CAT Cut Offs – Page 2

Quantitative Ability is the most important section in CAT examination conducted for admission to PGDM in IIMs. List out the areas / topics to focus on: As the sections are timed individually, selective preparation is very risky, as one may end up getting questions from the areas that he/she has left out of preparation. There fore, till the last 3-4 weeks running up to the exam, the students should focus on getting better on all the topics in Quant. Then the focus should be shifted to concentrating on specific areas which would give them the maximum return for their time. A two pronged approach needs to be adopted for this

Mock-CAT Performance Analysis: Students should have a clear understanding of their comfort level in all Quant topics. Mock-CAT performances should be analyzed at a topic level. The areas where the students have been scoring below par repeatedly and the areas where the scores have been fluctuating should be the areas of focus.

Previous CAT paper analysis: The areas which have been consistently contributing to the CAT exam over the years should be identified and attention should be given to them. Follow these simple steps while preparing:

1) Understand the basics concepts of the selected topic thoroughly

2) Write down all the formulae and concepts related to the topic on a chart to use as a ready reckoner

3) Ensure that you know when a particular formula is to be used

4) Solve at least 30-40 questions (CAT level) from the topic.

Also See: Verbal Ability Preparation Strategy

Government of India has established six new IIMs at Shillong, Rohtak, Kashipur, Ranchi, Raipur and Udaipur. All these IIMs use CAT scores for screening the candidates for further rounds of admission process. Hence CAT scores decide whether a candidate get interview call or not. Candidates of different categories need different percentiles / scores to get interview call for these new IIMs. Following are the cut offs / percentiles of 2011-12 in 6 new IIMs for PGDM admissions:

Actual Interview calls in 6 new IIMs:

Category – No. of PI calls – Lowest CAT percentile for PI call

DAP – 104 – 61.57
General – 4779 – 97
NC-OBC – 2979 – 70.54
SC – 1603 – 65.57
ST – 410 – 60.24

This would mean that there is hope for those of you with reservation who may just be thinking of giving up your preparation, because of not so hopeful AIMCAT scores. We suggest that you hang on for some more time, look at the table above, put in increased preparation and target to cross the percentiles indicated here. Academics and work experience also play very important role in IIM admissions.

Those from General Category can also draw hope from the fact that an interview call for the IIMs is possible at 97 percentile also. I have already mentioned earlier that once you get a call, the con version depends mostly on your performance in the Interview/GD/Essay and not on your work experience / academics.

CAT Preparation Tips for Quantitative Ability – Part 5

New IIMs – CAT Percentile Cut Offs for Interview Calls – Part 3