“The beauty about CAT 2007 is in its balance. I am yet to see a more balanced CAT in the last 10 years.” Mr Lahiri was responding to a student query on MBAUniverse.com Live expert chat.
Career Launcher believes that CAT was moderately difficult this year. When asked about what cutoffs does Career Launcher prescribe, Mr Lahiri said, “We expect the Quant section cut-off to be 26 to 28; Language section cutoff between 26 to 28 and LR & DI section cutoff between 34 to 36. Career Launcher believes that overall cutoffs will be in the range of 102 to 107.
Which was the toughest section? According to Career Launcher, it’s the verbal ability section that was the toughest part of CAT 07. When a MBAUniverse.com reader asked how Career Launcher compared various sections on a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is toughest, Mr Lahiri said, “I rate Quant as 7/10, DI as 6/10 and Verbal ability as 8/10. Yes, I think Verbal ability was the most difficult as it was more deceptive. The options being too close to one another.”
Read excerpts from MBAUniverse.com Chat:
Akshay: What is the overall cutoff and section wise cutoff that CL expects?
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: Quant 26 to 28; Language 26 to 28; LR & DI 34 to 36. Overall 102 to 107.
Aditya: I found the Cat this year quite balanced and moderate in its difficulty...how would you rate it on the scale of 1 to 10 (1 being easy)? How would you rate last year's test on the same scale.
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: If last year was 5, this time it was 6.5
Intekhab: Sir, please rate Quant, DI & VA on 1 to 10 scale....as you have done for adiyta question at overall level.
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: Quant -7, DI- 6 and Language- 8
Shekhar: Sir you have said that verbal ability is 8/10 while Quant you are rating as 7/10. So does it mean that Verbal Ability is tougher than Quant...
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: Sure. What’s more it is deceptive. The options being too close to one another.
Vishal: Hello sir, do you think CAT 2007 has an advantage for candidates appearing for second time? Because every one is saying it is similar to last year.
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: It had less surprises and a repeater would have been better equipped with this test pattern.
Arif: Sir, on MBAUniverse.com chat earlier, Career Forum has said that their cutoff is about 123+. Why is there a big difference...
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: We've arrived at the cut-off after a lot of analysis both judgmental and statistical. We would not like to comment on what others have to say.
Sonia: Hello Sir, CAT 2007 didn't have any change though it is an unpredictable exam. Were there any predictions in your minds?
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: You should take the CAT as it comes. No point making guesses or predictions! Yes we were expecting a difficult quant.
Vishal: How would the cutoffs be by MDI, SP Jain and NITIE. Please guide.
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: Lower the sectional cut-offs by about 4 marks each and the aggregate to about 90 to 92
Kapil: Dear Sir, students from different backgrounds appeared in CAT 2007. Some found tough, some found moderate......... I want to know towards which stream, CAT 2007 is in favour?
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: The beauty about CAT 2007 is in its balance. I am yet to see a more balanced CAT in the last 10 years.
Waseem: Sir, do you think that there was any difference in the questions put in the CAT...me and my friend had different Qs how can we match it?
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: The questions would all be the same though their order may differ from set to set.
Vanshika: I am preparing for other exams like XLRI and FMS...can anything be said about those exams basis this CAT.
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: These exams are conducted independent of CAT. For XLRI you need to work further on quant especially permutation and combination, probability etc. FMS has a very unpredictable pattern. Do remember one thing 'Hard work always reaps rich dividends'.
Karthik: Hi am Karthik from Chennai, am working with an MNC and appeared for CAT...did pretty well, however my quant din go well...is there any benefit of my work experience in the written test?
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: The overall cut off and the sectional cutoffs might be a shade lower. Do not expect major concessions.
Alekh: Arindam sir I haven’t done well in quant section. Do you have some idea which institutes put less emphasis on quant.
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: The IIMs are not likely to budge on the quant cut offs though the jury is still out on what the quant cut offs actually are going to be. Some of us are of the opinion that it could be as low as 22. In the allied institutes, if you have a good work ex, apply to SP Jain and MICA might also be a bit lenient on the quant score.
Subhasis: Sir I took the test this year but am focusing on next year. How will this cat change planning for next year? Whats you advice to students focusing on next year.
Mr Arindam Lahiri, Director - Academics, CL: It is unfair to sound so pessimistic. Wait for you CAT results and focus on the other B-school entrances for the time being. In any case year to tear the guidelines for CAT remains the same: focus on fundamentals and a lot of general reading.
About our Chat Expert: Mr Arindam Lahiri is a mechanical engineer from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He earned his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (Lucknow) and spent several years at Maruti, India's leading automobile company, and Honeywell (India). He heads Career Launcher's courseware development team and is responsible for producing and developing content for over a 100 titles (books, CDs and web), both for CL's inhouse offerings and for external customers. He heads the academic operations for all CL centers across India. His other responsibilities include managing the operations for academic support services (including being editor of two magazines - Management Compass and Educare).
