CAT-11 kicks off; cuts scope for guesswork

The Common Admission Test (CAT)-2011 for admission to the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other premier B-schools of the country got off to a smooth start on Saturday. The examinees as well as the teachers of CAT coaching institutes in the city said the questions were in line with the sample questions posted on the CAT website. The only catch for the students was that guesswork was of no help in answering questions. Most choices for answers in multiple-choice questions were so close in meaning that guesswork was useless.

Convener for CAT-2011, Prof Janakiraman Moorthy of IIM-Calcutta, said the test was held smoothly all over the country.

"No complaints have been reported from anywhere. I have received calls from several people saying that the questions were of moderate to difficult level. There have been mixed responses to the quality of test papers," Moorthy said.

The test will be conducted on 20 days starting from October 22 and ending on November 18, 2011. One student who appeared in the test on Saturday said he had taken last year's CAT as well.  "Compared to last year's CAT, this year's test had two sessions. Questions were not too difficult but I found the Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation section a bit tough. Overall, however, it was a more balanced test than last year's," the student said.

The reactions of teachers of CAT coaching institutes were similar to those of the examinees. Bishwaroop Padhi, teacher at a coaching institute, said questions were nicely balanced.

"Mathematics was slightly tougher than before. Earlier, smart students could zero in on the correct answer by a process of elimination and some guesswork. But this time, I don't think that was possible. Most choices were so close to the correct answer that it was difficult to rely on guesswork. Yet, compared to last year's test, this year's CAT appears to be more balanced," Padhi said.

Another coach for CAT, Parasharan Chari, said that overall there appeared to be an attempt to bring the examination closer to international standards. "This paper - both in format and difficulty level - will be more easily replicable in standard. This will reduce the luck factor, if not eliminate it altogether," he said.

Chari added that a well-prepared examinee would have been able to attempt 60% of the questions in Saturday's test but an examinee who wanted to make it to one of the IIMs will have to answer close to 80% of the questions with respectable accuracy. Around 280 aspirants appeared in the test from the LJ Centre, the only CAT center in Gujarat.