For MBA applicants who are preparing for MBA programmes from top-notch business schools, GMAT or CAT is mandatory for the entrance level exams. With every MBA applicant talking about GMAT and CAT, most of them are puzzled between these two jargons, so here we’re going to discuss them deeply to help you figure out the difference, values and importance of these two. Here we go…
What is GMAT?
GMAT stands for Graduate Management Admission Test which is a 3½-hour identical exam premeditated to envisage on how test takers will perform academically in MBA (Master of Business Administration) programs that international B-School like Wharton, Kellogg, Harvard, NYU Stern, Chicago Booth and Columbia etc. B-Schools offer. GMAT score enormously help the international graduate business schools like Wharton, Kellogg, Harvard, NYU Stern, Chicago Booth and Columbia etc. B-Schools to make the admission decisions. These days, GMAT is administered by computer only except those fewer remote locations where the paper-based version of the exam is conducted.
What are those cognitive skills and abilities GMAT measures?
There are four broad skill areas that GMAT seeks that consist of the verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing and the integrated reasoning (IR) that embraces all three reasoning (quantitative, verbal and analytical). There are four major discrete components through which the exam gauges these skills. They’ve presented in the order, please check them below.
- Analytical Writing Assessment (one writing task)- 30 Minutes
- Integrated Reasoning section (12 multiple-choice questions where most of them are multi-part)- 30 Minutes
- 75-minute Quantitative section (37 multiple-choice questions)
- 75-minute Verbal section (41 multiple-choice questions)
GMAT is not just a fail or pass test, there is a separate scaled core and the percentile rank that are awarded for each of the four sections. Besides, combined quantitative/verbal score, also called as the total score and the corresponding percentile rank is also rewarded after the completion of thetest.
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What is CAT?
CAT stands for Common Admission Test which is a premier all India Management Entrance Exam conducted by IIMs. IIMs are the premier management institute in India that was established by an act of parliament. These IIM institutes provide research and consultancy services in various businesses and management globally.
Last year, 2,04,267 students competed and of which only 1550+ made it tothe most competitive exam in the country. The CAT exam is a significant for the admission in more than 100 management institutes across India where some of the top-notch institutions like Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), S.P Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Management Development Institute (Gurgoan), Jamanlal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) and more.
The CAT exam is divided into three sections-
- Quantitative Aptitude – Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Commercial Mathematics & Miscellaneous
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning – Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation, Sufficiency
- Verbal Ability – Reading Comprehension, Verbal Logic, Vocabulary and Grammar Correction
CAT eligibility criteria?
Candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA (45% in case of the candidates belonging to SC, ST and applicant with Disability (PWD)/Differently Able (DA) category. Candidates studying in the final year of graduation can also register for CAT.