CMAT 2014 Analysis

Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is the national level test conducted by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for admission to all management programs in AICTE approved institutions. The test was introduced in 2012. In 2014 CMAT was conducted from 20th September 2014 to 24th September 2014. The pattern was same as that of 2013 exam. The test is taken twice a year. Overall the paper was of moderate to difficult level .The test has in all 100 questions to be solved in a time span of 180 minutes.

SECTION I: Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation

Evaluation:This section in CMAT was of moderate level. It was a mix of questions based on Algebra, Permutation and Combination, Mensuration & Geometry, Profit and loss and Numbers. This section was not tough but it became a little more time consuming for so many students as it required speed to solve certain questions. Arithmetic and Algebra largely dominated the section with around 40 - 50% of the questions asked were from these two areas broadly. About 3 - 4 questions on Data Interpretation and 2-3 on Modern Math have also figured in the paper. Data interpretation questions were again a little lengthy and required better reading of the problem and understanding the same to answer the questions based on data. In 1-2 questions in DI, the options were so close that calculating approximations did not work. An attempt of 17-19 questions was good to score well in this section.

SECTION II: Verbal Ability

Evaluation:There were three to four Reading Comprehension passages of moderate length containing 13-16 questions. Each passage was a little tricky in terms of comprehension but they were doable. A few questions on RC passages were based on verbal reasoning i.e. inference, and facts. The questions were not like conventional RC based questions instead they were based on application of one’s understanding of the passage. The remaining 10-13 questions were based on Grammar-Sentence Correction, Fill in the Blanks, Para Jumbles, Para Completion and Fact, Inference, Judgment. An attempt of about 18-20 questions would be considered good.

SECTION III: Logical Reasoning

Evaluation:The reasoning section of CMAT was of easy to moderate level. The majority of the Questions were based on Analytical reasoning, Blood Relations, Input/output, Alpha-Numeric Series, Visual Reasoning, True/False Statements. This section was primarily dominated with analytical reasoning questions. Two to three questions were there from Deductive Logic and two on Data Sufficiency (1 based on Syllogisms and 1 on Blood Relations). This section could be called the most scoring section of this paper though there were 3- 4 time consuming questions as well. The section, though easy, is touted to be slightly time-consuming. However the questions could have been solved by elimination of options and that could have been a good strategy under the given conditions.

Evaluation:This section, as always, continues to make the life of the students tough. In this section there were plenty of questions on Constitution, Fiscal system, World affairs, Sports, Taxation and General Science etc. The overall break- up of the questions has been quite like the previous year’s CMAT papers only. Though the majority of the questions were of static general knowledge, there were 8 – 10 current GK questions as well. As far as the current GK questions are concerned, one could have attempted 4- 5 of those questions, if one had read newspapers regularly. Besides the above mentioned areas the static GK questions were from Awards, politics and art and culture. Students who could attempt 16 – 19 questions of this section stand a pretty good chance.

*Disclaimer:All the above given information is based on personal opinion of hitbullseye Expert faculty. Several factors have been considered before giving these cut-offs. However, it has nothing to do with original cut-offs.