CAT 2012 aspirants prefer two sections over three

July 12, 2012 - PRLog -- MBAUniverse.com endeavored to know what is going on in the minds of the CAT 2012 aspirants and how comfortable they are with the current pattern of CAT exam. For this, a survey is being conducted on the topic, ’10 ways to improve CAT 2012’ on the CAT 2012 takers, with a sample size of 100 respondents.

Till 2010, the three sections in CAT were Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability and Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning. But from 2011 onwards, the number of sections in CAT was crunched to two from three, by merging Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning section with Quantitative Ability and Verbal Ability sections respectively. Hence there emerged the two new sections in CAT, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning.  

Now let us see what the CAT 2012 aspirants have to say about the number of sections.

Sahil Sharma, a CAT 2012 aspirant from Jammu & Kashmir believes that the CAT takers should always be prepared for change and accept it as a challenge. He is in favour of writing two sections in CAT than three as he says, “I find the new pattern much more systematic. Instead of worrying about clearing the cutoffs of three sections, now I can focus on two sections only.”

Aniket Kumar from Baroda, Gujarat says, “The new pattern is a much better arrangement. There are some similarities between Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation in terms of calculation and interpreting the data. At the same time, there is a connection between Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning as Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning caselets are about taking out the right information which is hidden within the question. In that sense, I feel that merger of the sections are a good decision taken by IIMs.”

Ganpattlal Suthar from Mumbai finds the two sections advantageous as his weakness lies in Quantitative Ability. “Now that there are 20 questions in QA and 10 questions in DI, I can choose the right questions and qualify by clearing the cut offs. Though I have to make a right strategy, but still I believe it would be better than having three separate sections.”

Abhishek from Bhilai, Madhya Pradesh also shared similar views as Ganpattlal. “Firstly, we cannot do much about this change in the CAT pattern which has been brought by IIMs. So we have to get used to it. It is actually easier for me to focus on the combined sections. If I aim to attempt 20 out of 30 questions in a section, I can choose 10 questions from QA and DI or 15 and 5 or it can also be 10 and 15 if the questions are favourable. I can take the liberty to choose wisely among QA and DI questions in order to avoid heavy calculations and save time. But in case of three sections, I had to work on clearing cut offs of all three sections.”

Avnish Mishra from Chennai believes that having two sections in CAT has both its advantages as well as disadvantages. But when it comes to his personal opinion, he feels much more comfortable with two sections. “Technically there have not been many changes in terms of the question types and numbers. QA and VA still have 20 questions and DI and LR have 10 questions. But when you know that you have to solve two sections and not worry about the time management, planning for the test becomes much easier.”

Now let us see what those CAT 2012 aspirants have to say who prefer to have three sections instead of two in CAT 2012.  

Dilip from Hyderabad mentions, “In this new pattern, there is lesser choice in terms of attempting questions. I took CAT in 2011 and there were maximum questions on Geometry which is my weakness. And to top it, I had to attempt a decent number of DI questions too. Hence I would prefer to have three sections instead of two.”

To read the previous article on MBAUniverse.com Survey on ‘10 ways to make CAT 2012 better’, click on the following link:

CAT 2012 aspirants want flexibility in time to attempt the sections

CAT 2012 aspirants wish to choose the section to start the exam with