CAT vs GMAT - MBAkarma

MBAkarma

CAT vs GMAT

Entrance tests can be stressful with all the time, effort and money that they can drain away from an applicant’s life. At the end you do not want to end up wasting precious resources over a less suitable test.

If you are planning to attend a program at a prestigious business school, you may have faced the confusion of choosing between the CAT and the GMAT. This article shall answer frequently asked questions that will help you choose the test best suited for your goals.

What is the purpose of these tests?

The Common Admission Test, popularly known as CAT is a computer based test held in India. It is used as the choice of test to select students for admissions to business or management programs.

The Graduate Management Admission Test, also referred as the GMAT is a computer adaptive test. It evaluates prospective applicants for admissions to graduate management programs around the world.

How many students take these tests?

The CAT is attempted by close to two hundred fifty thousand students every year in India.

The number of GMAT test takers is also similar, with over two hundred fifty thousand applicants. The difference is that the applicants belong to several countries, whereas the CAT is primarily aimed at Indian students.

The numbers show that the competition is very high in India. However, the CAT is valid for one year and GMAT is valid for five years. This means there are more valid applicants for the GMAT at any given point of time.

What are the eligibility criteria?

To take the CAT, an applicant must hold a recognized bachelor’s degree, with no less than 50% or equivalent CGPA (45% for reserved categories). Candidates in their last year of university can also apply.

There are no specific eligibility criteria for taking the GMAT. The applicants need to have a valid passport. After this, the eligibility criteria might be set by the specific business school or program that the candidate applies to.

Who administers these tests?

The CAT is administered by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The test is conducted every year by one of the IIMs based on a policy of rotation. The CAT is mainly accepted by business schools based in India.

GMAT is conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council. Over two thousand business schools globally accept the GMAT for selecting students. The test can be taken in standardized test centres in more than hundred countries.

When can a student take these tests?

CAT is an all India entrance exam that can be taken just once a year.

The GMAT is a computer adaptive test and can be taken up to five times a year. The MBA application calendar here will help applicants decide the best time to take the GMAT.

When are the results declared?

CAT results are announced much later at a fixed date.

The GMAT score/results for Verbal and Quantitative section can be known immediately after the test. The official score report takes approximately three weeks to reach the candidate.

What is the validity of results?

Broadly speaking, the CAT is valid for one year and the GMAT is valid for five years.

However, some B Schools or programs may accept CAT scores which are older than one year, while some may not accept GMAT scores more than 2-3 years old. Always check the eligibility and validity criteria for the specific program or B School that you are interested in.

What is the fee for these tests?

GMAT test fee is $250, whereas CAT fee is much lower at INR 1600 (as of 2018).

What are the sections and the format of these tests?

The format of both the tests has seen many significant changes over the years and will continue to do so as the world changes around us at a rapid pace.

Since 2009, the CAT has been a computer based test with the following sections-

Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DI & LR)
Quantitative Ability (QA)

The test takers cannot switch between the sections and have to attend the test in a particular order.

Each section consists of approximately thirty questions. Different business schools or programs may specify sectional and/or overall cut-offs as a part of their selection process.

The GMAT exam consists of four sections

Analytical writing assessment
Integrated reasoning section
Quantitative section
Verbal section

Total testing time as of April 2018 is three hours and seven minutes. Applicants have thirty minutes for the analytical writing assessment and another thirty minutes to work through twelve questions on the integrated reasoning section. The candidates are allotted sixty two minutes for thirty one questions in the quantitative section and sixty five minutes for thirty six questions in the verbal section.

The students have some freedom in making choosing the order in which they wish to attempt the sections.

The GMAT test follows a computer adaptive format. The candidate can view one question at a time. The next question will mostly depend on how you answer the previous one. No two candidates will see the same exact test.

Generally speaking, GMAT is considered slightly easier than the CAT by most applicants. Keep in mind that culturally Indians are one of the most competitive test takers and usually tend to do good on standardized tests. But whether one will find GMAT easier than CAT will highly depend on the individual test taker’s ability. Also, one must consider that if any test is simpler, it is simpler for everyone and hence the competition increases since the scoring works on a percentile method.

Alternates

CAT has some substitutes in India such as XAT, NMAT etc. Similarly, global business schools accepting GMAT have also started accepting GRE as a part of their selection process.

At the same time, some programs in India may accept both the CAT and the GMAT. Always check the exact requirement of the programs you are interested in.

What is the point? What test should I take?

If you are targeting Global B Schools, GMAT is the choice of test.

Within India, as a thumb rule, the CAT is accepted by the two year business management programs, while the GMAT is accepted by the one year business management programs. You may find out the differences between the two year and one year business programs in India by reading Here.

In India, CAT tends to be the more popular choice if you are targeting the two year programs. However, selected Indian programs have begun accepting GMAT as well. Most of these programs also expect the applicants to have some work experience. The programs which accept CAT usually do not require work experience.