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CAT 2006: The detailed analysis
Career Launcher
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November 19, 2006

This year, we saw an extremely malnourished Common Admission Test (just 75 questions as against 90 last year). The Verbal Ability section seemed to have been imported straight from Her Majesty's palace!

And the biggest surprise: Perennial villain 'Quant' turned saviour.

As expected, CAT 2006 threw up surprises. These were the prominent ones:

1. There were five options instead of the customary four, making it similar to GRE/ GMAT.

2. Every single question in VA was inferential, with the options being extremely close. One felt the necessity of an electron microscope to discriminate amongst them.

3. Grammar, the eternal favourite, was nowhere in sight. Para jumbles, where art thou?

4. Quant, surprisingly, failed to intimidate. It was like vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate and nuts on top. Need we say more?

5. DI/ Reasoning had no surprises. It was similar to the mock tests you have been writing in the past three months (in fact, easier).

Here's an overview of how you should have attempted this paper:   

CAT  2006

Section

Topic

No of Qs

Total marks

Suggested time (min)

Possible attempts

Possible scores

Expected
cut-offs

I

Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation

25

75

40

15

40 +

30-33

II

Verbal Ability

25

75

55

16

35 +

28-32

III

Quantitative Ability

25

75

55

15

40 +

38-42

Total

75

300

150

46

135 +

105-110

Disclaimer: These cut-offs are decided by our expert faculty who have attempted the CAT 2006 paper. They may not be the actual IIM cut-offs. These calculations are based on our experience and expertise. 

Expected Cutoffs for different institutes

Any one IIM call: 110

MDI, SP Jain: 100-105

NITIE, MDI-HR, MICA: 90
 
IMT, TAPMI, IMI: 85
 
KJ Somaiya, BIM, UBS Welingkar: 75

FORE, ITM, LBS: 75

CAT 2006 vs CAT 2005, CAT 2004

Parameter

CAT 2006

CAT 2005

CAT 2004

Number of sections

3

3 x 2

3 x 2

Number of questions

75

90

123

Difficulty level (Overall)

Moderate

Difficult

Difficult

Difficulty level (Quant)

Easy

Average

Average

Difficulty level (EU + RC)

Difficult

Average

Average

Difficulty level (DI + DS + AR)

Moderate

Difficult

Difficult

Expected cut-off (Overall)

105-110

47-49

55

Expected cut-off (Quant)

38-42

12-13

16

Expected cut-off (EU + RC)

28-32

17-18

21

Expected cut-off (DI + DS + LR)

30-33

10-11

14

Section-wise analysis

~Section I: Quantitative Ability
  

Topic

CAT 2006

CAT 2005

CAT 2004

Overall

25

30

35

Arithmetic

10

9

13

Number system

7

5

6

Percentage, SI-CI, PLD

1

0

0

Ratio proportion

1

0

4

Speed Time Distance, Work

1

4

3

Algebra

9

8

9

Equations & inequalities

4

2

2

Functions & graphs

1

2

4

Maxima minima

2

2

0

Series, sequences & progressions, logs

2

2

3

Geometry

4

10

10

Plane geometry

4

6

9

Mensuration

0

3

1

Co-ordinate geometry + trigonometry

0

1

0

Modern math

2

3

3

Miscellaneous math

0

0

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~Section II: English usage & Reading comprehension  

(Topic-wise breakup )

Topic

CAT 2006

CAT 2005

CAT 2004

Overall

25

30

50

English usage

0

18

29

Usage dictionary

0

3

10

Vocabulary: Contextual meaning

0

0

3

Para jumbles

0

3

8

Sentence completion

5

4

3

Sentence correction

0

4

3

Replacement of words

0

4

0

Critical reasoning

5

0

2

Reading Comprehension

15

12

5 passages    (21 Q)

Politics and social

1

4 Q (2 marker)

2 Passages    (8 Q)

History and mythology

0

0

1 Passages    (5 Q)

Science, technology

0

0

1 Passage      (4 Q)

Business & economics

0

0

1 Passage      (4 Q)

Fiction, philosophy, law 

2

4 Q (2 marker)

0

Psychology & management

0

4 Q (2 marker)

0


~Section III: Data interpretation/Data sufficiency/Logical reasoning  

Topic-wise breakup

Topic

CAT 2006

CAT 2005

CAT 2004

Overall

25

30

38

Data Interpretation

0

10

5 sets (20 Q)

Table

1

6

3 sets (12 Q)

Line graph

0

0

1 set (4 Q)

Pie chart

0

0

0

Bar graph

0

4

1 set (4 Q)

Mixed data set

0

0

0

Caselet

3

0

0

Data sufficiency

0

0

6

Analytical reasoning

1

20

3 sets (12 Q)

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