CAT 2000 : Analysis

The gates were thrown open, at the appointed hour for one to experience the tides. Some enjoyed surfing on the tides for the next two hours making a mockery of the turbulence, but there were many who were swept aside. After two hours the crowd started rushing out, many with drooping shoulders, some with glee on their faces. Most felt the paper was difficult to handle and some shared that their hopes have been dashed.

Strategy The test format this year was similar to CAT'99; complete with three sections and similar topic distribution. The onus of time allocation between sections, sequence of attempting the sections and adherence to time limits was on the candidate.

The only difference was that the third section did not contain the sitters like Deductive Reasoning, but more of DI sets. Also, it featured questions on Inferential Reasoning.

Let's take a look at the possible strategies one could have adopted while attempting the test paper. The table below gives two possible strategies that could have been adopted; it gives the time allocation and possible number of questions attempted.

Strategy I

Strategy 2

Strategy I 40 mins 35-40Ques EU (Sec I) + IR(Sec III) 20mins 22 Section II 40 mins 22-25Ques RC (Sec I) Section III 40 mins 30 Ques Quant (Sec II) DI + DS (Sec III) 30mins 22-24 40mins 22-25 30mins 20-25

Most test takers would have adopted strategy I, which seems the easier of the two. Let's look at the sectional analysis.

Section I - English Questions 55 English Usage PARAJUMBLES Questions 10

1 4 Parajumbles ( 4-sentence type) 5 Parajumbles ( 5-sentence type) Parajumbles ( 6-sentence type)

SENTENCE COMPLETION Total 15

Reading Comprehension Total North Indian Classical Music) Electronic & Magnetic Storage Technology Settlement of Tribes Abstractionism Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)

Words Questions 1300 1450 1450 1400 1300 8 8 8 8 8

6900 40

Every test taker must have let off a sigh of relief after seeing the RC passages. One should have spent about 40 minutes in this section attempting 3 passages that were relatively easy, and mostly contained fact-based questions, amounting to 24 questions. The language was simple, and comprehension wasn't difficult at all. The sentence completion questions were also easy as were the parajumbles and all 15 questions should have been attempted. Thus, totally one could have attempted around 35 - 40 questions in 40 minutes, achieving a score of 30.

Section II - Quantitative

Questions 55

Topic ARITHMETIC Number Systems Rest of Arithmetic

No. of Questions 15 11 4 12 8 1 3 9 6 3 3

ALGEBRA Functionss Progressions Equations/Inequalities

GEOMETRY Co-ordinate + Graphs Plane Geometry

PERMUTATION / COMBINATION

REASONING MISCELLANEOUS TOTAL

8 8 55

The pattern of this section was not very different from last year - most of the questions were reasoning driven. For example, the set of questions on cricket was very simple, but most people dropped it because of lack of comfort with cases. A large number of questions could have been attempted by working with choices. The paper would look difficult to someone who was not very comfortable with functions and Algebra - though the number of questions from these topics was not high, they presented a prominent front in the paper. But out of the 12 problems in functions 7 of them had nothing but a intimidating facade. A second look at the paper would have enabled one to identify about 15-17 one-liners that were a straight go! An allocation of about 40 minutes would have made an attempt of about 25 fairly achievable.

Section III - DI, DS and Inferential Reasoning Questions 55

REASONING INFERENTIAL REASONING (short passages) TOTAL

This section, comprising reasoning and data interpretation, could have come as a relief after the quant section. The key to this section was to attempt the DS and Inferential Reasoning questions and then pick up the easier sets of data. The five Logical Reasoning questions were lengthy to read, took time to solve, and hence, should have been the last resort as far as this section was concerned.

The tables on export-import intensity, factories and employment were a bit confusing and could have been left. The table on IT sector, was easy to understand and the questions were also direct. Similarly, the line chart on variable cost of Widget Manufacturing by ABC Ltd. and bar chart on Foreign Equity Inflow were straightforward. The set of data with four bar charts looked intimidating, but was very simple and should have been attempted.

Out of the 10 questions in Inferential Reasoning, 8 were easy. The options did not seem too confusing, but for someone who was daunted by the size of the paragraphs, these should not have been attempted at all! An attempt of about 6-7 questions was achievable.

An attempt of 7 to 8 in DS, 15 in DI and 7 to 8 in Inferential Reasoning was possible in 40 min. A net score of 25 was definitely on.

Overall we can summarise that the level of difficulty of this paper was marginally tougher than that of CAT 1999. Hence, cut-offs are likely to drop a little. An attempt of 90 can be considered a good one. With inputs from Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Cochin, Tiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, Calcutta, Guwahati, and Pune the following performance parameters can be taken as a benchmark for all the CAT 2000 takers. Section Section I Section II Section III Total Questions 55 55 55 165 Possible Attempts Possible Score 40 25 30 95 30 - 35 20 25 75 - 80 Cut-off for a definite call 26 16 22 70 - 75

For IIMs the cutoff could be 70 and 75+ is a sure shot call from the top ones. For institutes like MDI, SPJain the cutoff could be 65+ net and for MICA, GIM, UBS the cutoffs could be 60+. It is quite likely that these institutes may look at only total cutoffs and not sectional ones. Though the most important of all the MBA entrances is behind, others are round the corner. With IITs, FMS, XLRI etc. to follow, it is time to look ahead and be determined to do well in those. Be positive in realizing your dreams. We are sure you all will. However good or bad you may feel about the CAT, the results are bound to surprise many of you. This has been happening year after year leaving many with hardly any time to prepare for the second round - face to face. Hence start thinking about the preparation for the next phase Group discussions and Interviews. Do not be left behind. Evaluate and join programs on personality development that are being offered by some organizations in your city. The programs

will expose you to the challenges ahead and prepare you to face it confidently. Enroll yourselves now and make a difference to yourself. Wishing you all the very best.

Prashant Modani
67-C, Pocket - 4, Mayur Vihar, Phase - 1, Delhi, PIN - 110091 Telephone : (91) - (011) - 2710631