CAT 2024 Review and Students Reaction (Slot 1) Available
Common Admission Test 2026 ( CAT )
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4 Nov '26 - 29 Nov '26
IIM Calcutta is conducting CAT 2024 exam in three slots in around 375 test centres across 170 test cities. Check here CAT 2024 review and students reaction after the first slot of the exam.
CAT 2024 Student Reaction and Review
CAT 2024 is being held today in three slots. In an exclusive conversation with Shiksha, CAT test takers from the first slot shared their CAT exam experience. According to the CAT test takers, the exam commenced as per the schedule, i.e. at 8:30 AM. The exam responses were submitted exactly 120 minutes after the start. Candidates who took the exam did not find any technical glitches or surprise elements in the CAT exam.
Regarding the CAT difficulty level, candidates said the first slot exam was moderate. Scroll down for CAT 2024 student reactions and review, along with the video on what test takers have to say about the CAT slot 1 exam.
LATEST:
- CAT 2024 Response Sheet and Answer Key OUT at iimcat.ac.in; Download Now
- CAT 2024 Response Sheet & Official Answer Key (Released): Download PDF
- IIM Calcutta Concludes CAT 2024: Easier Test Might Rise Cutoffs; NMAT can be an Alternative
- CAT 2024 Question Paper PDF Download for Slot 1, 2, and 3
| Check Slot Wise CAT Answer Key, Memory-Based Questions and Exam Analysis | ||
|---|---|---|
| CAT 2024 Slot 1 Answer Key PDF and Question Paper Analysis | CAT 2024 Slot 2 Answer Key PDF and Question Paper Analysis | CAT 2024 Slot 3 Answer Key PDF and Question Paper Analysis |
CAT 2024 Student Reactions and Reviews
Ananya took the first slot of CAT 2024 exam and reported that she found Quantitative Aptitude as the toughest section, solving questions from DILR depends on analytical thinking. Additionally, she reported that VARC was the easiest section among all.
Another test taker reported that the overall CAT slot 1 exam was moderate. On comparing it with the CAT 2023 slot 1 exam, he found CAT 2024 to be on a tougher side. He found QA and DILR to be doable. The question weightage was similar to the previous year and had a mix of all the topics as per the CAT syllabus.
Smiti from CAT slot 1 exam found the VARC was the toughest section. She found DILR to be easy. As per her, DILR had a slight change with question sets of both 4 and 5 questions. She found the 4-question SET to be easier as compared to 5-question SET. Smiti found QA to be on the easier side with most of the questions being doable. The overall CAT difficulty level as per Smiti was moderate.
Sidhant found the CAT 2024 slot 1 exam to be easier that the previous session. Since he found the exam easy than the last term, he is expecting the CAT 2024 cutoff to rise this year. Sidhant found QA to be easy. In the DILR section, he found 3 Sets with four questions and 2 Sets with five questions. Sidhant was able to easily complete two Sets from DILR.
Another test taker, Murnal, found the first slot of CAT 2024 to be "very easy" if compared with the CAT exam pattern. Detailing the section wise structure and difficulty level, he found Quant to be moderate, while he found VARC and DILR to be easier than QA.
Check Here: waves notes class 11
Check out the video below to get the detailed CAT 2024 student reactions and reviews for Slot 1:
Commonly asked questions
CAT exam is conducted by any one of the top 6 Indian Institute of Management on rotation basis. Each of the top IIM conducts the exam after a gap of five years. The responsibility to conduct the CAT 2024 was given to IIM Calcutta. For CAT 2025, IIM Kozhikode will be the exam convening institute. IIM Kozhikode will be responsible for preparation and conduct of the exam without glitches, in collaboration with TCS for test labs and centres. The institute will design the question papers, exam pattern and guidelines, as well as manage the conduct of exam and preparation of admit card, answer key and result. CAT Conducting Indian Institute of Management Over the Years:
2024: IIM Calcutta
2023: IIM Lucknow
· 2022: IIM Bangalore
· 2021: IIM Ahmedabad
· 2020: IIM Indore
· 2019: IIM Kozhikode
· 2018: IIM Calcutta
· 2017: IIM Lucknow
· 2016: IIM Bangalore
· 2015: IIM Ahmedabad
· 2014: IIM Indore
· 2013: IIM Indore
· 2012: IIM Kozhikode
· 2011: IIM Calcutta
· 2010: IIM Lucknow
· 2009: IIM Ahmedabad
The CAT 2025 exam was conducted in November 2025. The CAT exam is usually conducted on the last Sunday of November. The exam is conducted on a single day in three slots.
CAT 2025 notification will be released online as well as offline. The online notification of CAT 2025 exam will be released at iimcat.ac.in website and the offline notification will be issued in all the national dailies – Hindi, English and Vernacular. Aspirants can either check the notification and CAT 2025 exam dates online at the official website or in the newspapers (to be published in the last week of July 2025).
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CAT 2024 Analysis
Check out CAT 2024 exam analysis by MBA experts:
| CAT Experts |
CAT 2024 Analysis Page Links |
|---|---|
| CAT 2021 analysis by CATKing |
|
| CAT 2021 analysis by Career Launcher and T.I.M.E |
|
| CAT 2021 analysis by IMS |
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 10 hours ago
For CAT Data Interpretation preparation, candidates can refer to Arun Sharma's books for CAT DILR. His books cover this topic comprehensively.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 10 hours ago
Yes, Data Interpretation is important for CAT as it makes up for 50 percent of the DILR sections, which carries a weightage of 66 marks.
E
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 10 hours ago
There are usually 8-10 questions on Data Interpretation in CAT. The questions are in sets of 4 or 5.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 20 hours ago
Practise previous-year CAT questions, mock tests, and vocabulary books such as Word Power Made Easy. Reading editorials and quality articles can also help.
P
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 20 hours ago
Yes. It improves grammar, vocabulary, context-based understanding, and sentence interpretation, which are useful for VARC preparation.
P
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 20 hours ago
CAT does not have a fixed number of Sentence Completion questions. Direct questions on this topic are uncommon.
P
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
Aspirants should attempt CAT DILR practise questions as timed mock exercises without checking the answers, and solutions. Candidates must go through answers and solutions after completing each set.
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
No. These are original practice questions curated from past-paper reasoning structures, not guaranteed exam questions.
V
Contributor-Level 7
Answered Yesterday
Yes, ISBR Business School give scholarship based on the CAT score. Below given is the scholarship criteria and percentage of tuition fee waiver given by the ISBR Business School based on the CAT score.
| Examination | Scholarship Criteria | Category | Quantum of Scholarship | Nos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAT | 90 percentile or above | Merit / Industry Sponsored | 100% Full Ride | 5 Nos. |
| 85 percentile or above | 50% Waiver in Tuition Fee | 20 Nos. | ||
| 80 percentile or above | 25% | 25 Nos. |
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
To prepare for CAT Arithmetic section, refer to Class 9 and 10 NCERT Math books. These books will help you recap fundamental concepts and formulae. For advance level questions, refer Arum Sharma and Nishit Sinha books recommended for CAT quantitative aptitude preparation.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Abhishek Dhawan is a content writer and editor with 7+ years of experience in education journalism. He holds a BA degree from the University of Delhi. At Shiksha, Abhishek primarily covers MBA and BBA entrance
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