Pattern of cat

CAT has evolved from a speed based simple test into a test which demands more proficiency in concepts and fundamentals rather than just speed. Earlier CATs used to have 180 questions to be solved in 2 hours. The cutoff (minimum marks needed to get an interview call from the IIM) for such a paper was generally 20 each in the three sections (Mathematics + English + Data interpretation and Logic).

For the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 the paper consisted of 50 * 3 = 150 questions. The cutoffs being 15 marks for individual sections and approximately 55 for whole paper.

The first biggest surprise for the CAT takers was in 2004, when the IIMs introduced the concept of differential marking for the first time. The paper had just 123 questions with the following distribution: (the decimal numbers are marks allocated to each question)

Mathematics - Total: 50 (10 * 0.5 + 5*2.0 + 35 * 1.0) Cutoff - approx 12
English - Total: 35 (15*2.0 + 20*1.0) Cutoff - approx 12
DI and LR - Total: 38 (12*2.0 +26*1.0) Cutoff - approx 17
Overall 123 Questions : 10 of Half marks + 32 of 2 marks and 81 of 1 mark each. The overall cutoff for the paper was nearly 51-52 marks.

CAT 2005 was even bigger surprise. There were just 90 questions - 30 in each section. Each section was further divided into two subsections:

Math
Section 1A - 10 Questions of 1 mark each
Section 1B - 20 Questions of 2 mark each
The final Cutoff for this section was nearly 11

English
Section 2A - 10 Questions of 1 mark each
Section 2B - 20 Questions of 2 mark each
The final Cutoff for this section was nearly 15

DI and LR
Section 3A - 10 Questions of 1 mark each
Section 3B - 20 Questions of 2 mark each
The final Cutoff for this section was nearly 10

Overall this paper was the toughest in the history of CAT.
So,Be Prepared for even bigger surprises!