Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is part of national level entrance exam conducted for students seeking admission in B-Schools for MBA courses approved by AICTE. This competitive entrance exam is conducted to bring down enormous stress level of students who need to appear for multiple entrance exams to seek admission in B-Schools. Under the surveillance of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a national level Apex Advisory Body, every year conducts CMAT with paper pattern and exam schedule designed by this body.
Started with an idealistic notion, CMAT is now an entirely computer based exam, eliminating traditional method of ticking, shading bubbles, rubbing answers etc. However, the preparation involves regirous and is highly competitive. Presently, this exam is conducted in 12 states covering approx 57 cities, and still growing.
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( votes)Reason for Conducting CMAT
CMAT was introduced to cover AICTE approved management seats across India. There are approx 4 lakh seats across India for management programs, and more than 3500 AICTE approved B-Schools that accept CMAT scores. Students successfully passing out from this exam can give a shot to apply at some of the premier B-schools across India such as JBIMS, KJ Somaiya, IMT among others.
Institutes accepting CMAT Scores
Among 12 states, there are- Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, MP, Haryana, Goa and popular. There are two types of B-school institutes; Public B-Schools and Private B-Schools that accepts the scores. These institutes are- JBIMS, Indian School of Mines University, Department of Management Studies, Sydenham Institute of Management Studies and Research, Great Lakes of Management, Welingkar Institute of Management and Research, PSG Institute of Management, ITM Business School and other top B- schools.
Each of these institutes has different percentile/ cut-off depending on which the admission of the students is process.
Eligibility Criteria
The basic eligibility criterion to apply for CMAT is to be a graduate from any discipline. However, completing graduation from management field will be an advantage.
The eligibility criteria for different level of courses can differ:
For PGDM: Bachelor’s degree from recognized university with 50% (45% for reserved category students)
For PGCM: Bachelor’s degree with 50% score.
For Executive PGDM: Bachelor’s degree with 5 yrs of relevant working experience.
Students appearing for final year exam or waiting for the exam can apply for the CMAT exam.
Examination Pattern
CMAT is an online exam with having objective type questions. Student need to appear for 400 marks exam and is divided into 4 different parts with 100 marks each. In all 4 subjects, students need to answer 25 questions within 180 minutes.
Sections of the Test
1) Quantitative Technique and Data Interpretation
2) Logical Reasoning
3) Language Comprehension
4) General Awareness
Scoring Method
CMAT score is based on over all test and individual sectional scores. Those having high score will be awarded with better ranks. Ties will be decided as performance of the students in individual sections. Logical Reasoning, English Comprehension and General Awareness followed with Quant for tie. There shall be negative marking for every wrong answer 1 mark shall be deducted.
Exam Date
This year CMAT will be conducted between 20-02-2014 to 24-02-2014, the registration process of which was scheduled to end on 02-01-2014 has been extended to 16th January 2014. This will be the second test and the timings are- 9.30 am-12.30 pm and 2.30pm- 5.30 pm. The declaration of the result will be done on 14-03-2014.
Test Venue
CMAT is conducted in multiple cities across India. Students can select their centre as per their convenience. Some of the locations are: Agartala, Bangalore, Mumbai, Mangalore, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Navi Mumbai, Ranchi, Shimla, Srinagar and other cities across India.
Admission Process
The application process of CMAT 2014-15 second test has kicked off from November 1, 2013 and will be continued till 16th January, 2014. The application form can be downloaded from the official website of AICTE
Candidate need to create new account on the official website and follow the instruction mentioned on the site. The payment for the registration can be done in both online and offline mode. It is essential to fill the form in a required way to avoid any kind of rejection from the officials. In order of preference, choice of 3 states and 3 cities in India are provided for online examination.
The fees for CMAT exam is Rs 1200/- for OBC/ General and Rs 600/- for SC/ST. Candidate paying offline need to deposit cash in any branch of SBI.
What after CMAT?
No doubt, students with MBA degree from a reputed B-school do not only earn prestige, but handsome salary from top notch companies. It is worth watching how top companies offer handsome package from lakhs to crore with high position for perfect recruit. So to get their CMAT is the first step of the ladder and then the admission in B-School. MBA degree holders earn a great demand and are watched by global companies for recruitment.
Pratish Amin
