Apart from other big changes, CAT 2015 has made the biggest change by altering the order of three sections. The Quant section with 34 questions instead of being the first section will be the last section in CAT 2015. The step has been taken with the well planned strategy to limit the entry of more engineers in IIM class rooms in 2016 but placing quant as last section in CAT 2015 with 10 Non-MCQs has simultaneously given the opportunity to maximise the score before submitting the answers to the test paper.
Prof S K Agarwal mentor on CAT 2015 preparation suggests that the aspirants should maintain their cool till last minute in the exam and patiently attempt the MCQs and Non-MCQs in Quant section one by one adopting the strategy to go for the questions from your strongest areas first and difficult ones later. The strategy will not only help you to keep your cool but also will maximise your scores in Quant section.
Since IIMs are head bent to go for all the changes in the structure and content of the CAT 2015 as well as awarding weightage to the non-engineering graduates, Quant section with more calculation intensive questions can provide a good opportunity to score high provided you can keep your cool after working for full 2 hours on VARC and DILR sections.
Quant with 10 Non-MCQs: No negative making
10 Non-MCQs without any negative marking for wrong answers, are proposed in Quant section and if you mark even a few of them correct without getting confused, you can score high.
These non-MCQs in Quant section could be on any topic and at most of the time will be in single question format. The answer options for Quant non-MCQs also follow the questions as in the case of MCQs with the only difference that you will have to key in the right answer option number in the space provided on the computer screen instead of clicking on the answer option.
The biggest benefit of attempting non-MCQs is that even if your answer goes wrong, there will not be any negative marking. So if you attempt all 10 Non-MCQs in Quant, you will not get any penalty for any wrong answer on the contrary credit of 3 marks per right answer will be awarded for the correct answers marked by you.
With the probable type of topics and the questions based on them in Quant section, made live by CAT Centre 2015, it is advisable to prepare and practice on the same pattern and without getting panicky. Keep your cool and during the process you have to remember that longer good sitting habit would be necessary to score high in Quant section in CAT 2015.
Key topics to prepare
34 questions divided in 24 MCQ and 10 Non-MCQs in Quant section would cover number system, time speed distance, remainder theorem, geometry, permutation combination probability among others. Candidates can also expect questions from indices surds, logs, progression, averages and profit loss.
According to Prof S K Agarwal mentor on CAT 2015 preparation, Out of 34 questions in Quant section around 10 questions would be of easy to moderate difficulty level. Rest are expected to be moderate to difficult. However, those who are clear with the concepts will be able to solve them without much problem.
Quant as last section to limit entry of engineers
The domination of quant in Common Admission Test (CAT) due to the high weightage awarded to it in calculation of percentile has resulted in higher selection ratio of a particular class of candidates say engineers.
Sharing with MBAUniverse.com on the issue how to overcome the problem in CAT 2015 and increase academic diversity in IIM class rooms Prof Tathagata Bandyopadhyay, Convener CAT 2015 and faculty at IIM Ahmedabad says “Regarding the content part, one of our concerns is, score in Quant dominates the percentile rank in CAT. As a consequence it brings in skewness to the selection process towards a particular set of candidates from a particular background.”
The CAT 2015 convener further clarifies “This year we intend to address it by making some changes in the test content and also by rationalizing weights assigned to different components of the test. This we hope will create a level-playing field for all candidates, no matter what educational background they come from, and will remove skewness to a large extent that we referred to above.”
Sharing his vision Prof Bandyopadhyay says “We believe such a move will help us identify candidates from varied backgrounds who will become future leaders in their chosen profession. Such a move will also help IIMs bring in greater diversity in the classrooms and will go a long way in enriching the learning experience.”
Since, by the time you reach the last section your speed and accuracy might go down, you have to be careful and keep your mind free from any confusion or tension as each of the 3 sections will need equally high percentile score. Please remember that you have to maintain the same level of 100% accuracy in Quant section also as you have been maintaining in other 2 sections.
Plan and maximise your attempts to make sure that you don't leave any easy question. The first attempt should tackle all the easy questions followed by the moderate ones and the difficult questions asking for more time should be attempted in the later attempts.
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