CAT 2014 with the changed new pattern may not be very high with the level of difficulty but it is definitely perceived as more difficult with the changed pattern, more number of questions, lesser time per question and above all till date nothing is available in the name of practice test on CAT 2014 site.
The CAT 2014 convening IIM Indore, in testing partnership with TCS has announced that CAT 2014 will be conducted in the 2 days test window spread over 4 sessions on November 16 and 22, 2014. Registration for CAT 2014 will close on September 30, 2014, in a week’s time from now.
Number of firsts remain unanswered
There are number of firsts in CAT 2014 new pattern of test. All these firsts especially related to examination pattern remain unanswered till date. The practice test has not yet been made available before the CAT 2014 aspirants who will be appearing in CAT 2014 new pattern test for the first time. Such candidates are still not clear about the exact structure of the test.
The preparation centres, mentors who guide CAT aspirants used to anticipated the type and number of questions earlier, now they find it difficult to predict anything about the already unpredictable CAT 2014 new pattern test.
Those who have been subscribing to various Mock tests, now have to think twice whether the actual CAT 2014 test will have similar type of questions or will deviate from its regular type. What will be topics that will become the source of more number of questions in different sections of CAT 2014 new pattern, is still unknown. What will be the weightage for each section? Whether the weightage will change on the lines of IIFT entrance exam where varying marking pattern for different sections exist or it will continue with equal weightage for each question.
The scoring pattern, equating of scores that created lot of hue & cry in CAT 2013, has not yet been declared and made available by CAT 2014 despite its claim of transparency.
All the questions with no answers till date are raising anxiety among the CAT 2014 aspirants while actual difficulty level is yet to be seen. Whatever may be the actual difficulty level but the rising anxiety is making the CAT 2014 new pattern more difficult than CAT 2013 and earlier CAT tests.
CAT 2014 appears more difficult
Let us compare the changes in CAT 2014 new pattern to the exam pattern of CAT 2013
| CAT 2014 New pattern |
CAT 2013 |
|
CAT 2014 is proposed to be held in 99 cities Name of test centres not disclosed |
CAT 2013 held in 40 cities at 76 centres the details of which were available on the site before the beginning of registration process. |
|
2 day test window in 4 sessions |
21 day test window with 42 sessions |
|
Test will be one month late i.e. Nov 16 and 22 |
From Oct 16 to Nov 6 2013 |
|
Test will have 100 questions in 2 sections of 50 questions each |
Test had 60 question divided in 2 sections of 30 each |
|
Test duration will be of 170 minutes |
Test duration was 140 minutes |
|
Time available per question would be 1minute 42 seconds per question |
Time available per question was approximately 2 and half minutes |
|
Scoring pattern of 3 marks means 300 marks |
Used to be 180 marks |
|
After normalization what would be the maximum score out of which percentile would be awarded, is not declared. |
After normalization maximum score used to be 450 |
|
Candidates can’t choose the preferred date of CAT 2014 test |
Could schedule the test according to their convenient testing day |
|
No tutorial of 15 minutes before the commencement of test |
Tutorial for practice was available to equip the aspirants before the commencement of test |
|
Aspirants are allowed to navigate through one section to another (forward-backward) during 170 minutes. Now aspirants have to focus on time management strategy since freedom of movement may result in wastage of time also. |
Candidates were not allowed to move to second section before completion of 70 minutes allotted to first section nor were they allowed to come back from 2nd section to 1st section. This allowed better time management |
There will be 100 as compared to 60 questions in 2 sections in past CAT years. 20 questions have been added in each of the two sections of test. Duration of the CAT 2014 has also been increased to 170 minutes from 140 minutes earlier. Now CAT 2014 new pattern will have a total of 50 questions for Verbal Ability section and another 50 for Quant section.
Composition of CAT 2014 not clear
In spite of so many significant changes, neither the CAT convening IIM Indore nor the testing agency TCS has shared the composition of CAT 2014 new pattern of examination. The additional source topics and expected type of questions for CAT 2014 new exam pattern are also not yet made available for the use of aspirants.
CAT 2014 site has the icon to apprise about CAT 2014 new Exam pattern & Duration but they remain idle and inactivated. Delay in the disclosure is causing anxiety and uneasiness among the aspirants as they remain in dark about the CAT 2014 new pattern.
Experts however reveal the following expected composition in CAT 2014
Verbal Ability in CAT 2014
In view of Prof S K Agarwal, CAT preparation expert on Verbal Ability shares that expected number of questions in CAT 2014 new exam pattern on Verbal Ability are 35 which include questions on Reading Comprehension passages. The questions are expected to have slightly different pattern but similar difficulty level.
Logical Reasoning Questions in CAT
15 questions on Logical Reasoning are expected in CAT 2014 new pattern. These questions could be a little more difficult than what appeared in CAT 2013.
Quant questions in CAT 2014
In CAT 2014 new pattern, share of quant questions is expected to be 35-37. The questions are supposed to be fairly difficult and would be on past CAT pattern. There could be quick response questions also.
Data Interpretation questions in CAT 2014
Questions on DI sets may go for some twist. There may be 14-15 questions on Data Interpretation and some of the questions may have higher LOD than CAT 2013 had. The only solution is to practice more on all types of DI sets.
Related Links
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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more preparation tips for CAT 2014
