First-ever online Common Admission Test
First-ever online Common Admission Test (CAT) unfolded, the term ‘post-mortem’ would become so appropriate! Though many managed to attempt the CAT without a hitch, others experienced bizarre problems. Any attempt to forecast the score is fraught with a risk generally. And this year’s CAT fiasco makes the job doubly difficult. Here are some of the factors that might make a significant difference to CAT scores of applicants:
Many candidates were able to get more time than the allocated 135 minutes for the test. While the computer hanged in the middle of the test, the clock stopped. As clueless supervisors tried to reset the system, the candidate got extra time to solve the question that he/she was attempting before the computer hanged.
On the other hand, many candidates got lesser time than allocated — again owing to computer problems. Some candidates did not see all 60 questions. This is because the screen blanked out either partly or entirely after attempting some questions. Some candidates were made to attempt the test more than once.
As many as 10% of the total questions, were repeated from previous CAT exams. Some questions were exact replicas of questions from CAT 2003 to CAT 2005. Since, the CAT test papers of those years were officially made available by the IIMs, many applicants had thoroughly studied those papers. Personally came across students who knew the solutions of several questions by heart. They spent mere seconds in selecting the correct answer from options given with such questions. In an exam where admission to top B-schools of the country, can be secured by getting 30-40 questions right, a gift of as many as six free questions can impact the entire score.
CAT 2009 to be easier than earlier CAT exams. We predicted the legendary ‘killer’ CAT questions would be few and far between, whereas the CAT exam from 2003 to 2008 was very difficult. Even bright students barely managed to attempt 50% of the questions in previous CAT exams. This time a large proportion of candidates managed to attempt as many as 70% of the questions. Several students even attempted well above 55 of the 60 questions asked.
