CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021: Check Qualification, Age Limit, Reservation

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021: The conducting IIM for Common Admission Test (CAT) will prescribe the CAT 2021 eligibility criteria under which the candidates will have to meet certain parameters that have been laid down. Detailed IIM CAT eligibility criteria 2021 are explained here for candidates who will appear for CAT 2021. According to the CAT eligibility criteria, candidates who have completed any Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized University with 50% of aggregated marks (45% for SC/ ST/ PwD) are eligible to apply. Before starting the CAT preparation, candidates should know the complete eligibility criteria so that they do not face any problem while registering for the CAT exam as well. In this article, we discuss the CAT eligibility criteria comprising age limit, academic qualification, category wise reservation, etc.

CAT Exam Dates 2021

Those candidates who are interested in CAT 2021 and fulfill the eligibility criteria must be aware of the CAT 2021 important dates like application starting, ending, admit card availability, CAT exam date, answer key release date, result date, cut off, and so on.

CAT 2021 exam dates

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021 - Overview

It should also be noted that eligibility for the CAT exam 2021 is very simple and has remained the same for the past several years. If candidates do not meet the eligibility criteria, then will not be able to apply for the CAT 2021 exam.

CAT 2021 eligibility criteria

Detailed eligibility criteria of CAT 2021 is discussed below. There are certain points regarding academic details which form part of eligibility criteria for CAT 2021. Some of the important points are mentioned below:

• CAT eligibility concerning Educational Qualification

• Eligibility for CAT examination for final year graduate students

• CAT eligibility for students with backlogs

• CAT eligibility and reservation details

• CAT mark calculation and who ineligible for CAT 2021?

• Required work experience for CAT Exam 2021

Before going into the eligibility details, it is necessary to know the details about the CAT exam and what this exam is. Below is a brief introduction to the CAT exam. For more information about CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021, see the complete article.

What is CAT?

CAT is normally called a Common Admission Test. CAT is a National Level Entrance Examination which is conducted annually by IIMs to take admission in management programs in various B-Schools. The CAT exam consists of three sections such as Quantitative Aptitude (QA), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC). One should check the latest CAT 2021 exam pattern and syllabus to know the detailed syllabus topics for the exam and prepare accordingly.

CAT 2021 will be held on the last Sunday of November 2021 (Tentative) and the results will be released in January 2022. Individuals wishing to take the CAT 2021 exam should check the latest IIM CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria before registering for the exam.

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CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021 - Academic Qualification

The conducting IIM will mention the academic qualifications and the marks which the candidates must secure to be able to appear for the CAT exam.

Eligibility Criteria of CAT 2021

MHRD/ AICTE: The University shall be declared annexed by an Act of the Parliament or the State Legislature of India or shall be treated as a university under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956.

NOTE: The candidates who appeared in the final year of degree examination should submit the certificate from the Registrar/ Principal of the respective institution or university. The certificate must state that they have met all the requirements for equivalent qualification on the date the certificate is issued.

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021 - Registration with Backlogs

One of the most common questions of students with any academic backlogs in their graduate program is whether they can enroll for the CAT 2021 exam. It should be clarified that CAT aspirants who have academic backlogs during their graduate program can apply and register for CAT 2021 without any problem.

During last year’s CAT registration (i.e. CAT Exam 2020), IIM Indore received many questions from candidates about registering with academic backlogs. In CAT 2021, those with backlogs are expected to apply and come to the exam.

Any candidate who scores above 50% (45% for the reserved category) in the degree (even in supplementary) can apply for CAT 2021.

When completing the CAT 2021 registration form, ask, "Are you in your final year of your bachelor's degree?" Select "Yes" to the question.

CAT 2021 Eligibility Criteria - Reservation Criteria

IIM offers some reservations for different categories of students applying for any business management program. To know CAT eligibility criteria for OBC, MBC, SC, ST, PwD, General, see the table below:

Reservation Criteria

This CAT reservation means that a general category candidate has 54% (54.5% accurate seat) seats for her/him. The total number of seats available in the various IIMs is about 4000. Due to the reservation level, the number of seats available to candidates from the general category is over 1900. By adding 20 or more top Institutions, the general category candidates have about 4000 seats to compete.

Also, Check CAT 2021 Cutoff for Top MBA Admission

Reservation Policy for Person with Disability (PwD)

For PwD category candidates, they must bring a PwD certificate issued by a competent authority. Then only they are able to fulfill the CAT exam eligibility criteria 2021 for the PwD category. Individuals with various type of disabilities accepted under the PwD reservation:

• Low vision/ blind candidates.

• Candidates with hearing impairment.

• Candidates with a locomotive disability or cerebral palsy.

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021 - Marks Calculation

• The CAT percentage calculation will be based on the fact that the respective institutions or universities where the candidates have passed their degree will follow their own procedure for calculating the total marks.

• For CGPA and grades, marks will be converted into percentages based on the practice certified by the respective institution or university.

• In another case, if no institution or university offers any plans for change, the percentage will be calculated by dividing the student's CGPA by the maximum CGPA, multiplying the result by 100.

• For example,

• If a candidate has a CGPA of 8.8 and a maximum of 10 CGPA, then 8.8/10 = 0.88 and multiplying the result with 100 = 0.88 X 100 = 88%

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Eligibility Criteria for CAT 2021 - Who is ineligible for CAT?

• If the candidate is in the process of completing their professional degree (CS/ CA/ ICWA) without appearing for their bachelor’s degree.

• The candidate is pursuing both their bachelor’s degree and a professional degree but has not yet completed both.

• If the candidate's score in the degree is less than 50% (45% for SC / ST / PWT candidates), he or she is ineligible to apply for the CAT.

• If the degree is not recognized by MHRD/ AICTE/ UGC, the candidate will be considered ineligible for the CAT examination.

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021 - Work Experience Requirements

• Candidates are not required to have any prior work experience.

• Even if the CAT Application Form 2021 asks for it, there is no necessary condition to fulfill it.

• It should be noted that during the final examination, some weightage may be given by IIMs for this work experience. However, the exact weightage has never been revealed and it will vary from one IIM to another IIM.

CAT Registration 2021

The CAT 2021 application form will be released in online mode tentatively in the first week of August on the official website and candidates will be able to fill it till the third week of September. The conducting IIM will also provide a window to make the necessary corrections in the form if required. Also the candidates will have to choose at least six CAT exam centres 2021 according to preference. Once the candidates have provided all the necessary information in the CAT 2021 application form, uploaded the documents, they would have to pay the necessary fees depending upon the category to which they belong. The fess will have to be paid as per the various modes of payment which have been mentioned.

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Check details of CAT 2021 Application Form Correction Window

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2021 - IIM Eligibility Vs CAT Eligibility

• When IIMs convene CAT, their eligibility criteria are not the same. There are some minor contradictions that every candidate who wants to study in IIMs should be aware of.

• Although there is no age limit for both the CAT exam qualification and the IIM qualification, the two year bachelor’s degree accepted by the CAT exam qualification criteria is not accepted by IIMs and their management programs require a three year bachelor’s degree.

• Other than that, there are no discrepancies between the CAT exam qualification and the IIM qualification.