CAT 2016 Vs CAT 2017 Analysis

CAT 2016 Vs CAT 2017 ANALYSIS

The Common admission test ( CAT ) is a computer based entrance exam conducted by Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) every year on the rotation basis. It is conducted on a single date for admission into various business management programmes in IIMs across the India. 

Last year it was conducted by IIM Bangalore for the academic session 2016-17. Around 1.95 lakh candidates appeared for it and this year IIM Lucknow successfully conducted it on November 17 for academic session 2017-18. It is estimated that approximately 2.31 lakhs candidates had appeared for it.

KEY DIFFERENCE – CAT 2017 vs. CAT 2016

CAT 2016 was the brilliant paper overall. Some parts were difficult to understand and some things make aspirants disappointed like tough sessions and time management. Overall it was bitten biased towards the Math minded people than the verbal minded people.

CAT 2017 was slightly challenging from an overall analysis and conducted smoothly and glitch free. Things were not changed much from the 2016 level. Considering everything it was challenging for one’s ability to select questions and manage time.

EXAM PATTERN

CAT exam for the year 2016 had total 100 questions of three marks for each from Logical reasoning, verbal ability and quantitative ability and Data interpretation.

The pattern of the CAT 2017 was very much on the lines of CAT 2016. No change in the paper pattern 34 32 34 questions and section wise distribution is seen in CAT 2017.

SECTION WISE ANALYSIS

VERBAL ABILITY

Verbal reasoning tests the language skills and ability to comprehend. For both the slots it was easy and even an average CAT aspirant scored well in CAT 2016. For second slot it brings some tricky questions in RC but overall it was easy to moderate.

In CAT 2017 it was the first section and shade tougher than previous year. It was lengthy but doable.  The section had 34 questions and RCs were of similar difficulty like last year which made the session tough and confusing.

LOGICAL REASONING AND DATA INTERPRETATION

IN CAT 2016 DILR remained a key section in terms of cut-off because of naturally difficult questions being put up in this section throughout the CAT history. As per CAT test taker, this section was toughest among all three sections followed by Quantitative analysis.

Like a previous year this year also LRDI section was though. Being tough it was also lengthy and according to experts it will be a main factor affecting the percentile of the candidate.

QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE

Quantitative aptitude was a little difficult in CAT 2016 but some question were formula based and easy to solve.

It was a third section and last sections in cat 2017 and easy to moderate in difficulty level.  Quantitative analysis was relatively easier keeping in mind the non-engineers. As DILR section was tough for all it would not be a deal breaker instead QA section would play the role of percentile determiner

MARKING SCHEME

As per marking scheme of CAT 2016, each question carries 3 marks and every correct answer award full mark to the candidate. However, there was negative marking of 1 mark for every incorrect answer. No marks will be conducted for non-attempted question. The result on CAT 2016 amazed aspirants because as compare to the level of difficulty of paper percentile was satisfactory. Reason behind it is due to the level of difficulty cut-off become down abruptly.

Marking scheme for CAT 2017 was similar as previous year. Overall scores of the students could be similar to the last year. Though paper was easier than last time, some people fail to take its advantage because of some surprise element and some speed breakers in the exam.