What is the difference between CAT, MAT and CMAT?

Master in business administration (MBA) is a degree which can lead you towards great heights of success. No, it is not an exaggeration. By being an MBA, you can join any multinational company, any event management company and what not. It opens the door of opportunities. You can choose various areas like sales manager, business administrator, marketing manager, and human resource manager etc. to start your career with. This is the main reason why MBA has become the most sought after career option in India nowadays. There are various entrance exams through which one can get into topmost institutes for MBS in India. For example, Common Admission Test (CAT), Management Aptitude Test (MAT), Common management admission test (CMAT) etc. All these tests are different from each other in one aspect or another.

Candidates appearing for Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) will have an edge over those appearing for Management Aptitude Test (MAT) in terms of number of questions to be attempted and nature of test.

CMAT has a total of 100 questions across 4 sections (25 questions for each section) that need to be attempted over 180 minutes. This gives candidates ample time to spend on a particular question/ section. However, candidates appearing for MAT have to attempt 200 questions across 5 sections (40 questions for each section) that need to be attempted over 150 minutes. Since CMAT will be held for the first time, candidates can use the facility of Trial Test provided by AICTE to know the nature of paper.

CAT, also known as Common Admission Test, is one of the most prestigious, all-India level management entrance examinations, conducted by Indian Institutes of Management. Based on the CAT percentile, the successful candidates are eligible to appear for the next level of selection procedure, which includes Essay, Group Discussion and Personal Interview. The candidates, who become successful in all the steps of selection procedures, are eligible to get admission in any of the top 5 IIMs. From 2009 onwards, CAT has been conducted online as a Computer Based Test, with a total of 60 multiple choice questions to be attempted in time duration of 2 hours and 15 minutes.

So as it can be seen from the above discussion, CAT-2012, MAT-2012 and CMAT-2012 all these entrance exams are different from each other in some aspect or the other. You need to keep in mind and prepare accordingly.