The first slot of CAT 2019 took place today (November 24) between 9 am and 12 noon.
The conduct of the exam was smooth without any technical or other glitches.
There was no change in the overall pattern or in the types of questions from the last three years’ CAT.
OVERVIEW
Section No. | Section Name |
Total Number of Questions |
Number of Multiple Choice Questions |
Number of TITA Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
I |
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension |
34 |
27 |
07 |
Medium |
II |
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning |
32 |
24 |
08 |
Medium |
III |
Quantitative Ability |
34 |
23 |
11 |
Medium |
|
TOTAL |
100 |
74 |
26 |
Medium |
Based on the initial feedback received from several candidates we estimate the scores and percentiles*** to be as follows. Final percentile mapper will follow later.
Percentile | Score VA-RC |
Score DI-LR |
Score QA |
Overall Score |
99 %ile |
70 |
51 |
57 |
161-164 |
95%ile |
59 |
40 |
40 |
127-130 |
90%ile |
52 |
34 |
31 |
107-110 |
85%ile (CUT-OFF) |
45 |
29 |
27 |
95-98 |
VERDICT
Of the 10 Non-RC (VA) questions (Shuffled) - 7 were TITA and 3 were MCQs.
Area / Questions | No of Qs. | Type | LOD |
Reading Comprehension | 24 | MCQ | Overall: Medium to Difficult |
RC-1: British folk music | 5 | MCQ | Difficult |
RC- 2: Topophilia | 5 | MCQ | Medium |
RC-3: Emperor Penguins | 4 | MCQ | Easy |
RC-4: Internet Shopping and choice anxiety | 5 | MCQ | Medium |
RC-5: Origin of story of Aladdin | 5 | MCQ | Medium |
Verbal Ability | 10 | MCQ & TITA | Overall: Medium |
Parajumbles ( 4 sentences) | 4 | TITA | Easy-1, Medium-2, Difficult-1 |
Out of Context sentence | 3 | TITA | Medium-2, Difficult-1 |
Summary | 3 | MCQ | Easy-1 , Medium-1, Difficult-1 |
Overall, an attempt of 24 to 26 questions in this section with 85% accuracy should be a good bet.
A detailed description of the sets in this section is given below for your reference:
Set No. | Area | Set Description | Number of Questions | Level of Difficulty | Question Type |
1 | Logical Reasoning – Arrangement based | Linear Arrangement in Super Market | 4 | Medium | 4 MCQ |
2 | Data Interpretation – Calculation based | Bar Chart + Table Crimes in States | 4 | Difficult | 2 MCQ 2 TITA |
3 | Logical Reasoning – Games & Tournament based | Archery | 4 | Difficult | 4 MCQ |
4 | Logical Reasoning – Puzzle based | Prizes to be put in 100 boxes | 4 | Medium | 2 MCQ 2 TITA |
5 | Logical Reasoning – Puzzle based | Coding | 4 | Easy to Medium | 4 TITA |
6 | Data Interpretation – Reasoning based | Spider Chart on 5 vendors and 6 attributes | 4 | Easy to Medium | 2 MCQ 2 TITA |
7 | Logical Reasoning – Puzzle based | Streets Intersection | 4 | Medium to Difficult | 4 MCQ |
8 | Logical Reasoning – Arrangement based | Dancers and Composers | 4 | Easy to Medium | 4 MCQ |
Some of the sets that could have been definitely solved were the ones based on the spider chart, coding and dancers & composers. Overall the section was marginally easier as compared to last year CAT. An attempt of around 5 sets (18-20 questions) in this section with 85%-90% accuracy should see percentile in the vicinity of 99 in this section.
This section was of medium difficulty level. There were 13 easy, 13-15 medium and 6-8 difficult questions. In fact as per student feedback it was slightly easier than QA section of last year CAT but tougher than QA section of CAT 2017 slots.
Following was the area wise break-up of the questions in this section.
Area | Number of questions | Total | ||
Easy | Medium | Difficult | ||
Numbers | 1 | 1 | ||
Arithmetic | 11 | 2 | 13 | |
Algebra | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
Geometry | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
Modern Maths | 5 | 3 | 8 |
Surprisingly there were no diagrams in any Geometry questions but the questions were of different difficulty levels, from easy to medium to difficult. All the Arithmetic questions were doable.
Overall an attempt of 20 to 22 questions in this section with 85% accuracy should be a good bet.
TEST EXPERIENCE
Around 2.44 lakh candidates have registered for CAT 2019 and will be appearing for it across both the slots in 370 exam centers in 156 cities across India.
THE PROCESS
TEST INTERFACE
The test interface was exactly what IMS students are used to in the SimCATs and specifically in the PreCAT.
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. Questions 1 to 24 were RC. However, the different VA question types were shuffled.
Similarly the DI and LR sets were also NOT interspersed
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.
There was a button marked ‘Question Paper’ which opened up a screen containing all the questions of the section. This was used by students for planning their approach for the section.
CAT 2019 in the first slot was a very student friendly test!
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 for MCQs. There was no negative marking for TITA questions. However since the ratio remains the same for all students we do not see this as a cause of concern.
*** The scores and percentiles mentioned in this analysis are indicators based on the feedback from students and IMS experts and are in no way related to the results which will be declared by the IIMs in January 2020. You are advised to wait for the results.