This year, though Indian Institutes of Management has added 115 more seats, the overall registration for the Common Admission Test (CAT) has dipped. The number of registrations fell from 2.14 lakh in 2012 to 1.94 lakh this year, showing a decline of close to nine percent. This year's number is the lowest in the last five years. However, the ratio of female candidates appearing for the competitive exam has continued to steadily rise, to 29 percent over the past two years. The number of candidates with two or more years of work experience, registering for CAT has risen to 16 percent over the same span, while candidates with experience have declined to 66 percent.

CAT is being delivered to nearly two lakh aspirants seeking to earn a place among this year's available IIM seats. Across all IIMs, 115 seats have been added for B-School admissions this year, taking the tally to 3,335 seats. Maharashtra has the highest number of registrations, at 25,333, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh. Tamil Nadu comes fifth on the list, followed by Karnataka.

The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2013 for Indian Institutes of Management and other B-schools will be conducted from 16 October to 11 November 2013.This year, four new locations like Surat, Udaipur, Trivandrum and Vijayawada have been added to the existing 36 examination centers. Prometric India, a provider of market-leading test development and test delivery solutions IIM-Indore will be conducting the exams on behalf of the IIMs .