CAT 2016 Exam Analysis by MBA expert Tarun Malik

The CAT 2016 was conducted today in forenoon and afternoon sessions. Shiksha spoke to a few test-takers who said the question paper was a mixed bag with VARC section being easy, while, DILR section being tough and Quant section being moderately tough.

Here’s an in-depth CAT 2016 analysis.

CAT 2016 exam analysis:

So the CAT is out of the bag. The first impression is that the Verbal Ability (VA) was easy, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI) was difficult and Quantitative Aptitude (QA) was from moderate to difficult.                                              

The overall structure of the test did not see any departure from CAT 2015. Even the relative difficulty level of the sections also remained the same. It is very unfortunate that some erroneous questions appeared in the stressful LRDI as well as QA in a test as stressful as this.

Verbal Ability Reading Comprehension(VARC):

This section had 5 Reading Comprehension (RC) passages, all easy to read. A few of the questions had 2 of the 4 options very close to each other. Parajumble questions had from moderate to tough difficulty level. What added to the difficulty is the fact that practically these questions had 120 options (all these questions were Non-MCQ type). Summary based questions were simple. A raw score of 66 should fetch one 95 %ile in this section and a score of 75 should guarantee 99%ile.

Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation (LRDI):

This was by far the most difficult section of the test. Even well prepared students struggled to attempt 50% of the questions. The boundary between the LR and DI was blurred in this section. A raw score of 30 (yes, you read that right!!!) should fetch 95%ile in this section and a score of 40 should fetch 99%ile.

Quantitative Ability (QA):

This section was the most difficult QA section in CAT in the last 3 years at least. There were 2-3 erroneous questions in this section. Some students were not able to read some mathematical symbols in a few questions. A raw score of 45 should fetch 95%ile in this section and a raw score of 60 should fetch 99%ile.

Overall

A score of 130 should fetch you 95%ile and in order to score 99%ile, one should need a score of 165.

Edmyt wishes students all the very best for the other examinations and CAT results.

• How much percentile is enough to aim for IIMs?
• CAT 2016 analysis: Mixed bag for students
• CAT 2016 an exam with a twist?
• CAT 2016: Student reactions - How was CAT?

About the Author: Tarun Malik has been active in the TestPrep industry for more than a decade and a half. He has worked with some of the known TestPrep companies in past helping 100s of students for MBA and Law entrance examinations. He has also helped a number of students in their SAT/ACT preparations (Tarun has been a perfect scorer-800/800-on SAT as well!) He was a 100 percentiler in QA of CAT 2014. Tarun, now, heads the MBA TestPrep at Edmyt.

CAT scores are used for admission to 19 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and various other top B-Schools. Are you eligible for the IIMs? To know more, click on the image beside.