It has been few days since the CAT exam is over and the analysis of expected cut offs, percentiles, level of the paper, etc. By various institutions and universities have been creating butterflies in stomachs of all cat takers.
Amidst the pressure and anxiety of other exams as NMAT, SNAP, IIFT, XAT, etc. Coming up, these analysis tend to dishearten and cause panic among the students. Also, difference in the review at various websites causes a chaos in the focused minds and leads to their loss of the other entrance exams.
Here is what I can sense about the CAT 2018 after collating the judgements and analyses from various sites and professionals. The first paper was moderate with respect to the difficulty level, and the exam pattern was similar to that of the last year's exam paper. Students found the Verbal Ability difficult as there were some changes in the questions of Parajumbles and Parasummary. They found the Quantitative Aptitude section manageable though it was more difficult compared to those of papers of last decade. The Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section was simple than last year's. The questions were based on data perception rather than tedious calculations, thereby checking the mental ability of students. Overall, this year the paper had more non-MCQ questions due to which students found it tricky.
According to the management, the Quantitative Aptitude was brainstorming while Verbal Ability section was easy. The second CAT paper in the afternoon session was a bit more difficult than the morning CAT paper. Quantitative Aptitude was the most challenging section, even Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section was robust. It is calculated that students can achieve 98 percentile at a score of 160 out of 300. Concerning the second paper, students can achieve 99 percentile at a score of 150-155 out of 300.
The sectional cut-offs for the three sections would be as follows:
Verbal Ability: 75+ with an attempt of 28-30 questions
Quantitative Aptitude: 48+ with an attempt of 16-18 questions
Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning: 48+ with an attempt of 14-16 questions
As rightly said "
when one door closes, another door opens", here is a list of
four actions students must follow at this stage to look for another door waiting full of opportunities:
1. After a proper analysis of your CAT paper from a verified source, get an idea of
approximate scores you can obtain as you crosscheck your answers with the tentative answer key (when available).
2. Keeping in mind the guesstimate percentile,
apply to the B-Schools accordingly which still has their registration windows open. K J SIMSR is one of those B-Schools.
3. Also, you can
consider taking any other exams as CMAT, MAH-CET, MICA and other entrance exams of certain private B-schools renowned for management in certain specific courses. These exams have their registration dates after the CAT exam is over. This sometimes has helped students by giving better career opportunities rather than reappearing next year and wasting another year.
4. Lastly,
do not get disheartened and focus on the other entrance exams lined up after CAT, like IIFT, SNAP, NMAT, TISS, XAT, etc. Do not lose your self-confidence and have faith in yourselves as you
give your best shot.