The Common Admission Test (CAT) conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) was conducted on November 18, 2007. Its popularity can be gauged by the fact that the number of people appearing in the test is increasing every year, and this year some 2.5 lakh candidates took the test.
The CAT is a keenly watched examination, not the least because of the enormous hype that is associated with it. Every year newspapers report of the high paying jobs that graduates of management institutes are able to get, which fires the dreams of lakhs of youth. Another reason for the interest in CAT is that it is highly unpredictable. Every year candidates have to struggle with some surprises in the pattern and difficulty of the test.
This time there was little surprise element in the paper, as the number of questions and time limits remained same. There were 75 questions (3 sections of25 questions each) to be attempted in 2.5 hours.
However, the level of difficulty varied. Compared to 2006, questions in Quantitative Ability were slightly tougher, while the Data Interpretation section was more calculation based. There was more variety of questions in the Verbal section and students found it was trickier again this time. Each question had five options. The weightage and marking of the questions, including negative marking, were same as 2006. Candidates would get 4 marks for a correct answer and –1 for a wrong answer.
The CAT paper is becoming more intensive in nature. Candidates had to attempt the maximum number of questions in the given time. The average time of 2 minutes per question means that there is enough time to do the questions provided candidates have an intensive knowledge of all areas.
Our analysis of the different sections is given below:
Maths section: The maths section was difficult compared to previous year. Though the questions looked easy, they were deceptive. Both engineers and non-engineers would have found the section quite difficult this time. There were some direct questions. Out of 25 questions, about 8 were easy and another 8 were medium difficulty level. There was a mix of questions from Numbers, algebra, functions, inequalities and arithmetic. We expect a score of 24-28 to be good.
Verbal ability: The verbal section was extremelydifficult. The number of questions remained the same, but there was a larger variety. This was achieved by putting fewer questions for every type. For instance, the number of passages in Reading Comprehension was increased to 4, but they had only three questions per passage, so there were more passages. Thus, there were 12 questions of Reading Comprehension in the paper, which constituted almost 50% of the verbal section. The importance of Reading Comprehension remains in the CAT and our advice of doing extra reading was proved right again this year. The level of difficulty was also high as the choices were very close and many students were at a loss as to which choice to mark.
The sources of the passages will show the difficulty level: one of the passages was sourced to a book“Reflexivity and the crisis of Western Reason: Logical Investigations” by Barry Sandywell. Other passages were from equally obscure sources.
The balance 13 questions consisted of paragraph completion, Grammar and Critical Reasoning. There were 3 questions on Grammar, in which one had to identify the incorrect parts of sentences. This was purely grammar-based. Three questions were on Critical Reasoning, in which the students had to complete a paragraph given. Perhaps the surprise of the year was the inclusion of three questions which tested basic English: the difference between further and farther, for instance, or the difference between censored and censured. These questions on English usage tested how much candidates actually knew about using common, everyday English. There were also four questions on para-jumbles or order arrangement, in which candidates had to make an order out of a jumbled paragraph. We expect 24-30 as being a good score.
Data Interpretation: This section had questions from data (calculation based), Reasoning and Data Sufficiency. There were 3 sets in which calculations had to be done. Two of these sets were very easy. Data Sufficiency questions were also quite easy. Though the section looked simple lots of questions involved critical reading and tricky calculations. A good score in this section would be 28 to 36.
Every candidate was scored on a scale of 100, with weightage as given below: (a) CAT Score: 20; (b) Class X Marks: 15; (c) Class XII Marks: 10; (d) Graduation Score: 15; (e) Work Experience/Professional Degree: 5; (f) Group Discussion: 7.5; (g) Group Discussion Summary: 7.5; (h) Personal Interview: 20.
On the basis of the above, the first short list was made based purely on CAT scores. For IIM, candidates should have 85 percentile scores in each section and+90 percentile score overall, for general category students.
The students in the first short-list were further divided based on their past academic performance and work experience.
In 2006, for candidates with work experience, score/weight was given for their experience. For every year of work experience above 3 years, marks were deducted proportionately such that at 12 years of experience the score is ‘zero’.
In other words, for 9 years of experience above 3 years, you lose 5 points. No work-experience points were given to students with more than 12 years of work experience. Only CA’s were given points for their Professional Degree as well.
The candidates were finally short-listed for the GD-PI round based on the above 5 parameters i.e.CAT Scores, X Score, XII Score, Graduation Score, WorkExperience/Professional Degree Score.
The GD and GD summary scores of individual evaluators were added to compute the final scores, while that of PI were averaged out.
The weightage of different scores in Phase 2 were as follows: GD (21.43%), GD Summary (21.43%), PI(57.14%).
Lessons for CAT 2008
What can we say about 2008 CAT? Our expectation is that the number of questions and difficulty level will remain almost same. This is becausethe format of 75 questions in 2.5 hours is the international standard, with exams like GMAT and GRE too following this pattern.
To read the complete article please visit www.competitionmaster.com. The article was published in January 2008 issue of The Competition Master. You will find this issue in the Archives section of our website. Access to the material on the website is free for registered users. Registration is free.
