The CAT 2018 application form was issued on 8 Aug, 2018 and the last date to apply was 26 Sep 2018. The application fee was Rs 950 for SC/ST applicants and for others it was Rs 1900. It was to be filled and submitted online which made it very convenient for the test taker.

Tip- Avoid applying on the last day. Make sure you apply well in advance as the last day can see a huge traffic on the CAT application site which can lead to server breakdown.

The admit card for the exam was made available ( to download ) one month before the exam (Oct 24, 2018).

In order to make the test taker familiar with the exam environment and the format, a mock CAT test was made available on the CAT website, a few weeks before the exam.

Tip- This mock exam was only meant to familiarise the test taker with the “look and feel” of the exam. One should not draw any conclusion about the possible topics, types of questions, level of difficulty of the questions, etc. which may potentially appear in the CAT examination based on the content in the mock CAT test.

On Nov 25, 2018, the CAT 2018 examination was conducted in two slots-

• Morning ( 9 am to 12 noon)
• Afternoon ( 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm)

The test takers were supposed to report at the test center 1.5 hours before the exam time. This is to ensure smooth conduct of the check-in process.

The test takers were subjected to strick frisking before walking inside the test center. The test takers were not allowed to carry any thing inside EXCEPT

• Admit card
• ID Proof

Test takers were supposed to affix a passport size photo on the physical copy of the downloaded admit card (this photograph had to be affixed in addition to the photograph that was already printed on the admit card). Note that the affixed photograph must be an exact match of the photograph on the admit card.

Socks, plain Pullovers / Sweaters / Cardigans (without any pockets) were allowed inside the Exam lab.

Candidates with metal implant, pacemaker, etc. in their bodies were allowed after showing a medical certificate about the same (requirement of such a certificate was communicated well in advance).

No other personal belongings (including belts, jewelery, keys, pen, pencils, watch, etc.) were allowed inside and were therefore to be kept aside at the check point.

Note that IIMs/CAT Test center authorities would not take any responsibility for loss of items. There may be no facility at the Test Center for safekeeping of test taker’s personal belongings outside the Exam Lab.

Tip- It is always advisable to go for your exam along with a guardian/friend as he/she can help you safeguard your items. Also, they will help you stay calm before the exam. If you plan to go alone, make sure that you carry none of the things mentioned above, just to make sure that you don’t lose time/mental peace worrying about them while taking the test.

After completion of the frisking process, Candidates were asked to proceed for Document Verification.

Candidate’s Admit Card (with affixed photograph), original photo identity proof and other documents (if any) would be checked. The photo ID proof should be original and not photocopied or scanned. It should be valid (not expired) photo identification (ID) card; could include any of Driving License, Passport, PAN Card, Voter ID, Aadhar Card, Employer issued ID and Identification Affidavit. The Candidate's photograph and signature should be legibly printed and visible on the photo ID card and should match the name on Admit Card. Please note, the photo ID card should not be damaged or smudged. Scribe Affidavit, Medical Certificate (if any) would be required in case Candidate is using any

(a) Pacemaker or
(b) implants (metal) or
(c) other device(s) for medical reason(s).

After successful Document Verification –

Candidates were allowed to move to their respective Exam Lab After entering the Test Lab, candidates were not allowed to leave the Test Lab before the exam ended unless it was any medical emergency. Candidates were to remove their footwear outside the Exam Lab.

We present to you analysis of both the slots separately. A bit of an intro before you dig into the slots in detail.

The VARC section gave a mild surprise to students across both the slots. Out went the taken-for-granted 6-Q and 3-Q passages. Making a surprise entry were five-question and four-question passages. That would have straightaway increased the overall length of the content that needed to be read by test-takers to attempt the 24 RC questions. Decision-making for those who weren’t looking to solve all the RCs would have been trickier, what with all the RCs seemingly of similar level of difficulty. The subjects covered were also more exotic than usual – environment, biology, sociology, and history were the flavours of the day.

The slight upsurge in the difficulty of the context in RC was largely compensated for by easier VA sections in both slots - the big relief for students being four-sentence Para Formation Questions. Odd-Man-Out questions were also low-hanging fruits, with Summary questions proving to be slightly trickier. All in all, the VARC section hovered around the same level of difficulty as last year; those who haven’t practised a lot might have found it a little tougher, given the nature of options in some questions and the intensity of the subjects.

Tip- Make sure you read a lot of novels,magazines, online articles, etc. apart from being regular to your VA/RC classes at T.I.M.E. This will ensure that you gain good grasp on all the concepts and will also improve your comprehension skills.

The DILR Section was relatively easier compared to CAT 2017, but make no mistake, it was still challenging in both the slots. However, unlike last year, there was at least one ‘doable’ set in both the slots along with some manageable/fight-worthy sets.

Both the slots saw some straightforward set-types –

Distributions/Venn-Diagrams/Calculation-based sets. Nevertheless, the time that these sets demanded was a dampener which would contribute to lowering the cut-offs.

T.I.M.E. students reported that the LRDI in AIMCATs and the inputs they received from faculty in classes along with the study material helped them navigate this section with a lot of confidence.

Tip- Apart from attending all the classes regularly, one also needs to do loads of practice with rest of the T.I.M.E. material (online Sectional Tests, SAMCATS, AIMCATS, etc.).

The Quant Section proved to be the high tide in both the slots. It was easily a few notches higher in difficulty level compared to CAT 2017. This difficulty was induced largely by the need to work around fixed methods of solving. There were no low-hanging fruits and very few questions could be solved without breaking a sweat. Questions were lengthy, and some also had additional conditions (read twists) that the students needed to watch out for. The number of ‘Easy’ questions saw a conspicuously drastic fall compared to last year which will contribute to a steep fall in the cut-offs this year.

The other apparent feature of the QA section this year is the continued focus on Arithmetic. ‘Pure-maths’ questions (on Functions, P&C, CG, etc.) were present, albeit lower in number. Within Arithmetic, the focus on usual suspects like Numbers was very low in both the slots, while Geometry, Time & Work and Time & Distance had very good representation.

While a very well-prepared student would not have broken much sweat, those who were tentative on their preparation would have found out that the going was not as smooth as they would have liked it to be.

Tip- Attending classes regularly and taking all the AIMCATs ( with proper and in-depth analysis of your performance ) is key to success.

The first slot of CAT 2018 was a mixed bag. While it didn't throw astronomical surprises, there were some changes, across sections, which in itself was not entirely unexpected. Students who have taken all the AIMCATs would have definitely been well-prepared to handle the few surprises (in terms of questions/difficulty) which were thrown at them.

As has generally been the case and reinforced by the feedback that we received from the students, there were quite a few doable questions across sections this year, as there were last year.

Although the number of lengthy questions in QA seems to have gone up, the presence of easy questions coupled with the art of filtering the difficult questions out would make students feel somewhat at ease. Nonetheless, most of the test-takers would have felt it to be an arduous task to push their overall attempts beyond a certain number. This is because any further move beyond it was being blocked by the difficult questions that were present aplenty across the sections, and which would have tested the core fundamentals of the students.

As usual, the order of the questions and the order of the options for various questions were different for different students.

In short, QA proved to be much tougher compared to CAT 2017, due to the lengthy and involved nature of the questions. VARC remained more or less at the same level and DILR was a tad easier compared to CAT 2017. As a result of this, the overall cutoff this year is expected to hover around the same level as that of CAT 2017.

Before we dig deeper into the discussion, let's quickly look at the test pattern.

Section	No. of Questions	No. of Non MCQ Questions	Difficulty level
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension	34	7	Moderate
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning	32	8	Difficult
Quantitative Ability	34	12	Moderate
Total	100	27

Comprehensive analysis - Slot 1

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Analysis

The Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension section is a section that most aspirants fear on account of its unpredictable nature. In one year if the RCs were lengthy which made them time - consuming then there were other years in which the questions were mostly inferential in nature which made the test tough. However, in CAT 2018 the passages were of moderate length and were from topics which are considered to be interesting reads – Biology, Environment, History, and Sociology.

Known to be a silent killer, the VARC section of CAT 2018 may live up to its name once again was deceptive, simple but could be hazardous if one were not careful enough. This is largely because of a pattern-change in the RC section. However, the slight increase in difficulty level of RC (compared to CAT 2017) might have been offset to a large extent by the Para Formation Questions, which were relatively simpler compared to CAT 2017. So, test-takers who have managed to ride the initial surprise and gather themselves would have done well.

With many readable and not-so-tough RC passages, the VARC section may have appeared very crackable. The surprise was the number of questions in the passages. Instead of the expected 6-Q and 3-Q passages, the test had four 5-Q passages and one 4-Q passage, which may have upset the strategy of students a little bit. The passages were mostly readable (except for one), and in almost 80% of the questions, it was, as expected, quite easy to eliminate two options. The question types were also quite similar to the previous year's CAT.

The VA questions, on Para Formation/Para Odd-One-out were quite simple to crack especially given that the PFQs only had four sentences instead of the expected number of five. This made the four PFQ questions must-attempts. The sentences in these questions were not very long reducing the difficulty level and making the questions appealing. The Odd-One-Out questions were relatively easy to crack as well. LackThe absence of negative marking for these questions was definitely a plus for the students. The Para summary questions might have posed a challenge for some students. While one of them was simple, the other two were reasonably time-consuming.

Area	Topic	No. of Qs	Difficulty Level
Reading Comprehension	5 passages	24	Moderate
Verbal Ability	Para-Formation	4	Easy-Moderate
	Para Odd Man Out	3	Moderate
	Summary	3	Moderate-Difficult

A good number of attempts for this section would be around 24 (getting at most 1/3rd of the questions wrong) to be able to score 85 percentile (sectional cut-off)

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Analysis

CAT 2016 and CAT 2017 had a ferocious bout between them in terms of setting a new benchmark in difficulty level for the LRDI section. And then CAT 2018 took place. The test takers would have been pleasantly surprised to find the difficulty level going down slightly. Students who could remain calm and composed would have been able to score well. The difficulty level of the Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning section certainly went down a notch in CAT2018 to the relief of the students. Some of the DI sets were not difficult in terms of interpretation and the questions too in these sets were not tricky in nature. Students who had persisted throughout the AIMCATs would have kept their balance and found this section very manageable.

Area	Topic	No. of Qs	Difficulty Level
Data Interpretation	N*N Matrix	4	Moderate
	ATM Machine	4	Moderate+
	Pie-Chart	4	Easy
	Satellites	4	Difficult
Logical Reasoning	Committee	4	Moderate+
	Pipes	4	Moderate
	Institutes	4	Difficult
	Exam ( diff sections )	4	Difficult

A good number of attempts for this section would be around 15 (getting at most 1/3rd of the questions wrong) to be able to get 85 percentile (sectional cut-off)

Quantitative Ability Analysis

The Quant section had 34 Questions with around 8 Questions of non-MCQ type. The number of questions on Geometry was on the higher side and some of them can be considered to be moderately difficult. This was offset by the large number of doable arithmetic questions which would have helped aspirants increase their attempts.

The low weightage trend for numbers continued this year in the morning slot. All in all, the difficulty level of this section can be classified as being slightly higher than moderate level (maybe a moderate plus).

Area	Topic	Description	No. of Qs	Difficulty Level
Quantitative Ability	Geometry & Mensuration		7	Moderate
	Numbers		2	Moderate+
	Arithmetic	AMA, TW, CI, TD, P&L, Ratio, Equations	15	Moderate
	Algebra	QE, Logs, Inequalities, Progressions, Coord. Geometry, Surds	7	Moderate+
	P&C/venn diagrams		3	Moderate

A good number of attempts for this section would be around 15 (getting at most 1/3rd of the questions wrong) to be able to score 85 percentile (sectional cut-off)

Sectional Cutoff Score

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA
85	46 ± 1	25 ± 1	25 ± 1
95	59 ± 1	35 ± 1	41 ± 1
99	70 ± 1	50 ± 1	52 ± 1

Overall Cutoff Score

Percentile	Overall
97.5	134 ± 2
99	148 ± 2

The second slot of CAT 2018 also did not have many major surprises in store compared to CAT 2017. However, overall, it turned out to be slightly tougher than the morning slot. While the VARC section was more or less at the same difficulty level as that of the morning slot, the bump up in the difficulty level is largely on the back of relatively tougher DILR and Quant sections.

Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension Analysis

The VARC section, was of moderate level - nothing too intimidating, but at the same time, not too simple. There was a marginal increase in the difficulty level of the RC section (compared to CAT 2017). The RC passages weren’t very lengthy. They were from topics which were engaging – Biology, Environment, Sociology, Science. In VA, the Para Formation Questions were simpler compared to those of CAT 2017. So, test-takers who could keep their wits upon them, would have done reasonably well.

As was the case with the morning slot, the surprise was the number of questions in the passages. 6-Q and 3-Q passages were replaced by four 5-Q passages and one 4-Q passage, which may have given a few students an initial jolt. The passages were not too straight forward to read, but at the same time wouldn’t pose too many challenges to the seasoned reader. The question types were also quite similar to those of CAT 2017. There were 27 MCQs and 7 non-MCQs. The VA questions, on Para Formation/Para Odd-One-out were quite simple to crack especially given that the PFQs only had four sentences instead of the expected number of five. The Odd-One-Out questions were relatively easy to crack as well, and so were the Para Summary Questions.

Area	Topic	No. of Qs	Difficulty level
Reading Comprehension	5 passages	24	Moderate
Verbal Ability	Para-Formation Questions	4	Moderate
	Para-Formation Odd Man Out	3	Moderate
	Para Summary	3	Moderate

A good number of attempts for this section would be around 23 (getting at most 1/3rd of the questions wrong) to be able to 85 percentile.

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning Analysis

Test takers from the second slot would have found the difficulty level of this section slightly more doable compared to that of CAT 2017. It was also a tad tougher than the difficulty level in the morning slot. There were 24 MCQs and 8 non-MCQs. Nevertheless, there were relatively easier sets such as the one with ‘room numbers’ and the one with ‘profitability and market share’ which should have been solved comfortably. Most of the sets were found to be lengthy and time-consuming. Some of them were quite difficult to comprehend, owing to the depth of reasoning involved. Students who had persisted throughout the AIMCATs would have kept their balance and found this section manageable.

Area	Topic	No. of Qs	Difficulty level
Data Interpretation	Square chart	4	Difficult
	Profitability and Market share	4	Moderate
	Currency conversion	4	Difficult
	B-School grading	4	Difficult
Logical Reasoning	Coding - Decoding	4	Difficult
	Platinum – gold tickets	4	Difficult
	Room Numbers and timings	4	Easy
	Venn Diagrams	4	Moderate-Difficult

A good number of attempts for this section would be around 12 (getting at most 1/3rd of the questions wrong) to be able to get 85 percentile.

Quantitative Ability Analysis

The Quant section had 22 MCQs with 12 questions of non-MCQ type. The low weightage trend for Numbers continued this year in the afternoon slot as well. At the same time, Arithmetic was heavily favoured. There were a good number of questions from Geometry and Mensuration. All in all, the difficulty level of this section can be classified as being moderate to difficult level.

Area	Topic	Description	No. of Qs	Difficulty level
Quantitative Ability	Geometry& Mensuration		6	Moderate+
	Numbers		4	Moderate
	Arithmetic	AMA, TW, CI, TD,P&L, RPV, Equations	14	Moderate+
	Algebra	QE, Logs, Inequalities,Functions	8	Difficult
	Miscellaneous		2	Difficult

A good number of attempts for this section would be around 12 (getting at most 1/3rd of the questions wrong) to be able to get 85 percentile.

Sectional cut-off score

Percentile	VARC	DILR	QA
85	45 ± 1	23 ± 1	22 ± 1
95	58 ± 1	33 ± 1	38 ± 1
99	69 ± 1	48 ± 1	49 ± 1

Overall cut-off score

Percentile	Overall
97.5	126 ± 2
99	140 ± 2

Abraham Lincoln famously said, ‘Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.’

The need to work on keeping our axe (mind) sharp, while is commonly known, is not paid much attention to. Students tend to let weeks and months pass by without getting serious about their preparation, only to later on rue the time that they had lost.

The exam strongly underscores the importance of preparation and also preparation in the right way. Being regular to classes and AIMCATs, making sure that you attend doubt clarifying sessions to get the cobwebs of concept & application thrown out of your head are a big must.

Being prepared for unexpected surprises is another big learning. AIMCATs provide exactly this kind of preparation by exposing you to sections at various difficulty levels. A regular AIMCAT taker would, as he gets closer to CAT, hardened enough to tackle those 'surprises'. By AIMCAT taker, we mean 'taker+analyser', as indepth analysis of the AIMCATs taken is equally important as that is where you get to know your strangths and weaknesses. This will help you focus on the right areas.

All the best!!