CAT Exam 2023, the mandatory entrance exam for admission to IIMs and other top B-schools in India, was held on November 26 in three different Slots. About 2.90 lakh students and working executive, out of 3.30 lakhs who registered, took the exam. While there was no surprise in the overall Exam Pattern, CAT 2023 has sprung a few big surprises -- by increasing the difficulty level!
According to Mr Arun Sharma, Author of five Best-Selling Book for CAT Preparation, the questions in the Quantitative section in CAT 2023 exam paper were the toughest in last 5 Years. What’s more the topics for these questions were fielded from the areas that are generally not taken very seriously by students. Even the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section was of higher difficulty level than last year. This will have an impact on the Score that is required for 99%, said Mr Arun Sharma while addressing a Webinar hosted by MBAUniverse.com on Sunday afternoon.
Widely respected as India’s foremost CAT expert, especially in the Quantitative and DILR area, Mr Sharma took the exam personally today in the afternoon slot for a hands-on experience.
Toughest Quant Section in 5 Years, says Arun Sharma
Sharing this CAT exam experience with MBAUniverse.com, Mr Sharma said, “CAT is known to spring surprises. This year while the overall exam pattern was same as last year, the questions in the Quantitative section in CAT 2023 exam paper were the toughest in last 5 Years! This must have come as a shock to many candidates.”
He further added, “The reason why this year’s quantitative aptitude paper was a lot tougher than previous years was because of the type of questions that appeared. In Slot 2 there were lots of high-level Algebra questions. Students are not used to the same. There were also a lot of questions on the Number System.”
Mr Sharma added that the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section was also of higher difficulty level than last year. He however found the Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability Section to be on the easier side.
‘No Free Lunches in CAT 2023’
CAT is regarded to be one of the toughest exams in India not without reason. The questions, set by the IIM Faculty and other invited experts, is designed to test innate Critical Thinking and Reasoning ability of the candidates.
Based on his CAT 2023 experience, Mr Arun Sharma believes that there were so easy questions in the exam, which a candidate could have attempted to his/her advantage. Said Mr Sharma, “The questions set for CAT 2023 were very insightful. What made the exam tougher than normal was that in many sections the answers were too close to each other. Indeed, there were no free lunches in CAT 2023!”
No Change in Exam Pattern
Luckily for the students, there was no change in the overall CAT Exam Pattern. Like last year, there were a total of 66 Questions, spread over three sections. The sectional split of questions was changed as below:
CAT 2023 Exam Analysis: Sectional Composition
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CAT 2023 exam components
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Total questions
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Total MCQs (With negative marking)
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Total Non-MCQs (Without negative marking)
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|
Section-1: Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC)
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24
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20
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4
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|
Section-2: Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning (DILR)
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20
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12
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8
|
|
Section-3: Quantitative Ability (QA)
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22
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15
|
7
|
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Total
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66
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49
|
17
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Source: MBAUniverse.com analysis
Read more on CAT 2023 Exam Analysis
‘Cut Offs for IIMs may Drop’
Higher difficulty level in quantitative section of CAT 2023 exam will have an impact on the Score that is required for 99%. “I expect the required Scores for CAT 99% to drop a little to about 80-82 Marks. Last year if you got 85 Marks, you were in the 99% percentile range,” said Mr Arun Sharma.
IIMs use a process of Normalization to convert CAT ‘Raw Score’ into the ‘Scaled Score’ and the into CAT Percentile. CAT 2023 employs a normalization process across its three sessions with different question papers to ensure fairness, accounting for location, difficulty, and score distribution variations. The subsequent step involves calculating Scaled Scores for all three sections to facilitate equitable comparisons among candidates. Percentile in CAT exam is calculated by taking into account the total number of candidates who appeared for CAT in all the 3 slots. Each candidate is assigned a rank based on scaled score and if more than one candidate obtains same scaled scores, same percentile is assigned to them, as explained below. Read More on CAT Score Vs Percentile
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Why Arun Sharma’s perspective on CAT matters much…
Mr Arun Sharma, IIM Bangalore Alumnus and Founder of Mindworkzz, is a highly credible name in the area of CAT Exam Preparation and Exam Analysis. He is the Author of five best-selling books on CAT Preparation. His book titled ‘How to Prepare for QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE for CAT’ is considered the gold standard by CAT Toppers who are currently studying at top IIMs. It is estimated that more than 20 lakh copies of his books have been sold in last decade.
Concluding his CAT 2023 Analysis on MBAUniverse.com Webinar, Mr Sharma said, “CAT has proved again that it is a difficult animal to predict. I will strongly suggest future CAT aspirants to rethink their CAT preparation strategy…”
Also Read:
- CAT 2023 Raises Eyebrows: Unprecedented 'Mandatory Question' in Slot 2 Leaves Students Worried
- CAT Exam Analysis 2023
- CAT Score Vs Percentile 2023
- CAT Percentile Predictor 2023
- Top MBA Colleges in India Accepting CAT Score
- CAT Cut Off for IIMs & Top MBA Colleges
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for complete CAT 2023 Exam Analysis
