Some Key Points of the CAT 2024 Question Paper

The Common Admission Test 2024, the flagship exam for MBA aspirants, remained true to its flavor in terms of testing a candidate’s abstract thinking and reasoning and, of course, verbal abilities. Although overall, the structure of the test adhered strictly to the three-section format, nuances in the question patterns plus their respective difficulty levels made this year’s paper altogether more interesting. The most vital points on the CAT 2024 question paper are presented as under, giving inside-out composition and challenges of the test.

1. Three-Section Pattern

As was the case earlier, the CAT 2024 question paper was there in three categories:

• VERBAL ABILITY AND READING COMPREHENSION (VARC)
• DATA INTERPRETATION AND LOGICAL REASONING (DILR)
• QUANTITATIVE ABILITY (QA)

Each section had a fixed 40-minute time limit. The three-section timing pattern again adopted the new sectional timing pattern that has come into effect recently.

Thus, it tested the candidates’ ability to handle stress and manage time apart from testing their knowledge about the domain.

2. Balanced Levels of Difficulty

CAT 2024 question paper was pretty balanced in terms of difficulty across the sections, and while it toned up on a few areas keeping in mind a few strengths and weaknesses of the aspirants.

• VARC: While the perceived category was of a moderate type, Reading Comprehension seemed to have been the dominating section. The questions were inference-based and critical thinking which required a deep understanding of the text.
• DILR: This section remained the most troublesome for most students with a mix of easy data interpretation sets and very complex logical reasoning puzzles.
• QA: Overall, this was a very good mix of easy, moderately tough, and difficult questions so that aspirants with varied academic backgrounds could attempt a reasonable number of questions. As always, arithmetic and algebra came out as the superstars here, following the trend visible in the previous years’ research.

3. Reading Comprehension still rules VARC

As expected, once again the VARC section brought to the fore Reading Comprehension or RC. The RC questions were approximately 70% of this section.

The RC passages were on a wide range of subjects: abstract themes such as philosophy and art; and factual subjects like economics and technology. The types of questions were:

• Inferential questions
• Tone and author’s intent
• Vocabulary in context
• Para-jumbles, para-summary, and odd-sentence-out required logical reasoning along with clarity in language for the Verbal Ability subsection.

4. Complex Sets in DILR

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) presented sets that involved assimilating different levels of reasoning. Many sets are required:

• Graphical data interpretation from graphs, tables, or charts.
• Logical derivation of apparently unrelated pieces of information.
• For example, some of the DILR questions seemed to be real-life situations, and therefore while making them realistic, they were not easy. Aspirants who worked on most types of problems found that they were better prepared for this section.

5. Arithmetic Remains the Most Prominent in QA

The QA section of CAT 2024 repeated the pattern noticed over the previous years. In this section, arithmetic formed more than 40% of the problems. The main concepts that came into play here were:

• Percentages and profit/loss
• Time, speed, and distance
• Ratio and proportion
• Simple and compound interest

In addition to the arithmetic module, geometry and algebra made it an essential module for preparation. The CAT 2024 question paper was application-based, which means it required applicants to use logical reasoning in conjunction with mathematical formulas.

6. Type In The Answer (TITA) Prevailed

Type-In-The-Answer (TITA) questions, free of negative marking, held away over CAT 2024. It featured in all three modules wherein candidates had to type in the answer instead of choosing from the multiple-choice options.

While TITA questions provided the opportunity to try the question without penalty loss, they were, on average, more time-consuming and demanded more accuracy and conceptual transparency. For this, aspirants who had tried these at some point during their training enjoyed an added advantage.

7. Time Management:

Another factor that caught the eye in the CAT 2024 question paper is the fixed time limit of 40 minutes for each section. For instance, aspirants need to strategize over where to spend their precious time within each section as well as to determine how easily or quickly they can solve a question.

In sections like DILR, where the complexity of some sets could trap candidates into spending excessive time, the right use of time emerged as a determining factor. Similarly, in VARC, aspirants had to balance speed and comprehension, especially for RC passages.

8. Normalization Impact

Since CAT 2024 has taken place in more than one slot, the variation in terms of the difficulty of the slots would have been adjusted using a normalization mechanism. Though this helped to keep the competition level sound, it also teaches aspirants the need to maintain consistency across all sections.

To achieve top percentiles, aspirants have to do well across their slot, irrespective of their perception of which was more difficult.

Conclusion

This balanced CAT 2024 question paper was a great design with rather thought-provoking questions that checked the candidates’ intellectual depth, reasoning skills, and strategic thinking. Indeed it stayed as something that has overwhelming dominance of RC, complexity at DILR, and application-based problems in QA.

The analysis of the CAT 2024 question paper will be useful to candidates aiming to take CAT in the following years, as it helps check for patterns, key topics, and strategies that would be most effective for success. Success will depend on proper grasping of the patterns and adequate preparation to face the hurdles.