My Experience with CAT 2014 – Gejo

Like for many my CAT journey started at 5:30 AM! Yes, 5:30 AM! First, they allot me a venue 100 kms away (God knows why?) from my home and then expect me to reach there at 7:30 AM for a 9:30 AM test (God knows why). So, 5:30 it was.


When I reach the venue at 7:30 AM, I am not allowed to enter! Why did you call me at 7:30 then? But then a student (today I was one) doesn’t have a voice – at least that’s what they think. I wait and spend the next 10 minutes figuring out where the washroom is. Most engineering colleges are like a maze. You try to find one room, you keep going in circle. When I finally find and enter the great place, I become even more convinced about the importance of Swachch Bharat. I am a student, I can’t crib!

 

At about 8:00 AM (now, this is my guess since I didn’t have a watch) I am allowed inside. After the registration, I find my desk and sit there and stare for infinity! I have no idea what the time is and I have no idea how long before I can see the first question. The wait seems forever during which I learn the 12 points in the admit card by heart, stare at my photograph on the screen and keep wondering as to why I didn’t give a better photograph. The chair is bad. But then, I am a student, I can’t crib. The AC is not on and the noisy fan is not letting the sheet of paper rest on the desk. But again, I am a student and I can’t crib.

9:30 AM – And it starts!

This is how the 170 minutes went: [By the way, I did not mark any question – I left all questions ‘Red’, however, I did proceed as I take the mocks. By that I mean, I solved it like a real test; just that I did not mark my response on the screen. It will be interesting to see what percentile I will get since I have not marked a single question.]

My take was that CL prepared our students really well for the CAT through an absolutely awesome assessment of what the CAT would be like.

I am not bragging here – but I couldn’t help but point out how difficult TIME AIMCATs where! It was as though TIME AIMCATs were preparing the students to take the JEE! Remember, it’s easy to create a really tough paper. Your ‘claim’ is that it was for preparing the students for the worst. No! It’s really this – you don’t know how CAT will be, TIME AIMCAT. You just created tough papers so that you can hide behind this convoluted logic. It wouldn’t have mattered to those genius students. But for there are those who put their faith on our hands and are genuinely looking at prep companies to prepare them for the CAT, you failed brother. CL Proc Mocks were awesome! Period!

If someone had sincerely studied using CL resources and created strategies using CL mocks, I am sure that you would have handled the CAT reasonably well.
I clicked the question paper button and ran through the questions and saw:

  • 36 questions on QA – none of them looks lengthy
  • 4 DI sets with 4 questions each
  • 4 RCs with 4 questions each
  • 4 LR sets with 4 questions each

Phew! CL did stick to this format in the Mocks – good job CL!

If you have seen my Mock attempts, you would see this: 80 minutes for Section 2 à 80 minutes for Section 1 à 10 minutes buffer

This CAT was not different.

Section 2:
Verbal Reasoning/Verbal Ability

  • Critical Reasoning – 4 Questions. I find the passages to be of ‘standard’ CR length and the options having the usual traps. However, there can be one or two questions where someone would get confused with the options. Me: All 4 questions.
  • Summary/Essence – 3 Questions. These were manageable. The options were not tricky. If one reads the paragraph properly.
  • Para Jumbled – 4 Questions. If you had practised CL Mocks, this would have been a cake walk. Not difficult; easy to make connections.
  • Para Jumbled (Odd Man Out) – 4 Questions. These I felt were manageable, though I felt that there was 1 question where I wouldn’t have taken the risk and would have marked 3 questions.
  • Error Detection (Grammar) – 3 Questions. These were easy. However, I was a bit apprehensive because it even asked to check spelling and punctuation. I would have avoided a couple.

Out of these 18 questions, I would have attempted 14 with good accuracy.

Logical Reasoning
When I went through the 4 Logical Reasoning Sets:

  • One was on circular arrangement – felt that it was manageable
  • Maxima-Minia based  – Aaarggh!
  • Looked like some sort of a puzzle – looked tough
  • It looked like a caselet – My thought was: Let’s not do R&D

So, I decided to solve 1 LR (Circular Arrangement) and then attack RCs. In fact in did that – but then I use the last 10 minutes to solve one more LR. That’s when I found that the last LR set which looked difficult was pretty pretty easy! [This is exactly how it played out in my Mock 18 attempt].

The 10 minutes buffer had gone to Section 2: 90 minutes I spent on Section 2.

Out of these 16 questions in LR, I would have attempted 8.

reading comprehension
To sum up: 4 Passages; none of them complicated; most of the questions direct
Since I had only attempted one LR (during the first Round), I had time for all the 4 RCs. I did get confused in a few questions.

Out of the 16 questions, I would have attempted 12 questions.

Section 2 : 34 attempts

Section 1
Quantitative Ability

It was really like I was re-taking CL Proc Mock 18! Only that this one was a tad easier. In first round of Mock 18 I could knock off 14 questions, in the CAT I could knock off 20 (6 more, thanks to some sitters).

Area No. of Questions My thought
Arithmetic 6 All were straightforward – a couple of the questions, I remembered seeing in our class sheets! Read, apply the basic concept and solve.
Algebra 10 Ok. There were traps and tricks. But manageable ones. There were 5 questions where I used SQC.
Numbers 7 I did see some standard questions. I also saw a few tricky ones.
Geometry 9 Did you notice this! Just one question with a diagram. I was cribbing while taking Proc Mock 18 that all the Geometry was without a diagram. CAT – exactly the same!Geometry is my weakness, I could manage a few but not all.
Modern Math 2 My favorite area. However, felt it was a bit tricky.

I solved 27 out of the 34: 21 in Round 1 and 6 in Round 2. There was this one question on Numbers which hurt my ego. I finally didn’t solve it. Once I finish writing this blog, I shall solve that question. Unfortunately, we can’t discuss the questions. IIMs should declare the questions now that CAT is done. But then I am a student, I can’t crib.

Data interpretaion

  • Set 1 : Bar Graph – I did have a look at that but felt that it was a painful one.
  • Set 2 : Table – This was pretty straightforward. I wish I could share my thoughts. But all 4 questions can be cracked.
  • Set 3: Table – This was not that straightforward. Needed to make some additional calculations and for each question create additional data. However, for those who are patient, this one was manageable. I was patient!
  • Set 4: Table – Same story as above.

I solved 11 questions out of the 16.

Section 1 : 36 attempts
My attempts in the slot:

  • Section 1: 38 Attempts
  • Section 2: 34 Attempts
  • Total : 72 Attempts

If you recall my attempt in Proc Mock 18 attempt, it was 64. I could hit 8 more because of easier QA.

There would be lot of noise in the social media wherein you will see people having 80+ attempts. The key would be accuracy. I don’t take risks (barring SQC techniques – which is not really risk by the way).

If you really want a near accurate estimate of your percentile, feed in the data at CL’s True CAT Percentile Predictor. Trust me, it’s pretty accurate. It is estimating that my percentile (based on my attempt and accuracy) will be between 99.94 and 99.99.

You hope for the best and continue your fight for the other tests.
Let me leave with this:

We, students, do have a voice! It must be heard. I will be heard!
GP has started this petition to make CAT more transparent. Support it…. Let our voice roar! 
https://www.change.org/p/prof-rishikesha-t-krishnan-rishikesha-chairman-cat2014-director-iim-indore-cat-centre-2014-bring-transparency-to-declaration-of-cat2014-results

Regards
Gejo

273 Comments

  1. Sir, I have attempted 43 questions in quant with 85% accuracy and 35 questions with 80% accuracy in VALR. What are my chances to get IIM call? I have 92.8% in 10th, 71.2% in 12th and 78.0% in B.Tech. I am currently working in an IT company with 6 months expercience. Please suggest some colleges where I can apply?

        • Yes sir. I checked and it shows my percentile in late 98s. I haven’t filled the form for FMS. Is there a chance I can get 99? And with low grades in 12th and BTech, still there is a chance that i can get a call from IIMs?

  2. hello GP sir
    aiming for cat 15. currently I am working with an mnc in Mumbai. Are there any test series courses available with CL which I can enrol into? I want to enrol for the online material and test series.

    regards

  3. Sir,
    I attempted overall 51 in morning slot,Nov 16 in CAT,QA 29 and VA 22.How much should i expect.I have 18 months of IT experience when I applied for CAT.

    My acads are Xth:81.8%,XIIth:92.4,B.E.:75.7%.
    I have no extra curricular in school and college.What are my chances of getting into top B school?
    Is it fine that I take CAT next year with better preparation and target IIM/IITs?But by that time i’ll have around 36 months of exp.will it be fine or will work against me?
    I am woriied about less extra curricular which is making me less confident while preparations?

    • Amit, please enter your attempt and estimated correct details in the Percentile Predictor for an estimate of you CAT percentile. My estimate is that you are likely to be in the 90-95%ile bracket.
      Your have marks in X/XII/Graduation and lack of extra curricular activities is not a hindrance. With about 36 months of work experience, in CAT’15 you have a good chance of making it to old IIMs if you can push your score to over 98%ile. Along with CAT/XAT you should take GMAT and apply for ISB Hyderabad also.

  4. Sir,
    I missed or rather intentionally missed dead line of SPJ bcz people said that are partial to work ex’s……being a fresher and expecting 90-94% in CAT 2014 my academics are as
    Xth 97.2%
    XII 92.5%
    Grad : 82.05%
    have I done a blunder by not applying not SPJ…could I have landed with a profile based call?

    • AG, Profile based calls in SP Jain are a function of your academics, work experience and answers to the questions in the form so one cannot say if your would have got a profile based call. Without work experience it could be a bit difficult.

  5. Sir , I took cat on 16th, 1st Slot, My Attempts were :
    44 in 1st Section (No Guesses)
    42 in Second Section (I am confident about all RCs , Inference, Parajumbles)
    My Percentages are : Xth 84%
    XII – 78%
    Btech – 71%
    I Also took IIFT my SCore is 59 (approx)
    Which colleges can i get into?

    • Shreyas, with this kind of performance you will get a call from all institutes and should start preparing for the next stage. Hope you have enrolled for PDP.
      Do enter your attempt and estimated correct details in the Percentile Predictor to get an estimate of your normalised score and percentile.

        • Shreyas, I have always maintained that coaching is not necessary for doing well in any test and people like you confirm my belief. You should however join PDP, please contact your nearest CL center.

  6. Respected sir,
    I expect 85-90 percentile. X – 72 XII – 78 Grad 62. Category ST. Do I have a real shot at A B C or FMS? What kind of preparation should I do for next stage? Thanks.

    • Gautam, as a ST candidate with over 85%ile you have a very good chance of making it to the top MBA institutes including A, B, C and FMS. Please contact your CL center for PDP classes immediately.

      • Sir,
        The sectional cutoff for A is 75, correct? With an overall of 80? That’s a little high for this category, isn’t it? Compared to other iims as well.

          • Sir what do you think will be the raw score required for 75 percentile in each section? I had my exam on the 22nd afternoon (slot 4).

          • Gautam, this is difficult to comment on but this year I think that the 75%ile for QADI will be much higher than that for VALR.

  7. Sir all predictions of CLPP apart, what normalised score (out of 300) do you (personally with your years of knowledge and experience) think is most likely to fetch a 99.9+ %ile and also the score for the same in worst case when the scores go very high ?

    • Edward, this is a difficult one but with the low level of difficulty of CAT 2014 a score of 210+ might be required for a 99.9%ile

    • Akshay, the sectional overall cutoffs for ST are:
      1. IIM A sectional 75%ile and overall 80%ile
      2. IIM B sectional 50%ile and overall 70%ile
      1. IIM A sectional 60%ile and overall 70%ile

  9. Sir could you please elaborate a bit on the shortlisting criteria of IIMA for interviews and what is the role of AR in it and weightage to CAT score ? I couldn’t understand from their website.

    • Abhishek, you will be considered for admission to IIMA only if you have the minimum AR score as given in the Admission Policy document of IIMA. Thus a general category candidate with an AR score of less than 15.5 will not be considered for admission by IIMA unless he/she is in the top 50 of his/her academic category.

  11. Sir, I appeared in CAT 1st time. So I would like to ask, Whats next after I get a call from more than 2 IIMs. What to choose? do there dates of PI/GD clashes?? If yes then do I have to go with an option of taking one from the 2 or more ? What kind of preparation should I start ? GD is oky, but at what kind of intellectual level I should be preparing?? and how long the process from the IIM’s is going to take as I have to manage my schedule for the upcoming quarter year.

    Seeking for a positive feedback.
    Thank You !

    • Sumit, the interview dates of IIMs typically do not clash among themselves. In a few instances the dates of IIMs clash with that of other institutes and in such a case you will need to request for a change which is mostly accepted and an alternate date given.
      Regarding the interview preparation I will be writing a post shortly but to begin with please start reading the editorial page of a newspaper regularly and also a current affairs weekly. If you are in the final year of graduation then do brush up the basics of your area and also a couple of subjects from your final year.
      The interview process requires half a day for each institute and the interview are typically conducted in February and March.

      • Sure sir. 🙂 I will

        Sir, If I am not a CL student(any course), can I get help(with due fee structure of CL) from CL after results regarding GD/PI ?

        • Sumit, yes you can enrol for PDP, the program that will help you prepare for all aspects of the Personality Assessment stage like GD, Interviews etc. Which city ae your from? Will ask someone to connect and provide you with the details.

    • Devika, if you have a profile based call from SP Jain then you need over 85%ile else you will need over 95%ile.
      For IIM L interview call is unlikely below 98%ile.

  13. Sir,
    My attempts are 61 OA, Q-29, VA- 32. Cant exactly comment on accuracy but there was no guess work. I am quite confident with sec1 accuracy and sec 2 accuracy has always been unpredictable. Can you plz tell me my probable percentile range. My profile is as follows:-
    X- 83.5%
    XII- 82.5%
    Engg – 75%
    Work Exp – 1.5 years.

    Can you please suggest me b-schools I should try for. Also I am trying for NMIMS. My first attempt score is 209. Should I prefer NMIMS? I see NMIMS is ranked quite low in CL list of top business schools. I had the impression that NMIMS was a pretty decent b school.. Plz help

      • Sumit, please submit your attempt and estimated correct details in the Percentile Predictor to get an estimate of your normalised score and percentile. You have good academics and calls are possible from all IIMs subject to a good CAT score. The B School Advisory in the same page will suggest the institutes that you can consider.
        NMIMS is a very good institute and would figure among the top 25 MBA institutes in India. You should consider it favourably and at a score of 209 you should be able to clear the overall cut off. Hope you have more than 55 in LS, 65 in LR and 75 in QS.

        • Sir,
          My NMAT score is 209 OA, 82quant, 63 LS and 64 LR.. Sir you said 65 in LR :'(. Will I miss out NMIMS Mumbai call ??

          • Sumit, 65 in LR is safe but with 64 most probably you will make it to NM Mumbai Last year the LR cut off was 61.

  14. Hello Sir,

    CLPP predicts 95.22 -98.22 %ile for me.

    Can you please suggest which colleges are worth applying in the tier 2 category.

    Though i am skeptical of my chances, but I have applied to NITIE, SPJAIN.

    Should I consider FORE, GIM, Great Lakes

  15. Sir,

    How many months GK should I cover for XAT exam & any specific material you would like to recommend for GK & Essay Writing.

    Thanks

  16. GP Sir,

    Regarding Normalization:

    Sir, it seems that you(Percentile Predictor team) have considered only the relative difficulty level in normalization process.
    But, according to me, the most important change was mind sets.

    First day(and mostly first show) candidates in general didnt have slightest idea of such an easy paper(some did, I did :-))..
    Their strategy was completely different.

    22 Nov students got one week to fine tune and modify their strategy. THat was ONE BIG advantage, probably the biggest in an exam like CAT.

    But the normalization had veryyyyyy little effect on first slot scores.

    Confused!
    Shed some light.

    ps: who is gejo?
    and thank you Sir, for being so active on this blog and giving us your time. I also had the privilege of talking to you! Thank you once again.
    I guess my last question before results! I have semester exams 🙁 🙁 🙁 !!!!

    • Shubham, You are right mindset is the only issue. A good candidate is always able to modify his/her attempt pattern and speed based on the level of difficulty of questions. Those of you who were able to do so can expect a high percentile.
      While the normalised scores of the first two slots are close to their raw scores. with advance knowledge of the pattern the candidates on 22nd had an advantage and hence I expected slots 3 and 4 to go down due to normalisation, this has happened for slot 3. However Slot 4 was a bit more difficult than the earlier slots and hence not only nullified the advantage of advance information but also reduced the attempts. Slot 4 hence is likely to be the biggest gainer in the normalisation process. Hope this clarifies.
      Gejo is IIT M, IIM C alumni and is a faculty at CL Mumbai.

  18. Sir,

    My acads are 93%, 97%, 62% in 10th, 12th and graduation respectively. Do you think I have a shot in A,C,L,I and K even if I get a 99%ile? I know that B is completely ruled out.

    • H, all these are possible. IIMC does not consider graduation marks and for IIM A your Academic Profile score is 27.5 while the eligibility is at 15.5.

  19. sir i took the cat 2014 exam in the evening slot of 22nd nov, sir as the level of that was little bit higher and the other three slots so will there be any benefit regarding the normalization process i mean , is there any chance that students who took the exam may get high score than the other three slots?

  21. sir
    i gave my cat in slot 4
    attempted 57(31+26)
    accuracy of about 85-90 overall
    do i have a chance of getting new iim calls?
    also what could be the cutoff overall score for a new iim call?

  22. Sir,
    I appeared in the afternoon slot on the 16th. My attempts were as follows: QA/DI – 37, VA/LR – 36. Unfortunately, in my last 8 mins, I couldn’t make any attempts. After the paper, I realised that I missed out on 3 sitters in quant (which included a question on averages and one on percentages!!!!!), and have been having nightmares ever since. Moreover, I know that one numbers question is certainly wrong. Other than that I should have a 90% accuracy. Do you think that the above would affect my chances of A, B and C?

    • Rsha, if you have a good accuracy in these 73 attempt then the last 8 minutes will not matter. Forget about CAT and focus on SNAP/XAT, you cannot improve anything by worrying about the 3 missed sitters in CAT. With a 90% accuracy you have a good chance of calls from all the top MBA institutes. Please submit your attempt and estimated correct details in the Percentile Predictor to get an estimate of your normalised score and percentile.

  23. Hello sir,

    I am a student from a new IIT. I am in my BTech final year. I’ve given my cat on 16th november (first slot). I had 64 (38+26) attempts. CLPP says my %le might be be between 98.5 and 99.2. What could be the maximum error for the predictor? I am a regular student at CL. My credentials are as follows:
    X- 87%
    XI- 95.1%
    BTech: 71.2%
    Sound co-curricular profile.
    Category: General
    I’ve applied to FMS as well. Can I expect calls from old iims?
    Thanks in advance.

    • Tej, call from the old IIM A and C may not be possible but are likely from all other IIMs and FMS. Do apply to JBIMs also.

  25. sir,
    with 43 attempts with accuracy in the range 85-90..78 percentile should b expected according to da new percentile predictor is it correct??

    • Karishma, the percentile predictor is based on the data submitted by all of you and hence I believe that it should be correct.

  26. Hi GP sir,
    sir last year I converted IIM Shillong but failed in FMS. My acads are
    X-81%
    XII-77%
    Grad-7.01(BIT)
    Workx- 11(cont.)
    this tym CLPP is giving 96.6-99.1
    SC catg……can i expect a call from iima………….

  27. Sir,
    1) I appeared my CAT exam on 22nd november 2nd slot. I have attempted 75 questions (36+39) . I can in no way predict my accuracy (but it should be on the high side, since questions were easier) . Don’t know how much i will actually get but still hoping for the best . Cl predics my %ile between 98.2(20 incorrect) and 99.9 (12 incorrect) . I have 94.33, 88.83 and 81.9 in 10,12,grad. what are my chances of getting calls from IIM A,B,C and L if i get 99 percentile exactly ?
    2) Wanted to thank CL for being my saving grace 🙂 I had enrolled for full time coaching at TIME. didn’t attend more than 10-12 class (not very helpful, though to be fair, i live in a small city, so not so good faculty) . Their AIMCATs were super tough and way off the mark(i used to get 97-98 %ile in earlier tests, but slumped to 85-95 %ile later due to high toughness mainly) . Then i joined CL test series(best decision ) . scored 97-99 percentile regularly and the test series were close enough to CAT which helped me make a sound strategy for the exam 🙂
    3) If I don’t make it to IIM ABCL(IK) , I’ll surely be joining CL test series for 2015 , will i get a discount (a good one, at that )? 😛

    • Verma,
      1) at 99%ile you are likely to miss out on A and C but should get calls from the others. My estimate is that for A and C a general category candidate will need over 99.5%ile. Hope you have applied for FMS also and do apply to JBIMS once CAT results are declared. Start your PDP early so that you are well prepared for the next stage.
      2) Thanks for appreciating our efforts.
      3) All ex CL students are eligible for a discount but hopefully you will not need one.

          • Sir,
            Thanks again for the kind advice 🙂 I am in my final year in engg(CS) . Got placed in a very good company. I’ll take my chances this year. Then will reassess my options in the next 2-3 years . However at this moment I want the IIM tag desperately . Hope you understand, being IIM B grad yourself 😀

  28. Sir I am expecting my percentile to be somewhere between 94 to 98.5… These estimates are according to CLPP…10th 83.3 12th 85.2 btech 68.4…. Sir from wich colleges can I get a call?

  29. Hello Sir,

    I appeared for CAT on 16 Nov Noon slot and from what it seems, I may be somewhat short on attempts. I was slow in my attempts so as to give my best accuracy.

    QADI: 28 attempts [at max 3 wrong in worst case of having read any wrong data; Avg accuracy in CL mocks~95%]
    VALR: 28 attempts [at max 5 wrong in worst case; Avg accuracy in CL mocks~85% but then CL’s VA was a bit on higher standard than CAT]
    OA: 132/300 (on a very conservative side (may touch 140+)

    CL predictor: 94-95% ile
    X- 94
    XII-80
    B.Tech- 81% with some good extra-curriculars
    Work Ex- 17 months as of now under MoRT&H (Non-Gazetted Class I Officer)
    NC OBC

    From what I could collect from a primary research, I am hopeful for a call from FMS and new IIMs.
    In view of above I just wanted to know:
    1. Whether 95%ile is sufficient to make a convenient convert to FMS given that GDPI don’t go bad or should I require a better percentile.
    2. Do I stand a chance of a call, that is ‘conveniently convertable’ from any of the older IIMs given that subsequent rounds are decent (by decent I mean ‘not extra ordinary’)

    Any other suggestion or insight shall be really helpful.
    Thank you 🙂

    • Kumar, NC-OBC conversion to FMS is possible at a score of over 94-95%ile and if your accuracy in QA is similar to that in Mocks you would be in the 95-96%ile range where it will be reasonably safe for you. do apply to JBIMS also as it too is likely to be similar to FMS in terms of cut offs
      Most of the IIMs have between 30-40% weight for CAT score and about 50% for the GD, Interview, WAT process and hence converting calls is possible with a decent interview process. Your work experience and excellent academic record could get you a couple of calls from the older IIMs.

      • Thank you for the insight Sir. After results (on hopeful lines), I wish to go for a GDPIWAT preparation taking leave from work for a week or so. Does CL offer any such sessions in Delhi or Patna ?

        • Kumar, Slot 3 was the easiest and hence the slot 1 and 2 candidates have also gained marginally.
          These sessions are available in both the places – Delhi and Patna. You can consider Calcutta also.

  30. Sir, I have NC-OBC and work ex of 2 years. I also have ex curricular state, district level. Acad : 92 (10th) , 74 (12th) , 84 (b.tech). I am expecting 90 percentile plus in CAT. Which IIM calls can I get? Apart from IIMs can I get profile based call from SPJAIN, and a call from FMS ? Which colleges should I apply? I am also getting 33-34 in IIFT. CAN I get a call?

  31. Hello Sir
    Has the percentile predictor been updated completely?
    Does it consider 22nd Nov slots? Because it still shows that it is revised upto 21st Nov data and is based on slot 1 analysis.

    And if all the 4 slots were same on the basis of composition and difficulty level, then why are the slot 1 candidates being benefited.

    • Deeplove, the Percentile Predictor has been updated based on the data submitted by all of you and now ou can get your estimated normalised scores and normalised percentiles. All four slots were not exactly the same in terms of the level of difficulty, data suggests that slot 3 was the easiest and slot 4 was the most difficult.

  32. sir,
    percentile predictor is showing 94%ile with va accuracy of 77% ..
    and 98%ile with va accuracy of 90%..
    i am an SC candidate …
    my profile –
    10-82%
    12-77.2%
    grads-81.2%
    what calls should i expect ??
    thank u for the help in advance 🙂

    • Sourav, as a SC candidate you can get calls from all IIMs at a percentile score of over 90%ile. Hope you have applied to FMS also.

  33. Respected Sir,
    I took cat on 16th nov afternoon slot
    my conservative marks are 148 and normalized marks are 147
    my optimistic marks are 184 and normalized marks are 185
    Sir, my question is why there is a reduction of 1 Mark in conservative marks and increment of 1 Mark in optimistic marks in normalization?

  34. sir,
    i gave my exam on 22nd evening slot
    attempted 57 questions (31+26)
    i strongly believe my accuracy in quant is over 90% and in VA 80%
    predictors says that my percentile would be in rhe range 93-98
    is there any possibilty of an iim or an mdi call ?

    • Anu, the cut off for new IIMs us expected to be 97.5%ile and hence you have a chance from these. Also some of the IIMs give extra marks for gender diversity which could help you get calls from some of the older IIMs as well. Call from MDI is also possible since its cutoff is expected to be 97%le.

  35. Sir

    1. Whether the CAT percentile predictor has been updated finally (as it shows 21 nov) or it will update further taking into account the test of 22 nov.

    2. What is the cutoff for call in FPM at IIM,A,B,C

    • Vijaya, it has been updated on Friday and you can now check your normalised scores and percentiles.
      FPM calls are possible at low CAT scores also (90%ile) if you have a good profile.

  36. Hello Sir
    My predictor is showing my percentile based on the raw scores (186/206) as 99.92/99.99 and based on the normalised scores (185/203) also it is exactly the same.
    Is that an error or is it like that only ?

  38. Sir,
    My profile is as follows-
    10th- 89% ICSE
    12th-90.25 CBSE
    Grad-7.6 CGPA till 6th sem
    A fresher
    Should I consider applying to SP Jain, the percentile predictor is predicting about 98.xx in my case for a conservative score.

    • Shreya, yes you should apply to SP Jain but for the program that is close to your academic background. Thus if you are an Engineer then it should be Information Systems or Operations.

  39. Gejo Sir

    I had the same slot as yours i.e 22nd Morning. overall analysis says that this slot was the easiest and the overall percentile would have adverse effects due to normalization. is this true?
    I have 68 attempts and it seems a little difficult now to get a very high percentile.

    • Easiest is a pretty relative term – By and large the level of difficulty have been the around the same and so there would not be an adverse impact due to normalization. 68 is a pretty attempt – all that matters is how many of those were correct.

      Regards

  40. Dear Sir,
    In the SP Jain form, it asks us about the field in which we wish to specialize. In the final list, do they segregate the candidates as per this preference (i.e the person who marked finance gets into MBA finance, marketing gets marketing,etc?) Or is it that students choose their specialization only in second year?

    Regards,
    Raghav

    • Your preference is what you will eventually get in SP Jain – you cannot choose later. You have to chose in the form and that sticks.

  41. Sir,

    With 6 new iim’s admitting students from 2015 onwards,

    What do you think would be the cat cut off for the same?

    My predicted score is between 90-97 percentile, I am thinking of applying to TAPMI,BIM & SPJAIN .

    So what do you think sir, do I need to apply for anymore institutes in my percentile range?

    • Sai,

      Apply to IITSOMs (they do have a higher percentile cut-off). However, there which will fall in your predictor range.

      You could look at SPJAUN, IMT, TAPMI, BIM, KJ Somaiya…

  42. Sir,

    I noticed that the scores have been normalized as per the difficulty level of each slot. I myself had the slot 4, which is being called the toughest slot by many. However the normalized scores for this slot increased by 3-6 marks. But don’t you think that this increase should be a bit higher as this is just additional marks for 1-2 questions. And have we received any response from the IIMs to your petition?

    • Harsh, none of us has seen all the four papers and hence we have only the data submitted by all of you to work on. Another thing that you can check is that while the scores of slot 4 have gone up by 3-6 marks the scores of slot 3 would have gone down by a 3-6 marks and hence the gap between the easiest and the most difficult slots is around 10 marks.
      Except for an acknowledgement by the Chairman of CAT Committee of having received the petition and sent to the committee for consideration there is no response.

  43. GP Sir/ Gejo Sir,

    I took CAT on Nov 22nd, afternoon slot. I attempted 68 ques (37 & 31).
    The CL %ile predictor shows the range of 96 to 99.8 for me. However, I am a bit skeptical about this prediction as my accuracy has been horrible in VA during the mocks (Hoping for the best).

    Sir,
    I have applied to NITIE, FMS. Could you please advise where else should I apply to, considering my very average academics with 40 months of IT experience with decent extra-currics? I’m confused about SPJIMR (as I’m not sure whether they will give me a place in the Finance class). Also, which IITs are worth applying to? (I have already rejected IIT madras, Roorkee and IMT-G a couple of years back).

    Your advice Sir??

    • Mac, can you please check your Normalised Score and Percentile in the Percentile Predictor, it is available now. If you apply to SP Jain for Information Systems then you have a good chance of getting a call but for finance it might be difficult. Hopefully your accuracy in CAT will be better than that in Mocks and then we will not need to worry about SP Jain.
      Among the IITs you should consider Mumbai, Kharagpur and Delhi. Do apply to JBIMS also after the CAT results.

      • Thank you Sir….
        Actually I have revised my conservative accuracy assumption for worst case scenario, so the updated prediction will be available for me afetr 24 hours. I hope the result reaches to the Optimistic one.
        I will have to rethink about SP’s IT management, as the Finance is my priority before the institute.
        Please advise which all tier 2 colleges should I apply to?
        (Also, my profile is as follows: 10th- 85 12th- 72 Btech- 63, 40months IT exp., diverse extra currics in Basketball, Singing, NGO work ex and foreign language). Please advise accordingly? also, do I stand a chance from IIM-C?

        • Mac, if you are very keen on finance then let it be your 1st preference in SP Jain and let Information Systems be your 2nd preference, it might come in handy as a back up. Given you profile you cannot afford to go lower end institutes and should restrict yourself to the institutes in the top 3 clusters (ideally top 2 clusters) of the post Jayein toh jayein kahaan 2014: Which Institute?.
          For IIM C interview call your marks of X and XII are fine and it will boil down to your CAT percentile, if it is over 99.5%ile then you have a chance.

          • Thank you Sir!

            I read your article on college selection, and I think I have applied to almost all the institutes from Cluster 1 & 2. However, I have a couple of questions:-

            1) I applied to SPJIMR yesterday, and filled Ops mgmt as first preference as my work ex is as a Business Operations Analyst @ American Express. However, it was more of an IT experience, so I dont havve much knowledge about Ops (Now I’m not sure how to prepare for thier questions on this.) What do you suggest Sir?? Also, due to session expiration issue while filling up the form, my 2nd preference did not get saved. So is it like that they will consider me only for Ops now, and straight away rehect me for other streams even if I’m good enough for them??

            2) Sir, I’m applying to a couple of colleges from Cluster 3 for back up, namely XIMB, IIT-D, NMIMS, SIBM. What do you say about this? Please advise if I should add any other institutes to this list, or should I leave these as well??

            Long query…Thanks in advance Sir!!!

  44. Hello Sir
    Has the percentile predictor been updated completely ?
    It is showing the normalised scores and percentiles, but it still says that it was last updated on the 21st.
    Besides, it is showing a percentile of 99 (Exact!) at a conservative score of 185 as well as at an optimistic score of 203.
    How is that possible ?

    • AS, the normalised scores and percentiles will be released today.
      In your case, 99%ile for raw score of 185 & 203, is an error. Please check again if it still shows the same then email your details and a screenshot of the page to support@careerlauncher.com

        • According to the posts here, the revised percentiles and scores are already available. Are they?
          In my account it’s still showing 99 for a normalised score of 185 and 203.

          • A S, The Percentile Predictor was rounding off the percentiles to integral values, it has been rectified early morning today.

  45. Sir, I have secures 95.18 percentile with 210 marks and AIR 2081 in September CMAT 2014. which colleges should I apply to? I am a non maharashtrian General category student.
    Thanks.

    • Sahiul, the two best colleges through CMAT are GIM and KJ Somaiyya and you should be able to a call from both. For the Mumbai University colleges you will need to take CET in Feb’15.

  46. Hi Sir,

    My CAT application form is showing me incorrect data. I filled aggregate marks for 12th as 79.4 and it is showing me 79.04. And for 10th aggregate marks I filled 72.8 and its showing me 72.08. I have sent a mail to CAT team but they say that I will have to justify this at time of selection.
    It happened at 2 places. Its not a manual error. Its system error.

    What can I do now?

    • Surbhi, do not worry it is a minor issue and will be corrected by the IIMs when you go for the interviews. When you get interview calls from the IIMs, inform them of this error and also send them a scanned copy of your mark sheets. Physical verification is usually done before the interview process at the venue.

  47. Sir,
    CL predictor shows 98.xx for me.
    Acads:
    X: 87
    Xii: 96.6
    B.E: 78.4

    Shall I go on to apply for Nitie. Any possibility for new IIMs.

    Thanks

    • Abhiteja, you have possibility of calls from new IIMs and NITIE. Do apply for both the programs of NITIE. The percentile predictor has been updated after normalising the scores across the four slots, please check in the evening for your normalised score.

  48. Sir, I had my CAT in the first slot.
    The LRs were difficult and I could manage only 1.5 and same with the DIs.
    My attempts:
    Section I-34
    Section II-28
    I was trying to concentrate more on accuracy and hence rue the chance of attempting another RC.
    Nonetheless, the percentile predictor is showing an optimistic %ile of 99+.
    I have a very nice academic record with 90+ in all the 10th, 12th and Graduation exams and a work experience of 18 months as well.
    Considering I am not judging my accuracy correctly, what are my chances of getting calls from the older IIMs?

    • Yogesh, please check again in the evening as the predictor is been updated by normalising the scores across the four time slots.

      • Sir,
        The predictor is showing conservative and optimistic %ile as 97 and 99 respectively.
        Given that I end up getting 97, can i expect a call from the older IIMs and FMS? What other colleges should I try my hand at?

        • Yogesh, The Percentile Predictor was rounding off the percentiles to integral values. Please check again for the exact values.
          For new IIMs you will need a score of 97.5%ile while in case of FMS to ensures conversion you should have over 99%ile. Also the old IIMs will need over 99%ile.

  49. Sir I had my CAT on 22nd NOV 2nd slot, many students are saying it was the most difficult slot. I know that nobody has given all the slots but based on the feed backs from other people and also from your own experience of the slot how do you rate this slot among the four? in case of wrong questions (DI set), people who have attempted will get bonus marks?Sir we are waiting for your analysis of the post noon slot.

      • Sir,
        Thank you for your reply. I would like to know what IIMs do in case of a wrong question?Should I keep XIMB and GIM as backup options if I am expecting around 98%+? Please suggest other institutes too.

        • Tushar, usually the questions are deleted and raw scores and percentiles are calculated based on the reduced number of questions.

  50. Sir,

    I attempted 32+30 questions in Slot 2 (22nd Nov). With CL’s predictor how are we taking care of normalization taking into consideration that slot 2nd of 22nd Nov was toughest as per the students.
    Which range can I consider my percentile to be with 90% accuracy in QA and 75-80% in VA

    Regards

    • Piyush, the normalised scores and percentiles are being released today, please check in the evening. You are right slot 4 was the mast difficult as per our data too these students can expect their scores to go up marginally.

  51. Sir
    My question is not about about cat…I have given cat and It is showing around 98.9
    My question is CRISIL conducts some internship and analyst program… can you help me how meaningful are they in terms of placement…..course is free but opportunities after doing that..??
    and it shortlists candidates from CAT only

    • Vatsa, it can at best be a back up option as it is an industry specific program and hence will have limited placement opportunities.

  52. Sir,
    I gave cat on 22nd in the forenoon session.My attempts were 29 in QADI and 33 in VALR.My expected scores are between 130-160.My academics are 81% in 10th,82% in 10th and 76% in B.Tech with 13months of IT experience in an MNC(I left job for MBA).I have two scholarship n merit certificates.Should I apply to SP JAIN and NITIE?Is there a possibility of getting calls?Also am quite interested in the Delhi university colleges.Please do throw some light on them.I am giving TISS and MICA and SNAP as well.Please do help me out Sir.

    • Kiki, this is a function of your accuracy. If you are at the upper end of the range than calls from SP Jain and NITIE are possible but if you are at the lower end then calls are difficult. Suggest that you apply to both these institutes since you could be somewhere in the middle. In SP Jain apply for Information Systems because relevant work experience is valued in the selection process.
      Among the DU college FMS might be difficult but the others (in order of preference) MFC, MBE, MIB and MHORD are all possible.

  53. Sir,
    CL is predicting my percentile to be in the range of 97.97 to 99.45, I have average acads,
    X- 87
    XII – 93
    B.E – 66(2014 – prestigious college) , 0 work ex
    Already applied to FMS, MDI and NITIE, do I have a chance for the new IIM’s? and should i apply for SP?

    • Jai, you have a good chance of a call from MDI, NITIE, SP Jain and the new IIMs, Calls are possible from some of the older IIMs and FMS also. Do apply to SP Jain you should be able to get a non-profile based call.

  55. Sir,
    I scored 210 marks and 95.18 percentile in CMAT. AIR Is 2081. Which institutes should I apply to? I am a non maharashtrian general category student.

  56. sir…my acads are ..10th :88%. 12th 76% and graduation 65%
    i want to do mba by next year for sure….and by then i would be having a work experience of 7 months…so if i bring a decent percentile above 99,would i have a chance of going into any of the older iims( A,B,C,L,K I) or in iit D IIT M,SPJAIN and FMS..??for a good perecntile,which colleges would be open for me..?
    Thanku

  57. Sir,
    I gave my cat on the 22nd slot-2. I attempted a total of 61 questions.
    QADI- 28
    VALR-33
    In all the mocks i have given so far, my accuracy in QADI is almost always over 90% even when my attempts are not that high.
    In VALR it ranges between 80-90%.
    CL percentile predicter shows me a raw score in the range between 131-155.
    I have already applied for MDI.Which other colleges do you think i should apply to?
    I have over 80% in 10th n 12th, 76% in btech and 16 months of experience(till now) in an MNC.
    I have loads of extracurriculars.
    I need to do my mba this year only.
    I badly need your advice sir.

  58. Gejo sir, the predictor is giving a prediction of 99.87-99.99. I am a fresher, 94 in 10th, 89 in 12th and 89 in b.tech(upto sixth sem). Since i am expecting calls from the top IIMs and FMS, could you please throw some light on the kind of testing each institute does? And please suggest an online program to prepare for the same.

    • Hi Glen,

      Could not really understand your query.

      By testing, what is that you mean? Are you asking about the second stage of process or are you asking about the teaching in these B-Schools.

      Be that as it may, since you will get calls for sure, you must start your prep for the second stage.

      The IIMs will have PI & Essay writing section. One or two might have GD as well.

      Start your prep for second stage.

      Regards

      • I was asking if u could tell something more about this process.. what you just mentioned, the wriiten ability test, GD n PI. I have never appeared for any big interview before hence i asked. If we could have a separate post about this then it would be really helpful sir. And btw, thank you so much for the SQC. Really made my CAT a breeze! 🙂

  59. Gejo Sir, I have attempted 70 questions in the first slot on the 16th.
    I have been able to discuss 30 questions that I attempted with various sources, and most probably 29 of them are correct. However, these are from qa and lr. I did get a positive feeling after cat, the same that I got in a high scoring mock, in which my accuracy was 94% with 50 attempts. I have fed in this data on the clpp.. Optimistic-6 wrong, conservative-12 wrong. Result- 99.06-99.92. I think I may land up with a score of round-about 175.. What can I expect? Thanks a lot!

  60. Sir ,
    My 10th % age -84
    12th % -68
    Btech %-73 (2013 passout)
    & have 1 year experience working as Civil engg. (Samsung Engineering) outside India
    Will it benifit me Foreign Experience!!
    percentile predictor shows (97.1 -98.9)
    Should I apply to NITIE , SPJAin ?
    & What about IRMA ,is it a good college?
    thanks

    • Ankit,

      Do apply to SP Jain, NITIE and IIT SOMs. Create options. Once the entire process is over and when you have the final calls in hand, you can evaluate the best option.

      IRMA is a good school, but a niche program. Apply to the school, if you look at having a career in such a field. Though, I must add that there are many from IRMA who have build their careers in ‘normal MBA’ options.

      Regards

  61. Gejo Sir!

    Please advise whether I should fill the form of SP Jain or not.My acads are 10- 94%, 12-90.2%, Graduation 72.95%. Expecting a score around 140 in cat. Would I get a profile based call from there?? Please help…

    • Suhas,

      A profile based call only means that they are pre-empting by calling certain students with the hope that they will do well in the CAT. Finally, CAT scores will matter.

      So, please go ahead and apply to SP Jain.

      Regards

  62. Sir, I am expecting 98+ in CAT. I have applied to FMS, XLRI, SP Jain, JBIMS and NITIE. Are there any other colleges I should apply to? Also, I am confused whether to apply in XIMB or not. Please guide me.

    • Also,for SP Jain, My Academics Profile is 10th-93%, 12th-89%, and Graduation(2015)- 75% and I have no work experience. I heard they give more weightage to work experience and other stuff, even having a good CAT percentile. Should I consider applying with this profile?

      • Apply to SP-Jain. Not every single person currently studying at have work-experience. There are quite a lot of freshers too.

    • You must apply to IITSOMs too.

      Back ups – IMT, XIMB, TAPMI.

      You could apply to couple of them… But they would be back-ups. You can decide whether to join them or not after the whole process is done and the options that you have in hand.

  63. GP Sir, more or less my score will be between 155 – 168 in CAT 2014. What percentile can i expect with this score?
    Safe (97.97) & Optimistic (99.45) is being reflected in Percentile predictor. What is your take on it?

    • Adil,

      I will go with the percentile predictor too. 97-99%ile

      My attempts would have been 72 with good accuracy…

      72 with 90% accuracy = 187 Marks
      85 with 80% accuracy = 187 marks

      Its finally not able the attempts, but about accuracy…

  65. Sir, I have attended 21 questions in QADI and 29 questions in VALR section in slot 1. CL percentile predictor is showing a range of 87 to 97 percentile. My acads are X – 87, XII- 88, Grad.-75, not much extracurriculars. Can I get any IIM calls apart from those which are opening this year? Any other colleges that I should apply for (like NITIE)?

    • Bibhu,

      The percentile predictor after all is a predictor. It does give near accurate predictions. And since you you have a possibility of hitting 97%ile, apply to

      SP Jain, IIT SOMs, NITIE for sure

      Regards

  66. Sir,
    I am expecting CAT percentile(safe-98.75, optimistic-99.25) with both sectionals above 90. My acads are not good (10th-86, 12th-73, grad(engg)-65) . Should i apply for SPjain and JBIMS ? Though i doubt a score based call and also i have heard that for final conversion they consider acads again. I am little tight on budget and have applied to every other good colleges.

  67. Hello Sir, my expected CAT (SLOT-3) score is around 165 with balanced sectionals.. what are my chances for SPJIMR and JBIMS ?
    Also, according to the CL IIFT key, my expected score is around 40.5 .. Can I expect a call from IIFT ?

    • Vaibhav, Please submit your attempt and estimated correct details in the Percentile Predictor for your estimated percentile. My estimate is that you will be above 99%ile and should get calls from most IIMs, FMS, JBIMS and IITs.
      With a score of 40.5 in IIFT you should get an interview call provided you clear the sectional cutoffs.

      • Thankyou Sir..
        one more query.. my acads are as follows:
        10th- 90% 12th- 87% B.tech-75% .. NO work-ex.. should i apply for SPJIMR ?

        • Apply.. Apply.. Apply…

          Let SP Jain decide what they want to do with your application.. Let’s not break out head on it. Applying to the school keeps our chances alive. Lets do that

  68. sir

    Was there any error in one of the DIs in the 22nd postnoon slot?
    I felt there were 2 questions where the answer was not there in the options.

    • Reid, a few students have reported error in the DI set on Engineering college but since I did not attempt this set hence cannot comment on it. In case you feel that the set had an error please report it to CAT Center.

  69. Hi Sir, It was really nice and descriptive article.
    I have 222 marks(96.84 %ile) in CMAT and expecting nearly 90%ile (as predicted by CL predictor) in CAT. Which all colleges should i target as my 10th % is 84,12th % is 64 and BE % is 76.

    Thanks in advance SIr.

    • Tanuj,

      IITSOMs – require 97+ percentile.. even higher for Mumbai IITSOM.
      NITIE – requires 98+ percentile..

      Your percentile could be end being tad lower that required…

      You could look at – IMT, TAPMI, XIMB, GIM etc.

      Regards

  70. Hi Sir,
    I took my cat on 22nd november morning slot(Same as your’s).
    My Attempts
    QADI-28 (95% accuracy).
    VALR-24 (85 % accuracy).
    8 months work exp.
    What do you think are my chances to get a call from the newer iims(I dont think i have a chance with the older one’s).

    Thanks in advance.

  71. Sir,
    Do you think its fair that the exam has been conducted in two separate days with a 7 day difference, where the candidate giving the first paper is unaware of the difficulty level and the no. of attempts to crack a 99 percentile where as the 2nd day student has exact analysis. I gave cat on 16th morning, attempted around 65+ questions with 85+ % accuracy.but now that the students read the analysis about the difficulty and the whole pattern,most of them have attempted around 75. Even a normalization thing wont cover the difference of 10 questions I suppose,Will it?

    • Prakhar, the only way to conduct a 100% fair exam is to conduct the test in a single time slot simultaneously for all candidates, which I believe will happen in CAT’15. The students who took the test on 22nd had a distinct advantage as all they needed to do was confirm the test pattern, focus on solving QA, VL and RC and be a bit cautious in LR. The advantage to my mind was not of 10 questions but of 3-5 questions. Also in my estimate the level of difficulty also varied with slot 4 being the most difficult (due to a difficult RC passage and few close choices in VL) and Slot 3 was the easiest. I am hopeful that the normalisation process will take care of the advantages/disadvantage of the four slot.

  72. Gejo sir!

    Please throw some light on TISS-NET(Tata Institute of Social Sciences). It is a reputed College with its fees being quite low. How should we prepare for it?? and what have been the cut offs for it in the past years.. Please guide.

    Thanks
    Suhas

    • Last year they had 95 questions – to be done in 100 minutes:
      GK – 30, QA+LR-35, VA-30

      Cut-off was about 70.

      GK – bit tricky. Last year it is more on static GK (history, laws, awards…). Year before that was current.

      So, you need to try and get as many from the rest 75 (QA+LR+VA). These are the ‘usual’ ones and not that tough. The key would be get your accuracy & attempt really high in these two sections.

      Math – Revise all basic concepts of Arthmetic, P&C, Geometry etc.
      English – RC, para jumbled, analogies etc.

      Regards

  73. GP Sir,
    Could you please give me some idea on Welingkar Rural management program? I scored 167(84%ile) and expecting around 75%ile in CAT. Do I have a chance to get a call from Welingkar?
    Thanks,
    Sohan

    • Sohan, You will get a call but please check the placements of RM program at Welingkar, to the best of my knowledge it is poor. With 84%ile in CMAT you can try for GIM and KJ Somaiyya, they may give you a call.

      • Thanks a lot for your response.
        Sir, could you please suggest me some colleges considering my CMAT score (167/ 84%ile) as well as expected CAT percentile(around 75%ile)?
        Please find my profile below:
        10th: 84%
        12th: 71.3%
        BTech (IT): 8.33 DGPA
        Work Ex: 41 months (Software Paradigms Infotech, Mysore and Infosys, Chennai)
        Currently not working, left my job in April, 2013, preparing for Bank exams/SSC etc. Cleared SBI PO written, IBPS PO written and RRB PO written and waiting for the next round.
        But as I’m 26+ and can’t afford to lose one more year, want to keep MBA as a backup plan.
        Sorry for the long post, but it would be great if you can kindly help me out.
        Thanks in advance.
        Sohan

        • Sohan, the colleges that will accept you at 75%ile in CAT may not be worth joining. Based on CMAT you can try KJ Somaiyya and GIM. My suggestion is that in the MBA space focus on SNAP as it is closer to the Bank exams in terms of structure and level of difficulty and its top 4-5 institutes (SIBM Pune, SCMHRD, SIOM, SIIB, SIBM Blr) are good. Hopefully you will make it to the final list of SBI PO and will not need to worry about the back up option.
          All the best.

  74. Dear Sir,

    Can you suggest some way to prepare for the Gk section in both SNAP and XAT. I have below average gk and need some help

    Thanking you,
    Praveen

    • Praveen,

      Its always a tough question to handle – how to prepare for GK! Something that I always fail to answer.

      If there is any consolation, XAT cut-offs are solely based on Part 1 – DM/LR + VA + QA/DI and not on Part 2 which comprises Essay + GK.

      As far as GK is concerned, Static GK is a vast ocean which cannot be handled in 15 days. You could look at all current affairs. All the major news that happened this year on diverse fields. It is really a tough ask – Management Compass would be of help.

      Your strategy should be to try and maximize you score on non-GK sections in SNAP and try and keep GK as buffer.

      Regards

  76. 16th-Afternoon Slot:
    QADI= 34; 1 is incorrect for sure…other than that i wud say around 90% accuracy.
    VALR: 39; All LRs are correct, all Parajumbles are correct, There may be a couple of mistakes in the grammar part, maybe 1 or 2 in the RCs……but then again, this maybe or may not be…..
    What’s your general take on this??

  77. Hey GP Sir, the CL percentile predictor shows I might get a percetile between 99 to 99.90. I will be filling my XAT form tomorrow. I have not applied for anything else. What troubles me is that my GPA might cost me my chances. Is there some other place I should try for?

    • Abhay, apart from the IIMS the institutes that you should consider are XLRI, IIT Mumbai, SP Jain, MDI, NITIE, FMS, JBIMS. You can consider SIBM Pune and SCMHRD as back up options.

  78. Hi Sir

    I’m preparing for CAT’15(already did coaching for cat’13 in my 4th year). RC n DI are my weak points ..

    Can you suggest any online resource or some books for practising lots of questions..

    thanks…

    • Hi,

      RC and DI will improve by practice. Use CL’s test gym and practice on a regular basis. You will be good at it.

      Have a look at the video that was posted in gpkafunda blog on RC wherein I have given insights into how to handle RC. It will be of help.

      Regards

  79. Hi Sir,
    Here are my attempts for 16th Nov morning slot:-
    Section 1 – 42 (with almost 38+ correct)
    Section 2 – 20 (8 LR, 2 RC, 10 EU)
    While for LR I am sure they are all correct.
    But, For the other part, 7-8 might be correct.
    So, should I be worried about the sectional cutoff clearance for section 2 (I am in NC OBC category) ?
    Thanks,
    Rishabh

    • Rishabh, yes you should be worried about the section 2 cutoff as more than 3 incorrect answers in this section could mean a score below the NC-OBC cutoff.

  80. Sir, my iift marks are –
    Total- 45.25
    Section 1- 13.34
    Section 2- 11.01
    Section 3- 4.64
    Section 4- 16.26
    I fall in OBC category… is there a chance of getting a call from iift delhi..?

    • Shushank, if 4.64 marks are in GK then you are through, if it is any other section then unfortunately you will miss out on a call from IIFT.

  81. Sir
    How much percentile is needed for a safe convert into the SPJAIN for a non experienced candidate ?
    And what is their selection criteria for a profile based call ?

    • Akshay, a score of 97%ile should get you SP Jain interview call. Profile based calls are a function of your answers in the application form, past academics, quantum of work experience, relevance of work experience for the program and social service orientation. For a profile based call also you need to have over 85%ile in each section.

  82. Gejo Sir!!!

    How much percentile would be required in this year cat to get into JBIMS? My slot was II on day 2 and I am expecting a score around 140. Kindly guide. Its late date is 29 November.
    Thanks
    Suhas

  83. Dear Sir ,
    I have attempted 31 in QADI and 34 in VALR… with about 80% accuracy.. Do u think it is good enough for getting a call from IIM’s?

  84. Sir, the analysis is very good, but I must say that you are too judgemental about Aimcats and a false sense of smugness about your own products. I took each and every mocks from CL,Time and IMS(proc and unproc) and I must say your claim that CL mocks were closest to this years holds no ground. This year CL had pathetic quant section and I repeat PATHETIC, totally different from Cat, much tougher than Aimcats at times. The verbal section was a bit easier, but with too much focus on philosophy based RC’s containing inferential questions and lots of vocab based fill in the blanks–again what CAT didn’t test. To me Simcats of IMS, especially their unproc mocks, were closer to CAT, not the CL mocks.

    • Hi Anubhav,

      I was thinking of a few ways in which I could respond to your post. On the one extreme – completely ignore and on the other extreme – frontal attack.

      However, it is a feedback from a IIM aspirant and I should take any such feedback seriously and ensure that the academic team looks at your feedback, which I have done. Though, I must admit I disagree with your assessment.

      So, as far as my response to your assessment is concerned, I have decided to take a middle path. Here it goes:

      To assess which one is the closest test to the CAT (and this goes for the two of us), we will have to take all the 90 total tests (170 minutes each) and then spend additional 120 minutes each for analysis and make the same to the CAT, which is a 435 man-hours of work. That would mean about 4 every day for 4 months. Actually, to be fair, there are also other mocks that are available. So, it would be an exercise which would take about 600 man-hours. I may have the backing of an organization with a huge academic team to get that done, which by the way we do. But then, any revelation of such a study would be construed again as smugness.

      There is another option though, woe could look at feedback from test takers who have taken the CAT 2014 and collate the same – a practice that CL does every year. But again, since there is no independent agency which does such a work, any such analysis that we put out could be construed as smugness.

      So, as it stands – its your word against mine – which we can go on and on defending/arguing.

      Guess we will leave it at that.

  86. sir, please upload the analysis for 22nd nov afternoon session as well. Somewhere i heard that you were attempting that slot.
    thank you

  87. A bit off the topic…I have submitted my SPJAIN form but I missed to enter CAT and XAT registration details.Will I be able to enter those when the results are out?

  88. Sir
    I have attempted 58 with more than 80% accuracy in 22nd forenoon session do you think i’ll be able to score enough to get mhrod du and mfc du??
    Best

  89. Thankyou Gejo Sir , for sharing your views. It’s always lovely to hear from you , as you always present your thought with such gr8 humour. 🙂

  90. Agreed abt the gigantic difference b/w AIMCATs and actual CAT. Sec 2 esp was of same level as CL mocks. I had same way of attempting paper as u do . started with sec 2 14/18 in VA , all 4 rc 16 Qs and 6 LR.(day1 slot 1) generally i used to attempt 3 rcs but these RCs were shorter and question less infrential. Also LR were really time consuming so did particular questions from various LRs (one which does not require complete solution ) and attempted 6 LRs. Then in Sec 1 started with review of paper , found QA quite easy so marked around 25 QA and 2 di sets for R1 in 1st 8 min(of 90 min) and was able to attempt all with little effort. As time was left so took out 3 more QA question overall 36 in sec 1 and 35 in sec 2. whole paper was in line with my strategy , as devised with CL mocks and seeing ur and GP sir videos of mocks.. excpet easy QA , all was in line as planned . Lets hope my accuracy in sec 2 remain as was in CL mocks 🙂

  91. Was your slot 22nd morning by any chance? 🙂 Because the description of the questions you gave match the questions I had in my paper.

  92. GEJO,
    what was your optimistic attempts and conservative attempts?
    I also attempted total 69 questions(3 less than your total) but looking at the responses on pg i am really worried about my score.

    • Dont worry at all…

      My attempt would have been 72 with good accuracy..

      72 attempts with 90% accuracy – 187 marks
      85 attempts with 80% accuracy – 187 marks
      94 attempts with 75% accuracy – 187 marks

      Attempts are irrelevant – accuracy is the key…..

      So, 69 attempts is pretty good – hope that you were accurate.. Normally more attempts would mean lesser accuracy, unless of course the person is a really really brilliant!..

      Regards

  93. Hi sir

    When can we expect another update in the CAT Percentile Predictor now that the second day is also over?

  94. Sir I gave CAT on Slot 1 Day1 .Quants i have attempted 22 questions out of which 2 are wrong 20 are correct.Considering dis best case scenario what percentile can i expect??

  96. Hi gejo,

    Please confirm that your exam date was 22nd and i think the LR set you mentioned that was pretty easy. I spent less time on solving that question than trying to figure out if there was some catch that i was missing 😀

  97. sir ,
    please rate all the 4 slots according to difficulty level …
    cl analysis shows everyone to be similar .. but there will be a normalization factor for different slots with little bit of different difficulty level ….!!
    also 22nd afternoon analysis is not being posted in the blog ….!!
    i gave cat in 22nd afternoon slot ..
    my attempts —
    27 va (2 lr sets , 1 rc set, all va questions “minus” 2-3 inference type questions)
    26 qa (1di set , all qa questions “minus” geometry and some other tricky questions)

  98. Hello sir,
    I have got total 28.59 in IIFT
    with sec1 – 1.32
    sec2 -11.92
    sec3-8.67
    sec4 -6.68
    I am from general category. Is there any chance to get a call from iift delhi or kolkota any one of them ?
    Also,
    how much the normalized percentile of cat predictor (which will be coming in nest 2-3 days ) will differ from current prediction.??
    Currently it says i may score 91 min and max 96.

    • Priya, IIFT is unlikely at your score.
      With similar level of difficulty of the four paper normalisation should not lead to significant changes in percentile scores.

  100. Dear Sir,
    How to apply for college-Department of Business Economics, DU ? Its site is showing nothing regarding admission…..please help
    thank u

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