MBA entrance exams: What you should know to crack CAT and GMAT

While both GMAT and CAT can unlock the doors to reputed management programmes, there are differences in their test format and preparation strategies, writes Sumeet Verlekar
It is that time of the year when aspirants of management education are evaluating various criteria before making their decision, such as MBA from India versus abroad, programme cost, MBA entrance test to take etc.We will evaluate two of the most popular management entrance tests, namely, the GMAT and CAT.
Both these exams unlock doors to prestigious institutes and test candidates on their quantitative, verbal and reasoning aptitude. However, if you are taking the CAT, only an incremental effort will enable you to also get ready for the GMAT and vice-versa. Both the tests are also three hours (approx) long. The CAT has negative marking if you get a question wrong, while in GMAT, a wrong answer will need you to improve your accuracy in subsequent questions to get a good score. Finally, both GMAT and CAT are AICTE recognised national level management entrance tests in India.
Test format
The GMAT is a question adaptive test and is aimed at identifying your level for quantitative and verbal ability whereas CAT is not adaptive and rewards accuracy.
The GMAT has four sections – Quantitative Reasoning (31 questions, 62 min), Verbal Reasoning (36 questions, 65 min), Integrated Reasoning (12 questions, 30 min) and Analytical Writing Assessment (30 min) whereas the CAT has three sections – Quantitative Ability (34 questions, 60 min), Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (34 questions, 60 min) and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (32 questions, 60 min).
Level of difficulty in Quantitative Ability in CAT is usually found to be higher than in GMAT, whereas verbal ability questions in GMAT are considered slightly tougher than in CAT.
Test preparation
The topics tested in the GMAT are well known and limited. Students who have prepared for CAT can easily ace the GMAT by focussing on three additional question types:

Score validity and testing frequency
GMAT scores are valid for five years from your test date whereas CAT scores are valid for one year. If you are unhappy with your GMAT score, you can retake the test up to five times in a year while you will have to wait until the next year to retake CAT.
Institutions accepting scores
GMAT scores are accepted by 7,000+ programmes across 2300+ leading global schools. And most importantly, there are more than 40 reputed Indian B-schools that accept GMAT scores for their full-time MBA programmes.
Competition level
About two lakh candidates appear for the CAT annually.
The top six IIMs have around 2,500 seats, hence the level of competition is more intense in the CAT with a high score (typically above 99 percentile) being required to be selected for subsequent interviews. Further, admission weights for your profile, essays, letters of recommendation for global programmes are also significant which can overcome a lower GMAT score.
(The author is the CBO for IMS India)