The pattern of the Afternoon slot of CAT2017 was similar to that in the Morning slot and very much on the lines of CAT2016. There were no surprises in the paper in terms of the pattern.
Contents
CAT 2017 paper pattern
The number of questions across sections remained the same as that of last year, at 34, 32 and 34 for VARC, LRDI and QA sections respectively. This was a huge positive for the aspirants as any surprises would have made them redraw their test-taking strategies.
In terms of the order of sections, as disclosed earlier and as was seen in the mock test made available on www.iimcat.ac.in, VARC was the first section, followed by LRDI and QA was the last section. Many T.I.M.E. students attributed their high number of attempts in the CAT to the thorough preparation that AIMCATs provided them.
Read: CAT 2017 section-wise paper analysis with expected cut-off: Morning slot
QA and VARC sections easier than last year
There were some pleasant surprises, with the QA and VARC sections being on the slightly easier side compared to last year. While students were divided on the difficulty level of the LRDI section, many feel that it was a notch above the last year’s section.
Challenging exam
The overall refrain from the first slot that the exam was ‘challenging’ seems be applicable in this section as well.
While the security check was rigorous at most centers, some centers were not able to manage the load of people queuing up to get in and had to allow them in en masse without much security check.
Across centres, as per the reports we have received by the time this analysis is filed, the conduct of the test was smooth and glitch free.
Section-wise paper analysis of CAT 2017 (Afternoon slot)
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension
- There were no surprises in this section, with the question distribution remaining the same as that of last year and as seen in the mock test. The VA-RC distribution too was similar, at 10-24
- With easy to read RCs, students heaved a huge sigh of relief. The topics chosen for the RCs were also not dense, helping students to save valuable time
- There were two passages with 3 Qs each and three passages with 6 Qs each. However, as was reported by the students from the first slot, the choices were similar, making elimination difficult and also consuming more time
- In Verbal Ability, absence of options in the non-MCQ questions made the questions tougher than usual, as was expected. The questions were not so direct or easy to crack and required involved reading form the students to solve them
Expected section cut-off: The cut-off in this section is expected to be slightly lower than that in CAT 2016.
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation
- Students, in the back of the tough LRDI section of CAT2016, were expecting a similar LRDI section this year as well. And CAT2017 did not disappoint them!
- Easily the toughest among the three sections, it tested the students on their ability to identify and jump off the tougher sets soon enough and their ability to spot and stay on with the relatively less difficult ones
- While a couple of sets were regular LR models, the others were not any of the standard LR-DI models and were instead replaced by reasoning based DI
- There were some clearly uncrackable sets and those who spotted the toughness soon enough would be the ones who managed to attempt a good number of questions. Tackling such unfamiliar sets would have been a lot easier for those who took AIMCATs regularly
Expected section cut-off: The cut-off in this section is expected to be slightly lower than that in CAT 2016.
Quantitative Ability
- Coming after a tough LRDI section, QA was a pleasant surprise for the test-takers. There seems to have been an absence of “uncrackable” questions and a few “difficult” questions
- The easy questions too were from basic arithmetic topics. This made many students feel this section to be the easiest among the three
- Students who had regular practice of their QA basics would have felt very comfortable in this section compared to others
- With so many do-able questions, speed could have been the key to crack this section
[“Source-timesofindia”]
