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Is CAT Exam difficult / very tough?

Sunday, June 23rd, 2019

Types of questions based on difficulty level

With respect to difficulty level, if we classify questions in three categories:
1) Easy
2) Medium
3) Hard

Easy level questions are those which can be solved by a good student (someone who scores more than 90%ile) in less than 1 minute on average. There are approximately 7-8 easy questions in Quantitative Aptitude and 3-4 easy questions in Verbal Ability. A Reading Comprehension passage is considered to be easy if it can be solved in less than 10-12 minutes. There will be 1-2 passages which would be easy. In Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation, there will be 1-2 sets which would be on the easier side.

Medium level questions are those which take slightly longer than the easy level questions. To get a good score, you need to solve some medium difficulty level questions as well. As a CAT aspirant, there will be areas that you will be good in and there will be areas that you will be bad in. You should be able to solve Medium level questions in the areas that you are good in. Most of the CAT questions fall in this category.

Hard level questions are those which you should not attempt in the exam. These are given to derail the student’s attempt. To distract them. To engage the student and force him to waste his time. One of the most useful skills a CAT aspirant can develop is to pick the hard questions quickly and skip them.

From a syllabus perspective, most of the concepts and ideas that are asked in the CAT exam are basically of the level of class 10th. However, they tend to be a bit harder because it requires applications of those concepts.

If you have to compare it with other national level exams like JEE and UPSC – it is a lot easier than those. CAT does not require the depth of understanding that is required for cracking JEE. CAT does not cover a large number of topics like the UPSC exam.

I hope you will be able to approach the CAT exam with gusto and fervor.

Is CAT Exam difficult / very tough? – Video