This year, we saw an extremely malnourished Common Admission Test (just 75 questions as against 90 last year). The Verbal Ability section seemed to have been imported straight from Her Majesty's palace!
And the biggest surprise: Perennial villain 'Quant' turned saviour.
As expected, CAT 2006 threw up surprises. These were the prominent ones:
1. There were five options instead of the customary four, making it similar to GRE/ GMAT.
2. Every single question in VA was inferential, with the options being extremely close. One felt the necessity of an electron microscope to discriminate amongst them.
3. Grammar, the eternal favourite, was nowhere in sight. Para jumbles, where art thou?
4. Quant, surprisingly, failed to intimidate. It was like vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate and nuts on top. Need we say more?
5. DI/ Reasoning had no surprises. It was similar to the mock tests you have been writing in the past three months (in fact, easier).
Here's an overview of how you should have attempted this paper:
|
CAT 2006 | |||||||
|
Section |
Topic |
No of Qs |
Total marks |
Suggested time (min) |
Possible attempts |
Possible scores |
Expected |
|
I |
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation |
25 |
75 |
40 |
15 |
40 + |
30-33 |
|
II |
Verbal Ability |
25 |
75 |
55 |
16 |
35 + |
28-32 |
|
III |
Quantitative Ability |
25 |
75 |
55 |
15 |
40 + |
38-42 |
|
Total |
75 |
300 |
150 |
46 |
135 + |
105-110 | |
Disclaimer: These cut-offs are decided by our expert faculty who have attempted the CAT 2006 paper. They may not be the actual IIM cut-offs. These calculations are based on our experience and expertise.
Expected Cutoffs for different institutes
Any one IIM call: 110
MDI, SP Jain: 100-105
NITIE, MDI-HR, MICA: 90
IMT, TAPMI, IMI: 85
KJ Somaiya, BIM, UBS Welingkar: 75
FORE, ITM, LBS: 75
CAT 2006 vs CAT 2005, CAT 2004
|
Parameter |
CAT 2006 |
CAT 2005 |
CAT 2004 |
|
Number of sections |
3 |
3 x 2 |
3 x 2 |
|
Number of questions |
75 |
90 |
123 |
|
Difficulty level (Overall) |
Moderate |
Difficult |
Difficult |
|
Difficulty level (Quant) |
Easy |
Average |
Average |
|
Difficulty level (EU + RC) |
Difficult |
Average |
Average |
|
Difficulty level (DI + DS + AR) |
Moderate |
Difficult |
Difficult |
|
Expected cut-off (Overall) |
105-110 |
47-49 |
55 |
|
Expected cut-off (Quant) |
38-42 |
12-13 |
16 |
|
Expected cut-off (EU + RC) |
28-32 |
17-18 |
21 |
|
Expected cut-off (DI + DS + LR) |
30-33 |
10-11 |
14 |
Section-wise analysis
~Section I: Quantitative Ability
|
Topic |
CAT 2006 |
CAT 2005 |
CAT 2004 |
|
Overall |
25 |
30 |
35 |
|
Arithmetic |
10 |
9 |
13 |
|
Number system |
7 |
5 |
6 |
|
Percentage, SI-CI, PLD |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Ratio proportion |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
Speed Time Distance, Work |
1 |
4 |
3 |
|
Algebra |
9 |
8 |
9 |
|
Equations & inequalities |
4 |
2 |
2 |
|
Functions & graphs |
1 |
2 |
4 |
|
Maxima minima |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Series, sequences & progressions, logs |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
Geometry |
4 |
10 |
10 |
|
Plane geometry |
4 |
6 |
9 |
|
Mensuration |
0 |
3 |
1 |
|
Co-ordinate geometry + trigonometry |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Modern math |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
Miscellaneous math |
0 |
0 |
0 |
~Section II: English usage & Reading comprehension
(Topic-wise breakup )
|
Topic |
CAT 2006 |
CAT 2005 |
CAT 2004 |
|
Overall |
25 |
30 |
50 |
|
English usage |
0 |
18 |
29 |
|
Usage dictionary |
0 |
3 |
10 |
|
Vocabulary: Contextual meaning |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Para jumbles |
0 |
3 |
8 |
|
Sentence completion |
5 |
4 |
3 |
|
Sentence correction |
0 |
4 |
3 |
|
Replacement of words |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
Critical reasoning |
5 |
0 |
2 |
|
Reading Comprehension |
15 |
12 |
5 passages (21 Q) |
|
Politics and social |
1 |
4 Q (2 marker) |
2 Passages (8 Q) |
|
History and mythology |
0 |
0 |
1 Passages (5 Q) |
|
Science, technology |
0 |
0 |
1 Passage (4 Q) |
|
Business & economics |
0 |
0 |
1 Passage (4 Q) |
|
Fiction, philosophy, law |
2 |
4 Q (2 marker) |
0 |
|
Psychology & management |
0 |
4 Q (2 marker) |
0 |
|
Topic |
CAT 2006 |
CAT 2005 |
CAT 2004 |
|
Overall |
25 |
30 |
38 |
|
Data Interpretation |
0 |
10 |
5 sets (20 Q) |
|
Table |
1 |
6 |
3 sets (12 Q) |
|
Line graph |
0 |
0 |
1 set (4 Q) |
|
Pie chart |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Bar graph |
0 |
4 |
1 set (4 Q) |
|
Mixed data set |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Caselet |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
Data sufficiency |
0 |
0 |
6 |
|
Analytical reasoning |
1 |
20 |
3 sets (12 Q) |
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