The first slot of CAT 2017 took place today between 9 am and 12 noon.
(Around 2.31 lakh candidates across the country will appear for the CAT this year in both the slots in 140 centers across India. 78,009 women candidates and 1,53,027 male candidates are expected to take CAT 2017)
So, what was the prestigious CAT like in the first slot? IMS students who took the first slot of the CAT gave it a thumbs up in VA RC, and QA, and report the following:
The administrative process of the test in the first slot was smooth. However, taking into account the scale of the examination, minor discomforts and technical glitches occurred at a few centers in Mumbai which were immediately taken care of by the authorities and the exam was conducted smoothly.
As in the past the policy of no-shoes no metallic objects including metal jewelry prevailed. Only the admit card and the ID proof were allowed. Nothing else!
As in the previous year, the authorities took possession of the admit cards. The candidates were given a small pad with IIM CAT Logo on the cover(16 pages or so) for rough work and a pen – which were also taken away at the end of the exam.
So, one came out of the CAT with no proof of having appeared for the CAT except for good memories this time. We will go into the memories part a little later.
The test interface was exactly what IMS students are used to in the SimCATs. It was a very user friendly interface and exactly the one provided in the official CAT Mock Test.
There were no sub-divisions within each section. The VA-RC questions were NOT interspersed within the section. Several IMS SimCATs had had the same format with Questions from 1 to 24 in Reading Comprehension and 25 to 34 in Verbal Ability.
A simple calculator was provided, and not a scientific one. There was an arrow provided near the question palette which when clicked expanded the question window to full screen view by hiding the question palette & vice versa.
At the end of the test, a summary of number of questions attempted, visited and not visited was displayed for each section.
CAT 2017 in the first slot was an extremely student friendly test!
The overall structure of CAT 2017 was exactly that of CAT 2016. The test started with the Verbal Section, which had 34 questions - 24 RC and 10 VA. The second section was the DI-LR with 32 questions distributed equally between the two areas. The third section was the Quantitative Ability section which also had 34 questions. Each section was timed for 60 minutes. One could not go back and forth between sections. The marking scheme was also similar to last year with +3 for every correct & -1 for incorrect answers. There was no negative marking for TITA questions. However since the ratio remains the same we do not see this as a major cause of concern.
Here is the break–up of questions section-wise:
Section No. | Section Name | Total Number of Questions | Number of Multiple Choice Questions | Number of TITA Questions |
I | Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension | 34 | 27 | 07 |
II | Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning | 32 | 24 | 08 |
III | Quantitative Ability | 34 | 23 | 11 |
TOTAL | 100 | 74 | 26 |
Of the 10 VA questions, 7 were TITA and 3 were MCQs.
3 Out-of-context sentence – TITA
4 Paragraph Jumbles – TITA
*3 Paragraph summary/Author’s opinion questions – MCQs. (With negative Marks)*
*The only difference from the 2016 CAT and the several IMS SimCATs, especially SimCAT 14.
Area / Questions | No of Qs. | Type | LOD |
Reading Comprehension | 24 | MCQ | |
RC-1: Ancient Maps and the positioning of North – Approx. 550 words | 6 | MCQ | Easy |
RC- 2: Comparison between the printing press and i-phone. Approx. 550 words | 6 | MCQ | Easy |
RC-3: Economic viability of hosting of Olympics by a country – Approx. 350 words | 3 | MCQ | Easy- Medium |
RC-4: Development of species – Approx. 350 words | 3 | MCQ | Medium |
RC-5: Social effect of Malls in the USA. – Approx. 550 words. | 6 | MCQ | Easy – Medium |
Verbal Ability | 10 | MCQ & TITA | |
Parajumbles | 4 | TITA | 3 Medium 1 Easy |
Out of Context sentence | 3 | TITA | 1 difficult 2 Easy |
Summary | 3 | MCQ | 1 Easy 1 Medium 1 Difficult |
It was possible to attempt 26 to 28 questions with high accuracy in the test.
Set No. | Area | Set Description | Number of Questions | Level of Difficulty | Question Type |
1 | Data Interpretation | Calculation Based Set on Rural Kids across 3 regions | 4 | Moderate -Difficult | MCQ+TITA |
2 | Data Interpretation | Reasoning Based Venn Diagram set of Applicants of Doctoral Program of Engineering appearing for an Entrance Test | 4 | Difficult | MCQ |
3 | Data Interpretation | Reasoning Based Set –Bar Graph Depicting Happiness Index | 4 | Moderate-Difficult | MCQ + TITA |
4 | Data Interpretation | Reasoning Based Logical DI Set based on routes between 2 cities Akala and Bakala | 4 | Moderate-Difficult | MCQ |
5 | Logical Reasoning | Puzzle based set on Heights and Numerical Square Grid (5m * 5m) | 4 | Moderate | MCQ+TITA |
6 | Logical Reasoning | Groupings & Arrangements based set of Skilled and Regular Employees | 4 | Difficult | MCQ |
7 | Logical Reasoning | Puzzle based set on no flights between 10 cities (using principles of Permutation & Combination ) | 4 | Moderate-Difficult | MCQ + TITA |
8 | Logical Reasoning | Arrangement based set -scheduling of order of clients of fast food chain Healthy Bites | 4 | Moderate | MCQ |
Area | Topic | No. of Questions | Total No. of Questions | Level of Difficulty |
Numbers | Indices | 1 | 1 | Easy |
Algebra | Quadratic Equations | 2 | 5 | Easy-Moderate |
Minima | 1 | Moderate | ||
Inequations | 1 | Moderate | ||
Simultaneous Equations /Ratios | 1 | Moderate | ||
Arithmetic | Ratios& Percentage | 5 | 13 | Easy-Moderate |
Averages | 2 | Easy-Moderate | ||
Time-Speed-Distance | 2 | Easy-Moderate | ||
Profit & Loss | 3 | Easy-Moderate | ||
Work & Time | 1 | Easy | ||
Geometry | Triangles | 3 | 7 | Easy-Moderate |
Coordinate Geometry/Graphs | 2 | Moderate | ||
Mensuration & 3D | 2 | Moderate-Difficult | ||
Modern Math | Permutation & Combination | 3 | 8 | Moderate |
Sequence & Series (AP) | 2 | Moderate | ||
Functions | 1 | Easy | ||
Logarithm | 2 | Moderate | ||
TOTAL | 34 | 34 |
CAT 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 Results
According to CAT 2017 results, a score between 245.11-230.17 was equivalent to 100 percentile, a score of 218.79 was equivalent to 99.98 percentile, a score of 218.46 was equivalent to 99.97 percentile, a score 206.23 was equivalent to 99.9 percentile, a score of 170.08 was equivalent to 98.82 percentile. (Please note there were 3 sections in CAT 2017).
For your reference and a better understanding of the test, we have also mentioned CAT 2016, 2015 and 2014 results.
According to CAT 2016 results, a score between 220.09- 287.83 was equivalent to 100 percentile, a score of 218.43 was equivalent to 99.99 percentile, a score of 204.73 was equivalent to 99.97 percentile, a score 191.2 was equivalent to 99.9 percentile, a score of 157 was equivalent to 98.82 percentile.(Please note there were 3 sections in CAT 2016).
According to CAT 2015 results, a score between 254.61 – 249.9 was equivalent to 100 percentile, a score of 242.33 was equivalent to 99.99 percentile, a score of 235.33 was equivalent to 99.98 percentile, a score between 215.54-215.43 was equivalent to 99.89 percentile, a score of 180.02 was equivalent to 99 percentile.(Please note there were 3 sections in CAT 2015).
According to CAT 2014 results, a score between 268.700-261.740 was equivalent to 100 percentile, a score of 245.92 was equivalent to 99.97 percentile, a score of 227.65 was equivalent to 99.87 percentile, and a score of 178.02 was equivalent to 98.07 percentile. (Please note there were 2 sections in CAT 2014).
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