Extra muscle required in CAT 2016 to attempt the 28% TITA – type in the answers type questions referred as Non-MCQs must be used to attempt these questions first before proceeding to multiple choice questions, is the suggested strategy by CAT toppers and IIM students. The suggestion is based on the announced scoring pattern for CAT 2016 by IIM Bangalore that there would be no negative marking for Non-MCQs.
The number of Non-MCQs in CAT 2016 exam on December 4, is expected to be 28% of the total questions as revealed by IIM Bangalore on October 25. If you crack the Non-MCQs correct you can add 84 raw marks leading to 30-35% higher percentile score without any fear of negative marking which is a key feature for MCQs.
Sharing the topper tips for D-day, Harshit Goswami who scored 98.01 percentile in CAT 2015 and got admission to IIMU says “I targeted TITA - Type in the Answer questions first as they did not have any negative marking and were doable in less time and this left enough time for RCs”
The number of TITA or Non-MCQs as revealed in the CAT 2016 sample test released by IIM Bangalore on October 25, 2016 comes to 28 questions spread over the 3 sections. It is expected that the same number of Non-MCQs would appear in the exam, although the slight sectional variation in their number may occur.
Before releasing the CAT 2016 sample test, CAT Centre 2016 shied away from revealing the expected number of Non-MCQs in CAT 2016. However the CAT Centre 2016 has clarified on the scoring pattern for non-MCQs ‘For questions other than MCQs, 3 marks are assigned for ‘correct answer’ and no marks for wrong or no attempt’.
While making the guesses on the expected type and number of Non-MCQs in CAT 2016, it was contemplated that their number would not be more than 16 to 20 in the entire question paper. But now the number of TITA questions has grown significantly and any laxity in their preparation level could reduce your percentile from 99 to 69, please remember.
Going by the scoring pattern in CAT 2016 your final scaled score of 88 in VARC can get you 99.8 sectional percentile; DILR scaled score of 96 after equated process can get you 100 percentile and QA scaled score of 94 can also get you 100 percentile. For the information of CAT 2016 aspirants it should be noted that scaled score is awarded after the equated and normalization process in CAT. Accordingly a very low score in CAT 2016 can award you a high scaled score. So there is no need to panic and if you focus on Non-MCQs first, you can crack CAT 2016 with a high scaled score leading to high percentile.
How many TITA Qs in each section
It is expected that Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC), the first section of CAT 2016 will have 10 Non-MCQs out of total 34 questions; Data Interpretation and Logical reasoning (DILR), the second section with 32 questions would have 8 Non-MCQs and the third and last section Quantitative Ability (Quant) will have 10 Non-MCQs out of total 34 questions.
If we try to calculate, DILR section has 25% non-MCQs; VARC and Quant sections propose to have 29% non-MCQs each in CAT 2016
A Bounty with 84 marks without fear
Total maximum marks that you can score in CAT 2016 are 300, if you crack all the 100 questions correct with 100% accuracy. Out of this 84 marks will come to you from Non-MCQs or TITA questions only.
Now think of the score and the percentile that you can add, if you can solve with accuracy these 28 Non-MCQs in CAT 2016 on December 4, 2016. An addition of 28% marks with 84 more marks can improve your percentile from 69 to 99 or can reduce it by the same standard, if you attempt them casually.
Don’t miss now
With no penalty of negative marking for wrong answer to Non-MCQs, candidates should understand the negative effect of non-serious preparation for these type of questions. CAT toppers and experts alike suggest that to score high in Non-MCQs it is very much necessary to prepare the fundamentals and concept of the topic as without proper understanding you will end up putting a wrong answer in the given space on computer screen.
Type in the answer: Don’t mark
You will be required to choose the right answer option out of the given options to a non-MCQ. Instead of clicking at the number of the answer option like A, B, C, D or 1, 2, 3, 4 to mark your answer, you will have to key in the correct answer out of the 4 options that you think is right.
You will have to be careful while writing your answer option on the screen as the options would be close ones and in case you write anything even slightly different to the given choices, your answer goes wrong, although it won’t attract negative penalty but will also not get you any credit and will result in loss of marks due to little carelessness.
With the introduction of 3rd DILR section lying between VARC and Quant sections, with 32 questions, CAT 2016 will have 3 sections. In each of the 3 sections there will be a minimum 8 to 10 Non-MCQs carrying equal marks. The number of Non-MCQs that you attempt in CAT 2016, will sure fetch you additional marks without any fear of losing the marks due to wrong answers. This is a twin opportunity to score high since the answer options are given like MCQs but you don’t lose due to negative marking even if you write a wrong answer.
To get the benefit of full weightage in Non-MCQs, you have to prepare well the topics without leaving anything to chance, says Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2016 preparation. According to him good deal of practice and taking more mocks on the lines of CAT 2016 sample test followed by error analysis is very important. Attempt CAT 2016 IIMB Mock Here
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