Preliminary Analysis and CAT 2007 Cutoffs (By TIME)

Source: TIME

CAT 2007: Preliminary Analysis

CAT 2007 evoked a sense of deja-vu but the similarity ended with the total number of questions and the 5 choice format. This animal was like the sphinx when compared to CAT2006 – similar in some respects and different in others. For starters the Verbal section retained its trickery and was just as difficult as last year. The DI section afforded many opportunities for scoring and was the easiest of the three sections in CAT2007. The Quant section was a revelation - it went back to the good old days where it was ‘the’ section to be dreaded. Quant by far was the most difficult of the three sections in this paper.

QA: The QA section did not have any question that could be classified as easy. DS saw a major comeback in this paper with as many as 4 Qs. The cutoffs in this section will touch a record ‘low’ and would be in the range of 19-21 marks.

LR&DI: The DI section saw a return of the calculation intensive papers that were the hallmark of CAT prior to 2005. The return of DS proved to be a pleasant surprise for the students as these questions were easy and very doable. Overall this section definitely had many sets which were easy and the cutoff is expected to be around 30-32 marks.

VA: The major relief was the fact that the pesky FIJ questions were not to be seen and the paper saw a return of the Grammar and Para Formation questions albeit with a twist. The RCs were definitely tougher than last year and were definitely not easy to read and understand. The cutoff is expected to be in the range of 18-20 marks.

The overall cutoff for at least one IIM call would be in the range of 88-90 marks.

As per T.I.M.E.'s assessment, the following are the cut-offs for getting IIM Calls:

Quant: 19-21 marks
LR-DI: 30-32 marks
VA/RC: 18-20 marks