CAT 2016 exam pattern can be better understood by those who have appeared in CAT 2015 and the ones who can get the guidance from the experience of 2015 can also do better in the test on December 4, 2016. This will further help to avoid any kind of mistakes which the test takers would make in case the exam pattern was changed again for CAT 2016.
CAT 2016 may also prove to be more advantageous for the second chance takers as they have the experience of taking a fully revamped and modified CAT last year on the same pattern as expected in CAT 2016. Candidates who appeared in the exam last year, whether experienced or freshers, got perplexed with a different type of question pattern, increased number of sections, re introduction of sectional time constraint, introduction of most tricky DILR section, facing new type of questions in Non-MCQ format among other factors.
Now they have the experience how to prepare for the particular type of questions, how to attempt them and how to manage time in the testing lab in CAT 2016. This will go a longway in modifying the preparation and CAT 2016 test taking strategy alongwith analysing the expected level of difficulty, says Prof S K Agarwal expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT preparation.
CAT 2016=CAT 2015
If you are preparing on the lines of CAT 2015 as it appeared, there is no need to change the preparation strategy for CAT 2016. In view of Prof S K Agarwal you should prepare on the lines of last year CAT exam as the test is going to be quite similar to 2015.
Key preparation line on same pattern
Following are the key similarities according to which you should devise your preparation plan for CAT 2016 on the lines of CAT 2015.
Divide your preparation for 3 Sections
CAT 2016 will again have 3 sections namely Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC); Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Aptitude (Quant). The same structure was there in last year CAT exam convened by IIM Ahmedabad. In fact it was in 2015 that CAT was revamped and was made more aspirant friendly in real terms.
CAT 2016 is going to be the repetition, opined by Prof S K Agarwal, of last year CAT with some minor content level changes for which aspirants need not to worry and continue preparing the way they are doing.
Prepare more on RC
According to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability for CAT you should emphasise more on Reading Comprehension as it may amount to 60-70% part in VARC section. The questions that you may find may be a mix of MCQs and Non-MCQs based on RC Passages. Don’t think that since CAT 2015 did not have any non-MCQ based on RC passage, it would not ask it in CAT 2016.
So better be ready for both type of question forms on RC passages. Please also remember ignoring even a little of RC can pull down your percentile while good preparation can boost your percentile score.
Same time limit: Practice to manage the same way
The non-disclosure of total or sectional number of questions in CAT 2016 may not have any far reaching impact on the preparation journey of aspirants as the time limit for each section has already been notified by IIM Bangalore.
The 1 hour sectional time limit also existed in 2015. Number of questions in each of the 3 sections also were in the range of 32 to 34. Now with the same time limit of 1 hour assigned for each section and 3 hours for entire exam, CAT 2016 convener cannot increase number of questions from 34 to 40 or can reduce it from 34 to 20.
Had this been planned earlier, there could have been varying sectional time limits in the range of 45 minutes to 75 minutes, a fact which is not there and hence there should not be any speculation on the increased number of questions.
It is very much possible, that number of questions could be reduced in CAT 2016 from 34 or 32 to only 30 questions in each section as candidates taking the test find it difficult to crack even 70 questions out of 100. Reducing them to 90 will sure be a good aspirant friendly change for the test takers.
Ratio of MCQs and Non-MCQs may change
On the similar lines as introduced in 2015, CAT 2016 has announced to comprise both MCQs and Non-MCQs in each section. The percentage of Non-MCQs in 2015 was 28% divided as follows.
VARC: 10 Non MCQs out of 34 questions; DILR: 8 Non-MCQs out of 32 questions; Quant: 10 Non-MCQs out of 34 questions
The candidates who attempted only Non-MCQs accurately could also strike a percentile as high as 85 to 90. It is very much possible that CAT 2016 may increase this sectional and overall ratio of MCQs from 28% to 40% dividing the same in each section. VARC may play major role in this exercise as it is expected that CAT 2016 convener might try to improve academic diversity by bringing certain modifications in CAT 2016 exam content.
Again: No negative marks to Non-MCQs
Another feature of CAT 2016 which has similar pattern as that of 2015 is that the Non-MCQs have been kept out of purview of negative marking. Whatever was introduced by IIM Ahmedabad last year is simply taken forward by IIM Bangalore in CAT 2016.
Prepare and target the Non-MCQs first in each section to score high in the exam without any fear of losing marks due to wrong answer.
While all the correct answers to MCQs and Non-MCQs will carry equal weightage of 3 marks each, the penalty of negative marking of 1 mark for each wrong answer will be imposed only on MCQs and all the Non-MCQs can be freely attempted without any fear of negative marking for wrong answer.
CAT pattern repeated: Prepare well
The best preparation strategy, according to Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2016 preparation is to revisit and scan the last year CAT paper from the memory based sources. Prepare on the same lines, without fearing the change in test size in CAT 2016.
Expert advice
Following are the additional topics on which you should prepare on Verbal Ability. These are error correction in sentences and paragraphs. Go through English Grammar chapters on Parts of speech, tenses, similar and confused words; there may be some questions on fill in the blanks, correct word usage among others. Prof S K Agarwal suggests to prepare them also very well as unpredictable CAT 2016 can ask questions on them. Besides, these topics will also help you in IIFT, SNAP and XAT exams.
Please note that the notification as well as the press release by CAT 2016 convening IIM Bangalore has confirmed that CAT 2016 will be on the lines of last year CAT. Not revealing the number of questions simply implies that one or other section in CAT 2016 may bear the brunt of reduced number of questions while other one may see more of them.
Will total questions reduce? Possible
One thing, according to Prof S K Agarwal seems certain that number of questions in overall CAT 2016 will not increase although they may decrease, as neither the sectional time nor the number of sections have been changed in CAT 2016. Reshuffling/increasing or decreasing of questions in one or more sections will not have much impact on CAT 2016 aspirants.
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