Till now CAT exam used to have only 2 sections. The first section contained questions on Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (Quant & DI) and the second section consisted of questions on Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension and Logical reasoning. Both the sections had equal number of questions and equal weightage. CAT 2015 however, is going to have 3 sections to be solved in 1 hour each.
CAT 2014 and before
Prior to CAT 2014 there were 60 questions in all divided in 30 questions for each section. There was time limit of 70 minutes to solve each section and the candidates were not allowed to move from one section to another till the time limit for the first section was over nor the test taker could come back to first section once the time limit for it was over.
For the first time in CAT 2014, total exam questions were increased from 60 to 100 along with increase in the overall time limit from 140 minutes to 170 minutes. Besides, the sectional time constraints were also removed. Now the test takers were allowed to toggle between the 2 sections during the overall time limit.
CAT 2015 with 3 sections
CAT 2015 has now increased the number of sections from 2 to 3 and the Questions on Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning will be de-clubbed from their earlier sections and will form a new section comprising DILR questions.
Accordingly the 3 sections in CAT 2015 will comprise ‘Quantitative Aptitude (QA)’; ‘Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)’ and ‘Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC)’.
Different Question composition
QA and VRC will have 34 questions each, and DILR will have 32 questions. Some questions in each section may not be of multiple choice type (MCQs). Instead, direct answers are to be typed on the screen.
Sectional time limit reintroduced
Candidates will be allotted exactly 60 minutes for answering questions in each section and they cannot switch from one section to another while answering questions in a section.
How to manage
Need of high sectional percentile in 3 sections now
According to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2015 preparation, the test takers while re-defining their preparation strategy for CAT 2015 should include different pattern of mocks. The time limit of 1 hour for each section has been introduced, the high sectional percentile in all the 3 sections instead of 2 is required in CAT 2015.
No compensating sub section
Those who are good in DI but weak in Quant may not expect to make good the lost score from other sub section. For example low score in Verbal cannot be compensated by Logical Reasoning nor the low score in Quant can be compensated by DI. It is therefore needed to gain expertise and score high in all the sections. Too much deviation in percentile score of 3 sections may raise many eye brows and may not get you shortlisted for the final admission round.
Now more questions with less time per question
Till CAT 2013 there were 30 questions in each section and the entire section of 30 questions was supposed to be solved in 70 minutes. Now there are 34 questions and you have only 60 minutes to solve. Every test taker shall have to devise the right strategy to maximize the score by maximizing the attempts.
Avoid temptation
It is more important to solve fewer questions with accuracy instead of solving more questions without higher accuracy level. The goal can be achieved by further strengthening the strong areas and improving the weak areas. But the areas which are not well known to you or you think may not be improved much may be avoided.
Time bound practice
The next is time bound practice sessions and mocks. Please remember if you can attempt 16-20 correct in each of the 3 sections you can expect a very high percentile. So attempt more mocks and analyze your errors to crack the future exam with high accuracy.
The DI-LR section can give your mind a good twist. So better to prepare and practice the questions on it right from now. Understand the logics behind the problem, solve them in fun. It will keep you motivated and you will be able to solve them faster than before. Your time is most important to manage. So beware of wasting it.
At present 19 IIMs have become functional and the 6 new IIMs that were proposed in Union Budget 2014 have also started their admission process for the PGP batch 2015-17 based on CAT 2014 scores. Another IIM, the IIM J&K is also proposed from academic session 2016-17 and will offer admission on the basis of CAT 2015 to its flagship PGP batch 2016-18. The 20 IIMs in 2016 will include both the old and new IIMs.
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