CMAT course

Overview

CMAT stands for Central Management Admission Test. It is an annual examination administered by the Faculty of Management, TU, the oldest and largest university in Nepal. The test is designed to quantify the aptitude of high school graduates wishing to pursue a bachelor’s degree in one of the seven courses listed by the university, and the test is mandatory.

The exam is usually held sometime in the fall, but the actual date depends on when the NEB publishes the +2 results. That being said, a student considering the test should submit an application to register for the exam a couple of weeks before the examination date at the latest.  

About the CMAT Exam

To reiterate, the CMAT is an annual exam for students wishing to get a Bachelor’s Degree in one of the few select courses with the Faculty of Management, Tribhuvan University. The courses are:

• Bachelor in Travel and Tourism Management (BTTM)
• Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)
• Bachelor of Business Management (BBM)
• Bachelor of Hotel Management (BHM)
• Bachelor of Information Management (BIM)
• Bachelor of Mountaineering Studies (BMS)
• Bachelor of Public Administration (BPA)

So, if you want admission to any college affiliated with TU in the aforementioned colleges, you will have to attempt the CMAT exam. Still, because of the high demand for these courses, only the cream of the crop would qualify. Not just that, your academic history and ability to perform in an interview would also come into play during the admission process.

Sitting down for the test, you are required to score at least 40% to qualify for admission.

Breaking it down further, there are 4 distinct segments to the test—each designed to determine the student’s aptitude in a different aspect. All this is done to ensure that the student is fit to receive what would be imparted upon them in the four years of college. Coming back to the segments of the test, the four segments are Verbal Ability, Quantitative Ability, Logical Reasoning, and General Awareness. The segments are worth 25% each; every segment is just as important as the other. Know more about it:

1. Verbal Ability

Verbal Ability, although tested in a written format, is a test of your proficiency in the English language. Here, your knowledge of vocabulary, synonyms, antonymy, grammar, idioms & phrases, and general comprehension will be tested.

This segment tests the students’ ability to understand the implicit and explicit ideas in a college level piece of text. This includes testing the student’s knowledge of vocabulary, synonyms, antonymy, grammar, idioms & phrases, and general comprehension.

2. Quantitative Ability

Quantitative Ability refers to your ability to find your way around numbers, i.e. mathematics. Here, your knowledge of probability, ratios & proportions, arithmetic word problems with commissions & taxes, matrices, etc., will be tested.

3. Logical Reasoning
The third aspect of this test is the Logical reasoning. You will be given all of the necessary cues to come up with a logical deduction. Your task would be to come up with the best solution. The questions in this segment will most relate to flow charts, pure logic, common sense, type of relations, etc.

4. General Awareness
General Awareness is relatively self-explanatory. This section is meant to test how aware you are of the world you’re living in and the education you’ve received thus far. Everything from current affairs in business & economy, sports, politics, etc., to management theories, science, and literature becomes relevant for this segment.

Each section will have 25 objective-style questions for you to answer, carrying a point each. You have to answer at least 40 of these hundred questions correctly.
 

How to Apply for the CMAT Exam

Before you apply for the CMAT exam, you must meet a few mandates set by the Faculty of Management at Tribhuvan University. The mandates are as follows:

• At least a CGPA of 1.8, with no less than a D+ grade in each subject in both grades 11 & 12.
• At least second division in +2 or equivalent discipline.
• Students waiting for the 12th-grade results can still apply but will have to present a certificate of completion at the time of admission to the college of their choosing

If you meet these minimum requirements, you can sign up for the nearest CMAT dates, either online or offline. The forms open for a month every year. However, predicting the exact timings is tricky because a lot of things have to align for the FoM to pick a test date.

Either way, the forms open for a month and close a couple of weeks before the exams. Take the 2080 test dates, for instance.

The forms opened from Shrawan 28, 2080, to Bhadra 31, 2080. The CMAT exam was held on Ashoj 13, 2080.

The forms can be filled up at fomecd.edu.np or tudoms.org and submitted to the TU affiliated college offering the program of your choosing. You will also have to pay a fee of NPR 1,000 to register.

Once registered, you can receive an Admit Card with a unique Symbol Number assigned to your name. The Symbol Number will decide where you need to appear for the exam on test day.
 

Preparing for CMAT Exam

Under ideal circumstances, you should not have to prepare for the CMAT exams, as the questions on this test are derived from what you would have already studied in high school.
Sadly, not everyone graduates high school with the same aptitude. Also, there might be some segments that even the most diligent students have to brush up on. Hence, preparing for the test is necessary.

The first step in the preparation process is understanding the actual structure and syllabus of the test. This will help students dial in their attention on the right thighs. Once the syllabus is properly explored, the next step should be to take a mock test to get a feel for the structure of the test as well as to establish how proficient one is in the test. Students with low marks might want to study extra hard.
At this point, you need to decide whether you can prepare for the test yourself or if you need a dedicated tutor to help you through it. Either choice is fine. The more important this is that you be absolutely honest with yourself. There are a lot of students who have cracked the test on their own. Others need a little help. For those preparing by yourself, you can find a lot of resources online for free. You could even ask around with your peers taking classes if they’re willing to share notes and tips.
 

How Colleges Consider your Applications

With all being said and done, the overall process of your admission to the college of your choosing would look something like this:

1. The Written CMAT Exam
You will sit down on the day of your exam for 90 minutes and answer the 100 questions as we discussed before. The test will have four segments with 25 questions each and you will only have to provide short objective answers. Should you score over 40 points in this test you will make it to the next stage of admissions. If you do not meet the cutoff, you might want to register for a re-test, which is held a few weeks after the first CMAT exam is administered.

2. Interview
After weeding out the ineligible students, the students who passed the written exam will be called in for an interview. The standard interview will judge students on the grounds of their knowledge and communication skills. Suitable candidates will be called in for admission.

3. Calculation of Merit
Admissions in colleges offering the seven courses from before is done on a merit basis, and there is an objective formula for calculating the merit of any given student:

• 60 percent from the CMAT Entrance score;
• 30 percent from your aggregate score in +2 or equivalent;
• 10% Interview

Now, the number of seats available in the colleges is filled from the top down, depending on your total merit.