CAT Exam Analysis @ CL expert does a detailed analysis as CAT 2012 completes four days

This article of MBAUniverse.com shares with you the analysis of the first four days of CAT 2012, as examined by Gautam Puri, vice-chairman, Career Launcher.

Noida, India (prHWY.com) October 16, 2012 - CAT 2012 has completed four days of testing and the test for the fifth day is being taken. So far, around 35,000 test takers have taken the exam. This article of MBAUniverse.com shares with you the analysis of the four days of CAT 2012, as examined by Gautam Puri, vice-chairman, Career Launcher.

Overall analysis of CAT 2012 so far

The CAT 2012 has so far been on the expected lines. As per the announcement made earlier, the paper had two sections - Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning -- with 30 questions in each section. The sections were available sequentially, each having a time limit of 70 minutes to answer 30 questions.

The overall structure of the exam is as follows:
Section No. of Questions Time in minutes Difficulty Level Possible Attempts
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation 30 70 Tough 18-20
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning 30 70 Moderate 22-24
Total 60 140 Moderate-Tough 40-45

Now, let us have a look at the section-wise analysis.

Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation

The difficulty level was high in this section and the questions were designed to check candidates' grasp over the fundamentals. There were 21 questions from Quantitative Ability and nine questions from the Data Interpretation section. The questions were from the regular topics like number system, algebra, geometry, modern math and geometry. The questions in the Data Interpretation area were tough and calculation intensive. There were three sets. Data Sufficiency questions have not been asked so far.
Section Topic Number of Questions
Quantitative Ability Number System 2 to 3
Algebra 6 to 7
Arithmetic 3 to 4
Modern Maths 2 to 3
Geometry & Mensuration 5 to 6
Data Interpretation Bar Graphs NA
Pie Charts NA
Table based 2
Combinations of Graph 1


Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning

The questions of this section were of the moderate difficulty level. The trick here was to aim for high accuracy by correctly identifying the questions that you are confident of solving correctly. RC passages were manageable. They were of medium length and not very abstract. There were three RC passages, out of which one was a bit difficult. The Verbal Ability section saw a balanced mix of questions from different areas. The questions from Logical Reasoning area came in three sets.
Section Topic No. of Questions Description
Reading Comprehension Reading Comprehension 10 (4+3+3) At least one RC in each set was unique and all the passages were of moderate level
English Usage Sentence Correction 2 4 statements were given - one had to identify the combination of correct/incorrect sentences
Para Jumble 2 5 Sentence type
Para completion 3 Moderate - tough, last line missing type
FIB 1 Easy to Moderate, 2 blanks type
Word Usage 2 Simple words, use of phrasal verbs
Para Jumble (Odd Sentence Out) 1 4 statements out of which 3 could be arranged in a sequence
Logical Reasoning Data Arrangement 3+3+3) All the three sets were arrangement problems
Seating Arrangement
Logical Based

Parittra Mandal, a candidate who took CAT on October 14, said, "The first section was of moderate to tough difficulty level. The topics ranged from number system, coordinate geometry, functions, time & work, probability, permutation & combination, algebra, quadratics, mensuration and trigonometry. The DI area was a bit tricky and time consuming." About the second section, she said, "There were 3 RC passages. 'What is the tone of the author' was a little tricky question. The English usage questions were from vocabulary, fill in the blanks, pick the most appropriate closing line of the paragraph, etc."

To read the previous analysis of CAT 2012, click on the following links:

CAT Day 2 paper moderate to tough, VA gets more difficult

CAT takers, experts dissect Day 1

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