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www.time4education.comTriumphant Institute of

Management Education P Ltd

CAT – Some trends

Prepared by the Triumphant Institute of

Management Education P Ltd

Jaideep@time4education.com +91.99491.24944

arati@time4education.com +91.93123.26491

At a Glance  CAT’06 CAT’07 CAT ‘08Total

Questions 75 75  90

Total Marks 300 300 360 

Time150 min

150 min

150 Min 

Marking Scheme +4/-1 +4/-1 +4/-1

Options 5 5 5Differential

marking No No No

Section

CAT 2006 CAT 2007

Q'sMark

sQ's

Marks

Verbal 25 100 25 100

Quant 25 100 25 100

LDI 25 100 25 100

CAT 2008

Q's Marks

40 160

25 100

25 100

Sectional Snapshots

Total Number of Questions

123

90

75 75

90

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Source: T.I.M.E.

Total Marks

150 150

300 300

360

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Source: T.I.M.E.

Marks per question Vs Negative Marks per incorrect answer

1 1

4 4 4

0.33 0.33

1 1 1

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Marks per question

Negative marks / incorrectanswer

Source: T.I.M.E.

T.I.M.E. preliminary Cut-off Estimates –

CAT 2008• Quant: 15 – 21 Marks

• LDI: 26 – 30 Marks

• Verbal: 39 – 45 Marks

• Overall: 118 – 124 marks

CAT 2008 – Exam Pattern

• 3 Sections– Quantitative Aptitude– Reading Comprehension/ Verbal Ability– Data Interpretation/ Logic

• 90 Questions– Quant and LDI section had 25 questions– Verbal had 40 questions

•Last time there were more question in Verbal than in the other two sections was CAT 1998

– All questions were worth 4 marks– Negative marking 1 per question

Errors in CAT 2008

• Minor typo in one question, but overall paper was free from any major errors!

CAT 08: Logic & DI Overview

• This was similar to CAT 2007.

• The section was classical DI, with sets on logic as well (in addition to sets on Data Interpretation)

• Was tricky and like CAT2007 involved calculations.

CAT 08: QA Overview

• More difficult than CAT 2007

• Was easily the toughest section of Cat 2008– Fewer questions on

Arithmetic– More questions on “higher

math” like functions.

CAT 08: Verbal Overview

• Less ambigous than last year• Had more weightage as there

were more questions in this section than in the other 2 sections.– 40 in Verbal compared to 25 in

Quant and 25 in LDI

• 20 Questions in RC and 20 in Verbal Ability– Shorter passages than last year– Higher level of vocab based

questions– VA weightage at 50% of section

after 1998.

CAT 2007 – Surprise factors

• Feel of the paper

• Positives

• Surprise element

CAT 2007 – Exam pattern• 3 Sections

– Quantitative Aptitude– Reading Comprehension/ Verbal Ability– Data Interpretation/ Logic

• 75 Questions– Each section had 25 questions– All questions were worth 4 marks– Negative marking 1 per question

• Cut-Offs– VA/RC : 15-16– QA : 33-34– DI : 34-35– Overall: 110

CAT 2006 – Surprise factors

• Feel of the paper– Fewer Questions ~ 25 per section

– Increased time available

– Very ‘ambiguous’ VA section– Toughest ever Verbal section– Changed scheme of marks

• Positives– Less Time pressure– QA and DI sections were easy to negotiate

• Surprise element– Record Low number of Q’s

CAT 2006 – Exam pattern

• 3 Sections– Quantitative Aptitude– Reading Comprehension/ Verbal Ability– Data Interpretation/ Logic

• 75 Questions– Each section had 25 questions– All questions were worth 4 marks– Negative marking 1 per question

• Cut-Offs– VA/RC : 15-16– QA : 33-34– DI : 34-35– Overall: 110

www.time4education.comTriumphant Institute of

Management Education P Ltd

For more information / data

and an analysis of CAT 2008

Please contact us at:Jaideep@time4education.com

+91.99491.24944arati@time4education.com

+91.93123.26491