CAT 2019 Comprehensive Analysis

The general perception is that verbal was slightly difficult compared to last year, but DI and quant either same or marginally easier. There wasn’t much to differentiate between the two Slots with selective feedback on verbal and DI being slightly tougher in slot II. A marginal drop is expected in overall score for 99%ile compared to last year. In terms of overall pattern, structure and difficulty level, the exam was similar to the exam last year. Unlike the common beliefs, the CAT examiners seemed to focus on a candidate’s aptitude rather than testing student’s ability to handle a disruptive pattern.

The paper consisted of three sections: namely, ‘Quantitative Aptitude (QA)’, ‘Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)’ and ‘Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)’, with 34, 32 and 34 questions, respectively. The order of the sections was fixed, with a sectional time limit of 60 minutes.

Verbal Ability Review: Overall verbal ability in both slots will see a drop in cut-off of 6-8 marks

In terms of level of difficulty, the verbal section can be labelled as easy to moderate. The accuracy will be the key to good score. As with the exam last year, the exam did not feature any question from Grammar and vocabulary. This effectively meant that the aspirants who were proficient in the topics that are reading-based would have been more comfortable in this section. There were Five RC passages (each of 350-400 words) out of which four passages had five questions each and the fifth had 4 questions. Other questions were from sentence rearrangement, para-jumbles and -summary. There were 7 TITA questions.

In terms of level of difficulty, the verbal section can be labelled as moderate. The accuracy will be the key to good score along with selection of passages. One passage was considerably tough to understand. As with the exam last year, the exam did not feature any question from Grammar and vocabulary. This effectively meant that the aspirants who were proficient in the topics that are reading-based would have been more comfortable in this section. There were Five RC passages (each of 350-400 words) out of which four passages had five questions each and the fifth had 4 questions. Other questions were from sentence rearrangement, para-jumbles and -summary. There were 7 TITA questions.

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning: Overall the DILR in both slots will likely see similar cut off or marginal increase of 1-2 marks. The slot II may not see any gains.

As with this section last year, the section was most difficult but moderately easier compared to last year. There were 8 sets of 4 questions each and 3 sets may be categorised as easy to moderate. In general students reported an attempt of 2-3 more questions compared to last year. There were 8 TITA in DI.

The section was as difficult as last year and a notch above from slot 1 with a few tricky sets. Therefore the set selection was critical to success. One scattered graph set looked out rightly difficult, but was manageable in terms of calculation, one more set was easy while others were time consuming and  difficult. There were 8 sets of 4 questions each. There were 8 TITA in DI.

Quantitative Aptitude Review: Overall, the quant section will likely register similar cut-off or may be 1-2 marks higher

The Quant section was quite similar compared to last year or may be moderately easier. The number of attempts was higher on average but accuracy will hold the key. There were 11 TITA questions.

The Quant section was quite similar to first slot with general thought of it being slightly easier than last year. But it did seem calculation intensive. There were again 11 TITA questions.

It looks like a normalisation of around 5% may take place to keep both the slots at the same level of difficulty.

CAT scores are used as a primary screening tool by B-Schools for short listing candidates for the GD/ PI round. Apart from CAT percentile other factors which are taken in to account for generating calls include academic performance in 10th, +2, Graduation, duration of work experience. Normally, the cut offs for old IIMs are higher than those for new IIMs.