CAT 2018 Exam Analysis, Expected Cutoffs And More

Post-CAT Survival Kit - With the focus now shifting from CAT to other competitive exams, here is what you can do Post-CAT. Have a look!

IIFT Previous Years' Papers - Take a look at the previous years' IIFT papers to assess question types and difficulty level of the 4 sections.

Ultimate Resource For GK and Current Affairs - GK is about to become very important in the next few weeks to come since exams such as SNAP and IIFT have entire sections dedicated to GK. In this article, you can find the best resources to prepare for this section and ace it!

Monday 26th November - 

16:37 PM - 

Estimated cut-offs by IMS, 2iim and TIME -

	99 percentile				97-98 percentile				90 percentile
	VA RC	DI LR	QA	Total	VA RC	DI LR	QA	Total	VA RC	DI LR	QA	Total
IMS	58-60	50-52	48-50	140-145	54-55	46-47	44-45	120-125	45-46	32-33	29-30	95-100
2iim	66	42	43	145	60	37	38	130	44	24	25	105

TIME - For 85+ percentile:
VA - 24 attempts with 66.66% accuracy
QA - 15 attempts with 66.66% accuracy
DI-LR - 15 attempts with 66.66% accuracy

More updates soon!

With IIFT just a week away, here are some great tips that can help you prepare for the exam  -

An Ultimate Resource Guide For IIFT - Here is the ultimate resource that can help you get ready for the exam on 2nd December. From sources to study GK to preparation plan from IIFT toppers, this is just the article you need!

IIFT 2017 Detailed Analysis -  Read this analysis by Career Launcher to understand the type of questions and difficulty level in IIFT last year.

One of the most important exams besides CAT is XAT. Scheduled for a little over a month from today, here is some content that can help you prepare well for the test!

Conquering XAT With 99+ In Decision Making - Here are some tips from someone who gave XAT this year and joined XLRI! In this article, a XAT 98.38 percentiler gives a detailed strategy on how you can attempt the paper and ace it!

XAT Tips From An XLRI Student - Yash Beohar scored 97.3 percentile in XAT 2018, and joined XLRI Jamshedpur! Here, he shares some excellent tips that can help you boost your scores in the exam scheduled in January. Have a look!

1:12 PM
Slot 1 -
Based on 200 responses, there has been no change in the average number of attempts and the accuracy of attempts for Slot 1. If we refer to this data, the average minimum score for a candidate stands at 114 marks, (assuming all incorrect attempts were MCQ and not TITA). The maximum number of attempts range between 77-82, while the lowest number of attempts stands at 25, with minimal attempts in DI-LR and QA section.

The difficulty level of the QA section caught many aspirants by surprise, and 21% of our respondents from Slot 1 have not attempted more than 10 questions in the section. However, at the other end, 21% of our respondents were relatively more prepared and have attempted 20 or more questions in Slot 1.

Most of the respondents feel that the QA section was lengthy and difficult, while the DI-LR section was moderately difficult and VA-RC was towards the easier side.

Slot 1 - Based on 200 Responses	Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	Quantitative Ability	Overall
Average Attempts	25	15	15	56
Average Correct Attempts	19	12	12	42
Average Expected Accuracy	76%	80%	80%	75%

Slot 2 -
Based on 60 responses, candidates appearing for CAT in Slot 2 appear to have fared better in terms of accuracy but have lesser number of attempts as compared to their Slot 1 counterparts. The overall accuracy of Slot 2 candidates is significantly higher with 81%. The average minimum score for this slot stands at 119  (assuming all incorrect attempts were MCQ and not TITA). The maximum number of attempts range between 72-76, while the minimum number of attempts stands at 30 - 5 more than candidates in Slot 1.

Slot 2 candidates reported a difficult QA section and found the DI-LR section a challenge as well.

Overall, both Slots had similar levels of difficulty, with Quantitative Ability emerging to be the biggest challenge for CAT 2018 test-takers. Rajesh Balasubramanian of 2iim believes that the Quant section this year was one of the most difficult in the past decade. Other experts also believe that the section was a massive challenge for aspirants who expected the trend of a difficult DI-LR section to continue.

Slot 2 - Based on 60 Responses	Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	Quantitative Ability	Overall
Average Attempts	25	13	15	53
Average Correct Attempts	20	11	12	43
Average Expected Accuracy	78%	85%	80%	81%

9:30 pm - Arkss is Live here! Join him for a Post-CAT chat!

 

Accuracy for VARC with 150 responses remains the same. However, the average attempts for both DI/LR and Quant have gone down to 15. However, the average accuracy for both sections has gone up by 5%. 

Slot 1 - Based on 150 Responses	VA/RC	DI/LR	Quant
Average Attempts	25	15	15
Average Correct Attempts	19	12	12
Average Expected Accuracy	76.00%	80.00%	80.00%

 

Slot 1 - Based on 100 Responses	VA/RC	DI/LR	Quant
Average Attempts	25	16	16
Average Correct Attempts	19	12	12
Average Expected Accuracy	76%	75%	75%

 

 

How has everyone done? Enter your Attempts and Expected Correct above. Know aggregate attempts of the population here – we will update periodically. The only way this will work effectively is you share this with all your peers. CAT is a relative exam and the accuracy of this will depend on how others have performed as well.

CAT 2018 SLOT 1 is done. What next? Here's an EXCLUSIVE guide to help you for the next stage of your preparation! An ultimate Post-CAT Survival KIT. Check it out here.

Sunday 25th November 2018

6:30 pm - Check out first reactions of CAT 2018 - Slot 2 here.

5:30 pm - CAT 2018 - A Detailed Analysis by Mr. Gautam Bawa, Group Product Head, Career Launcher

VA&RC greeted students with an easier than expected paper. However, the pattern of the paper didn’t strictly match that of the sample paper provided by the CAT team.

For DI-LR - Overall, 15-17 attempts, with an accuracy of 90% would be considered good.

For Quantitative Ability - An overall attempt of 18-20 with 85% accuracy would be very good.

2:15 pm - First impressions from Rajesh Balasubramanium, 2IIM -

CAT 2018 was a beauty! VARC started innocuously enough, one had to be careful but if you picked the doosras and stuff it was very much possible to bat it out. Then DILR picked up momentum and took you on a merry ride. 1–2 do-able sets sitting inside a few fairly dicey ones.

Quant was relentless.

VARC was a smidgeon tougher than last year, DILR perhaps a smidgeon easier.

Check out the detailed analysis by him here.

1 : 05 pm -  An Aspirant's View -
Overall - I won't say tough but there were definitely few questions which were easy to crack. Though I feel attempts were not very high...

VARC - Parajumbles were easy. Inference questions were present.

LRDI - It was actually easier as compared to last year. I found it at par with TIME mocks.

Most of the caselets had different possible arrangements. Questions were framed on the basis of arrangements
Like Which of the following can be true...

Quant - Quants I feel was somewhat same as 17. I personally had issue with speed so couldn't solve a lot of questions.

- Aditya Kwatra
Commerce
3rd attempt

12 : 41 pm - First impressions from ARKS Srinivas, National Head, MBA -

"The paper was overall more difficult than last year and even the year before last - overall. The VARC was a small surprise - 4 RC passages with 5 questions each and 1 passage with 4 questions! The VA was easier !

LRDI was easier with at least 2 to 3 sets being very easy

QA though had a lot of Arithmetic questions, was far more tougher than last year
The overall cutoff will come down and I expect the 99 percentile to be at 150-155 marks this year."

12 : 35 - Our in-house CAT taker Chirag says that Quant was devastating for people at his centre here in Mumbai. How many did you attempt in Quant and other section if you took CAT in Slot 1? Fill the form above so that we can give you an aggregate soon.

12:30 pm - We have about 20 students who have filled the form - So far the average attempts are 24 in VA/RC, 16 in DI/LR and 17 in Quant

12:25 pm - Webinars Scheduled AFTER CAT 2018! Stay Tuned!

Schedule For Webinars
Webinar Topic	Date	Time
CAT 2018 Analysis	25th November 2018	After 7 pm.
CAT to IIFT - What Changes To Be Made	26th November 2018	After 7 pm.
IIFT Prep Plan by IIFT Students	TBA	TBA
What To Do After CAT 2018	TBA	TBA

 

12:15 pm - CAT 2018 - SLOT 1 - is done. How has everyone done?

11:11 am - Good morning, Everyone. CAT 2018 is here. Slot 1 is going to get done in a few minutes and we have you covered for the entire day and for the following week. We will be providing you complete coverage from a few centres in Mumbai and from our community across India for the next few days. Also, a live webinar today with Arkss, National Head - MBA at Career Launcher today evening. Join here.

Your live blog for the next few weeks. Keeping visiting for updates. Bookmark this page. Keep scrolling below. This blog will be updated multiple times everyday.

Saturday 24th November 2018

24 Hours To CAT – 10 Golden Rules To Crack CAT

Friday 23rd November 2018

An Open Letter To A Younger Me – From An IIM Grad To An MBA Aspirant

'Now that only a few days are remaining before CAT, how are those nerves holding up? Can you feel the exhilaration? This is what it feels like to be truly alive.' One of the most motivating stories. Read it here.