CAT Registration 2018

CAT Registration 2018 - IIM Calcutta had started the CAT 2018 registration from August 8 and concluded the process on September 26 (11:59 PM). According to CAT 2018 Convenor Prof. Sumanta Basu, more than 2.41 lakh candidates have applied for CAT 2018. Candidates who have successfully completed the CAT 2018 application process could re-upload their improper or blurred photograph from September 26 (10 AM) to September 30 (5 PM). Apart from that, no other option for application correction of  Common Admission Test was provided this year. Initially, the deadline to do CAT registration 2018 was September 19 but it was extended to September 26 due to excessive requests received by IIM Calcutta from the students of flood-hit areas. The process of filling the CAT application form 2018 was completely online. The application was a three-step process – CAT registration, fill & submit the application form and pay the application fee.

Candidates needed to register for the exam first. After successful CAT registration 2018, they received the User Id and Password on their registered email and mobile number. Candidates then needed to login to the official website with the login credentials to fill the CAT 2018 application form. Applicants could select four exam centres as per their preference while filling up CAT application form 2018 and the payment of the application fee can be made through Net Banking, Debit Card, Credit Card, BillDesk, PayU and PaytM.

CAT is conducted by Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) on a rotational basis. CAT 2018 was conducted by IIM Calcutta on November 25 in computer-based mode under the supervision of Prof. Sumanta Basu, the convener for the exam this year. As many as 2.80 lakh candidates registered for the exam last year out of which 2.31 lakh applied for the exam by paying the application fee. Around 2.09 lakh candidates appeared for the exam. In this article by Careers360, candidates can check all the information about CAT 2018 registration and online application form such as how to register, application dates, application fee, etc.

Important Dates related to CAT Registration 2018

Note: The conducting body had also declared that registered candidates who had uploaded improper or blur photographs could login and re-upload their photograph between September 27, 2018 (10 AM) to September 30, 2018 (5 PM). 

Watch the video on How to fill CAT Application Form

CAT Eligibility Criteria 2018 - However, before starting the CAT registration process, candidates are advised to check whether they are eligible to appear for the exam or not. Here are the eligibility criteria for CAT 2018:

• Graduation in any discipline from a recognised institute or university with minimum 50 per cent aggregate marks or equivalent CGPA (45 per cent for SC, ST and PWD candidates).

• Final year Bachelor’s Degree students are also eligible to apply provided they attain the degree with the requisite percentage of the stipulated schedule. 

Document required at the time of CAT Registration 2018

Candidates who fulfil the eligibility criteria could start the application process by CAT registration 2018. Before that, there are certain documents to keep handy at the time of filling the CAT application form 2018. Here is the list: 

Documents to keep handy before filling CAT 2018 Online Application Form

How to fill CAT Application Form 2018

Now, let’s start the step by step procedure to apply for CAT 2018. The following steps explain the CAT 2018 registration procedure.

• Step 1 – CAT Registration (to get User ID and Password)

• Step 2 - Login to CAT Website with generated User ID and password 

• Step 3 – Filling up CAT Application Form 2018 and pay the application fee

Step 1 – CAT Registration 2018

Candidates needed to register first at the official website in order to generate the login credentials. CAT 2018 registration, you need to perform the following steps.

1. Go to the official website and click on ‘New Candidate Registration’. The CAT registration window will open. Kindly note that the IIM Calcutta has recommended browsers to fill the CAT 2018 application form - Internet Explorer (version 11 and above) or Mozilla Firefox (version 50 to 61) or Google Chrome (version 50 to 69). Candidates who have already registered for the exam need to click on 'Registered Candidate Login' to fill the application form. 

2. Enter the asked details including your Name, Date of Birth, Email Address, Mobile Number, Country in the fields provided. Make sure that you enter correct details, especially the contact details so that you do not face any hindrance in receiving information from IIMs regarding the test. To avoid entering erroneous information, follow the given instructions while filling up the fields in CAT registration form or application form:

• Name - The name should be same as in 10th Standard or SSC Certificate. If there is a change of name due to marriage or any other reason, candidates need to submit a valid document like court affidavit or marriage certificate to support the same.

• Date of birth – Use the virtual calendar to enter your date of birth to make sure that you enter the correct date.

• Email address – The email id should be a valid one. The CAT ID or username will be sent to this email address itself. For overseas candidates, both Username and Password will be sent through email. So, make sure that the information provided is correct. 

• Mobile number – The mobile number must be a valid one as the password will be sent through SMS at this number itself. The number should be India based and of 10 digits. Other mobile numbers should be prefixed with area code. 

3. After filling the details, click on Generate OTP button, enter the captcha or retype the special characters displayed on the screen, check the 'I Agree' box and click on the 'Submit' button to verify and authenticate your CAT registration. Details entered cannot be changed once submitted. 

4. Candidates will receive the CAT 2018 login credentials through Email and SMS. The CAT Serial Number or USER ID will be sent to the email address provided by the candidates and the password will be sent through SMS to the registered mobile number. Select the ‘I Agree’ checkbox to ensure successful submission of the CAT registration form. 

Step 2 - Login to CAT Website

Now, login to the official website using the system generated User ID & Password to fill CAT application form 2018. In case you forget the password, click on ‘Forgot Password’ tab on the ‘Existing User’ login window and a new password will be sent to your registered email id. 

Before start filling the CAT 2018 application form, let’s have a look at some important instructions to be followed during the process.

Important Instructions for CAT Registration 2018

According to the exam officials, the below-given instructions must be followed in order to apply successfully:

• All the fields ‘*’ marked fields are mandatory to fill

• Candidates have to fill all the required information and upload scanned copies of requisite documents

• Before proceeding to the next section, click on ‘Save & Continue’

• Candidates are advised to use Mouse to move to the next field instead of using the ‘Tab’ key

• Applicants may complete the application process in multiple sessions by logging in for the next session. All they have to ensure is that they have properly saved the application form fields before logging out during the previous sessions.

• After the payment of application fee, candidates would not be allowed to make any changes in the information or documents submitted. 

Step 3 – Fill and submit CAT Application Form 2018

After logging in, the personal details of the candidate will be displayed on the screen. Candidates need to click on 'Go to Application Form' to fill the CAT 2018 online application form. The application form is divided into five sections:

• Personal Details

• Academics

• Work Experience

• Programmes

• Test City

• Payment 

Personal Details

• Father’s/Husband’s/Guardian’s Name and Mother’s Name

• Select Category – Candidates who do not belong to the General category have to select the applicable category among Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Serial Number, State or Union Territory and Name of Caste and Tribe.

• Aadhaar Card Number is asked for; however, it is not mandatory to mention the Aadhaar card number

• Select Gender- Male/Female/Transgender

• Click on Yes or No for Person With Disability (PWD) field. In order to apply under the PWD category, the Disability Percentage should be equal to or more than 40 per cent.

• Select Nationality 

• Communication address - Enter full postal address along with alternate email and mobile number which will be used for further communication by IIMs.

Documents to be Uploaded-

Candidates would need to upload the following documents in support of the information provided.

 Passport size photograph and signature: Applicants have to upload scanned image of passport size photograph whose dimension should not be more than that stated by exam authorities. Refer to the below table for photograph and signature dimensions. The photograph and signature should be clearly visible and legible.

Dimensions for Photo and Signature for CAT 2018 Application Form

NC-OBC/SC/ST Certificate: Applicants belonging to reserved categories have to download the category certificates from the CAT website and enter the required information and get them attested by appropriate authorities, self-attest, scan and upload.

PwD Certificate: Download the Certificate from the CAT Website, enter the required information and self-attest and scan as PDF document to upload.

 After uploading documents, click on 'Save & Continue'. 

 Academic Details-

 Now, applicants have to enter their past academic records in this section:

• Class X/SSC/Equivalent Exam Scores

• Class XII/HSC/Equivalent Exam Scores

• Bachelor’s Degree Details

• Master’s Degree Details

• Other Professional Course Details 

Under each section, candidates have to enter the Board, Subjects, Aggregate marks or CGPA. Once all the academic details are filled, click on 'Save & Continue'. 

Work Experience

Now, candidates need to fill the work experience. If the applicants have prior work experience or are working professionals, they have to enter the work experience in the number of months completed as on July 31, 2018. Candidates have to also enter the industry type. Only full-time work experience pursued after the completion of Graduation will be applicable. Internship, part-time job, article ship, pre-graduation experience should not be entered.

Choose Programmes

Candidates have to select the IIMs and the full-time management programmes where they want to apply for. They have to also select the interview city from the drop-down menu provided under this section. Candidates applying to IIM Indore will also be considered for the Mumbai campus of IIM. However, the final selection will depend on the admission criteria of the institute.

Candidates applying for PGP or PGDM programmes at the below given IIMs are requested to choose the same interview city for all the selections:

• IIM Udaipur

• IIM Tiruchirappalli

• IIM Raipur

• IIM Ranchi

• IIM Rohtak

• IIM Kashipur 

Exam Centre City

Candidates can select any four cities where CAT 2018 is conducted from the drop-down menu. After the completion of the CAT 2018 online application process, candidates will be allotted test centre in one of the four preferred cities. The option to select the same city more than once is not available.

Pay the application fee

After completing the CAT application form 2018, submit it along with the application fee. Candidates first need to choose one of the payments mode given and then the respective payment gateway will be enabled. The payment modes available are - 

• BillDesk
• Paytm
• PayU

After selecting the payment gateway, candidates need to enter the CAPTCHA given in the box provided and check the declaration box given. Based on the selected mode, options to pay the application fee are displayed.

CAT 2018 Application fee 

Along with the above-mentioned application fee, candidates have to also pay the online transaction charges, which varies according to the mode of payment.

Transaction Fee for CAT 2018 Application form

Application Confirmation Email

After payment of application fee, candidates would receive an application confirmation email at the registered email id. The email contains information about communication and CAT admit card 2018 details. You can check the application summary whenever you want by logging in to the CAT website as a Registered user. 

CAT 2018 Online Application Correction

IIM Calcutta has allowed the provision of re-uploading of photographs for registered candidates who had uploaded improper or blur photographs. Candidates who wish to upload the new photograph can login and re-upload their photograph between September 27, 2018 (10 AM) to September 30, 2018 (5 PM). Only those candidates who have registered successfully and paid the applicable registration fee for CAT 2018 before the specified deadline can perform this process of re-uploading their photograph. There has been no other announcement regarding CAT application form correction yet.  

After the submission of the CAT application form 2018, the authorities may introduce limited window to correct your application form on select fields like percentage of marks, work experience and programmes selected. Information like personal details, academic details (apart from a percentage of marks), exam city preference etc. cannot be edited.

CAT Registration Trend - Past 10 Years

IIM Calcutta conducted CAT 2018 on November 25, 2018 (Sunday) in online mode. The score of CAT is accepted by 20 IIMs and more than 100 other B-schools in India. Around 4,000 seats are offered through CAT exam. 

FAQs regarding CAT Registration 2018

Q. When and how do I register for CAT 2018?

A. Online registration for CAT 2018 started on August 8 and the last date to submit the online application was September 26, until 11:59 PM. CAT 2018 registration process is completely online where candidates have to register by entering their personal, educational and professional details and paying the application fee.

Q. Can I use my coaching institute’s or a friend’s email address when registering for CAT?

A. No, candidates are not allowed to use someone else's email address in order to CAT 2018 registration. They must register with a valid and unique email address which they use regularly. Since all correspondence or information related to CAT 2018 and further admission process of IIMs would be communicated through the entered email address, hence, it must be a functional one which they regularly log in to and check.

Q. I have done 5 years integrated course of B.Tech and MBA. As per my university norms first 3.5 years is considered to be B.Tech and remaining 1.5 years is considered to be MBA. How do I enter my marks?

A. According to IIMs, candidates who have pursued integrated course have to enter the aggregate percentage of first 3.5 years under Bachelor’s Degree and the remaining 1.5 years under Master’s degree.

Q. I have completed a 5-year dual degree course (BTech+MTech, BS+MS, B.Tech+MSc etc.)? How do I enter my marks for the bachelor degree?

A. As per the university norms and as stated by the CAT officials, candidates pursuing 5-year dual degrees have to enter the aggregate of marks that are equivalent to Bachelors’ Degree under the Bachelor’s Degree section and the equivalent Marks for the Masters’ degree under the Master Degree section under the CAT registration form.

Q. I have completed dual Bachelors’ degree courses (B.Com+LLB, B.Pharm+B.Tech etc.). How do I enter my marks for two Bachelor degrees?

A. On the CAT registration form, candidates have to select the option indicating dual Bachelors’ Degrees under the requisite section. There, the applicants can then enter the details of both qualifications.

Q. When will CAT 2018 be held and can I choose an exam date?

A. The CAT exam will be held on Sunday, November 25, 2018, with two sessions (forenoon and afternoon). Candidates will not be able to select their slots. They would be allotted slot at a CAT exam centre in one of the four preferred cities entered by the applicants during the CAT registration process. The final venue and slot will be communicated to the candidates through the CAT admit card.  

Q. Can I appear for more than one slot for CAT 2018?

A. Candidates are not allowed to appear for more than one slot. Candidates who attempt to take the test more than one will be eliminated anytime during the selection process. In order to ensure that candidates appear only once, their CAT admit card, photo ID cards, biometrics would be scrutinised thoroughly.