CMAT 2016 in its revamped pattern was held on January 17, 2016 from 9.30AM to 12.30PM with no technical issues. Most of the CMAT 2016 test venues recorded around 60 to 65% attendance of candidates. CMAT 2016 was held in the single session followed by GPAT 2016 at the same test venue. The test centres which were expecting around 100 candidates got about 65 CMAT 2016 test takers despite the fact that CMAT would not offer any other opportunity to improve the scores in 2016 as it has become a yearly exam with effect from CMAT 2016 as against twice a year exam earlier.
No Surprise element
CMAT 2016 a computer based test had no surprise element except for the fact that more questions on photo, logo and emblem identification in GK section were placed. Quantitative Techniques section also had a good volume of questions on number system placing the other topics in secondary position. It is expected that 175 and above marks in CMAT 2016 might fetch you a call from good B-school.
No Technical glitch
Overall level of CMAT 2016 remained moderate. Since there were a number of delayed activities in conducting CMAT 2016 on the part of AICTE, it was anticipated that the exam might be marred with technical glitches. But for a few stray cases, no such technical glitch was reported during the 3 hours CMAT 2016 test.
CMAT 2016: Last chance to improve score
CMAT 2016 is the last exam after CAT 2015, XAT 2016 offering the opportunity to low percentilers to improve their scores and get admission opportunity in good Business schools across the country. List of AICTE comprises more than 400 B-schools offering its approved MBA/PGDM programmes.
100 questions in 3 hours
There were 100 questions divided in 4 sections in CMAT 2016. Each section 25 questions and the 4 sections were on Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation; Logical Reasoning; Language Comprehension and General Awareness. All the questions carried equal weightage of maximum 4 marks each with 1/4 negative marking for every wrong answer.
Sectional Analysis
Following is the in-depth sectional analysis of CMAT 2016
Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation
This section was moderate with a few questions reported tricky. Questions were based on the concepts of Time, distance & speed; Ratio and proportion; number system; percentage; Profit & Loss; linear equation; venn diagram; Logarithm; Probability; Mensuration; Geometrical concepts.
Out of the 25 questions in this section, more questions were based on Arithmetic, number system, modern math. 3-4 questions in this section were found to be slightly on difficult side. The section was doable and candidates who made a good attempt can score well in this section. A few candidates while coming out of the examination hall also complained that a few questions had incorrect answer options, although it could not be confirmed by other candidates of the same centre.
Questions on Data Interpretation were not very difficult but a bit more time consuming as they needed good data comparison and analysis capability of the candidate. Those who practiced well on variety of DI questions did not face much difficulty to arrive at the correct answer options.
There were candidates who completed the Quant section in 40-50 minutes before moving forward to complete another section. They were confident enough that almost all of their answers were correct. However, an attempt of 18-20 questions in this section could place the candidate at a high position in merit.
English Language comprehension
English language comprehension section had questions more or less on the expected pattern. More questions in CMAT 2016 were based on fundamentals of English Language like spotting the errors in sentences, fill in the blanks based on subject verb agreement and grammar and tenses. Questions on vocabulary usage were based on spotting the synonyms, antonyms, phrases and idioms. Those who practiced on core grammar usage like Reported speech, Active passive, conditionals, modifiers, usage on parts of speech could fare well in this section.
Reading comprehension passages in CMAT 2016 despite being shorter than CAT 2015 were not as short as they used to appear earlier in CMAT. There were 3 RC Passages of around 500-600 words each. They were followed by the tricky questions based on statements and assumptions. “Author of the passage assumes xyz and that assumption is drawn from which of the following conclusions”; “What assumption could be drawn from the following statements”; “What could be the reason out of the following statements that led the author to conclude the passage with the remark xyz”.
All the passages were more or less moderate to difficult and a bit time consuming, reflecting the reasoning type of questions which required greater understanding of the passage. Candidates had to read between the lines to solve them.
A good attempt of 16 to 18 questions in this section would be enough to qualify for the call by a highly ranked B school.
Logical Reasoning
This section had varying topics and concepts like arrangement, Deductive Logic, Data Sufficiency, venn diagrams, statement assumptions, statement conclusions or inferences, analogy, syllogisms. The section was doable and could be attempted well with the application of logic.
Candidates found the section more time consuming than other sections. However, more than 40-45 minutes were not required to be spent on this section as beating about the bush would not only result in wastage of time but would also make the test takers lose on other questions in other sections. Those who got 15-18 correct in it, may expect to be a winner in this section.
General Awareness
This section had a good number of questions on photo and emblem identification of personalities, companies among others. Questions like the source of material in particular and famous Japanese Drink took the candidates for ride.
Constitutional knowledge, understanding of federal structure of Indian Polity, daily reading and analysing the current events surely helped the candidates in this section. Current affairs had the questions on recent happenings- national and international. Conventional GK consisted of questions on Capital/Currency, International organizations, books, authors, personalities, current events.
The section was found a bit more difficult than other ones.
Most of the candidates preferred to attempt questions on General Awareness in the end. The thought was that answers to GK questions are either known or not known, hence the questions wouldn’t require any technique, tricks and analysis process to solve. CMAT 2016 aspirants who knew the answers could complete this section in 10-15 minutes and focused more on other sections.
Candidates who could attempt 16-18 correct stand a good chance in a top notch institute.
Score needed to get good B school
Since the CMAT 2016 examination was a balanced one, candidates would need higher scores to receive the call from top rated B schools. Out of maximum score of 400, candidates may expect admission in top rated B school with a score in a range of 230 to 260.
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