CAT 2018 analysis HIGHLIGHTS: Students find Quant section tough

The second section of the paper DILR continued to be a pleasant surprise. There were 32 questions in total with 8 non-MCQ questions. Unlike last year’s paper, the theme of the sets was more conventional. There was one very direct DI set with basic calculations.

The second section of the paper DILR continued to be a pleasant surprise. There were 32 questions in total with 8 non-MCQ questions. Unlike last year’s paper, the theme of the sets was more conventional. There was one very direct DI set with basic calculations.

Once the QA section is over, students would have come out with much less satisfaction as they would have had they come out at the end of DILR! If you expected a happy ending in QA, you were definitely not paying attention to all the discussions following the first slot.

IIM-C and its love for a tough QA section continued in the second slot too. The questions were calculation and logic intensive, not theory intensive. There were 34 questions of QA with 12 Non-MCQ questions.

- Paper analysis by Arks Srinivasan, National Head, Career Launchers

Verbal ability and reading comprehension (VARC)

VARC continued to be ‘the feel good’ section. The pattern remained the same as that of the first slot. There were 34 questions with seven non-MCQ questions. There were no instructions provided for the number of questions in each passage. However, there remained five passages. One passage had four questions (the passage on ‘grover snails’) while the rest had five questions each.

"For slot 1, DI section was relatively easy as compared to last year. The Quant section had a few tricky questions but it was manageable. Verbal was easy too. There was an increase in the number on non-MCQ questions as compared to last year. But overall the paper was easy. A candidate with 160 score can aim for 98 percentile," said Arjun Mohan, Teacher &VP - Marketing, BYJU'S

The questions were calculation and logic intensive, not theory intensive. There were 34 questions of QA with 12 Non-MCQ questions. It was arguably the toughest QA section in the last four years. The questions were designed to test the grasp of basic fundamentals of the concepts. Arithmetic and Geometry questions dominated the section. In some of MCQs, options were very confusing to get the answer.

Summary

The paragraphs were short (within 80 words each). However, these were really difficult to read, and the options became confusing because of the genres of the paragraphs. So, only one of these should have been attempted. These questions carried negative marks.

All had four sentences each and the sentences were pretty easy and concise. As these had no negative marking, one should have attempted all without wasting a lot of time. However, two of these would be tricky to answer without options. The trick was to identify the opening sentence and go ahead with the mandatory pair. There were quite a few clue words. Prior practice and awareness of deductive paragraphs were the key.

The VA section had one major change. There were 4 Subjective Para Jumble questions, and all of these had 4 sentences each. There were 3 Odd sentence para-jumble questions. These questions were easier than expected. A student could have easily managed to get 4 questions correct out of the 7 PJs. These were TITA questions.

The three summary questions were difficult. The paragraphs focused entirely on research methodology and academic concepts. So, they were difficult to read and comprehend. However, the options were not really difficult. So, any voracious reader would have been able to attempt these easily. So, for many CAT aspirants this year (especially those who relied heavily on QA), VA may just turn out to be the saviour.

- Analysis by Gautam Bawa, Career Launcher

For students who were already scared of this section, it could have felt like a nuclear disaster. However, for the ‘engineering-dominated’ group, this was not impossible to attempt. The questions were calculation and logic intensive, not theory intensive. There were 34 questions of QA with 12 Non-MCQ questions

The next section was DILR. After three consecutive tragedies, DILR-2018 must have been a pleasant surprise. There were 32 questions in total with 8 Non-MCQ questions. Unlike last year’s paper, the theme of the sets was more conventional. With smart selection, around 4 sets in the section could have been attempted very easily with good accuracy

Verbal ability and Reading comprehension

Verbal ability and Reading comprehension (VA&RC) greeted students with an easier than expected paper. However, the pattern of the paper didn’t strictly match that of the sample paper provided by the CAT team. There were 34 questions with 7 Non-MCQ questions. There were no instructions provided for the number of questions in each passage. However there remained 5 passages.

Samina Beg said, “The paper was quite same like last year, apart from few changes. The sections like Mathematics, Quant, VA, Reasoning was difficult to answer.” Samina appeared for the CAT examination for the third time and she is expecting a better score than last year. Last year, Samina scored 85. According to candidates, the cutoff will be around 90.

Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation  

"The Data Interpretation section was easier compared to last two years. The candidates found easy to attempt questions on SET. The cut-off in this section may rise to five to six marks," said Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation," Gautam Bawa, Career Launcher said 

Verbal and Reading section (VARC) 

According to Gautam Bawa, Career Launcher, "The CAT 2018 paper was slightly tougher than the last year. The Verbal and Reading sections (VARC) sections was at par with the last two years. The cut-off for the 99 per centile may rise by three to five marks"

#cat2018 done, watta paper!!! Phew

— Shilpa Bansal/Balan (@shilpabansal) November 25, 2018

The exam started with Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section which had 34 questions. This was followed by the Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation section which had 32 questions. The last section was Quantitative Ability which had 34 questions. The test experience, however, varied from moderate to difficult

Speaking to indianexpress.com, Anurag Tripathi, a CAT aspirant said, “The overall paper was moderate, with LR and Mathematics sections were hard to crack. The easiest was the English section.” Anurag is a final-year B.Tech student and he appeared CAT for the first time.