GMAT vs CAT
Today in the world of high competitiveness almost everyone has their future goals in place, be it any career prospects or further studies plans. Also, preparing in advance for the same is the latest trend as well as the need of the hour. With a variety of career options available for the students, getting enrolled in the competitive exams like GRE, GMAT, CAT and so on remain on the top of the list for most of the students. But what is it that drives a student to opt for one or the other option? Is it their interest or peer pressure? Well, it’s quite difficult to answer. However, one must do a proper research before deciding their future course of action and put in efforts that will judge where they stand.
What is GMAT and CAT?
GMAT stands for Graduate Management Admission Test and its scores are accepted by business schools worldwide whereas CAT stands for Common Aptitude Test and it is a national level entrance exam for top business schools for MBA including IIMs. so here’s GMAT vs CAT, There are differences based on syllabus, format, acceptability, competition, difficulty level etc. which are as follows:
Syllabus-
GMAT consists of 4 sections:
- Analytical Writing Assessment(30 mins)
- Integrated Reasoning(30 mins)
- Quantitative(62 mins)
- Verbal(65 mins)
CAT consists of 3 sections:
- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension(60 mins)
- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning(60 mins)
- Quantitative Ability(60 mins)
Eligibility–
Eligibility criteria is mostly the same for both the exams. The candidates must have a Bachelor’s degree in any stream from a recognised university and final year students are also eligible to apply for the GMAT as well as CAT. But for CAT there is a minimum requirement of 50% marks in the Bachelor’s degree, failure in which could lead to disqualification.
Validity of Score
GMAT scores carry a validity of five years which means that the exam score of this year can be used for five successive years.
CAT scores are valid for only one year.
Number of Attempts
A candidate can take 5 attempts of GMAT within a period of 12 months and the total number of attempts is restricted to 8.
There is no limit of attempts for CAT. A person can take unlimited attempts in their lifetime.
Difficulty Level
The difficulty level of both the exams can only be compared because they are tough in their own way.
GMAT requires a more practical approach to answer its questions while CAT requires a technical approach and in some sections like quants, a strong understanding of mathematical theory is also required.
Based on this, some people are of the opinion that CAT have a high difficulty level than GMAT.
Acceptability
GMAT scores are accepted by more B-Schools as compared to CAT.
More than 2300 B-Schools globally accept GMAT scores for admission into 7000+ programs.
CAT scores are accepted by only Indian B-Schools like IIMs which conducts CAT and 30 other institutes apart from IIMs accept CAT scores for admission. There are a total of 232 institutes which accept CAT scores.
Other Differences-
- There is negative marking involved in CAT which means for every wrong answer a deduction of 1 mark would be applicable whereas for every right answer, 3 marks are given. However, GMAT has no negative marking.
- GMAT is an adaptive exam. It means that for successive right answers would lead to more tough questions ahead and wrong answers would lead to easier questions. This is not the case with CAT as it is not adaptive.
- GMAT allows the candidates to answer any section without a particular order with its Select Section Order Option. However, this option is missing in CAT and one has to answer in a fixed order starting with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension and ending in Quants.
- CAT consists of a mix of MCQs and Type in the Answer(TITA) questions while GMAT consists of only MCQs.
Conclusion
GMAT is a test of one’s practical knowledge whereas CAT examines more of a technical aspect of a candidate. There is no denying the fact that CAT requires much more intensive preparation than GMAT.
If anyone wants to pursue MBA from abroad, there is no better option available than GMAT as its score is accepted by many B-schools across the globe. However, an MBA degree from IIM can also give great returns.
So, a candidate should take in consideration every aspect before choosing one over another.
All the best!
