CAT

ATMA December 2015 - Analysis

Overview:

The overall structure of the ATMA exam did not vary much and was the same as that of the previous years, with 6 sections of 30 questions each. Each question had 4 options. Each question carried one mark, and 0.25 marks would be deducted for a wrong answer. The overall difficulty of the exam did not vary much from the previous ATMA exams. Most of the questions ranged from easy to moderate. The best way to maximize one’s score would have been to select questions judiciously.

The analysis of each of the sections is given below.

Sections 1 and 2: Analytical Reasoning:

There were 2 sections on analytical reasoning with 30 questions each. Both the sections had similar types of questions. As usual, this section included a mixture of Verbal Reasoning and Logical Reasoning questions.

Sections 1 had questions on Arrangements, Analogies, Puzzles, Syllogisms and Data sufficiency. The Verbal Reasoning questions in section I included 1 question on Course of Action, 3 Analogies, 3 Syllogisms, 3 Probably/Definitely True/False questions, 2 Statement/Conclusion questions, 2 Statement/Inference questions and 2 Statement Assumption question.

Section 2 had questions on all the above mentioned topics and included some Visual Reasoning questions as well. The Verbal Reasoning questions in section II included 4 Statement/Conclusion questions, 1 Probably/Definitely True/False question, 2 Implicit meaning questions, 4 Statement/Inference questions, 3 Analogies and 4 Syllogisms. Around 6 questions were on matching the question string with the options. A string such as #@rt%4cv7546g$ was given and students had to locate the same among the four options. The level of difficulty of both sections was easy to medium.

Section 1 & 2:

A good attempt in these sections would be a total of 24-25 questions each with 90% accuracy as these sections were very easy compared to other sections. One should have allocated about 20-25 minutes to solve each section.

Sections 3 and 4: Quantitative Ability

There were two sections on Quantitative Ability with 30 questions each. Both the sections of Quantitative Ability had similar types of questions.

Section 3 was dominated by questions on Arithmetic. The level of difficulty of section 3 was easy-moderate.

Section 4 was dominated by the questions on Numbers. Most questions were easy to moderate.  

There were two sets with total 6 questions on Data Interpretation, one in each section.  

Section 3 & 4:

A good attempt in these sections would be a total of 45-48 questions with 80-90% accuracy as most questions were straightforward.  One should have allocated about 50-55 minutes to solve these sections.

Sections V and VI: Verbal Ability

There were 2 sections on Verbal Ability with 30 questions each. There were more questions on Grammar, there was only one RC passage and there were no Jumbled Paragraphs.
In Verbal Ability I there were 17 Fill in the Blanks. About half of them were vocabulary-based few were on tense forms and the rest were grammar based (testing knowledge of prepositions, articles, determiners and verbs). There were 2 questions on synonyms, 4 on Correct Statement and 1 on Incorrect Statement. There was 1 Reading Comprehension passage with 6 questions (three of them were vocabulary-based and all were simple). The passage was of about 700-800 words and it was of moderate difficulty level. The topic was from the book ‘Coraline’ by Neil Gaiman. However, apart from the passage, this section was quite easy and a student could have attempted around 25 questions (in about 25 minutes) with 90% accuracy.

In Verbal Ability II, there were 6 questions on synonyms, 6 on Correct Statement and 2 on Incorrect Statement. Also, there were 16 Fill in the Blanks based on prepositions, tense forms of verbs and articles which were easy. A good attempt would be 24 -25 questions with 90% accuracy, in 20 minutes.

Ideal attempts in these 6 sections: 120-125

Ideal accuracy: 85-90%