CAT vs NMAT 2018 Comparison Guide

For students looking to pursue higher education after their undergraduate degrees, they must clear an admission test and earn a particular score that is higher than the cut-off score of their preferred or selected university/college. In this case, CAT or Common Admission Test is the most widely-attempted admission exam in India that is conducted by the IIMs every year. Another relatively less known, but nonetheless viable option is NMAT or Narsee Monjee Admission Test which is conducted by GMAC or Graduate Management Aptitude Council, which is the same body that administers the GMAT or Graduate Management Admission Test each year. In case you are planning to attempt both CAT and SBI PO to have more options (such as keeping both pathways open to government and private sector), check out the SBI PO vs CAT: Comparison Guide to have a better idea of both exams if you are planning to attempt them both. Alternatively, you can check out the CAT 2018: Everything You Need to Know to have a complete idea about the CAT 2018. If you are not sure where to start preparing for CAT 2018, check out the CAT 2018 Preparation Books and Online Resources; if you are a working professional, you might want to check out the CAT Preparation 2018: 5 Essential Tips for Working Professionals. Alternatively, if you are preparing for the NMAT 2018, then check out the NMAT 2018 Everything You Need to Know or perhaps the NMAT vs SNAP 2018 guide if you are preparing to write both examinations. In this blog post, we will compare CAT vs NMAT, or rather, we shall see the main differences between CAT and NMAT 2018 to understand how they differ.

CAT vs NMAT 2018 Examination Dates

The CAT 2018 examination is scheduled to be conducted on November 25th, 2018 while the NMAT 2018 is scheduled to be conducted between a timing window of 75 days starting from October 5th – December 17th, 2018. Alternatively, the NMAT 2018 registrations shall begin from July 3rd, 2018 and end on October 3rd, 2018, while the registration dates for CAT 2018 have not yet been finalized, but they are expected to be out in either July or August.

CAT vs NMAT 2018 Exam Fees

The CAT 2018 application fees is about INR 1900 (INR 1900 for general candidates, INR 1000 for reserved categories), but the application fees for NMAT 2018 ranges from INR 1900 – 2000 (plus applicable taxes) depending on whether it’s an early registration or late registration.

CAT vs NMAT 2018 Exam Pattern

The exam pattern is one of the main factors of any competitive examination and all aspirants should have a thorough idea of the CAT vs NMAT Exam Patterns to know how they should prepare.

CAT 2018 Exam Pattern
Section Name	No. of Questions	Time Allotted (Mins)	Maximum Marks
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	34	60	102
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	32	60	96
Quantitative Aptitude	34	60	102
Total	100	180	300

 

NMAT 2018 Exam Pattern
Section Name	No. of Questions	Time Allotted (Mins)	Maximum Marks
Language Skills	32	22	32
Quantitative Aptitude	48	60	48
Logical Reasoning	40	38	40
Total	120	120	120

All the questions in NMAT 2018 exam pattern are of Multiple Choice type (MCQs). CAT 2018 shall have both MCQ as well as non-MCQ questions.

CAT vs NMAT 2018 Exam Syllabus

The exam syllabus is a vital part of every examination and aspirants who are planning to attempt competitive examinations for MBA such as CAT or NMAT 2018 should know the complete syllabus for both the examinations to ensure that they prepare themselves accordingly and not leave out any important chapter in any section which could cause them disadvantages later. Hence, whether you are taking the CAT 2018 or the NMAT 2018 examination, in either case, the exam syllabus has been provided below for your reference.

CAT 2018 Exam Syllabus
Section	Portions/Chapters
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)	English Grammar and Usage, Vocabulary Questions (Synonyms and Antonyms), Fill the Blanks, Cloze Test, Sentence Correction, Para-Jumbles, Verbal Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, and Analogies
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)	Tables, Bar Graphs, Pie Charts, Caselets, Line Charts, Numbers and Letter Series, Clocks’ Questions, Seating Arrangements, Syllogisms, Blood Relations
Quantitative Aptitude	Number Systems, Number Series, LCM and HCF, Time and Work, Mixtures and Alligations, Ratios and Proportions, Simple and Compound Interest, Percentages, Surds and Indices, Permutations and Combinations, Mensuration

While there aren’t many differences between the NMAT 2018 and CAT 2018 when it comes to exam syllabus, the main difference is regarding how the questions are asked. As previously mentioned, CAT 2018 shall have both MCQ and non-MCQ questions while NMAT 2018 shall have only MCQ questions.

NMAT 2018 Exam Syllabus
Section	Portions/Chapters
Language Skills	English Grammar and Usage, Vocabulary Questions (Synonyms and Antonyms), Fill the Blanks, Cloze Test, Sentence Correction, Para-Jumbles, Verbal Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, and Analogies
Logical Reasoning	Tables, Bar Graphs, Pie Charts, Caselets, Line Charts, Numbers and Letter Series, Clocks’ Questions, Seating Arrangements, Syllogisms, Blood Relations
Quantitative Aptitude	Number Systems, Number Series, LCM and HCF, Time and Work, Mixtures and Alligations, Ratios and Proportions, Simple and Compound Interest, Percentages, Surds and Indices, Permutations and Combinations, Mensuration

CAT vs NMAT 2018 Negative Marking

There is no negative marking in NMAT 2018 while CAT 2018 as always will have negative marking with marks deducted for wrong answers to any question. It’s necessary to note that however only MCQ questions in CAT 2018 shall have negative marking, meaning that non-MCQ questions can be attempted by the candidates without the fear of them losing their marks by negative marking.

CAT vs NMAT 2018 Number of Attempts Permitted 

CAT 2018 can be attempted only once per year while NMAT 2018 can be attempted for a total of 3 times in a timing window of 75 days each year.

CAT vs NMAT 2018 Difficulty

• CAT 2018 is in general harder than NMAT 2018
• NMAT 2018 does not have negative marking, so candidates may guess and still get marks if their answers are right, but trying anything as such in CAT 2018 is quite risky as they may lose marks they have already gained due to negative marking
• Data Interpretation in NMAT 2018 is considered easier than CAT 2018 and so if you are preparing for CAT 2018, then NMAT 2018 should be quite easy.
• Vocabulary in NMAT is easier than CAT but this is offset by the fact that less time is allotted to each section in NMAT.
• English Language in general is considered to be on the same level for NMAT as CAT due to the reduced time allocation.
• Quantitative Aptitude is much harder for CAT than for NMAT and hence when preparing, it is best to prepare for CAT so that NMAT is relatively easy.

All the Best!