IIM CAT 2021 Slot 3 Paper Analysis: The Common Admission Test (CAT 2021) was concluded on Sunday (November 28). The candidates who appeared in the slot 3 (evening shift) reviewed the paper as balanced with equal weightage given to every sections. The Quant, DILR sections were easiest, while the comprehension section was lengthy. Ankit Tiwary, a CAT aspirant said that the paper was not at all difficult, but the comprehension section was a bit lengthy. According to Ankit, "The paper was quite easy, with equal weightage provided to every sections. The comprehension section was a bit lengthy, while certain questions from DILR, VARC sections were tricky."
According to expert, overall paper was doable and not very tough when compared to 2020. VARC was more inference based, but had reading comprehension passages all from the predicted topics. "DILR was Moderate in difficulty terms but felt a little Time consuming and lengthy. Quants was tougher than the Slot 1 and 2 of today. Negative marking existed for the Multiple choice questions; 1/3rd ie 0.33 negative marks. Type in The answer Questions didn't have any negative marking similar to the CAT 2020," Sumit Singh Gandhi, Director CATKing said.
READ MORE | CAT 2021: Paper Was 'Lengthy And Time Consuming', Slot 1 Expert Analysis
CAT 2021: Check section wise analysis of slot 3
VARC- 24 Questions
Reading comprehension was dominated in the verbal section. There were 4 passages with 4 Questions each. More inference based questions and not factual, there were close options too so it needed little focus while solving.
Verbal Ability
- 4 Questions Parajumbles Moderate, Easy
- 2 Questions Parasummary - Easy
- 2 Questions Odd one Out Moderate
- Reading Comprehension- 16 Questions
- The Reading comprehension were based on the following themes:
- Passage 1: Science Based
- Passage 2: X Men Comic Book
- Passage 3: Time Management
- Passage 4: Languages - Linguistic
- Ideal attempts in VARC Section: 18 Questions
- DILR- 24 Questions
Not very difficult, easy to moderate with respect to comprehension of the questions, one set of games and tournament was time consuming which had been left in option by most students.
Summary of Questions
- DILR Sets with 6 Questions: 2 Sets = 12 Questions (LR Sets)
- DILR Sets with 4 Questions: 2 Sets=8 Questions (DI Sets)
- Set 1: Horizontal Stacked Column Graph (4 People, 5 Projects, 9 months duration work (Work allocation %) (4 Questions)
- Set 2: Mathematical Reasoning (4 Questions ) — Trickiest
- Pure liquid, impurities, machine testing
- Set 3: Games and Tournament (6 Questions)
- Javelin Throw
- Too much information - could be left in option
- Set 4 Condition Based Puzzle (6 Questions) Tricky but do able if table made right
- 3 People , Creating 30 questions and Check (how many review, outsource or internal creation)
- Ideal attempts in DILR Section: 13-14 Questions.
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Quants 22 Questions: (TITA 8)
Quants focused on the conceptual clarity and the application of the concepts, some may take time to solve but easy to score and attempt 16-18 Questions
Arithmetic -10 to 11 Questions
- Simple Compound Interest, Time and Work, Profit & Loss, Time Speed Distance, Averages, Percentages
- Logs 2 Questions
- Functions 2 Questions
- Series Based Questions 1
- Geometry 2- 3 Questions
- Numbers 2 Questions.
Another aspirant, Rohit Agarwal said that the paper was balanced, while questions in DILR section were a bit tricky. "The overall CAT paper was balanced, while questions from Quant sections were the easiest. The DILR section was also easy, but has some tricky questions, while the comprehension section was time consuming," the aspirant said.
The candidates who appeared in the slot 1 and 2 also reviewed the paper as moderate. Hritesh Gupta who appeared in slot 2 said that the paper was not difficult, but a bit lengthy. "The comprehension section was quite lengthy, I could not complete my paper due to time constraints. Apart from it, quantitative, DILR sections were the easiest. The rest sections were balanced," he said. Hritesh is expecting a score of around 100 to 110 marks, between (98- 99) percentile.
Analysing the first slot, Abhishek Patil, CEO Co-founder Oliveboard, "The overall difficulty level of CAT 2021 First Shift was easier as compared to last year. There was a change in No. of Questions in the 3 sections, VARC had 24 Questions. DILR had 20 Questions and Quant had 22. Time Management was the key in the first shift as DILR section as usual was lengthy. VARC was a little trickier but doable. Quant was on the easier side." The candidates who can score around 100 to 110 marks can expect marks varied between 98-99 percentile.
The candidates were quite satisfied with Covid-19 guidelines maintained at every centre. Paramita Ghosh, CAT aspirant, said that proper arrangements were there at their centre, with Covid-19 guidelines followed strictly. "The exam hall has not more than 20 students with alternative seating arrangements. The centre provided masks and sanitisers to every candidate, with sanitisation happening twice during the exam."
Around 2.30 lakh candidates applied to appear in the management entrance, which was conducted in three slots.
