iim bangalore
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The annual entrance exam, Common Admission Test (CAT), for admission to Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) and other Business schools will be held on Dec. 4, 2016. Online registration will begin on August 8 and the last date is September 22.

Here's a list of important dates to remember:

Online registration: August 8 to September 22

Availability of admit card: From October 18 to December 4

Date of exam: December 4

Tentative date for declaration of results: Second week of January 2017

The exam will be held in 138 cities across India. It will be conducted in two sessions on the same day. Candidates get the option to select four cities in order of their preference. Registration fees can be paid online only, according to a statement from the CAT Convenor, Prof Rajendra K Bandi.

We will try our best to assign candidates to their first preferred city. In case it is not possible, they will be assigned a city following their given order of preference. In the rare case that a candidate is not allotted any of the preferred cities, he/she will be allotted to an alternate city. However, candidates will not be able to select the session because it will be assigned randomly," said Bandi.

The exam will last 180-minutes. It has three sections - verbal ability and reading comprehension, data interpretation and logical reasoning, and quantitative ability.

The IIM will release a tutorial on Oct. 18 to make students understand the format of the test on the CAT website (www.iimcat.ac.in).

For more questions, candidates can email to cathelpdesk@iimcat.ac.in or dial 1-800-266-3549 (Monday to Saturday between 9am and 5.30pm).