CAT 2016: Impact of changes in past exams on test takers; get guidance before taking off-expert view

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
June 16, 2016
With so many changes taking place in last 2 years, you cannot rule out a different CAT 2016 proposed to be held in the month of November 2016
Changes as carried out in 2014 did not so much surprise the candidates but the changes in last year CAT made many candidates uneasy and CAT 2016 may not be an exception to this fact

CAT since 2014 has gone with perceptible changes not only in structure but also in content. Going by the tradition you cannot rule out a different CAT 2016 to be held in the month of November 2016. Next 6 months will be a crucial period to devise a well chalked out plan for your preparation for CAT 2016.

Despite number of changes brought about during last 2 years in CAT, the basics of the exam have not changed. Accordingly the guidance and analysis of past CAT exams by experts will enlighten your path how to make sure to bell the CAT in 2016.

Based on his insight and analysis of changed face of past CAT exams, Prof S K Agarwal Verbal Ability expert and mentor on CAT 2016 preparation suggests the CAT 2016 aspirants to come out of their cozy and easy going mode and must fasten their belts to prepare with determination to crack CAT 2016 with high sectional as well as overall percentile.

As is well known that Common Admission Test (CAT) 2016 is the gate way to 19 IIMs and other top rated MBA colleges in India like FMS, MDI, SPJIMR, IMI, IMT, NITIE, Management departments of IITs, JBIMS among others, it is but natural that it is the most sought after   entrance examination expected to be taken by around 2 lakh MBA aspirants.

CAT since 2009
CAT used to be a paper pen based test till 2008. Since 2009, the exam has gone green and opted to become a computer based test. Beginning with IIM Ahmedabad as the convener for first computer CAT in 2009, the IIM Lucknow convened CAT 2010 followed by IIM Calcutta convening CAT 2011 and IIM Kozhikode convening CAT 2012.  It is only IIM Indore who convened CAT for 2 consecutive years and the responsibility to convene CAT in 2015 was again assigned to IIM Ahmedabad. IIM Bangalore has been assigned the responsibility to convene CAT exam for the first time in 2016.

IIM Bangalore to convene CAT 2016
CAT 2016 is to be conducted by IIM Bangalore in November 2016 under the convenership of Prof Rajendra K Bandi with the testing partner TCS. Please remember IIM Bangalore is known for its different and unique testing and formation of merit approach for admission in its courses. You cannot rule out its reflection in CAT 2016.

CAT 2016 in November
CAT is a yearly examination conducted by Indian Institutes of Management usually in the months of October-November. Prior to 2014, CAT used to begin in the month of October and continued till November. But since 2014, CAT exam has become a short period affair. While CAT 2014 got over in 2 days and 4 sessions, CAT 2015 concluded in just one day 2 sessions.

Last year CAT by IIM Ahmedabad
CAT 2015 was conducted by IIM Ahmedabad on November 29, 2015 in a single day with number of changes and the testing agency remained the same – TCS.

For 2 years IIM Indore convened CAT
CAT 2014 was convened by IIM Indore again in the testing partnership of TCS on November 16 & 22, 2014. IIM Indore conducted CAT for 2 consecutive years i.e. in 2013 as well as in 2014. Till CAT 2013 the testing partner agency was Prometric and since 2014 TCS has taken over as CAT testing agency.

CAT changed a lot in 2 years
It was CAT in 2014 that began to bring number of changes and CAT 2015 fully overhauled the exam. The process is still going on and CAT 2016 could bring more changes and surprises given the reputation of IIM Bangalore who goes by different admission criteria than adopted by other IIMs.

Key changes in CAT 2014
CAT 2014 brought following significant changes in exam and this paved the way for further changes-

  • Test had 100 questions instead of earlier 60 and was divided in 2 sections Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation; Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning with 50 MCQs in each section instead of 30
  • Duration of testing window was reduced from 21 days to only 2 days
  • Number of questions increased from 60 to 100
  • Sectional time constraint was withdrawn and allowed the test takers to toggle between the 2 sections freely within the overall time limit
  • Total test time was increased from 140 minutes to 170 minutes but the average time available to solve per question was reduced from 2.32 minutes to 1.80 minutes.
  • More questions on Error corrections, RC passages and new type of questions like summary of para, Fact-Inference-Judgement (FIJ) were prominent in the exam
  • No Vocabulary questions were asked in the exam. This surprised the candidates.

Despite all these changes CAT 2014 was a grand success under the convenorship of Dr Rohit Kapoor, faculty at IIM Indore.

More changes in CAT 2015
CAT 2015 convened by IIM Ahmedabad under the convenership of Prof Tathagata Bandyopadhyay opened Pandora’s box and brought many changes giving an overhaul to CAT making it a different exam. The goal was to improve academic and gender diversity in IIM class rooms. Key changes in structure and content in last year CAT are shared below-

  • CAT 2015 was conducted on November 29, 2015 - the last Sunday of the month in a single day and 2 sessions, further shortening the test window from 2 days to 1 day.
  • Test contained 3 sections increasing from 2 sections
  • The test was divided in Verbal & Reading comprehension with 34 questions as section-1; Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning with 32 questions as section-2; and    Quantitative Aptitude with 34 questions as section-3.
  •  For the first time in the history of CAT, the exam pattern was totally revamped. Apart from MCQs, there were non-MCQs in CAT last year. Out of 100 total questions, there were 28 non-MCQ type questions.
  • Another surprise was that there was no negative marking for the wrong answers to Non-MCQs. Hence aspirants had no fear of losing marks despite writing a wrong answer on computer screen of a Non-MCQ type question.
  • Time limit to solve 100 questions was increased from 170 minutes to 180 minutes (3 hours)
  • Sectional time limit was re-introduced with 60 minutes for each section. The facility of free movement between the sections was withdrawn.
  • DILR questions were taken out of Quant and Verbal Ability sections and formed one separate section.
  • There were no questions on Error correction, Vocabulary, completion of last sentence of paragraph, fill in the blanks. More questions on RC passages found the place in CAT 2015.

However, registrations and test takers in CAT 2015 broke the last 5 year record and the exam emerged as the most successful and largest MBA entrance exam.

Visible impact of 2 year changes
The changes as carried out in 2014 did not so much surprise the candidates but the changes in last year CAT made many candidates uneasy and CAT 2016 may not be an exception to this fact. Thousands of CAT takers could not get the qualifying sectional scores in all 3 sections. In last year CAT, there were number of 99 percentilers who scored high percentiles in 2 sections but got knocked down by low score in the 3rd section. As a result they were not even shortlisted by any IIM whereas low percentilers with 94 or so percentile with balanced score in all 3 sections got admission in top rated IIMs.

Many candidates reported very low score in the newly created DILR section which remained confusing and more time taking. Since both Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning are considered tricky, candidates in earlier CAT exam used to depend on Quant and Verbal Ability to compensate the low scores in either DI or LR. But this opportunity was withdrawn this year.

Will CAT 2016 be different?
Will IIM Bangalore continue with the same pattern in CAT 2016 is a big question. It is expected that the number of sections in CAT 2016 may not be reduced and may remain 3 as earlier but you may expect big change in content of the test.

Minimum scores required for IIMs
IIMs would need high sectional as well as overall CAT 2016 scores. IIMs require minimum 85-90 percentile in each of the 3 sections and due to this fact many candidates despite scoring overall high percentile but scoring high sectional percentile in CAT are not able to get shortlisted by IIMs.

For example, the candidate scoring 99 percentile in Quant; 95 in Verbal and 69 in DILR may have secured overall percentile of 98 in CAT, but he would not be shortlisted by any IIM as he has not scored minimum qualifying percentile of 80 or 85 in all the 3 sections.

Please remember CAT 2016, the most coveted B-school entrance examination would need hardcore in-depth preparation, where nothing can be left to chance. Don’t wait begin your preparation now.

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