What is the difference between CAT and other MBA entrance exams?
Common Admission Test or CAT is India's top MBA entrance exam in India for admission to IIMs and over 1,300 MBA institutes. If you prepare well for CAT, you can crack other exams too with additional preparation. Read what makes CAT exam similar or different from other MBA entrance tests.
CAT vs other MBA entrance exams
MBA preparation courses offered by coaching institutes (both in classroom and online modes) are often called CAT preparation courses. MBA aspirants often face confusion over how to prepare for MBA entrance exams along with CAT. There is nothing to be confused about it because all MBA entrance exams are same in nature. Their syllabus and pattern are same. The difference lies in question paper structure, sectional weightage, topic wise composition and difficulty level of the test paper. So, if you are looking for answer to the questions - What is the difference between CAT exam and other MBA entrance exams? Should there be a difference in the preparation strategy of different MBA exams? Let us answer both.
Yes, there should be different preparation strategy for different MBA exams. Here's listing the basic difference between CAT and other MBA exams in support of the answer.
Difference Between CAT and Other MBA Exams
CAT (Common Admission Test) is conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) for admission to their management programs. CAT scores are used by more than 1,300 MBA colleges. Other top MBA entrance examinations of India include XAT, CMAT, MAT, NMAT, SNAP and ATMA. Each of these entrance examinations is conducted by different conducting bodies. XAT is conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur, CMAT by NTA, SNAP by Symbiosis International (Deemed) University.
Broadly, the syllabus of all MBA entrance exams is same as CAT syllabus. The chief difference lies in three aspects:
- Reasoning: CAT puts greater emphasis on Logical Reasoning. A certain aspect of reasoning is present in all the four sections.
- General Knowledge (GK): CAT doesn't have GK section. Other exams such as XAT, MAT and CMAT have a section devoted to static GK and current affairs.
- Essay: CAT has no essay writing section. However, exams such as XAT or MICAT have sections on essay or story writing. These can be simple essay questions or creative tests like writing a story on pictures.
- Difficulty level: CAT is the toughest exam in terms of difficulty level, followed by XAT. CMAT, SNAP, NMAT fall in the moderate difficulty level whereas ATMA, MAT, etc. are easy exams.
- Sectional Time Limit: CAT has sectional time limit of 40 minutes for each section, where as other MBA entrance exams (except XAT and NMAT) don't have such a time limit.
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Top MBA Entrance Exams in India
Here’s a quick look at what are the primary test sections in top MBA entrance exams including CAT. Plan your MBA preparation strategy accordingly:
Common Admission Test or CAT
CAT: The core sections of CAT examination include Logical Reasoning, Data Interpretation, Quantitative Aptitude, and Verbal Ability. The exam is for 120 minutes, with 40 minutes allotted to each section. CAT is conducted in November and requires exhaustive preparation and one must start by March-April.
Xavier Aptitude Test or XAT
XAT: The core sections of XAT exam are Decision Making, Verbal and Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, and General Awareness. Earlier, there used to be an essay writing section but for XAT 2025, it was scrapped. XAT is conducted in January and due to high difficulty level, time required for preparation is over 6 months. Conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur, XAT is a high difficulty level exam.
Common Management Admission Test or CMAT
CMAT: Conducted by the NTA, the exam consists of - Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Language Comprehension, Innovation & Entrepreneurship and General Awareness sections. Duration of CMAT exam is 180 minutes. A total of 100 questions (20 in each section) are asked in this exam. One can prepare for CMAT in 2-3 months, if they have prepared for CAT or XAT.
Yes, the difficulty level of MAT exam is lower than other MBA entrance exams. The question paper is usually of easy to moderate difficulty level. The exam is now held for 120 minutes. There are now 150 questions in the exam paper. There is no sectional time limit in MAT which allows the candidate to plan a strategy according to their strengths and weaknesses. The score of Indian and Global Environment section is not considered for percentile calculation thus candidates don't have the stress of fifth section. Also, solving 150 questions is not mandatory so candidates can choose to solve only those questions which they know they can solve accurately. Sectional difficulty level of MAT is also lower than other MBA exams. Candidates can attempt the exam multiple times in the same academic year to improve their score. They also have the option to choose the mode of test - CBT, IBT, PBT - which makes it the most student friendly exam. Also, the MAT cut offs for admission are much lower as compared to other entrance exams.
Verbal Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning topics of CMAT syllabus are same as CAT syllabus. So, an MBA aspirant can prepare for CAT and CMAT simultaneously with the same study material. However, they will need CMAT specific books and resources to study Innovation and Entrepreneurship and GK section. CAT doesn't have these two sections.
Management Aptitude Test or MAT
MAT: Conducted four times in a year, MAT exam has five sections - Language Comprehension, Mathematical Skills, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, and Indian and Global Environment. In 2024, the exam pattern was changed and the exam duration was reduced to 120 minutes. The number of questions were also reduced to 150. MAT is easy and if one has appeared for CAT or XAT, they can crack it with only MAT mock test practice.
Symbiosis National Aptitude Test or SNAP
SNAP: A gateway to Symbiosis International (Deemed) University, SNAP has three sections: General English (Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability); Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency and Analytical & Logical Reasoning. Test duration is 60 minutes. SNAP is an easy exam, but needs test specific preparation so give it atleast six months. It is conducted in December and candidates have to option to make up to three attempts in the same session.
Narsee Monji Management Aptitude Test or NMAT
NMAT: The core sections of NMAT are - Language Skills (32 questions in 22 minutes), Quantitative Skills (48 questions in 60 minutes) and Logical Reasoning (40 questions in 38 minutes). Total test duration is 120 minutes. It is a 75-day window test. Candidates can register and appear for NMAT as per their preparation during the test window. NMAT too requires exam specific preparation.
AIMS Test for Management Admission or ATMA
ATMA: Conducted five times in a year, the exam has three sections: Quantitative Skills, Verbal Skills and Analytical Reasoning. Test duration is three hours. ATMA is easy and one can crack it with basic preparation from the syllabus.
ICFAI Business School Aptitude Test or IBSAT
IBSAT: Conducted by ICFAI, the entrande exam includes - Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Aptitude and Data Adequacy & Data Interpretation. A total of 120 questions (30 in each section) have to be solved in 120 minutes (two hours). If a candidate has prepared for any national level test, they can easily crack IBSAT.
Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad Admission Test or MICAT
MICAT: Entrance test for MICA, Ahmedabad, has the following sections: Writing Ability (Essay and Story writing), Psychometric Test, Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Aptitude, Language Comprehension and General Knowledge. Total test duration is 185 minutes (about three hours). Due to the nature of MICAT, one needs to do exam specific preparation.
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CAT exam is a national level MBA entrance exam conducted by the IIM. Every year, over 2.3 lakh candidates apply for it. Since the last two years, the competition has increased further with oveer 3 lakh candidates applying for the exam.
The CAT score is accepted by the Iims and all top MBA colleges in India. To select the best candidates from over 3 lakh test takers there is a need for stringent criteria. That's why, the CAT exam is tougher than other MBA entrance exams. Even though the syllabus of CAT is same as that of other MBA entrance exams, the question paper set by the IIM faculty always has tough questions. Moreover, CAT has sectional time limit for each section which is not there in any other exam except XAT. Having a time limit for each section adds pressure on candidates to complete solving adequate number of questions in a section within the time limit. If a student is weak in a particular subject, they can't use the time as per their need. CAT's Reading Comprehension passages are long and dense unlike other MBA exams. This is one more reason why most candidates feel CAT is tougher than any other MBA entrance exam.