CAT 2017: The 3 Section syllabus preparation plan - how to synchronize and cross IIMs cut offs?

CAT 2017 exam will come to you with 3 major sections and one of the sections will have 2 parts clubbed together. The CAT exam pattern will have VARC and Quant sections with 34 questions each without any sub-section but the second section DILR will have the Logical reasoning and Data Interpretation clubbed in one section and with 16 questions on each part.

The proposed CAT 2017 exam structure and exam pattern would be as follows:

Unless well synchronized and prepared with a target to score high in each of the 3 sections in CAT 2017, no call due to low percentile in any section can be expected from any IIM including the baby IIMs.

The total number of questions would remain the same 100 but with the sectional time constraint, candidates with more expertise in one section may not get any benefit even after saving their time as they will not be able to utilize it to solve questions in other section. As a result low score in any of the 3 sections may deprive you of getting shortlisted by any IIM.

Top IIMs Admission Criteria

• IIM Ahmedabad Admission 2018: CAT 2017 cut offs announced; needs 70 sectional percentile
• IIM Lucknow admission 2018: CAT 2017 cut offs announced; needs 90 overall & 85 sectional in CAT
• IIM Calcutta Admission: Lowers CAT 2017 cut offs with 56% weight; 40% goes to academics

Even 99 percentile in CAT 2017 of no help!
Out of 2000 CAT takers who scored 99 percentile last year, many of them did not receive any call from any IIM as they could not score even the minimum qualifying percentile in one of the 3 sections and were not shortlisted for admission 2017.

If these candidates had not neglected the preparation for one section, they might be studying today in one of the top IIMs. Their lack of synchronizing the preparation for all the 3 sections gave them a miss. So it is advisable not to repeat this type of mistake in CAT 2017.

First thing first: Target all 3 sections
You will need high sectional percentile in all the 3 sections instead of 2 in CAT 2017. Preparing only for Verbal or only for Quant may not be a good strategy to attempt CAT 2017 as it continues to stay with 3 sections placing DILR as separate section.

Time to use extra effort
With the increase in sections from 2 to 3 and no facility to toggle between the sections, the CAT 2017 aspirants sincerely need to put in extra effort to ace each section and cannot depend on the sub-parts of any section as they have none nor could there be any guess work for the questions which have no answer options.

Quant remains de-linked from Data Interpretation and Verbal is separated from Logical Reasoning. Both the sub parts- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning have formed a new section DILR since the CAT year 2015. Now you must award equal weightage to all the 3 sections while preparing for CAT 2017.

As Non-MCQs will also be there in CAT 2017 there will be no answer option, so the guess work is over. Now you will have to solve and type the answers on computer screen for Non-MCQs.

Those who are good in DI but weak in Quant may not expect to make good the lost score from other sub section. The low score in Verbal cannot be compensated by Logical Reasoning nor the low score in Quant can be compensated by DI.  It is therefore needed to gain expertise and score high in all the sections. Too much deviation in percentile scores among 3 sections may not get you shortlisted for the final admission round.

Equal weightage to 3 sections
There is no overshadowing the Data Interpretation questions by Quantitative Aptitude questions nor can your best preparation on Verbal Ability cover the Logical Reasoning questions. Earlier CAT aspirants did not pay much heed to DILR questions and probably less than a fortnight or very few sessions were devoted to DILR preparation in the entire period of 6-7 months of preparation journey.

But the situation is no more like this. CAT 2017 aspirants have to prepare well on DILR questions now. There is no savior like Quant or verbal questions, if you find DI or LR questions a bit lengthy or time consuming. Your preparation plan needs quick and well devised modification to award equal weightage to all the 3 sections.

You have been preparing well for Quant and Verbal and can sure score high in these 2 sections. But preparing less and scoring low in newly created DILR section may not be afforded as all the 3 sections will have equal weightage.

Target 22 correct in all sections
In CAT 2017 out of 34 and 32 questions in each of the 3 sections, you will need at least 20 to 22 correct to score 95 percentile. Since sectional percentile forms the base for overall percentile, if you score good percentile in each of the 3 sections, you can simultaneously score high overall percentile. But if you target high overall percentile and fail to score required sectional percentile, you may again miss the admission in IIMs.

Score required for IIMs  
Although top IIMs prescribe 70 to 80 percentile in each section of CAT 2017 to shortlist the candidates for second phase of admission round, the actual CAT 2017 sectional cut-off percentile may go beyond 90 to 97. If you score as high as 99 percentile in 2 sections and score below 70 or 80 percentile in 1 section, you will not be shortlisted by any IIM despite scoring high over all percentile.

Please remember your time is most important to manage. Don’t waste it. Divide the preparation equally now. According to Prof S K Agarwal expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2017 preparation, none of the sections has higher weightage than other section now and all the questions carry equal marks, a well devised preparation plan covering all the 3 sections is the need of the hour.

Common Admission Test (CAT) 2017 is the mandatory exam conducted by IIM Lucknow for admission to management programmes in all the 20 IIMs – old and new. CAT 2017 will also offer the admission opportunity to PGDM/MBA programme in other top management institutes in India like FMS Delhi, IMI Delhi, IMT Ghaziabad, JBIMS Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon, NITIE Mumbai, Management departments of IITs, SPJIMR Mumbai, TAPMI Manipal and other more than 500 B-schools.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2017

Also read:

• CAT 2017: Toppers Mantra - how to prepare with CAT syllabus in 75 days in new exam pattern?
• CAT 2017: 3 months preparation before CAT date may hit high score; CAT last date closes Sep 20
• CAT 2017: 3 months preparation before CAT date may hit high score; CAT last date closes Sep 20