Students prepare for the exam everyone is preparing for. The exam should follow the plan.

• GATE: MTech and ME admission, some research programmes, and shortlisting by some public-sector employers
• CAT: admission to the IIMs and to many other Indian management programmes
• GRE: admission to many master's and research programmes abroad, and to some business programmes
• None of them guarantees a seat, a scholarship or a job

Each institute or programme decides what it requires. Always read its own admission page.

• GATE: your engineering or science subject, with engineering mathematics and general aptitude
• CAT: verbal ability and reading comprehension, data interpretation and logical reasoning, and quantitative aptitude
• GRE: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning and an analytical writing task
• GATE rewards depth in your own subject, while CAT and GRE reward speed and general skills

• GATE: computer-based, about three hours, 65 questions for 100 marks, with multiple choice, multiple select and numerical answer questions
• CAT: computer-based, two hours, in three timed sections of forty minutes each, with multiple choice and typed-in answers
• GRE General Test: computer-based, shortened to about two hours since September 2023, with scaled scores for verbal and quantitative reasoning and a separate writing score
• GATE and CAT are held once a year. GRE can be taken at many times of the year

Formats change. The official sites for GATE, CAT and ETS carry the current details.

• GATE: valid for three years
• CAT: valid for one year for the admissions cycle that follows the result
• GRE: reported for five years by ETS, though each programme may set its own limit
• A longer-lasting score is useful if you work for a few years first
• A one-year score must be used straight away, or taken again

• GATE: students in the third year or beyond of an eligible degree, with no age limit and no limit on attempts, according to the official FAQs
• CAT: a bachelor's degree with a minimum percentage, and final-year students may apply, usually with a conditional admission
• GRE: no formal eligibility, though programmes set their own requirements
• Check the current brochure of each, since conditions are revised

• Many master's programmes abroad have made the GRE optional, and some still require it
• Some Indian institutes admit MTech students without GATE, mainly in self-financed seats
• Several management programmes accept other tests than CAT, and some accept GMAT or GRE
• A programme's own page is the only reliable answer

A test that is optional can still help an application, or hurt it if the score is weak. Ask the programme.

• MTech or PSU route: GATE, taken once, or again after a year of work
• MBA in India: CAT, with one or two other tests as a backup
• MS abroad: GRE if the programmes you want ask for it, plus a language test
• Two routes at once: the exams overlap in the calendar, so plan the months
• Undecided: take the exam whose score lasts longest, and decide later