rendezvous helps you bust certain myths and gauge what to expect from CAT 2019.

Fact v/s Myth: CAT 2019 Exam Date

CAT 2009 came as a surprise since it became a computer-based test (online). Till CAT 2013 the exam was conducted over a month-long window and in 2014, the CAT exam was conducted across India in two days. By the time CAT 2015 exam was announced the process was more streamlined and it was held on a single day but in two slots. In the last four years, CAT exams have been held either on the 4^th Sunday of November or 1^st Sunday of December. Taking a look at the past year dates, MBA Rendezvous speculates the CAT 2019 exam date as below

Fact v/s Myth: CAT 2019 Conducting Body

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) conducts the CAT exam and every year different IIMs lead the charge on a rotational basis. Going by the past ten years, it is highly likely that IIM Kozhikode may conduct the CAT 2019 exam.

1. Since 2009, CAT exam has been conducted by one of these IIMs
   
2. All the IIMs in cycle one except IIM Kozhikode have conducted the CAT exam in cycle two (with IIM B the only exception)
3. All the above IIMs are old and well established; thus, it is natural that they are more trustworthy and better equipped than the newer ones.
4. MBA Rendezvous speculates that there are very high chances that the CAT 2019 Convening Body will be IIM Kozhikode. However, with the emergence of newer IIMs, it could be that IIM Udaipur is chosen as it was ranked the best among the new IIMs by NIRF 2019 rankings.

5. Fact v/s Myth: CAT 2019 Exam Difficulty

   A big myth associated with the difficulty level of the exam is that certain IIMs are known to make individual sections tough in the CAT Exam. For example, finance being IIM Calcutta’s forte, it is assumed that the Quant section set under IIMC will be tougher or verbal would be trickier if IIMA sets the CAT paper.

   CAT 2019 exam will test you on your – Aptitude, Accuracy and Time Management – Nothing more nothing less!

   All sections are given equal weightage, and since the exam is conducted in two different slots even if one part is tougher than the other, there will always be scaling or normalization of CAT scores.

   MBA Rendezvous urges its students to not go by such predictions and focus on all sections equally. We say, “Polish your Strengths and Strengthen your Weakness.”

   Fact v/s Myth: CAT 2019 Exam Pattern

   Over the years the CAT exam pattern and marking scheme have remained uniform. The exam pattern for CAT 2019 is likely to remain the same. The important highlights of CAT 2019 exam pattern are:

6. CAT 2019 exam will have three sections:
   1. Verbal Ability Reading Comprehension (VARC). – 34Q
   2. Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) – 32Q
   3. Quantitative Aptitude (QA) – 34Q
7. CAT 2019 exam will be conducted online and have a sectional time limit of 60 minutes each.
8. CAT 2019 exam will have negative marking:
   1. Correct Answer: +3
   2. Incorrect Answer: -1
   3. Unanswered: 0
9. The total number of questions will be 100, and the exam duration will be 3 hours. The only aspect that changes is the ratio of DI and LR sets in the DILR section.

10. Fact v/s Myth: CAT 2019 Important Dates

    Based on previous year trends, the important dates around CAT 2019 are expected to be as follows:

    CAT 2019 Notification	2nd Week of May 2019
    CAT 2019 Registration	August 2019 till September 2019
    CAT 2019 Admit Card	October 2019
    CAT 2019 Exam Date	November 2019
    CAT 2019 Exam Result	January 2020