New CAT gets tougher
More than 1,000 students took a mock test to get a feel of the new pattern
The recent change in the pattern of Common Admission Test (CAT) had created a lot of anxiety among CAT takers. Coaching centres were flooded with queries as most students were apprehensive about the test. To give them a feel of the new pattern, a coaching centre on Friday conducted a mock test for more than 1,000 students. Ahmedabad Mirror spoke to these students and experts after the test and found that they gave thumbs up to the new pattern.
Parasharan Chari, faculty at Endeavor Management Coaching, said, “The average time per question has been increased but the trade-off here is that s/he will not be able to use the ‘saved-time-in-a-section’ for other section. This can be seen as a boon for the ‘all-rounder’, but a slight disappointment for those who require to devote more time for the other section. Overall, students are happy with the new pattern.”
Chari further explained, “The focus on online reading has to be increased in order to score maximum from the 30 questions of verbal and reasoning section.
“With logical reasoning being separate from the quantitative part, there can be a renewed focus on data sufficiency and other similar questions. Also, time limit for different sections would also raise the difficulty level of the paper.”
THE NEW PATTERN
From 2011, CAT will have two sections instead of three. The first will focus on quantitative ability and data interpretation and the second will be on verbal ability and logical reasoning.
Candidates will have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions within each section with an onscreen countdown timer. Once the time ends for the first section, they will move to the second section.
They will no longer be able to go back to the first. Although new in the computer-based format, this method was previously practised a few years ago.
