CAT 2009 : 29th Nov ( Day 2 ) Exam Experiences

MBA CAT 2024
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Starting this thread for the 2nd day i.e. 29th November. To make sure the gudielines are adhered to, we will keep this thread where everyone can share their experiences in the following format. So let us hear out from the people who taken the…

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Based on feedback received from test takers, this is the compilation of FAQs. In addition to yesterdays list.

I request to go through this FAQs. Before posting any new query.

1 ) What was the type of questions covered in exam?
ans- Based on the feedback received from the students who took the first CBT CAT, the initial impressions about CAT 2009 are as follows:

  1. As announced earlier by Prometric, the number of questions was 60
  2. There were 3 sections as in previous CAT papers namely Verbal, LR/DI and QA
  3. Number of questions in all three sections was 20.
  4. Most of the high performers in Mocks have reported attempting around 40 questions. Section wise attempting 13-15 qs in English, and about 12 ques each in quant and DI.
  5. Paper pattern was almost similar to previous CATs although the paper was a notch easier than CAT 2008
  6. Many centres across India faced technical problems due to which some centres had to delay the exam and postpone it to a later date.
  7. While English was similar in difficulty level as last year, the RC passages were shorter. Quant was easier than the previous years. DI section was a little time consuming.

2 ) what all is to be taken with us to the exam centre?
ans - 1. Voucher (or Pay-in-slip )
2. Admit Card (Print it from your mail a/c)
3. Photo ID as proof (License/ Voter ID etc)
* NO pens, paper, watches etc. allowed
* Cash/CC allowed

3 ) were there same number of questions in slot 2?
ans - yes.... both the slots had 60 questions each.

4) What about final year student's affidavit?
ans - affidavit typed as per the performa and duly signed by college principal will be sufficient.

5) Were questions jumbled?
ans- questions were not jumbled. Though sections were not specified, there was a group of 20, 20 questions of all 3 sections .

6) Can we unmark the answer? How to review?
ans- Answer once marked, can be changed any number of times.... To review, click on review button and then move todesired question by double clicking on the question number. You can switch from question 1 to question 55 directly, no issues in it.

7) what about negative marking?
ans - Though no criteria was mentioned about the percentage of negative marking, no speculations should be made. Remember, prometric has earlier mentioned that there will be negative marking.Without assuming anything, it is suggested to perform equally well in all sections.

8 )Do they provide marks/scores after the completion of exam?
No.

9) Is it all right to have [email protected] with date of receiving on the top of it, as admit card?
Yes. Its fine.

10) What are the stationary items provided to us?
1) 4 sheets of A4 size paper. No extra paper is provided. You can erase and use the same paper if you want.5 min
2) 2-HB pencil and eraser. Sharper is not provided. In case pencil is blunt they will replace it with well sharpened pencil

11) Do we need to give our prometric credentials(username/password) to get the Question paper loaded on screen?
You do not need to give your prometric username password for the paper to be loaded on the screen. Do not login, it is there for centre login.

12) I don't remember my prometric user name and password?Is it required at the time ?
You do not need your prometric user id or password.

13) Is it true that you are allowed to skip the 15 minutes tutorial and thus utilize the full time (2hrs 30 mins) for the test?
No. The test is for 2 hr 15 min only + 15 min tutorial (optional)

14) Will the test be automatically submitted at the time?
Yes. The test is automatically submitted once the time is over.

15) Can I mark options(or highlight in yellow colour) in DI or quant or verbal (not RC)in yellow colour ? It was given on catiim.in ?
Yes. You can.

16) Can i attempt sections as i like or do i have to follow the order ?
Yes. You can attempt the test in any order.


P.S. Special thanks to VisionIIM-ACL.
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Hi guys i'm new to PG and am noticing something missing. If someone can make a comparative analysis of the 3 slots held till now, it will help candidates like myself to asses the overall trend of CAT 2009 and make us mentally prepared for the challenge that lies ahead.

And one small request, I know being no more than 5 mins old I do not have a right to say this, but threads are full of problems that people faced while taking the test. If you've had a similar problem , best would be to thank the person who has described the problem earlier rather than spamming this thread and making it 20-30 page long due to which it becomes difficult to scan out important/useful information.

Thanks and best of luck to those who are yet to face the test !!

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this is very disturbing... i have my slot on 1st dec morning at siddhartha degree college in hyd in the morning slot .... and the test today is cancelled there... i really hope all thing will be sorted by today........ anybody giving exam at the same time and venue????????????:-(:-(

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I think the stage is set fr 2003 replay there r too many anamolies....wl quote some:

1.My frnd solved 3 QA question wen system was shut in between ...dats more than 15%le and surely only the stated case many more wud have been unstated.

2.Too much chaos to people whu nt able to give test and now will be required to the test on theri time another unfaitr advantage.

3.People frm some slot had test auto submitted and they cannot reschedule bcoz they know the questions and pattern...i think IIM sud get to paper pen one till they are sure abt online format....its too unfair in all front in an exam like CAT which makes or breaks by single question

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Test takers day 2 slot 1..pls help.
Wer the no. of ques same(20,20,20)..
and difficulty level ,no. of options..?
Experience other than just a word..


Yes 60 questions...20 each section
Difficulty: Moderate
No. Of options: 4

You can mark, unmark, edit, review, change - anything with the options........

All questions for RC and DI were on same page (divided into 2 half)
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my experience:
earlier at IILH9 xam ws cancelled!!!!

any way i went to the centre...nd surprisingly enuf i took my cat today...only 1 student in the room........

paper pattern: 20-QA 20-LR/DI 20-VA
QA--very doable
DI/LR---yet again time consuming
VA--tricky...RCs were doable

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Gave CAT 2009 Exam Today, 10 AM.....

Experience in One word: AWESOME

srry for copyin mate...but cudn help it...cuz the feelin was pretty much mutual:p

the only glitch bein prometric's mum on markin scheme..and no clear section-headings

neways can ya disclose ur number of attempts?

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1) How many attempts you have made?
30

2) Your last mock score?CL: 81 percentile; TIME: 89 percentile

3) How was your experience of the test?
AWESOME

4) What was the surprise element for you?
NOTHING

5) Any tips to handle the computer based exam better?
BE cool!! Try to drink lot of coffee as you might feel sleepy (as me) waiting and wasting around 1 hour 30 minutes before the test

6) Your overall analysis of the exam. Toughness, new topics, sections etc.
DI: Calculation Intensive
LR: Only single questions
QA: Simple, may sitters
VA&RC;: Moderate

7) Any other query or something you would like to share with us.
ROCK YOUR CAT....
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Hi,

My .02$. I had my exam (Day 2, Slot 1) at RV Institute of Management at Bangalore.
Tests started in a timely manner faced no difficulties as such.

My advice to candidates:
1) Answer all calls from nature before the second security check in.
2) Be patient and everything will go well. There is a lot of time spent waiting. Nearly as along as the paper itself.
3) For quant all topics are important. Geometry and NS are more equal than others.
4) 60, 20, 20, 20
5) In a section you wont find two DS questions together, but all DI and RC questions come in one page.
6) Navigation is a bitch compared to paper so get a lot of practice on this front. Use Marking feature wisely.
7) Power went down once, the UPS started immediately. Did not face any loss of time.
Cant say about difficulty levels as what is difficult to me maybe easy to you, so no point speculating.
9) No mention of -ve as to what it can be. But it is there according to the Practical Guide.
10) All the best. Relax. Revise. Crack.

Mods if I have disclosed more than necessary, Snip it.

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Hi Puys,
Seeing all this confusions created by media I went apprehensive and I went to the centre to check out by myself what was scenario though I have scheduled my test on 6 dec.

I went to Jaipuria institiute of management, noida and spoke to one of examinees
The paper started at normal time and finished at normal time. It was same for all candidates present there.
There were least number of questions as given in range of Prometric(60-70). equal distribution in every section
and as the level has been said in previous two slots it was easy compared to last CATs.
VA- half ques RC. Least prime number of RCs with one fourth of total questions of section in each RC Rest was Parajumbles and other grammer parts( I didnt asked what was other questions)
DI- was bit calculative. LR was also there
QA- easy as compared to last CAT. Few direct sitters

Overall (2/3th of ques)+ attempt is acheivable Cutoffs will definitely go high
Please puys do not panic. Let IIMs(and not prometric) do there stuff and they will ensure that everyone gets a fair chance.

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So I had taken the pen and pencil version last year and then took it this year. Both time it was without preparation - this time not even a single test whereas last time I took 5-10 tests at Time. Given that I have taken it two successive years, I guess my insights might be particularly helpful (not saying that I am the one and only 😛 PG Admins posted great experiences yesterday).
My experience below:

Scheduled for 10 AM at Jaipuria Noida, I reachea bout 8:25 AM. Very chilly morning. Check in procedure was a little lengthy but as I was just taking the test for the sake of taking it, I was unfazed. Finished check ins. No one had told us we cannot use the washrooms once inside, so I asked to go. Was treated with an irritated face but when they realized they should have informed they let me go 😛 (and thank god!) They also then announced this to people outside... lol

There were some hiccups while registering - the Prometric guy seemed helpless and called a superior to tel him that the test might not start by 11 (he then also said that the media is waiting outside :P). I was shocked that they (Prometric) hadn't learned their lesson from yesterday, but somehow we managed to start at 10:10. They specifically mentioned points (like don't press quit exam) before letting us start. Now over to the PG Format.


1) How many attempts you have made?
Didn't keep count, but am guessing about 45-50
2) Your last mock score? If you are there at Mock Stores Repository (Mock Scores Repository 2009!) (Mock Scores Repository 2009!) (Mock Scores Repository 2009!) , please provide the link here.
Didn't take a single mock :P
3) How was your experience of the test?
On a scale of 10 - Administration 7, Content 10
4) What was the surprise element for you?
No one needed to have done any sort of preparation for this test. It was a simple aptitude test (which of course had the mix of easy and tough questions).
5) Any tips to handle the computer based exam better?
Read everything carefully before clicking anything. An important insight - in the beginning, if you do not agree to the terms and conditions and press next, your exam ends there :P
6) Your overall analysis of the exam. Toughness, new topics, sections etc.
It mirrored the levels of last year's CAT. All in all, out of 20 questions atleast 10 were easily attemptable and the rest needed some fair bit of calulcations and thought. Overall, I think it was moderately tough (6-7 on a scale of 10)
7) Any other query or something you would like to share with us.
Above.

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Just came back from my Day 2. Slot 1 Exam at RV institute of management, Bangalore. Was incident free.

Same number of questions as yesterday. I found the paper relatively easy but DI calculation intensive. There were at least a couple of mistake in the options.

On the paper front, UI was cool. Mark button worked as expected (didnt try unmark :D). Review was great (with only marked question or only unanswered question).

Some people got 6 A4 sheets, against normal of 4.

No time to party as gotta finish my ISB App. Best of luck to those appearing in coming days.

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I took the exam at CMRIT college..Bangalore

Things not allowed inside:

Wallet
Jerking
House key!
pen, pencil, and then the usual stuff.
water bottle.


Provisions to keep wallet : yes.. its a plastic cover which they provide.. it is sealable with an identification number.. but pretty small... sufficient though..


you can bring your vehicle and park it inside the campus..

And yes... rest rooms... definitely before entering your final room.. like 40 minutes before the exam starts...

do not write anything on your cat voucher...

No Air Conditioning..

No mobile phones allowed. but one of the prometric guy had a conversation with his friend or someone thrice!! .. hope prometric does something about this..

Regarding the experience: surprisingly smoother experience than previous papers. DI - navigation was tricky.. use the review screen well.... do not click the end review button by mistake.. will end the exam....

Overall no shocks regarding the paper.. so chill it and crack it...
all the best..

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hey.. i had my center this morning in bangalore, cmrit college..my experience follows:


1) How many attempts you have made?

guys, exam seems rather simple. 60 qns: 20-20-20.. try attemptin as much as u can. i gave a shot at all 20 in VA, 13 each in the other 2..
3) How was your experience of the test?

the whole thing went surreally smooth. they let us in at 8, by 8.45 we were all done with all the biometric registration and seated. waited for an hour or so. tutorials and test started exact on time. noone had any hitches (at least in my room). very calm and eventless until the end of exam.
4) What was the surprise element for you?

after the horror stories of yesterday, the only surprise was that the whole process went so smoothly :wow:

5) Any tips to handle the computer based exam better?

stay calm, stay focused. i'm sure (if its the same difficulty levels next few days), that ppl will do well!..

one more thing, the QUIT TEST button is uncomfortably close to the NEXT button. take care not to click the QUIT test instead
6) Your overall analysis of the exam. Toughness, new topics, sections etc.

over all, pretty simple. no surprises, although the DI section had a LOT of DS qns. quant was well balanced between all topics.
7) Any other query or something you would like to share with us.

nothin much else.. it was a pretty smooth exam. i dont thing ppl shud worry abt the whole CBT and focus on CAT ;)

cheers!

ranjita

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Just came back from my friend center.

Had a discussion on following line ..
Please note these were his views and judgment regarding the paper
Also I am confident below data is fact and not fake (for verification Pm me ) no futher question related to this post will be answer on the this thread.

1) How many attempts you have made?
40 attempts
14 - VA. 12- QA, 14 - DI
Note: Didn't prepare at all and hence left 5 ques of QA which was very easy

2) Your last mock score?
95 %ile in Cat 2008

3) How was your experience of the test?

 Easy and boring as have to sit for around 2 hours doing nothing just looking at damn screen and waiting .. and waiting..
4) What was the surprise element for you?

 Easy paper ... that was surprising from Cat ...
5) Any tips to handle the computer based exam better?

Just relax and don't read to many post on analysis .. as paper is easy and percentile are comparative .. so better study then wait for question to be known.. so go study and relax .. something good will be waiting for you

6) Your overall analysis of the exam. Toughness, new topics, sections etc.

DI - was time consuming but easy ...
VA and RC -can be done, hence moderate difficulty unlike in some mock test where u have to :banghead: and read again and again .. to know what is written
QA- very easy .. just like snap... high mock scorer will not do less than 20 ques...
7) Any other query or something you would like to share with us.

Please be paitent and calm your nerves for your paper
Also don't read to much about analysis and all .. as it may give false image to you.
Though it seems pattern as well question types doesn't change
Also system was very slow at initial stage ..but when paper started .. system was giving ok output


In all not cat type experience.
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Hi Guys,

Just back from the Center.

My center was RV Institute of Management,Bangalore.

I reached there at 7.50am.Exactly at 8AM they opened the main gate and allowed us to enter in the institute.The whole security check process went very smooth.Thanx to the staffs of RVIM college and prometric people.:clap:
After biometric process we were provided respective terminals around 9am.
Now came the boring part.We had to wait 1hour that is till 10am.
By 10.30 the Exam Started.

Now as per the format specified by the administrators here:
1) How many attempts you have made?

I myself made between 40 and 45.I heard a guy saying that he attempted 55.(thought of touching his feet ).By the way there are 60 questions.20 in each section.

3) How was your experience of the test?

This one was my first attempt and considering the preparation + Exam part......It was just awesome No doubt,Its the mother of all examz :thumbsup:


4) What was the surprise element for you?

The level of difficulty,in comparison with last 2years paper.(Samjhne waale samjh gaye hain na samjhe wo Anari hain.....;) )

For me Navigating from one question to another was smooth.Number of times i used "REVIEW" button to navigate and it really helped me in saving some precious time.But be careful....there is a button on Review page "END"...dont click that one otherwise your exam will be end then and there only.

5) Any tips to handle the computer based exam better?
Just maintain your complete focus on the test.Don't get distracted if your neighbour's computer crashes or guy behind you is reading the RC's loudly

6) Your overall analysis of the exam. Toughness, new topics, sections etc.
Go thru basics.3 sections,each having 20 questions each.:lookround:

7) Any other query or something you would like to share with us.
Don't listen to anyone (if u want,not even my opinion)........Just go there and give your best SHOT.


And remember ITS GOING TO BE YOUR DAY.:cheerio:

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Hi guys,
I am just curious to know...suppose by mistake somebody Pressed the Quit button in the exam, what happened to them ? were they allowed to resume from where they left or was it the end of their exam ?

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Hi guys,
I am just curious to know...suppose by mistake somebody Pressed the Quit button in the exam, what happened to them ? were they allowed to resume from where they left or was it the end of their exam ?



once u press the quit button, ur xam is over!!!!

in our centre more than thrice did they say "DONT HIT THE QUIT BUTTON"
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What about final year student's affidavit?

We need this ?? i had no clue of this i am a final student is it compulsary ? id card wont do ?