Students' Speak: How is CAT exam different from MAT and CMAT?

By: Abhishek Desai

CAT score is accepted by all the reputed B-schools across India such as the IIMs, SP Jain, JBIMS Mumbai, FMS New Delhi, among others whereas the CMAT and MAT scores are accepted by fewer renowned B-schools. 

The major difference between CAT, MAT, and CMAT is their difficulty level, wherein the CAT is tougher than the other two. Another major aspect which makes the CAT stand out from the others is the kind of colleges accepting the scores.

CAT score is accepted by all the reputed B-schools across India such as the IIMs, SP Jain, JBIMS Mumbai, FMS New Delhi, among others whereas the CMAT and MAT scores are accepted by fewer renowned B-schools. The exam pattern for each test is given in detail as follows:-

CAT: It comprises of 100 questions to be attempted in three hours. The marking scheme is – “+3 marks” for every correct answer and “-1 mark” for every incorrect one. The three sections in CAT are – Quants, English, and Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation; there is a sectional time limit of one hour each allotted for these sections. The typical breakup of questions across the sections is 34-34-32, with DI-LR given less weightage as compared to the others in CAT 2019.

CMAT: It consists of 100 questions spread equally across four sections – Quants, English, DI-LR, and GK. The marking scheme here is – “+4 marks” for a correct answer and “-1 mark” for a wrong one. There is no sectional time limit in CMAT as well as MAT.

MAT: It includes 150 questions, spread equally across five sections, to be attempted in 150 minutes. The marking scheme is similar to that of the CMAT i.e. “+1 mark” for a right answer and “-0.25 mark” for a wrong answer. Unlike both CAT and CMAT, the MAT is conducted four times in a year i.e. in February, May, September, and December.

The major eligibility criterion for all these exams is the same i.e. all graduates from any background and even final year students can appear. And these exams can be ranked as per their difficulty level like this (in descending order): CAT > CMAT > MAT.

Coming to the syllabus, it remains more or less the same for other sections in these exams except for the GK. And in the GK, questions on both static and current affairs are asked in various fields such as Science, Politics, History, Business, etc. Some prominent topics covered in these exams are:-

• Quants and DI: Geometry, Time and Distance, Graphs, Charts, Probability, Simple & Compound Interest, Profit & Loss.
• LR: Puzzles, Statements and Assumptions, Cause & Effect, Conclusions, Arrangements.
• LC: Para Jumbles, Vocabulary, Passages, Grammar, and I

Since the CAT scores are accepted by almost all the top-ranked B-schools, the cut-offs are generally quite high i.e. 99 percentile for the IIMs. When it comes to the CMAT, colleges such as JBIMS and SIMSREE have their cut-off more than 99.9 percentile for the MMS courses. Whereas for the PGDM courses, the cut-off scores fall slightly i.e. 85-90 percentile for the likes of SIMSR, Welingkar, Great Lakes, GIM, etc.

About the Author:

Abhishek Desai is currently pursuing Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) in e-Business from Welingkar Institute of Management. He has done his Summer Internship in the field of Market Research with 'TimesofMoney'. He's also served as 'Secretary of the Green Committee' at Welingkar.