IIM Ahmedabad To Conduct CAT 2021 - Which Section In CAT Will Be The Toughest This Year?

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Exam Year	Conducting IIM	VARC Difficulty		DILR Difficulty		QA Difficulty
Exam Year	Conducting IIM	IMS	TIME	IMS	TIME	IMS	TIME
2020	IIM Indore	Moderate-Difficult	Difficult	Moderate-Difficult	Moderate-Difficult	Moderate	Moderate-Difficult
2019	IIM Kozhikode	Moderate	Moderate-Difficult	Moderate-Difficult	Difficult	Easy-Moderate	Moderate-Difficult
2018	IIM Calcutta	Easy	Moderate	Easy-Moderate	Difficult	Moderate-Difficult	Moderate-Difficult
2017	IIM Lucknow	Easy	Moderate-Difficult	Difficult	Difficult	Easy-Moderate	Moderate
2016	IIM Bangalore	Easy-Moderate	Moderate-Difficult	Easy-Moderate	Difficult	Moderate	Moderate-Difficult
2015	IIM Ahmedabad	Easy	Moderate-Difficult	Moderate-Difficult	Very Difficult	Easy- Moderate	Moderate

In 2018, it was speculated that with IIM Calcutta being a 'Quant-oriented institute', the Quantitative Ability section of the CAT exam would be the toughest section. In the following year, forums were rife with speculation that IIM Kozhikode would set a particularly tough VARC section. In 2018, both the QA and DILR sections were moderate-tough in terms of difficulty, while in 2019 both the VARC and DILR sections were moderate-tough in terms of difficulty, with the DILR section in-fact being the toughest section of the exam as per some analyses.

As is clear from the table above that captures exam analyses by IMS and TIME, there is no pattern that can be observed in the difficultly level of the CAT exam over a span of 5-6 years. Additionally, there appears to be no correlation between the difficulty level of any section of the exam and the IIM conducting the exam in that year. The difficulty levels of the various sections of the exam are unpredictable. Here is a more satirical answer to this unfounded rumor that is propounded by self-proclaimed experts.

Why Is It Important For This Myth To Be Busted?

Now that it is known that IIM Ahmedabad will be conducting CAT 2021, soon, the official CAT paper pattern and exam date will also be released, along with other important dates and information like registration deadlines. This will be followed by a lot of speculation around the expected level of difficulty of the exam. Anyone closely following such debates based on conjecture will, inevitably, have some expectations from the exam which may threaten to alter their preparation strategy by basing it on unfounded claims.

It is important to understand that there is no evidence to suggest a correlation between the paper pattern or difficulty level of the CAT exam (or any of its sections) and the IIM conducting the exam in any particular year. We strongly recommend against spending any time on such discussions, as it will be a waste of time that can be devoted to actually preparing for an exam that is only a few months away.