The exam did not throw any surprises in the format with some sections easy and others moderate to difficult, says Gautam Bawa
The CAT 2019 did not throw any surprises in paper format. In terms of level of difficulty, VARC was slightly trickier this year, with two passages on the difficult side. Expect the cutoff in VARC to decrease by about six-eight marks. Both DILR and Quant were slightly easier than last year. Overall, the paper was slightly less difficult, as compared to CAT 2018. An overall raw score of around 157-160 should fetch a 99%ile in CAT 2019.
The overall structure of the CAT paper was as follows:
VARC: No of Questions: 34, No of non MCQ questions: 7. Moderate to difficult (attempt for 95%tile); 23-25, Attempt for 995tile: 26-28
DILR: No of questions: 32; No of non MCQs: 8. Easy to moderate: Attempt 95%tile: 14-16; Attempt for 99%tile 18-20
QA: No of questions: 34. No of non MCQs: 11. Easy to moderate: Attempt for 95%tile: 18-20; Attempt for 995%tile: 24-26
Total: 100. No of non MCQs: 26. Attempt for 95%tile: 60; Attempt for 99%tile: 65
The VARC section was of moderate difficulty level. However, the pattern was the same as that of the previous year. There were 34 questions, with 10 non-MCQ questions.
There were five passages. One had four questions (the passage on Emperor Penguins) while the rest had five questions each. The topics of the remaining RC passages were from varied areas. While some were easy to read, there were few that were tedious and had confusing answer options. There were quite a few inference-based questions and most of these had tricky answer options. However, a student should have followed the process of elimination (POE) to be able to achieve a decent accuracy rate, as the options were not straightforward. The 10 Type in The Answer (TITA) questions were also of slightly higher difficulty level than last year. The para jumble questions were of moderate difficulty level, with some challenges regarding the sequencing of the opening lines. The summary questions were relatively easier; and focused on academics and marketing/advertising.
However, the options were not really difficult, and one could eliminate one-two options easily. The questions on odd-one-out were relatively easy.
The RC passages were undoubtedly trickier than that of last year's CAT paper due to:
Trickier question types: One would encounter questions like which of the following if true, will strengthen the argument of the author the least and which of the following will not cause the inversion referred to in the flipping the script. The students would have spent quite some time trying to understand what they are required to think about.
Close options: The RC passages, like the one on the origins of the Aladdin story and on folk culture had options which were extremely close to each other. This would have definitely reduced the speed of the student.
Expect the cutoff of VARC to drop by about eight-10 marks, which is about two-three questions lesser than last year.
Surprises: Contrary to popular speculation, the paper structure was a replica of that of last year.
An attempt of 23-25 would be considered good in this section for a 95%ile. However, accuracy level will be an issue.
The DILR was easier, as compared to last year. About three sets, more specifically the ones about different types of gifts in 100 boxes, the 12 different junctions, and summation of two 6-digit numbers, were easy; and should have surely been attempted.
Another set, which was a horizontal bar chart on the different types of crimes in different states, was also easy; and would not have taken more than five-10 minutes to solve.
It as good to see a new chart type — the radar graph, making its way to the CAT 2019 slot Paper-I.
In this set, different vendors were ranked on features like Customer Service, Cost and Reliability. This straightforward set required you to solve questions as simple as finding the best vendor on the basis of the average of scores on each of the features.
The cut-off for DILR is expected to increase by about seven-nine marks from last year, which is about two-three questions extra from CAT 2018.
The QA was also slightly easier than last year. You could have found more sitters this time round than in CAT 2018. The paper had a good number of questions on Arithmetic from topics like Percentages, TSD, Time and Work, etc. Among Algebra, Geometry, and Numbers, the paper had more questions on Algebra and Geometry than on Numbers.
The cutoff for QA is expected to increase by five-seven marks from last year, which is about one-two questions extra from CAT 2018.
The writer is Vice-President, Career Launcher