CAT 2012 Preparation: Section wise analysis of the past 5 years
While
preparing for CAT 2012, you must be aware of the past year’s trends so that you
can be prepared to face any kind of changes or surprises during the exam. That
is when the analysis of past years’ exams comes handy. detailed analysis of the
past five years in terms of the sections. There are broadly four areas, which
are tested in the CAT exam, Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability, Data
Interpretation and Logical Reasoning.
Till 2010, CAT used to have three sections, namely Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning. CAT 2011 saw a major change in terms of the sections. Instead of three, the number of sections was reduced to two. However, the testing areas still remained the same. The new sections are Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning.
Talking about the rationale behind introducing this change, Prof. Janakiraman Moorthy, CAT 2011 Convener said, “The reason why we have reduced the number of sections from three to two is because we want proficient students at our IIMs, who would be equally competent in both Quantitative Ability as well as Verbal Ability. Till last year we have seen many students who had skewed efficiency.”
Now comes the part when we will analyze the individual sections or areas over the past five or six years.
Quantitative Ability
CAT 2007 - The Quantitative Ability section in 2007 had 25 questions out of 75 questions of very high difficulty level. Some of the questions were elementary in nature. Algebra and Arithmetic comprised of 60 per cent of the questions giving Geometry a back seat. The questions on Modern Math in were relatively less time-consuming but reasoning based and required clarity in fundamental concepts. There were some questions on Data Sufficiency which were tough and confusing in nature.
CAT 2008 – Like the past year, this year too the section had 25 questions out of 90 questions in total. The area was quite tough. The questions were majorly on Arithmetic and Algebra and Geometry saw lesser number of questions. This trend was similar to last year.
CAT 2009 – This year onwards, the pattern of CAT was changed to computer based from the traditional paper pencil based test. Out of 60 questions, this section had 20 questions. The difficulty level was easy to moderate. The questions were from the conventional areas such as Number System, Algebra, Mensuration, and Commercial Math.
CAT 2010 – CAT 2010 followed the same pattern as it consisted of 60 questions and 20 questions in the Quantitative Ability section. This year, the exam was tough compared to CAT 2009. The areas were more on less on the conventional areas but they were more calculation intensive and needed conceptual understanding.
CAT 2011 – In this new pattern, the Quantitative Ability area of the first section had 20 questions. In terms of difficulty, it was moderate to tough. The question types did not see much change and reflected the past years pattern only.
Verbal Ability
CAT 2007 – CAT 2007 had 75 questions in total, of which, Verbal Ability section had 25 questions. The difficulty level was tough. The number of CAT Reading Comprehension passages was four. The Reading Comprehension passages were long and difficult to understand and the five choices of the questions given were close to each other.
The grammar questions too were very difficult for the CAT takers. Questions on grammar and Paragraph completion too were tricky with close choices. Only the questions on Para Jumbles words and phrases were easily attemptable.
CAT 2008 – CAT 2008 had the highest number of questions in the Verbal Ability section. Out of 90, the section consisted of 40 questions. There were four reading comprehension passages which had 20 questions. In English Usage area the questions based on Fact, Inference and Judgement and Para Jumble were missing. Fill in the Blanks, variety of Sentence Correction questions and Vocabulary based usage were major component of this section. The section was of moderate to tough level of difficulty.
CAT 2009 – The Verbal Ability section had 20 questions, similar to the other two areas. The questions were mainly from the conventional areas such as Reading Comprehension, Sentence Rearrangement, Sentence Correction, Sentence Completion and Critical Reasoning. The difficulty level of the section was moderate.
CAT 2010 – Following the similar pattern as last year, the Verbal Ability section had 20 questions. This year, the difficulty level was higher than that of the last year, but moderate compared to the other two sections. The pattern was same as last year with questions asked on Reading Comprehension and English Usage.
CAT 2011 – CAT 2011 had 20 questions in the Verbal Ability section. The difficulty level of the exam was moderate to difficult. Compared to the Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation section, the section of Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning were easier in nature. The questions were also of the conventional type and did not throw any surprises.
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
CAT 2007 – This section had 25 questions out of 75 questions. This section did not ask any question on Logical Reasoning. While 21 questions were from Data Interpretation, four questions were from Data Sufficiency. The overall difficulty level was Easy to Moderate.
CAT 2008 – Out of 90 questions in total, 25 questions were on this section. Majority of the questions were on Data Interpretation. The Logical Reasoning questions were also there. Data Interpretation, Data Sufficiency and Logical Reasoning were the areas from where the questions were asked. The difficulty level of the section was Moderate.
CAT 2009 – This section had 20 questions out of 60 in total. The difficulty level was tougher than the other two sections. The DI section was dominated with Data Sufficiency questions, which were verbose and lengthy and hence needed much concentration to solve them. The difficulty level was moderate to difficult.
CAT 2010 – CAT 2009 had 20 questions and followed similar pattern as CAT 2009. This section was tough compared to others. After the first few days of the section got even tougher. The questions were tough and calculation intensive which have the candidates a hard time.
CAT 2011 – In the new pattern, Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability had 10 questions each. While the Data Interpretation area was clubbed with Quantitative Ability section, the Logical Reasoning area was clubbed with the Verbal Ability section. While the Data Interpretation area had questions on graphs, charts, caselets, the Logical Reasoning area had analytical reasoning, puzzles, caselets etc. The question types were on the expected lines.
Till 2010, CAT used to have three sections, namely Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning. CAT 2011 saw a major change in terms of the sections. Instead of three, the number of sections was reduced to two. However, the testing areas still remained the same. The new sections are Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning.
Talking about the rationale behind introducing this change, Prof. Janakiraman Moorthy, CAT 2011 Convener said, “The reason why we have reduced the number of sections from three to two is because we want proficient students at our IIMs, who would be equally competent in both Quantitative Ability as well as Verbal Ability. Till last year we have seen many students who had skewed efficiency.”
Now comes the part when we will analyze the individual sections or areas over the past five or six years.
Quantitative Ability
CAT 2007 - The Quantitative Ability section in 2007 had 25 questions out of 75 questions of very high difficulty level. Some of the questions were elementary in nature. Algebra and Arithmetic comprised of 60 per cent of the questions giving Geometry a back seat. The questions on Modern Math in were relatively less time-consuming but reasoning based and required clarity in fundamental concepts. There were some questions on Data Sufficiency which were tough and confusing in nature.
CAT 2008 – Like the past year, this year too the section had 25 questions out of 90 questions in total. The area was quite tough. The questions were majorly on Arithmetic and Algebra and Geometry saw lesser number of questions. This trend was similar to last year.
CAT 2009 – This year onwards, the pattern of CAT was changed to computer based from the traditional paper pencil based test. Out of 60 questions, this section had 20 questions. The difficulty level was easy to moderate. The questions were from the conventional areas such as Number System, Algebra, Mensuration, and Commercial Math.
CAT 2010 – CAT 2010 followed the same pattern as it consisted of 60 questions and 20 questions in the Quantitative Ability section. This year, the exam was tough compared to CAT 2009. The areas were more on less on the conventional areas but they were more calculation intensive and needed conceptual understanding.
CAT 2011 – In this new pattern, the Quantitative Ability area of the first section had 20 questions. In terms of difficulty, it was moderate to tough. The question types did not see much change and reflected the past years pattern only.
Verbal Ability
CAT 2007 – CAT 2007 had 75 questions in total, of which, Verbal Ability section had 25 questions. The difficulty level was tough. The number of CAT Reading Comprehension passages was four. The Reading Comprehension passages were long and difficult to understand and the five choices of the questions given were close to each other.
The grammar questions too were very difficult for the CAT takers. Questions on grammar and Paragraph completion too were tricky with close choices. Only the questions on Para Jumbles words and phrases were easily attemptable.
CAT 2008 – CAT 2008 had the highest number of questions in the Verbal Ability section. Out of 90, the section consisted of 40 questions. There were four reading comprehension passages which had 20 questions. In English Usage area the questions based on Fact, Inference and Judgement and Para Jumble were missing. Fill in the Blanks, variety of Sentence Correction questions and Vocabulary based usage were major component of this section. The section was of moderate to tough level of difficulty.
CAT 2009 – The Verbal Ability section had 20 questions, similar to the other two areas. The questions were mainly from the conventional areas such as Reading Comprehension, Sentence Rearrangement, Sentence Correction, Sentence Completion and Critical Reasoning. The difficulty level of the section was moderate.
CAT 2010 – Following the similar pattern as last year, the Verbal Ability section had 20 questions. This year, the difficulty level was higher than that of the last year, but moderate compared to the other two sections. The pattern was same as last year with questions asked on Reading Comprehension and English Usage.
CAT 2011 – CAT 2011 had 20 questions in the Verbal Ability section. The difficulty level of the exam was moderate to difficult. Compared to the Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation section, the section of Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning were easier in nature. The questions were also of the conventional type and did not throw any surprises.
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning
CAT 2007 – This section had 25 questions out of 75 questions. This section did not ask any question on Logical Reasoning. While 21 questions were from Data Interpretation, four questions were from Data Sufficiency. The overall difficulty level was Easy to Moderate.
CAT 2008 – Out of 90 questions in total, 25 questions were on this section. Majority of the questions were on Data Interpretation. The Logical Reasoning questions were also there. Data Interpretation, Data Sufficiency and Logical Reasoning were the areas from where the questions were asked. The difficulty level of the section was Moderate.
CAT 2009 – This section had 20 questions out of 60 in total. The difficulty level was tougher than the other two sections. The DI section was dominated with Data Sufficiency questions, which were verbose and lengthy and hence needed much concentration to solve them. The difficulty level was moderate to difficult.
CAT 2010 – CAT 2009 had 20 questions and followed similar pattern as CAT 2009. This section was tough compared to others. After the first few days of the section got even tougher. The questions were tough and calculation intensive which have the candidates a hard time.
CAT 2011 – In the new pattern, Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability had 10 questions each. While the Data Interpretation area was clubbed with Quantitative Ability section, the Logical Reasoning area was clubbed with the Verbal Ability section. While the Data Interpretation area had questions on graphs, charts, caselets, the Logical Reasoning area had analytical reasoning, puzzles, caselets etc. The question types were on the expected lines.
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