CAT 2008 – Paper Analysis

Overview

Total time for examination was 150 minutes.
There was an increase in total number od questions from 75 to 90 (as compared to the last year), with english section comprising of 40 questions ( an increase of 15 from last year), and quant and DI having 25 questions each.
The difficulty level of CAT 2009 was of Difficult.
The two things that were different from last year were the increased weightage of the English section and the reduced number of questions per set in the data interpretation section.
The difficulty levels were reduced in the Verbal Ability section, but maintained in Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning sections.

Most of the questions had to be solved using a more logical than formula-based approach.
The level of difficulty was comparable to last year.
Geometry made a comeback this year, while Modern Maths questions reduced in number. There were very few arithmetic questions.

Continuing from CAT 2007, there were enough traditional DI questions. However, the section was tougher than CAT 2007.
Most of the questions were deceptively tricky, hence which ones to be attempted and which ones to left was a time consuming decision.
This difficulty is compounded by the fact that the time allocation strategy was disturbed by uneven distribution of questions.
Logical reasoning questions made a comeback after being conspicuously absent last year (they had made a thumping entry in CAT 2005 and CAT 2006).

Verbal Ability was about speed, and your power of observation.
The weightage for the section increased: the number of questions increased to 40, while the marks for each question were still the same.
Reading comprehension questions were simpler. The difficulty level of the passages went down – a major relief.