CAT 2015 divided in 3 sections with no inclusion of other supplementary parts could be managed well instead of clubbed parts in each section of Quant and Verbal.
CAT used to have 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. Now CAT 2015 will have 3 sections to be solved in 1 hour each on pure Quant topics; Verbal Ability and reading comprehension and Data Interpretation & Logical reasoning as the newly added section.
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. 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)’.
Understand the sectional 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.
Score high in 3 Sections with right strategy
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.
If you are good in Quant and are afraid of DI, better to prepare for both of them individually. Reinforcing on Quant could give you more confidence while consistent practice on Data Interpretation question sets can take you through the newly created section. It is not necessary that you have to do all the 16 questions on DI out of 32 which include LR questions also, even if you are able to attempt and solve accurately 8-10 from different sets, you can expect a good percentile.
Similarly It is not necessary to answer all the questions following Reading comprehension passages. If you are able to answer 2 out of 4 questions based on one RC passage, it may not hinder your chances as every question is independent of other one.
Most of the questions on Logical Reasoning will also be in sets in DILR section. Out of 16 if you can crack 8-10 accurately, you are through with a high percentile in this section.
Earlier the questions were mixed and sometimes you were confused which formula to use and whether the question belongs to LR or Critical reasoning. That confusion would no longer persist now and you will be able to crack it with clear understanding.
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.
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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Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2015
