CAT has evolved from a speed based simple test into a test which demands more proficiency in concepts and fundamentals.It is designed in such a way that it tests a candidate’s analytical and logical abilities.

Earlier CATs (prior to year 2000) had 180 questions to be solved in 2 hours. For the years 2001, 2002, and 2003 the paper consisted of 3 sections of 50 questions per section.

In 2004, the IIMs introduced the concept of differential marking for the first time. The paper had 123 questions in three sections with 50 English, 35 Mathematics, and 38 Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. The 2005 CAT contained 90 questions, 30 in each section, each having subsections containing questions with different numbers of marks.

CAT 2006, conducted on November 19, was a 2.5-hour exam instead of the traditional 2-hour exam. The test had 75 questions, 25 questions per section and 4 marks per question, making it a 300-mark paper. There was a penalty of 1 mark for a wrong answer. The paper also proved to be a break from the previous pattern in that it had 5 answer options instead of the usual 4.

In 2007, the CAT exam was held on Sunday, November 18th. It contained 25 questions in each of the three sections, each question having 1 mark negative for each wrong answer. This was the same pattern as CAT 2006.

The CAT 2008 examinations be held on November 16, a Sunday, across all test centers in India.

An MBA is a post graduate degree in business communication. MBA stands for Masters of Business Administration and is a very popular course for business students the world over. The MBA program is recognized worldwide and is considered as a major step towards a successful business management career. When you are applying for MBA check out Top 10 Collage of India.

Discussion of GMAT and CAT

The Graduate Management Admission Test® (GMAT®) is a standardized test conducted by the Educational Testing Service, ETS on behalf of the Graduate Management Admission Council of the US. The scores of these tests are used as one of the most important parameters by Universities and top B Schools in the US and elsewhere while selecting prospective students into their MBA and Ph.D programs.

The structure of GMAT & CAT

The GMAT Computer Adaptive Test or the GMAT CAT comprises three sections. Each of the three sections is separately timed. The first section of the GMAT test is an essay writing section and is known as the Analytical Writing Assessment Section (GMAT AWA Section). The next two sections in the GMAT test are objective type sections, one of which is the Quantitative section and the other is the Verbal section. You want material of the GMAT and CAT. GMAT& CAT Material.

There are a number of methods you can use to encourage those that participate in group discussions. One technique is to ask a single question and make a request for all the members to discuss it. The members can read the question, and they can tell the other members what they think the question means.

It is best to use open-ended questions, because they will allow the members to think about the topics. Everyone should be allowed to give their thoughts on the question. It is always important to make sure the group stays on topic.

If you notice that members are getting off topic, politely direct them back to the topic that is being discussed. It is also important for everyone to listen, even the leader. They should understand the statements that are being made by members. If they do not, they should ask the member to clarify the point they are making. It is also important to make comments on statements that have been made by the other members. When your respond to a statement that has been made, this can create a domino effect where other members will respond as well, and new ideas or solutions can be formulated.

There are a number of guidelines that you will want to follow at the conclusion of the discussion. You should always create a summary about the topic that has been discussed. Ask the members to review the things that have been discussed, as this will allow them to commit the various points to memory. It is important for the members of the group to keep notepads handy where they can write down important points that have been made. One of the common goals of group discussions is to brainstorm ideas. When members of a group are brainstorming an idea, there are a number of things they will do.

First, the topic will be given to the group. Each member will think about the topic for set period of time, and will begin coming up with a number of different ideas. The other members of the group should build on the ideas that have already been presented. After the idea creation period has ended, the ideas which have been developed will be organized and reviewed. The results will be shared with the entire group. Brainstorming plays an important role in group discussions, and is excellent for a situation where a group needs to come up with a solution to a complex problem.

When group discussion are held, it is important for them to receive encouragement. This encouragement can come from the group leader, or it can come from the other members. It will bring about results that are the exact opposite of what happens when the idea of a member is put-down by others in the group. The group that participates in discussions should behave like a well oiled machine. Everyone should be on the same page. The success of the group, not the individuals, is the most important factor. When members encourage each other, this will build a strong camaraderie that will allow the group to function as one. The biggest problems in group discussions occur when members discourage each other and promote their own ideas.

Group discussion are successful when all the members respect each other. When someone comes up with a great idea, they should be thanked for their participation. Members who are quiet should be allowed to convey their thoughts to the other members, and the participants who are outspoken should spend more time listening to what the other members have to say. No one member should ever be allowed to dominate the conversation in group discussion. Every member of the group should be given an equal amount of time to convey their own thoughts to the group.

Usually, CAT tests three of your abilities:- Problem Solving- Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning- Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension. The CAT examination demands competency across all sections of the paper. So, the number of sections in the test don’t really matter; what matters is whether you are competitive and have answered questions in all the sections.

All the questions are of multiple-choice nature with four/five alternate answer choices and the candidate has to choose the best answer for each of the questions and mark it on a special Optical Reader answer sheet. Differential marks are allotted to the questions. The test comprises 150 to 200 objective type questions and is usually divided into three to four sections. The number of questions in the test has been coming down steadily, from nearly 200 in the 1990s to 90 in 2005 and just 75 in 2006.
MBA CAT Pattern according 2006

# Quantitative
# Verbal
# Reasoning areas of testing.
Duration is generally of 2 hours
Questions: with number of questions normally ranging from 120 to 150.

CAT 2006 change in pattern with 75 questions and increase in the exam time by half an hour.

Negative Marking: Wrong answers carried 1 mark as penalty whereas correct answers carried 4 marks. Proficiency in all the sections is essential for getting a call from any of the IIMs.

There was a talk that CAT 2006 may have Four Sections instead of 3 Sections. However CAT notification as well as the CAT 2006 bulletin, you will find CAT is a three-section paper this year too. CAT is divided into three sections: English Usage, Quantitative Ability (Maths) and Data Interpretation & Logical Ability.

MBA CAT Pattern

The pattern of this test has often been changed in the past. 2005 test included the following: three sections—data interpretation / reasoning, quantitative analysis, and reading, comprehension/verbal ability.

Duration: 2 hours

Total number of questions: 90

Total marks: 150

Negative marking: 1/3 of the marks allotted to a question is docked if the answer is wrong

DI/Reasoning

Number of questions: 30

Marks: 50

Quantitative Analysis

Number of questions: 30

Marks: 50

Reading Comprehension/Verbal ability

Number of questions: 30

Marks: 50

Early Preparation

The last thing on any student’s mind when they start higher education is revision. But now is the most important time to start revising; just by spending 20-30 minutes making revision notes. After a lecture or workshop, write up a simple explanation of the most important points that you’ve covered, ideally with notes of where to find your full lecture notes and any relevant pages in your textbooks. This is an invaluable technique because it will save you hours of preparation when it is exam time. By the end of the year, all your revision will be ready; all you need to do is sit down and read it.

Textbook Preparation

Another useful technique to master is successfully preparing your textbooks as you go. Whilst reading, highlight the most useful sentences or explanations. Use annotated sticky tabs to mark important pages; for instance, tabs along the top of the book to mark out chapters and tabs down the side of the book for useful examples or tables. It is also useful to write in the columns any alternative page numbers where the topic can be found, so you know immediately where else in the book to look.

Revision Time

It is always important to plan your revision time wisely. You can do this by starting your revision early, revising in order of exams. If you have space between exams, remember there is additional time to revise for the next one. If you have back to back exams, remember to allocate enough time to each topic and not to revise for your first exam more than the rest. However you decide to allocate your time, remember that everyone revises differently. A good technique is to revise throughout the day, leaving your evenings free to unwind. This helps to prevent stress, but also gives you the opportunity to do a little bit more if you’re really not confident about something.

Revision Notes

An incredibly useful revision technique is to write things down whilst you revise. Read the notes you have prepared throughout the year, then turn them over and try to write down all the points. If you keep repeating this, you will be able to think of the topic and then write down all the relevant points without referring to your revision notes. This is because writing helps as a memory aid; you can also try using spider diagrams, charts and tables. Match this with your wider reading and full lecture notes so that in an exam you can read the question, note down the most relevant points and write your answer.

The most important thing to remember is that revision doesn’t have to begin just before your exams. Revision can be spread throughout the year. The earlier you start revising, the easier it will be and the better your understanding is likely to be. Plan your revision early on in the term and you won’t leave yourself open to any surprises later on in the year.

 Keep it simple: You cannot remember each and everything about the economy, trying to do so will make you feel overwhelmed and under prepared. Always pick an issue and choose the 3 most important aspects of that issue and prepare that.
 Become a rainmaker: Try to come up with possible solutions. If you go to the IIM Group Discussion and Personal Interview and the topic was “Infrastructure in Mumbai” and all you did was crib about how bad it is. Then guess what – you’re out. You are supposed to think how to improve, leave the cribbing to your 75 year old uncle across the street.
 The 2 minute approach: You are not there to read an essay, no one will give you that much time. Whatever points you have prepared – time them to finish in 2 minutes or less with all the important points well said in time.

As the name suggests, the test of general awareness aims to judge the general knowledge of the candidates. Basic facts about all aspects of general knowledge like Science, Geography, History, Economics, Polity, etc are essentially required to be known. A good knowledge of all branches of general knowledge is essential which can only be achieved by reading good books. Reading Newspapers regularly will keep you updated in whatever important is happening around the world.

Questions on logical reasoning may be of several types and in several forms. These could include a statement on which the candidates are asked to draw correct interference out of the given choices. There could be questions on series of words and figures, arrangement of alphabets, brain teasers or even such questions as only call for drawing logical inferences. Just like quantitative aptitude test, this portion of admission test also needs special and detailed preparations and practice. Most of the questions under this category infact test the common sense and sense of proportion and reasoning among the candidates and therefore, must be attempted with a cool head. In case of statements, the given statement as well as choices given must be read at least twice before choosing the right answer. In case there are more than three questions on arrangements of alphabets, it is advisable to write down all the alphabets on the rough work sheet. This will facilitate easy and quick attempt of questions on alphabets. Similarly, there could be certain questions on distances traveled in different directions. In such questions it is proper to draw a rough diagram giving distances traveled in various directions to get the correct answer. Constant practice in the questions on reasoning would make the candidates confident to tackle this particular aspect of the test. To do well in this part of the test, the candidates must therefore, practice hard.

A candidate seeking admission to MBA programme is expected to have aptitude for basic and elementary accounting as well as the knack of solving the simple arithmetic problems. This is one of the areas in the admission test which, if properly prepared and practiced, is likely to put the candidate ahead of others, as one can hope to score even 100% marks in this part. There may be several types of questions that may form part of quantitative aptitude test. The first category could be simple arithmetic problems including profit and loss, percentages, ratio, averages, partnership, etc. Such problems involve simple calculations and with a little practice and basic aptitude, can be solved correctly. The second category of questions could involve multiplication or divisions in 5 to 6 figures or decimals. It may be quite time-consuming if the candidates start actually attempting the entire calculations. Since the candidates are required to work against time it is not advisable to waste time on such calculations. With a little practice, the candidates can easily eliminate most of the choices straightaway to arrive at the correct answer even without any calculations. This can be achieved if the candidates look at all the choices carefully before actually attempting the calculations. Another category of questions may be directed at testing only the intelligence of the candidate and not his/her ability to calculate. There may be some other questions aimed at testing the common sense of the candidates. The entire area of quantitative aptitude, therefore, needs constant practice to calculate quickly with accuracy. More practice is also essential for the candidates to gain confidence in this part of the test. Even if a candidate does not have the basic aptitude for figure-work, he/she can make up for this deficiency by regular practice and a lot of hard work. It is strongly recommended that the candidates practice and attempt all the questions on quantitative.

Apart from the fact that the test was 2 ½ hours long this year, the test saw many other changes. Firstly, the number of questions reduced from 90 (CAT 2005) to 75. There were five options for every question. The marking scheme was also different. There was no differential marking. Every question carried 4 marks and the penalty for every wrong answer was 1 mark i.e., 25%. The verbal ability section was very tough and the problem solving section was quite simple compared to previous years. The DI section was as difficult as it was in CAT 2005. As we have always maintained, the test focused on reasoning and comprehension skills and discouraged “mechanical preparedness”.

Section I: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning:

This section comprised 25 questions based on DI (20 questions) and LR (5 questions). Out of the four sets in DI, two were reasoning- based and two were calculation- based. One should have attempted the set based on traffic flow and the set based on board exams. The set based on Erdos numbers was difficult to interpret but easy to solve. The LR set was the easiest set in the section. The breakup of questions was as follows:
Subtopic Construct No. of Questions
Data Interpretation Observation Based 1
Reasoning Based 10
Simple Calculation 9
Logical Reasoning Mechanical Solution 5
Section II:

Reasoning ruled the roost in the English section. Old favourites like vocabulary-based, grammar-based questions and jumbled paragraphs were given a burial. Instead, we had five Fact-Inference-Judgement questions which were definitional in nature. Once you were clear about the stated definitions, you could have solved the questions confidently. ‘Providing the conclusion’ type questions were five in number and tested your understanding of the given text. Reading Comprehension comprised three dense passages that had mostly interpretative and inferential questions. If your logical skills were in place, you could have solved this section without any glitches.

The breakup of questions was as follows:

Subtopic Construct No. of Questions
Reading Comprehension Direct 1
Indirect – Inferential 4
Indirect – Interpretation 7
Indirect – Comprehensive Interpretation 3
Verbal Ability Logic Based 5
Contextual Placement 5
Section III: Problem Solving

The section covered all the four areas of Math viz, Arithmetic, Algebra, Modern Maths and Geometry. Thus to perform well, a student needed to be equally competent in all the four areas. The questions tested basic fundamentals as well as strong reasoning skills and decision-making abilities. It was crucial for a student to know when to apply conventional methods and when to evaluate options for managing time efficiently.

Understanding CAT 2006
Overall Test: 3 sections 75 questions
Section I: Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning 25 questions
Section II: Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension 25 questions
Section III: Problem Solving 25 questions