What’s up with CAT ’12…

It’s been over 10 days since I took the CAT on Oct 11. Since then, many of us at CL have taken the exam and they have been sharing their feedback and updates with me. Here’s what it looks like…

 

The latest update

The latest verdict is that the exam has been on the tough side. Section I, Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation, has been a tough nut to crack in almost all the slots, if we ignore a couple of lucky days where the students found the section doable. Section II, however, got a mixed response with the first few days seeing relatively easier questions. But, the later days have seen passages bordering on abstract. So , for most slots, a good attempt in section -1 will still be 18-20 and for section-2 it will be 20-22. We will advise you to consider the test in your slot on its own merit and not go with any preconceived ideas about the number of attempts that should be made.

CAT update 13th Oct

Quant continued to be difficult in day- 2 of CAT. English, which was of moderate level of difficulty in day – 1 has taken a turn and slot -2 today reported some very tough RC and Para-jumble questions. As in Day -1, all questions of DI and AR were in sets of 3 and were of moderate level of difficulty. Day-2 also did not see any Word Usage questions. These questions have been a consistent part of CAT for past 3 years. Slot -1, Day 2 had at least 2 questions incorrect in section 1.

Overall Analysis of CAT’12

The first round of tests of CAT 2012 is done now and so far all has been along expected lines. As per the announcement made earlier, the paper had two sections – Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning, with 30 questions in each section. The sections were available sequentially, each having a time limit of 70 minutes to answer 30 questions. Thus, it was mandatory to spend the stipulated time on the prescribed section and it was only when the time ended for the first section that it was possible to move to the second section.

The total duration of the test was two hours and thirty five minutes, including a 15-minute tutorial provided to the candidates before the start of the test to familiarize them with the layout, screens and navigation.

The overall structure of the paper was as follows:

Section No. of Questions Time in minutes Difficulty Level Possible Attempts
Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation 30 70 Tough 18-20
Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning 30 70 Moderate 22-24
Total 60 140 40- 45

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

There were 21 questions of QA and 9 questions of DI in both the slots. The difficulty level was high and the questions were designed to test the grasp of fundamentals. There were questions from regular topics like Number System, Algebra, Geometry, Modern Math and Geometry. Questions in Data Interpretation area were also not simple and involved convoluted calculations. All the questions in DI came in sets of 3. DS was absent from both the slots

Section Topic No. of Questions
Quantitative Ability Number System  2-3
Algebra  6-7
Arithmetic  3-4
Modern Maths  2-3
Geometry and Mensuration  5-6
Data Interpretation Bar Graphs  0
Pie Charts  0
Table based  2 x 3 = 6
Combinations of Graphs  1 x 3 = 3

Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

The questions in this section were of moderate difficulty level. The trick here was to aim for high accuracy by correctly identifying the questions that one was confident of solving correctly. RC’s were manageable, not being inordinately lengthy or abstract. At most only one of the three given passages was tough. There was a balanced mix of questions from the various areas of Verbal Ability. All the questions in LR came in sets of 3. Slot-2 saw as many as 3 questions on tone/style of the passage/author. This question type was missing in slot-1.

Section Topic No. of Questions Description
Reading Comprehension Reading Comprehension  10 (4+3+3)  At least one RC in each set was unique and all the passages were of moderate level.
English Usage Sentence Correction  2  4 statements were given – one had to identify the combination of correct/incorrect statements
Para-jumble  2  5 sentence type
Para-completion  3  Moderate – tough , last line missing type
FIB  1  Easy-moderate , 2 blanks type
Word Usage  2  Simple words , use of phrasal verbs
Para-jumble (Odd sentence out)  1  4 statements out of which 3 could be arranged in a sequence
Logical Reasoning Data Arrangement  ( 3+3+3)  All the three sets were arrangement problems
Seating Arrangement
Logic Based

 

You can watch the CAT ’12 video analysis here.

More updates coming up soon.

 

 

171 Comments

  1. Sir,I gave my CAT on 4th of nov,2012, afternoon session. I attempted 17 questions in QA and 21 in VA. I am sure of 145corrects in QA and can’t remember the other 3 questions and expecting 16 correct in VA.What could be my percentile keeping in mind the difficulty level of the paper??

  3. I have taken CAT on 29th OCT. morning slot.
    SEC 1 : 12-13 ATTEMPTS …90% accuracy. and in sec 2 , have attempted 14-15 with 80% accuracy. what overall and sectionwise % can i expect? i am from SC category…

  4. Sir,

    I took a CAT’12 on 16th Oct .. my attempts was 17 in QA and 21 in VA …with 85% accuracy in quant and 90% in VA… wat 5%ile should i expect?

  5. Sir, i appeared for cat on 29th oct 1st slot.
    I attempted 27 in QADI & 26 in VALR with 85 to 90 % accuracy.
    How much percentile can i expect?

    • Shashi, with your attempts and accuracy you should get calls from all IIMs. Please start preparing for the personality assessment stage.

  6. Hello Sir,
    I took CAT on 25th Oct afternoon slot. I attempted 20 in QA , In VA, I attempted 15. if i expect to score between 85-90..how much %ile can i expect?

    • Jasmine, as I have mentioned in my reply to your other post, you should be around 90%ile subject to normalisation process.

  7. Hello Sir,
    I took CAT on 25th Oct afternoon slot. I attempted 20 in QA , In VA, I attempted 15. if i expect to score between 85-90..how much %ile can i expect?

  8. sir, my cat was on 30’oct . I attempted 13 in sec 1 with one wrong ans and 24 in sec 2 with around 80-85 % accuracy. What could be my percentile range ?

    thanks in advance

    • Ray, with 12 and 20 correct in the two section, you could be around 90%ile but are unlikely to clear the sectional cutoff in QA.

  9. my cat was on 5th nov(afternoon slot),I found qa on the difficult side but managed to attempt 18 questions with 90% accuracy.i have attempted 22 in va with 80% accuracy.Please give me a rough idea of my percentile,also the b schools i can apply to.

    • Neha, You would be in the 90-95%ile range, if your accuracy is very good then you have a chance of getting calls from the IIMs also. Please apply tocolleges in the raw score bracket 88-95 and also a few institutes in the bracket 77-88 as a backup as mentioned in the article at http://www.gpkafunda.com/?p=957

  10. Hi Sir,

    I wrote CAT on October 18th evening slot. I attempted 18 questions in QADI. I re-checked to ensure all of them are right. I attempted 22-23 qns in VALR. I did reasonably well, I feel. What can I expect ?

  11. sir may be this is wrong place to ask but I could not find any other link..Sir with TISS offering a choice this time between written and online mode,which one should be preferred for a speed based exam like TISS.

    • Shweta, apologise for missing your query.
      Go for what you are comfortable with but typically our speed is higher in a paper and pen test.

    • Adity, You are short by a couple of attempts in both sections, depending upon your accuracy you would be in the 80-90%ile range.

  13. Sir,
    I’ve given my CAT on 29oct,2012 evening slot.
    QA was a moderate paper and i’ve attempted 15(confident on all)
    . But LR was on the difficult side;all the 3 sets of LR were tricky and lengthy.I managed to solve all the 3 sets,but sadly it took 50min+ to solve the 3 sets.so total i had only 11 attempts.(confident on 9).I used to solve LR with a decent speed in mockcat’s sir.I feel the VA was really tough.
    so,in total 24-25 right,1-2 may be wrong.
    What individual sectional’s % and Overall % can i expect sir.And which decent colg’s can i apply for with this %?
    My Acads:
    10th : 90%
    12th : 95%
    B.tech : 68%
    I belong to Nc-OBC quota.
    Thanks in advance Sir. 🙂

    • Nitish, the cut offs for NC-OBC are 3-5%ile points below the general category but your attempts are not sufficient, VALR has really pulled you down. You could look at a few colleges in raw score 70-77 and 77-88 but do focus on SNAP and CMAT for a better selection of institutes.

  14. Sir, I gave my CAT on 6 Nov.

    I attempted 25 in QA/DI (and atmost 1-2 wrong taking silly mistake into account)

    But I regret that I attempted only 18 in VALR (out of fear of accuracy). I also got stuck in LR sets because of my stupidness. Now I believe I could easily have attempted 3-4 more ques.

    Please tell me do I have a chance of getting a call from IIM’s.
    Also what other institutes can I apply.

    Also I have applied for MDI. Does MDI also have sectional cut-off’s??

    • Vishant, If your accuracy in Section 2 is good (maximum 2 incorrect) then you have a chance of IIM calls because your overall score would be very high. MDI has sectional cutoffs but it is lower than that of CAT so you should be able to clear it. You should apply to FMS also since it goes by total score only and for backup you should apply to a few institutes mentioned in the 88-95 score bracket in the article http://www.gpkafunda.com/?p=957
      XAT for XLRI is a also a must for you.

  15. sir,
    I attempted 13 questions in section I, with 80% accuracy and 23 questions in Section II with 90 % accuracy. I have an experience of one year and 8 months and belongs to SC category, how much percentile I can score and to which B schools I should apply.
    Kindly reply.

    • Anil, your VALR attempt is upto the mark, however the QA accuracy might be an issue. To be on the safe side do apply to colleges in the raw score 88-95 bracket in addition to FMS, NITIE, IIT-B,D.

  16. sir, i gave my cat on nov 6, morning slot and hope to get marks between 65-70, what percentile can i expect for me,, and for which b schools i should apply…

  17. Sir,
    Took CAT on 16 october . Attempted through 14 – QA with 90% accuracy, VA -27 ( accuracy cant determine) ..Which colleges should I target to? Do i stand chances for NITIE , FMS belong to NC-obc ?

    Thanks in advance

    • Prabhakar, typically the NC-OBC cut offs are around 2-3%ile points below the general category cutoffs and it is possible that despite being short of the ideals attempts you could clear the QADI sectional cutoff, obviously you will need 13/14 in QADI and ateast 20/27 correct in the two sections. Nevertheless please apply to FMS also.

  18. sir,
    how would u rate the difficulty level of 30th oct eve slot?
    i attempted 18 in qa( a conscious effort to not guess), at most 1 mistake
    and 27 in va(5 w going by analysis )
    what percentile cn i expect?
    will be grateful for ur reply

    • Piko, 18+27 is a good attempt irrespective of the difficulty level in this years CAT. With your estimated accuracy IIM, FMS, MDI, SPJain calls are almost sure. Please stat preparing for the next stage.

  19. Dear sir,
    I gave my CAT on 5th November, morning slot. I found my paper a lot easier than what I had anticipated after reading the earlier reports. I have attempted 24 questions in QA and 30 in VA. A friend of mine who was sitting a few desks away got a relatively tougher paper. I am worried about normalization as I have little knowledge about it. Plus I found a question to be erroneous which I have reported to prometric.
    What percentile should I expect and which colleges should I apply to ?

    • http://www.gpkafunda.com/?p=957
      Please visit the link given above to get a rough idea of your expected percentile.

      You should thank your stars for getting an easier paper. Don’t worry about the normalization process; it’s something which is beyond your control. Just concentrate on other exams, it’s a long season ahead.

  20. sir,i attempted around 20 questions in qa and di with around 90% accuracy as i didnot make any guesses
    but having been struck in a lr set i could attempt only 20 questions with around 85% accuracy as i found the rcs a bit abstract..kindly help me out about what all colleges should i apply to??

  21. GP Sir..I gave CAT on 4th nov morning slot.I attempted 19 in sec 1 n 18 in sec2 with 80% accuracy.What %ile can i expect?

  22. sir,
    i gave cat on 5th nov morning slot
    qa di – 18 attempts (all should be correct unless there was a silly mistake)
    va lr – 25 attempts (confident on the 9 lr rest can assume 80+ accuracy)
    what can be my expected percentile
    also sir i have applied to mdi imi and imt and want to apply to one more institute before the result..which colg would be recommended on my expected percentile..will apply to more colgs after result
    thank u

    • Satyam, 17 out of 18 correct in section 1 and 20-21 correct in section 2 should get you interview calls from the IIMs. You can additionaly apply to FMS and NITIE.

  23. Hello GP sir,

    I gave my cat 2012 on 5th nov. The paper was relatively easy though i attempted only 19/30 in QA(80-90% accuracy) and 14/30 in VALR(85-90% accuracy). What percentile will i get and for which of the colleges can i apply for.? Kindly help me recover from my dilemma. Thank u.

  24. hi sir my CAT was on 21st oct(morning slot)
    following are my attempts
    QA/DI- 20 (90% accuracy)
    VA/LR-19 (80% accuracy)
    what could be my percentile and which b-schools should i apply.

      • Thanx a lot sir….sir m gud in Lr but according to me 2 sets of Lr were difficult in my slot…n it took me much time to solve them…but I am sure that all my Lr ques are right..could it make some difference??

  25. hii sir…
    I gave my cat on 6th november 2012, morning slot. I did attempted 10-13 questions in QA with 80-85 accuracy and 21-23 questions in Section 2 with 90-95 accuracy. how much percentile I can expect for me…Please do reply..

    • Anamika, Section 2 is a decent attempt but QADI is a problem. Your overall percentile could be less than 80%ile which rules out practically all decent MBA institutes. Suggest that you shift your focus to SNAP and CMAT.

  26. Dear GP,

    I gave my CAT on the 14th of October(Morning Slot), hence I reckon this post is long overdue in restrospect :). I thought that the paper was a little on the tougher side. My attempts are as follows – 19 in QA/DI, 28 in VA/LR. Assuming an accuracy of 85-90 percent in the first section and an accuracy of around 85 percent in the second, what would say about my chances of calls from the IIMs. Looking forward to your reply.

  27. Sir need your help……
    My exam was on 5th nov.(morning slot),because of prefixed notion as peple were stating paper tough I planned to make no error in all qns i would attempt.I attempted all di sets first and then went to Quant section,because of lack of speed I was able to attempt around 17-18,sure of them being correct,left few easy ones.
    then went to section 2 attempting all 3 Di sets and then 2 RC and para completions….
    making a toatal of 23-24 in ths section.Sure of Di but not 100% sure for eng.
    When I moved out of the center people were saying that they attempted around 20 in section 1 mostly being quant section…..I wasted my time in doing DI leaving some easy quant qns…..according to them LR was tough but i attempted all 3 of its sets correctly…..now i m in a dilemma over what should be done next…I never dreamt of this kind of attempts in section 1.
    Sir please help me out….

    • Ritesh, with 17-18 attempts in section 1 and all correct you should be able to clear the sectional cut off. Similarly your attempts in section 2 are upto the mark and even with 4-5 attempts you would be in line for an IIM call. Ignore what others at your center have said about their attempts and what they found easy/difficult. You have done your job in CAT and now move on to the the next paper.

  28. 3rd Nov, Afternoon slot

    Attempted 13 questions with 80 % accuracy-QA
    23 questions in VA-85-90% accuracy..Can I get calls from any of the IIMs??

  29. hi sir, my cat was on 2 nov morning slot i attempted 20 qs in QA
    i found it tough and got 15 correct in VA-LR i attempted 27 qs of which i am expecting 21-22 to be correct as i attempted my all 3 LR sets correctly what could be my percentile which colleges i should apply

  30. sir..
    i took cat on 30th october mornin slot..i attempted 9 ques in sec1 nd 21 ques in sec 2.. with 85-90% accuracy..wat is my expected percentile??..nd which b-schools do i apply??
    eagerly waitin for ur reply

  31. hi sir, my cat was on 4th nov (morning slot) ….i attempted 19 in QA and 15 in VA , with more than 90% accuracy..help me analyse my exam…what %ile should i expect….which colleges should i apply for..(give me a list of around 7-8 colleges..considering all possible situations)…thanx in advance..

    • Akshar, 15 in VA is a problem, you CAT percentile could be in the 80%ile range which means practically all decent colleges thru CAT are out. Please focus on other papers for which you still have time, especially SNAP and CMAT.

  32. Good Morning Sir.
    I took cat on 2nd November morning slot.
    I was not able to do many questions and ended up doing 15 in qa and 22 in va.I checked the qa while doing and pretty sure about 14 the last one is a guess.In lr I am expecting to get all correct.In section I am expecting to get 17-18 correct.The paper was not so easy.What %ile should i expect? And which colleges I should apply sir?

    • Promita, you will most likely be in the 85%ile range. The best college theu CAT is likely t o be BIMTECH. Suggest you shift your focus to SNAP which is easier and about 40 days away and CMAT which is scheduled for Feb. and has good colleges. Also XAT which is in Jan.

  33. GP sir, i gave my CAT on 4th Nov.12(aftrnoon slot). QA-17 attempt(2 definite and maximum 4 can wrong) and VA -27 attempts(3 definite and maximum 7 can be wrng).
    what percentile I can expect and which college should i apply through.

    • Sunny, you are likely be in the 85-90%ile bracket. If you accuracy is good you could cross the 90%ile mark. The institutes you can target are IMI, FORE, BIM Trichy, MFC, MBE, MIB, MHORD.

  34. hi sir, my cat was on 2 nov morning slot i attempted 20 qs in QA
    i found it tough and got 15 correct in VA-LR i attempted 27 qs of which i am expecting 21-22 to be correct as i attempted my all 3 LR sets correctly what could be my percentile which colleges i should apply as there are plenty of options

  35. Hi Sir, I gave my cat on 3rd Nov moring slot.
    Following were my attempts.
    QADI – 16 attempts – 3 are wrong 🙁
    VALR – 23 attempts – 80 % accuracy.
    How much percentile can i expect and which b-schools should i apply.

    Thanks in advance.

    Regards,
    Anvesh

    • Anvesh, your IIM calls are a function of clearing Section 1, there should not be a problem with Section 2. You should be around 95%ile. Apply to MDI, IMT, TAPMI, UBS PU.

  37. Hello sir,
    i gave my cat on 28th october (evng slot). I have attempted 26 in section 1 and 27 in section 2. In section 1 i havent marked anything random, so expecting minimum 85 % accuracy. Section 2 is generally my weak point. i used to score 40-50 marks in mocks with approximately 70% accuracy. in cat, i was able to solve lr in 20 min. and attempted va & rc questions very carefully.so hoping for atleast 70 % accuracy. how much percentile should i expect??

  38. Hi GP Sir,

    I took CAT on NOV 4th morning slo.

    Attempted 19 ques in first section with 80% accuracy and 29 ques in the second section around 85-90%. What can be my percentile?

    • Krishna, More than 98%ile. You will get all calls from IIMs if you clear section 1 cut off, it is a borderline case. However do apply to FMS as it does not go for sectional cutoff.

  39. Sir I took CAT on 19th Oct(morn slot). I hav attempted 25 questns in QADI with around 21 correct and 26 questns in VALR with around 20 correct.Could u please tell me wat %ile can I expect?…..Can I expexct any calls from IIM’S??

  40. Sir,

    I gave my CAT on 15th October, morning slot. I couldnt do well in the QA section and attempted only 15 questions and attempted 22 questions in VA. Considering an accuracy rate of 90%, what could be my expected percentile?

  41. i have attempted 24 in quant and expecting 21-22 correct nd 22 in va lr nd expecting 17-18 corrects in that my slot is 29 oct evening how much percentile i might get

    • Anmol, Section 1 is very good and section 2 is also fine. I would expect you to clear the sectional cutoffs and get interview calls from the IIMs.

      • sir what might be my percentile .was it better if i attempted 29 in va lr and getting 21 correct instead what i have done that is 17-18 out of 22

  42. Sir i gave my CAT on 31st October afternoon slot. I attempted 16 in QADI and 24 in VA.Considering 80% accuracy and the normalisation process for my slot, how much percentile should i expect??

  43. Hello Sir,
    I attempted cat 2012..In section1, i attempted 18 questions with an accuracy of 98-100 percent.
    In section2, i attempted 18 questions with an accuracy of 90percent..
    How much percentile can i expect?

    • Shveta, you could be in the 90-95%ile range. A couple of extra questions in section 2 would have pushed you beyond 95%ile

  44. sir, i took cat on nov 2nd, morning slot
    i expect 21C and 3W in QADI , 18C and 12W in VALR
    an overall score of around 100,
    In what percentile range would it lie?

    thank you.

    • Divya, How could you do this? Overall score is good, QADI is great but 18C & 12W in VALR has put you on the borderline. If you clear the VALR cutoff you will calls from all IIMs, if you have even 21 correct in VA you are thru. Your gender could be your saviour as some of the IIMs give extra marks to girls and if you are not an engineer then you will get some more marks on account of gender diversity. Let us hope for the best.

  45. Sir,I gave CAT on 5th Nov 2012(Morning slot),because of the reviews i was getting from net I decided not to commit mistakes in section 1 and specified 10 min time for each DI set.with this notion I started with DI sets all being very easy but because of pre notion I devoted more time to each of them than what they were deserving later on i found less time for quant which was also an easy one.my attempts in this section remained 17-18,lamenting over some easy qns being left unattempted.
    Noting this I attempted all thee sets of LR first being most accurate thin attempted one RC some grammar qns hen again one RC making an attempt of 23-24 in this section.making a total attempt of 40-41.
    After coming outside the lab i found people attempted more (19-21)in section one saying that they found DI tougher then quant and 20-22 in section 2 leaving at least one of the LR set.
    Now its a situation of dilemma whether I should fill FMS,NITIE & SP JAIN forms or not????
    How did my paper went???
    For accuracy I am sure of all my section 1 qns(checked 2wice)and DI qns,but for english I am doubtful!!!!!

    • Ritesh, you have done well in a paper that others have found difficult. Since you are confident of all your attempts in QADI you should be able to clearthe section and if you have at least 19 correct in VALR then even section 2 is clear. NITIE, MDI, SPJain are should be possible but am not sure about FMS but think that you should apply to FMS.

      • Thank you sir for your reply……
        Sir i have not yet filled SNAP and XAT, should I fill them?
        Sir actually I want to do masters in Operations ,if not from some IIM then from some good IIT or NITIE….Should I go for these exams????
        These colleges don’t give good MBA (Operations)

  46. hi sir….. on 2 nd november’s morning slot with 20 attempts in both QA and VA..and with 85% accuracy what can be my expected percentile??….can i get at least an IIM call?
    i m in final year
    non engineer
    grad percentage-58%(till 4 th semster)
    XII-90%
    X-96%
    and plz tell me which other colleges i should apply?

    • Shuvam, Decent attempts, you should be able to clear the sectional cut offs but the overall cut off could be a borderline case. Please apply to MDI, SPJain, etc for backup

      • Thnak sir for suggesting me some colleges…though MDI deadline is over i will apply for spjain definitely….sir can u plz tell me what can be the sectional percentile approx and overall also?

  47. I took CAT on 25th Oct afternoon slot. I attempted 23-24 in QA and no guesses. Considering there may be some silly errors (which I am not aware of as of now), it should be safe to assume a 85%+ accuracy. In VA, I attempted all 30. The reason is that i am never sure about para jumbles. My %ile in VA in CL mocks has ranged from 90 to 99.9%ile. Still, I would be more comfortable assuming my accuracy to be about 75-80% in VA. Based on other students’ experiences that you know of, how much %ile can i expect

    • Kanav, even if I assume 3 silly mistakes in QADI, you should not have a problem in this section. With 30 attempts in VALR it is your accuracy in this section that will determine your fate. However 20 correct in QADI and a minimum of 21 correct in VALR should ensure a call from the IIMs and FMS.

      • Sir, thanks for your response!
        One last query that I have is should I apply to JBIMS? There are very less seats for outside Maharashtra and I did not take CMAT either. Another thing is that I missed the deadline for MDI. I know, so stupid of me. But thats behind me now. I just want to ensure that I don’t make any such mistake going forward.

        Waiting eagerly for your thoughts and suggestions..

  48. sir,
    I appeared for my cat on 3rd of november and i attempted just 16 in quants and 17 in verbal.
    I found quant too tough so just faltered.
    What percentile could i expect with a 90% accuracy.
    Thank you.

  49. sir my cat was on 2 nov morning slot i have attempted 20 ques in QA 27 in VA-LR in QA 16 are correct in VA around 21- 22 qs are correct what percentile can i expect should i register for imt ghaziabad and LBS delhi

    • Vipul, IMT should happen, you should be around 95%ile. Your QA sectional cutoff might be a problem. Apart from IMT conside applying to TAPMI and IMI also.

  50. Sir i gave my CAT on 31st October afternoon slot which is considered to be easy compared to other slots of CAT. I found DI and two sets of LR very easy and attempted both and am almost sure of them. However, in Section 1 my total attempts are only 19 as I consider myself not too good in Quants and therefore went on with the ones I was sure of. Overall my attempts are 19 in Section 1 and 25 in Section 2. Considering 85% accuracy and the normalisation process considering my easy slot, how much should i expect??

    • Abhishek, 31st afternoon was easier compared to morning slot and an average level of difficulty. 19+25 is good attempt and if you are able to clear the QA sectional cutoff you should get calls from the IIMs. You should be able to get calls from MDI, IMT, SP Jain also

  51. Hi Sir,
    I gave my CAT on 25 October, morning slot. I messed up my Quant section attempting only 14 questions, out of which I’m expecting max 1-2 wrong.
    And I attempted 23 questions in VA .. and generally I get around 80% accuracy in the section. Can u please tell me the approximate percentile, so that it is helpful in filling forms for various colleges.

    • Karishma, Your VA performance could push your overall percentile to around 90-95%ile. You should be applying to IMI, FORE, TAPAI, BIM.

  52. This time these is a new question being asked in the RC’s:

    What would you ask the author as a followup question based on reading the above passage??

    Pl elaborate and give give an example if possible on how to tackle such questions….
    –This is very urgent as my CAT is tomorrow. CL pl reply!

    • Shashank, you will ask the author something that is connected to the passage but not given directly and has to be inferred from the passage. The best way to handle this is to eliminate the choices using the 4 rules of para completion mentioned in my blog.

  53. sir i gave cat on 31 st october morning slot..i used to get 90+ in quant section in aimcats and cl mocks..!!i was shattered on the d day when i was able to attempt just 16 (with 3 guesses of probability1/2)…and 19 in va lr..our of which 13 shud be correct definitely(worst case)..what shud be expected prcntl acc to u..!!plz give prcntl in both sections and overall..!!!!!!!

    • Ramanujam, 16 attempts in QA with 2 incorrect and 13 out of 19 correct in VALR effectively means below 80%ile. Your only hope is normalisation but I don’t think it will take you beyond 90%ile. Unfortunately CAT is over for you. Suggest that you forget CAT and start working for other papers – IIFT and XAT. XLRI is ass good as IIMs and the applictaion window is still open, please apply for it if you have not done so far. Do take CMAT also because it can get you into JBIMS.

      • sir how can this happen..even my friends..who used to get 95-99 percentiles in cl mocks and aimcats were able to attempt 15-16..!!one of my friend..whu gt 99.09 in quant last yr was able to attempt just 18…!!hw can u say that i wud gt a <80 prcntl..i worked so hard..why do they have to provide us a word normalization if they are nt gng to use it effectively..!!!!

          • Ramanujam, it may sound cruel, but I would be failing in my duty if I do not give you what I think is the correct picture. I would love to be proved wrong but even with 15 correct in QA and 16 in VA, IIMs, FMS, MDI and other top institutes thru CAT are ruled out.
            Please forget CAT and refocus. You have IIFT, SNAP, XAT and CMAT staring at you. While CAT cannot be changed, brooding over it can spoil the other papers.

  54. sir
    i had my cat xam today 2nd of nov. … how much attempts wid wat accuracy will fetch me 90%tl?

    i hav attempted quant 18 wid 16 correct and verbal 22 attempts wid 16-17 correct

  56. Dear Sir,

    Recently, I found a link in this website or maybe the Career Launcher wesbite, whereby we enter the expected CAT score and the names of Institutes which accept within that percentile range appears.
    I lost that link.
    Kindly mention the link.

    Regards,
    Vivek

  58. Sir,

    I appeared for CAT’12 on 31st October in the morning slot.
    I found the quantitative section of the paper on the difficult side and attempted only 15 there (with 1 intelligent guess).. In the verbal section I have attempted around 26 including all 3 LRs (which I am very confident about).
    I have been consistently performing well in my proctored as well as un-proctored mock CATs with my percentile in the 97-99 range. But I feel extremely dejected post today’s paper.
    Sir, please guide me as to what percentile should I expect and what are the colleges I should apply to. Your guidance will be valuable.

    Thanks and regards,
    Subarna

    • Subrana, Morning slot of 31st Oct was among the most difficult QA paper in CAT’12. Even then 15 in QA is a bit on the lower side. The saving grace is that your percentile will go up on account of degree of difficulty. But let us not rule out anything at this point. You have an outside chance in IIMs but a very good chance for FMS since they do not consider sectional cutoffs and go only by overall percentile score. I am in the process of writing an article, which will be released next week, on which colleges to apply. Please hold on till then.

      • Thank you Sir, Your words have been helpful. After months of preparation, the turn of events had left me very dejected for the last 2 days. After reading your article ‘Mission B-School Admission’ motivated me to move on and give my best shot in the next exams.

      • Hello Gautam Puri Sir,
        What can be the expected cutoff in both the sections & overall for the paper on 31st October 2012 morning slot?
        For what minimum score can we expect a call from IIM for the same slot (in both the sections & overall)?

        Expecting ur Reply sir. Thanks..

        • Anitha, given that 31st Oct Morning slot had a tough paper, you can clear the sectional cut offs of all IIMs with an attempts of 18 & 21 in the section 1 & 2 respectively with not more than 2 incorect answers. Overall your attempt should be around 42-43 with not more than 4-5 errors.

  59. Sir,

    I appeared for CAT on 28th Oct (Sunday) .. My attempts were:
    QA-DI – 17 attempts(15 to be correct and 2 intelligent guesses)
    VALR – 24 attempts

    Sir, What %ile should I expect out of it ? (your suggestion will be helpful for proceeding with filling other college forms that are accepting CAT 2012 scores.

    Regards,
    Abhishek

    • Abhishek, if even 1 out of the 2 intellignet guesses in QA is correct you have a chance of getting IIM calls because of high attempts in Verbal. I assume that your accuracy in verbal is around 85%. You should be in the region of 95%ile.

  60. Sir could you tell us what minimum percentile will ensure that we get calls from most of the IIMs?? I mean I know that it is around 98-99 for IIMA, IIMC, IIML. What about the rest?
    Thank you.

  61. Hi G.P. Sir,

    I have taken CAT exam y’day (29-Oct) slot 2. QA paper was much easy and 22-24 questions can be attempted. All the questions are from basic fundamentals. Out of 3 DI sets, two were easy and one was tough. Overall 22-24 questions can be attempted. Coming to verbal section, out of 3 R.C.s one was tough, one was moderate and one was easy. out of three 3 reasoning sets, two were easy and one was tough. overall an attempt of 18 questions can be done.
    Coming to my performance, I attempted 24 questions in QA (am sure that 22 would be correct) and attempted 14 questions in VA ( had a fear of getting wrong – left out tough RC and reasoning set).
    How much percentile can I expect? and what colleges can I apply?

    • Saish, While your QA attempt is great, VALR is low had you attempted 2-3 more questions a call from IIMs was confirmed. Now you have a chance of getting an IIM call only if all the VALR questions are correct. Let us hope for the best.

      • Thanks for the reply sir. I have marked answers for the questions which I am 99 to 100% sure and left out the remaining. And also sir, I heard that score card will be given out of 450 marks. How come like that? Is it not 180 (60*3)?

  62. Sir could u let me know if CAT papers 1995-1998 are relevant for quant, di or verbal section, because they are available in the SiS library but i havnt solved them yet. CAT is scheduled for 2nd Nov.
    Thank you.

    • Tania, CAT 1995-98 are televent from EU, QA and to some extent for DI. The RC passages are lengthy and factual and can be ignored. Given that your CAT is on 2nd Nov, you could practice EU and QA questions. In case of DI pick up only the calculation oriented data sets. Please keep 31st and 1st only for revision of important questions from Mock CATs and past CAT papers.

  63. Sir,
    My CAT is scheduled on Nov 5, with the type of DI questions that i have been said are appearing, how much time do you suggest i give to them. Also which category do they fall generally – R1, R2 or R3.

    • Ritam, DI is not difficult but high on calculation and hence R2. Suggest that you plan for about 8-9 minutes for each DI set. Start the paper by attempting the R1 questions of QA and then attwmpt upto 2 DI sets – the ones that you feel are easy for you, and then move on to R2 questions of QA.

      • I do not know about previous years CAT papers, but R1 R2 R3 definitely works in this year CAT paper. It worked for me well. Following this method, we can definitely attempt 22 – 24 questions in QA.

  64. Hi Sir,

    i have been following your SQC videos and found it to be quite helpful. But i was not able to understand the method you explained to be used in geometry using the admit card as a scale.

    i will be really really grateful if you can explain that in detail or can refer to any of your blogs where you have explained it in detail.

    My CAT is on 30th november. your reply will be extremely helpful sir.

    Thanks a lot in advance,

  65. Sir,
    I took my exam on 25th oct (morning slot). I attempted 22 in quant and 25 in VA . I expect that I have attempted them with good accuracy because after doing 22 and 25 questions respectively in both the sections, I chose to revise them again rather than attempting more ( I had 13 minutes left in both the sections thereafter when I decided to revise) . Thankfully, I found 2 mistakes in both and corrected them . Please tell me what percentile can I expect ?

    • Jaskiran, you should start preparing for the interview, even after assuming a couple of errors in each section I expect a score in excess of 99.5%ile.

          • fingers crossed 🙂 ..
            and also sir, i would like to thank you for your wonderful articles. they very truly very beneficial.

          • SIR,
            On a similar note,on 25th afternoon slot I found QA easy. I attempted 21 questions in both the sections, sure of all my answers in QA. But, in VALR, I did not attempt if I was not sure of an answer and dont expect more than 3 mistakes out of 21 attempts(worst case scenario).what percentile can I expect?

          • Susha, assuming 4 incorrect (1+3) with 38 out of 42 you should be expecting a call. Do apply to FMS, MDI also.

  66. Hi GP sir,
    I am a CL student but missed SQC and Smart DI cracker workshops. My cat is on 31st of October.Is it advisable for me to download and watch either , both or none of these videos from you tube . Will it help me in such a short span of time ? Please reply soon sir as the D DAY is very close .
    Thanks and regards,
    Rahul

    • Rahul, Based on the DI questions that are coming in CAT this year, smart DI cracker is not required but do go thru it from IIFT reasoning perspective. You can however download the SQC, it should be helpful for CAT’12.

  67. Sir,
    Does the final score consider No. of correct, No. of Wrong, Difficulty level of paper and then scale (normalise) for the percentiles? Or is it just Raw score and difficulty level of paper for final calculation?

    Thanks for all the inputs and guidance, as always.

    Vasu

    • Percentile is calculated on the basis of net score (+3 for correct answer and -1 for incorrecg answer) and the relative degree of difficulty of your paper compared to that of the others.

  68. My cat is on 29 th sir … can you plz give some tips on Questions of RC in which it is asked what would you asked the author when you will meet him?

    • Prabhakar, You will ask the author something that is connected to the passage, the best way to handle this type of question is to eliminate choices using the Para Completion rules.

  69. sir…
    verbals remains to be a nightmare for me… but i can solve those LR so how many least more qstions should i attempt in sec 2 to get arrnd 95 percentile

  71. I took CAT today..Sir aisi aisi blunder calculation mistake kr k aaya hu…bta nai skta……otherwise ..aapki SQC technique bht kaam aayi..agr silly mistakes nai kiya hota to mera paper achha gya tha…
    Thank u Sir,,

  72. Sir,
    I have my CAT on oct 28 . I was wondering if i should scan the paper first and then start or follow the R1 , R2 R3 approach.

  73. sir, can you please give a thorough analysis of xat, how to prepare for xat in the next 2 months, how to cross 99 percentile mark in xat, how to prepare for gk for xat and snap, and how to prepare for essay writing

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