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Analysis of CAT-2003
Though a CAT can never be ones slave, this one was not one that threw
people out of their gear. The pattern was pretty much along expected lines.
Let us try to get a hold on the constitution of the paper. Expectedly, there
were three sections. An average Verbal Ability section was followed by an
easy Data Interpretation & Reasoning Ability section. The last section,
Quantitative Ability, was inarguably the toughest. (This would have been the
differentiator in the number of calls that an examinee would have got.)
The Reading Comprehension passages were fairly simple and questions
were dominated by the 'specific detail' variety. The Grammar and
Vocabulary based questions were of average difficulty level. Questions on
Logical and Critical Reasoning did not find any place in the paper.
Data Interpretation caselets were very typical. The Analytical Reasoning
caselets were a cakewalk, hardly testing an examinee's mettle.
A preponderant part of the Quantative Ability section was Algebra. There
were about 12-15 sitters and it required smart browsing skills to able to spot
them. Geometry was also present in considerable numbers whereas
Arithmetic was given the short shrift.
For those doughty individuals with adequate preparation levels, this year's
CAT was almost a d�j� vu. The kind of priming that Countdowns and
NCATs gave was more than enough to lend wings to students in the actual
CAT.
NUMBER OF SECTIONS- 3
The main subjects were distributed over the three sections as illustrated in
the table below.
- Subject Marks Difficulty Level
I
Verbal Skills
Reading
Comprehension
20
30 Average
II Data Interpretation
Reasoning
34
16 Easy
III Quantitative Ability 50 Tough
- TOTAL 150 Average
TIME ALLOTMENT STRATEGIES
Given this format two different strategies could have been adopted.
Strategy 1 (Standard) Strategy 2(Optimal for this paper)
Section 1- 40 minutes Section 1- 35 minutes
Section 2- 40 minutes Section 2- 35 minutes
Section 3- 40 minutes Section 3- 50 minutes
OPTIMAL SCORES
Section
Minimum
Score
( 6 IIM
calls)
Minimum
Score
(4- 5 IIM
calls)
Minimum
Score
(2- 3 IIM
calls)
Minimum
Score
(Atleast 1IIM
call)
Verbal
Ability 31-32 27-28 24-25 22-23
Data
Interpretation
& Reasoning
23-24 23-24 20-21 18-19
Quantitative
Ability 20-21 20-21 16-17 14-15
Total 78-80 74-76 66-68 62-64
Section
Minimum
Score
( MDI,
SP Jain,
NITIE
etc)
Minimum
Score
( TAPMI,
IMI, Fore etc)
Minimum
Score
(UBS,
IISWBM,
Somaiya etc)
Minimum
Score
(IMDR,
Nirma,
Kirloskar etc)
Verbal
Ability 22-23 21-22 19-20 17-18
Data
Interpretation
& Reasoning
18-19 16-17 14-15 12-13
Quantitative
Ability 12-13 09-10 08-09 07-08
Total 60-62 56-58 53-55 51-52
A more detailed look at each area of competence
Verbal Ability
Types of Questions Allotted
Marks
Difficulty
Level
Length of
passage
Reading Comprehension
Wines 5 Average Average
British Imperialism 5 Average Short
Genetically Modified
food 5 Easy Average
Social Life 5 Easy Long
Science 5 Average Short
Poem 5 Average Short
Verbal Ability
Jumbled Sentences (5/6
sentences) 5 Average
Usage statements 5 Average
Fill in the Blanks 5 Difficult
Syntactic 5 Difficult
Total 50 Average
Data Interpretation
Areas Tested Allotted Marks Difficulty Level Comment
Tables 23 Average 1 Table could
use allegation
Line Graph 4 Easy
Data Sufficiency 4 Average
Analytical
Reasoning 16 Average
Miscellaneous 3 Easy Similar to line
graph
TOTAL 50 Easy
Quantitative Ability
Subject Allotted
Marks Difficulty Level Comment
Arithmetic 15
Ratio/ Proportion 5 4 Average, 1 Tough
Understanding
Numbers 5 3 Easy, 2 Average
Percentage 3 1 Easy, 2 Tough
Races 1 Average
Speed, Time,
Distance 1 Tough
Combination
with geometry
made it tough
Geometry 14
Circle 4 Tough
Mensuration 2 1 Easy, 1 Tough
Combination
with progression
made it tough
Trigonometry 1 Easy
Triangles 4 2 Easy, 2 Tough
Polygon 3 Tough
Combination
with algebra
made it tough
Reasoning 1
Data Sufficiency 5
Algebra 15
Curve 1 Tough
Maxima / Minima 4 3 Average, 1 Tough
Progression ,
Series 3 1Average, 2 Tough
Base Notations 1 Average
Equation 3 1 Easy, 2 Tough
Inequalities 1 Tough
Set Theory 1 Average
Permutations 1 Average
TOTAL 50 Tough |
