Yudhir Agarwal
The Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) 2013 is being conducted over a 5 day test window from February 21-25 across 2 time slots (9:30 am to 12:30 pm; 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm).
Today’s paper was comparable in terms of difficulty, with the Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation Section getting tougher compared to the previous CMAT exams. Since there are no sectional timings, one could easily utilise the time saved in GA section to score more in other sections. Scratch papers for rough work were readily available. The exam is a cakewalk for students preparing for the CAT except the General Awareness section if they are not familiar with the current trends.
Sectional feedback
Quantitative Technique and Data Interpretation
Even though this section can still be rated on a scale of easy to moderate, the average time required to complete the section was more .While in the earlier CMATs, average time for completion of the section for good students was around 25-30 minutes, this time around completion of the Quant section took 40-45 minutes for a lot of students. Like the exam held in September 2012, this section of CMAT had all single questions and no set based ones.
There were about 8-9 questions in Arithmetic which dealt with ratios, mixtures, work etc. About 3 questions in Numbers which were about number of divisions of a number, number of zeroes etc. Geometry had some 4 questions on mensuration etc and Modern Math had 5 questions which were on permutations and combinations. Algebra had 3 questions which were based on inequalities and equations and DI had one question which was a pie chart.
What was interesting is that some questions in this section compared to the previous CMAT were a lot better framed and tested the reasoning skills of the test taker along with the conceptual knowledge. Quite a lot of focus was given to Number Properties (as indicated in the table above).Students need to brush up on these. A few of the questions in this section reminded you of the easier questions asked in CAT in past couple of years. Looking at the test, a test taker needs to have reasonable level of proficiency in almost all areas of Mathematics and cannot avoid leaving out any topic in his preparation for CMAT.
Logical Reasoning
This section had questions that can again be rated on a scale of easy to moderate. The test taker could have got stuck on some questions. It is critical to keep a tab on time. You might want to mark such questions to be revisited later. Again, single questions only and no set based ones.
There were 6 questions on Arrangements which dealt with linear, seating, sequencing etc. Coding had 1 question, Family Tree 2, Logical Puzzles 1, Group and Conditionalities 1, True False 2, Series 1, Directions 2, Clocks 1, Directions 2, Calendars 1, Data Sufficiency 3 which were based on Family Tree, Numerical Puzzle etc, Sequential Input-Output 1, Syllogisms 1 and Conditional statements 1.
Overall, the section was quite easy barring 4-5 questions (especially the ones in Arrangements), which were a bit lengthy in terms of data to be read and analysed and hence time consuming. The section was similar in terms of level of difficulty for the September 2012 CMAT.
Language Comprehension (LC)
This section was easy with a couple of questions in Reading Comprehension and Critical Reasoning having options that were quite close. It comprised of small RC passages (about 10-11) with a single question on the passage. Questions were of the following types: main idea/theme of the passage, tone of the author, title of the passage, etc. In critical reasoning, (5-6 questions) following were the question types,which of the following weaken /support the argument, what can be safely concluded, what is implied etc. There were single questions on Complete the sentence, Fact-Inference – Judgement, Similar & Opposite Meanings of words. Find The Grammatical Error, Analogies, Choose the sentence which conveys the meaning most appropriate. Matching the Idiom & Word for Usage and Definition for 4 possibilities given in the Box etc.
Developing a regular reading habit will significantly better your scores in this section. In verbal reasoning, it is critical to learn the approach to solve the different question types.
General Awareness (GA)
GA section is believed to be the decider section amongst the test takers. This section can be rated on a scale of easy to moderate, with more questions falling on the easier side. If you read newspapers regularly then you could easily answer around 9-10 questions (which was the total no of questions based on current affairs and rest being on Static GK). Even some of the questions on Static 4-5) were sitters. There were several questions related to politics, science and entertainment. Questions from history and sports were also present. The questions seemed quite familiar. However, one has to be careful to not fall into the trap of guess work since CMAT has negative marking.
To ace this section, read newspapers regularly. Keep your eyes and ears open for latest happenings which could be through TV news as well. Familiarise yourselves with important facts across different areas that are generally covered in general knowledge books. There is less emphasis on figures and data, which are generally difficult to remember.
Some of the questions asked were based politics, films, authors, sports, finance etc.
Looking at the overall difficulty level; we would expect the cut off for GD –PI FOR top colleges under CMAT to be around 300-310
Results
The result of candidates appearing for computer based test CMAT Feb 2013 will be declared on March 13, 2013. Scorecards can be printed from March 13-Aprul 13.
Yudhir Agrawal, an alumnus of SJMSOM, IIT-Bombay is Product Manager (MBA-India) at IMS.