CAT 2016 tougher than the ones in previous years, say candidates

Students coming out after attending the CAT 2016 online at M.S. Ramaiah College in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Candidates who took the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2016 on Sunday to compete for a seat in the Indian Institutes of Management said that the paper this year was tougher compared to the previous years.

Business management aspirants said they found the data interpretation and logical reasoning section the most difficult of all four sections. Students from both the morning and afternoon slots shared similar views.

Some of the candidates who took the test in the afternoon slot said that they were able to attempt fewer questions when compared to those who sat for the test in the morning.

Increase in applicants

Across India, 1.95 lakh candidates, of the total 2.32 lakh who had registered, gave the test on Saturday.

Rajendra K. Bandi, Convener, CAT 2016, in a press release, stated that the total number of applicants who took the test was 83.6 per cent, an increase from last year’s 82 per cent. He added that the test was conducted smoothly in centres across 138 cities in the country.

Mitesh K., a student from Bengaluru, said that the paper was tricky, and that a lot of students were confused with the symbol of the square root that was used, as it was not one they were familiar with.

Both students as well as coaching classes heads claimed that there were at least two errors in the questions attempted by candidates in the first slot.

Arks Srinivas, CEO, VistaMind Education, pointed out that the marking scheme given in the instructions had mentioned that a candidate would be given + 3 for the right answer and - 1 for the wrong answer. “But individual questions in the paper said that +1 would be awarded for the right answer and -0.33 for the wrong answer. Though it won’t make much difference, it appears that it is a technical error overlooked by the IIM team,” he said.

Mr. Bandi, in a press release said, “There is no difference between the two. Wherever negative marking is used, it is minus one-third of the score that is given for a correct score. Both +3/-1 or +1/-0.33 are the same.”

Results

The results of the test are likely to be announced in the second week of January.