Click here for CAT 2015 Consolidated Analysis

Click here for CAT 2015 Analysis - Forenoon Session

Click here for CAT 2015 Call Predictor

The second slot of CAT 2015 was conducted in a mostly glitch-free manner, similar to the way the morning slot was conducted. There were a few issues of students being logged out of the system, which were resolved quickly by the invigilators present. No incidents of time loss for the students because of this were reported at the time of filing this report.

The paper was very similar to that used for the morning slot. Let us take a quick look at the paper pattern/structure.

The paper consisted of three sections, as announced – Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA) with 34, 32 and 34 questions respectively. The sectional time limit of 60 minutes.

Let us have a closer look at the sections -

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension:
The VARC section can be classified to be of the 'Moderate-Difficult' level of difficulty, similar to that in the morning. There were no direct/very easy questions to pick. However, there were no very ambiguous questions too. Absence of vocab/grammar questions and the lack of options for the 'Para Forming Questions (PFQs)' contributed a fair bit to the difficulty in this section. The presence of 5 RC passages (three passages of 6 Qs and two passages of 3 Qs), as was given in the sample test would have stumped those who were weak in RC. However, the passages were not very dense and were easy to read. While some of the Qs had close answer options, counting them out, the students did have a decent number of attemptable questions. In addition to the PFQs, The Verbal questions covered summary based Qs and 'Odd-One-Out'.

Data Interpretation Logical Reasoning:
Similar to that in the morning slot, the LRDI section in the afternoon slot can also be classified to be of 'Very Difficult' level of difficulty. There were 4 sets of DI and 4 sets of LR. 1 set each in DI & LR had non MCQs only, making it a total of 8 non MCQs in this section. Attempting more that 2-3 sets needed very good preparation, exposure and understanding from the students. 1 DI set and 2 LR sets can be considered to be attemptable – that is in comparision with the other sets that were much higher in difficulty. That students had to scroll horizontally as well to see the tables/data only added to the troubles. Students who did not attempt many questions in this sections need not worry too much, as the cut offs in this section will not be very high, given the astronomical difficulty of this section.

Quantitative Ability:
The Quantitative Ability section can be classified to be of 'Moderate' level of difficulty, very much similar to the section in the morning slot. While many questions may have appeared to be direct, students had to be vary for 2 reasons – the wording was tricky in many questions and the presence of a large number of non MCQs which would have prevented guessing or any sort of confirmation that options would have provided after solving a question. The 15 non MCQs contributed a great extent to elevating the difficulty level of this section. That the QA section is the last one to be attempted would also have contributed to a reduction in the number of attempts for some, due to the fatigue factor coming in by then. The impact of the tough LRDI section would also have played on the students mind and may have contributed to a further dip in the number of attempts/accuracy.

Many students who took the test said that the diligent focus that T.I.M.E. gives to building basics has helped them a lot, particularly in the QA section. The exposure to tough LRDI section in the AIMCATs has helped them overcome the fear factor and attempt to their maximum potential. That the last 4 AIMCATs looked at 6 question RCs and also had 24 RC questions has also helped them align their test taking strategy better, they said.

For those of you looking at this analysis to get some idea about CAT 2016, please be advised that CAT is known to surprise us every year. Whether the current pattern be retained for CAT 2016 is a question that as of now nobody (except may be only the CAT/TCS authorities) has an answer for. Therefore, the prudent approach to take for CAT 2016 would be to keep your scope of preparation wide enough to include all possible variations in content/difficulty level/pattern etc.
With the CAT over, the focus now shifts to SNAP and XAT. We advise the students to put the CAT exam behind them and prepare for the upcoming exams and the subsequent GWPIs in all seriousness. A very large component in the 2nd phase depends on the kind of prep one puts in these 2-3 months.

Do check out the "Call Predictor" to get an estimate of how many IIM calls you could land, based on the number of your attempted questions and expected accuracy.

In the light of the IIMs explicitly disallowing the sharing of any exam-related information, no student / coaching institute / online portal can share questions or other information about the exam with anybody. No such information can also be posted on any forum on the internet. So, T.I.M.E. has put a policy in place where

1. No T.I.M.E. person will share information about the test
2. T.I.M.E. will not encourage/ask students to disclose details about the content of the test that they took
3. T.I.M.E. will not allow anybody to post such information on its website www.time4education.com