The Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs) recently announced a changed module for CAT 2011 exam. To be held from 22 October to 18 November 2011, CAT 2011 will now have only two sections:

• Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation
• Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

The candidates will also be provided 15 minutes tutorials before the examination starts. Including the tutorials’ timing, examination will be of two hours and 35 minutes. Further, candidates will have 70 minutes to answer 30 questions in each section which will have an on-screen countdown timer. Once the time ends for the first section, they will move to the second and will no longer be able to go back.
A practice test to provide candidates with a feel of the timed sections, as well as navigation and functionality of the actual test, will be available soon.
Another development is the inclusion of three new cities - Bhilai, Jammu and Dehradun - to the previous 33 test locations. 

Tony Xavier, Head – Academics, IMS Learning Resources Pvt Ltd offers a perspective on the changes in the test structure.

A MORE BALANCED TEST

• By ensuring that students have to spend equal time on both sections the IIMs have ensured that the CAT will become more balanced as a test.
• By implementing a sectional- time limit the test will be able to better filter out people who are equally competent in both sections.

TEST BECOMES MORE INCLUSIVE

• The CAT Convener has said that through these changes they hope to make the test fair and equitable; we are sure that this will happen because these changes make the test more inclusive.
• The changes are a shot in the arm for test-takers from a non-Math background as they will now be on a more equal footing with engineers.
• Since one has to allot 70 minutes to each section, engineers and others with a Math background cannot push the Math cut-offs higher and keep the Verbal cut-offs low.

TEST-TAKING BECOMES SIMPLER

• From our experience we have found that a majority of the test-takers find it difficult to stick to dividing their time equally between sections.
• They skew their time allocation towards one particular section and end up not clearing all the sectional cut-offs.
• The test will now take care of time allocation and ensure that they divide their time equally.

STRATEGY BECOMES SIMPLER, TARGETS BECOME CLEARER

• Since the sections are now timed, the test-taking strategy becomes very simple.
• We have seen from our SimCATsthat test-takers who clear the cut-offs tend to attempt 80% of the questions and get about 85% of them right.
• This means that in each section, test-takers have to attempt about 24 questions in 70 minutes and this gives them about 3 minutes per question.

HOW SHOULD TEST-TAKERS USE THE NEXT THREE MONTHS

• Test-takers have to use the next three months to work really hard on their weak areas.
• Unlike earlier test-takers cannot save time on their strong section and use it to clear cut-offs in the section in which they are weak.
• So weakness in any particular area will prove to be a big liability unless test-takers work on it during the next 3 months to ensure that they can increase their attempts and accuracy within the 70 min duration.

STUDENTS’ SPEAK
Anantha Ranganathan, a CAT 2011 student is positive about the new pattern and is quiet upbeat. “In the new pattern DI has been clubbed with Quantitative which works in my favour. Since DI is not among my strength areas. With the help of quantitative section, I will be able to raise my sectional cut off. I also feel that with the introduction of the time limits one would be able to focus on all the sections equally and so it is quiet balanced and fair. However the inability to navigate between sections may be a drawback for some. At this point my strategy would be to work harder at Quant and channelize my effort to help raise my cut off.”

However, Amrita Shrishail B, also a CAT 2011 student feels apprehensive of the new test pattern, “It is still very early to say what can be expected until the CAT notification is properly out. With the new two section pattern with time limits, only those people who are serious and sincere can crack the test.  On the other hand the sectional time constraint may be a drawback to test takers who rely on working on their area of strength and devoting more time on problems they are weak in.  One cannot afford to skip questions to keep it for later when in doubt with new pattern. My strategy to ace the test would be to make my strength areas perfect as there isn’t enough time to master the weak subjects.”