CAT 2015: Detailed Analysis of the Test

Dear Aspirants,

CAT 2015 was conducted by IIM-Ahmedabad in two slots on the same day of 29th November 2015. The exam witnessed the change in the pattern which was announced by the conducting body in the month of July’15. Here, we bring you a comprehensive analysis of the test held.

As per the new pattern, the exam conducted of three sections, with one hour allotted to each section making it 180 minutes to the complete test. As per the last year, test candidate could migrate between different sections which were not allowed this time. There were total 100 questions consisting of both MCQs and non-MCQs type. Each correct attempt would provide +3 marks wherein 1 mark was deducted for all the incorrect attempts. However, there was no deduction of marks for the non-MCQ type questions. The test screen also had an on-screen calculator which was introduced in CAT 2014 itself. The introduction of the calculator brought ease of calculations to the candidates who were from a non-engineering background.

Here we bring you the complete breakdown of CAT'15 according to the sections and the cut-off that were generated:

Section I: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension

Total Number of Questions: 34

Difficulty Level: Moderate

(a) Reading Comprehension:

The section comprised of 5 sets in total, where 2 sets contained 3 questions each and 3 sets had 6 questions in each. The level of difficulty varies from easy to moderate. Reading speed was the only differentiating factor, an aspirant with good reading speed is likely to score well in this section.

 (b) Verbal Ability:  

This section comprised of total 10 question from para jumbles, odd one out and summary type questions. All the questions were Fil in the Answer types question (the ones where options are not given and you need to write the correct answer in the box provided). It was a bit shocking to see that the section did not contain any questions from Grammar , vocabulary or Fact, Inference and Judgement type questions. The Para jumbles were a bit on the difficult side, as most of the para jumbles did not  make sense on reading once. To reach to the correct answered one had to analyse different sequences to reach the correct answer. This increased the time spent on a single question and also decreased the accuracy. But, Odd one out or Summary type questions were easier as one had to choose only one correct option and write in the space provided. 

Section II: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

Total Number of Questions: 32

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Data Interpretation: 4 sets with 4 questions each, in total 16 question

The questions were from the Line chart, Table chart, and Set theory.

Logical Reasoning: 4 sets with 4 questions each, in total 16 question

The questions were from Arrangement type also including a Sudoku question and there was a set from Cube based. Only 3 sets out of 8 sets were straight forward. They were both tedious and tricky, and given the exam pressure and the hassle of encountering a tough question paper, it became very difficult for an aspirant to completely solve these. 

Section III: Quantitative Ability

Total number of Questions: 34

Difficulty: Easy

This section contained questions from different sections of Mathematics. The large chunk of the question was from Algebra and Arithmetic containing 14 and 10 questions respectively. There were 3 questions from Modern Maths, 2 from Trigonometry and 5 from Geometry and Mensuration. However, there were no questions from Number System surprisingly which always forms the key factor of the exam. The level of questions was easy as most of them did not include any extensive calculation and were based on basic concepts. 

Complete Analysis:

CAT 2015 was a shade more than CAT'14 in terms of difficulty. Also, there were no chances of maximising the score by giving disproportionate time to any of the strength areas, as one had to spend 60 minutes on each section. With easy Quant and Verbal Ability, IIMs are trying to set a diverse representation of students.

As last year, an aspirant with not much preparation also was able to attempt 80+ questions resulting in a good percentile. However, with DI-LR as the differentiating factor, this time, only a serious aspirant with rigorous preparation was able to attempt a good number of question.

Hopw this post was helpful to you. feel free to comment below in case of any queries.

Thanks!