CAT 2017: Question paper, answer keys, percentile calculation formula; ensure your chances to IIMs

After making Common Admission Test (CAT) a computerised test in 2009, IIMs have stopped releasing the CAT question paper and CAT answer keys officially. Till 2008 CAT was a paper based test and as such the CAT question paper and CAT answer keys were very much available till then after the exam was over.

In lieu of no publication of CAT question paper after completion of CAT exam, IIMs have started to share the full length official CAT sample paper on the pattern expected in forthcoming CAT exam.

Whether you will get the call from IIMs and other top B-schools, will depend upon how you have performed in CAT 2017 slot-1 or slot-2 exam on November 26. The CAT 2017 question paper in view of the experts has followed the same trend during last 3 years. IIMs also take care to officially publish the full length CAT question paper in the name of CAT sample paper or CAT practice test.  Not only this, the official CAT Mock test or CAT sample paper which was officially published in public domain by IIMs is the replica of CAT 2017 question paper and there were very few instances in different sections of CAT question paper where the questions were a little different from the published pattern of CAT 2017 question paper.

Check here complete CAT question paper with answer keys and sectional division of questions

CAT 2017 question paper: Focus on diversity in IIM classrooms
CAT 2017 exam was held on November 26 in 2 slots as a computer based test of 3 hours duration for each slot. CAT question paper had following composition and was on predictable lines:

A different CAT 2017 question paper: Changes and implications
CAT 2017 question paper had following changes from last year CAT test paper and this trend was a surprise for the candidates as it would lead to different implications than past CAT exam pattern:

• Fewer TITA (No-penalty) questions in VARC section
• More TITA questions in Quant section
• Low difficulty level in RC passages
• Higher difficulty level in Verbal Ability questions
• No reduction in difficulty level of DILR section
• More number of Arithmetic questions leading to easy Quant that favours non-engineers.
• CAT score cut off will go up due to low difficulty level

Read all about the exact CAT 2017 question paper, its implications and CAT cut off percentile for IIMs

CAT 2017 Answer keys by IIMs
Officially the CAT answer keys to the CAT question paper are to be released by the CAT convening IIM. CAT convening IIM Lucknow or the testing agency TCS, however may not release and publish the CAT exam answer keys due to the reason that CAT 2017 remains a computer based test and due to number of question sets the question delivery process in CAT exam remains different from a paper based test.

Even if CAT answer keys are released by IIMs, candidates will not be able to know which set of answer keys belongs to the CAT question set delivered to them nor they will exact remember the order of questions in CAT exam.

Publication of CAT answer keys & Legal binding
IIMs prohibit one and all from publishing or copying the content of CAT exam. Legal action can be initiated against those violate the instructions.

IIMs have already published a non-disclosure Agreement binding on candidates and other stake holders which says,“Disclosing, publishing, reproducing, transmitting, storing, or facilitating transmission and storage of the contents of the CAT or any information therein in whole or part thereof in any form or by any means, verbal or written, electronically or mechanically for any purpose, shall be in violation of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and/or the Copyright Act, 1957 and/or the Information Technology Act, 2000. Such actions and/or abetment thereof as aforementioned may constitute a cognizable offence punishable with imprisonment for a term up to three years and fine up to Rs. two lakhs.”

CAT score normalization and Percentile calculation: How transparent?
CAT 2017 website claims to have the most transparent process on score normalization and calculation of percentile. A bit of information on score normalization process in CAT 2017 is also available on CAT website.

The process claims to focus on Fairness, Equity and comparison of performances across both the test sessions in CAT 2017. But the Normalization process on CAT website has only scanty details which may not bring home the clear picture of percentile calculation formula in CAT 2017.

CAT 2017: Scoring process
CAT Centre 2017 declares “In order to ensure fairness and equity in comparison of performances of the candidates across different test sessions, the scores of the candidates shall be subjected to a process of Normalization. The Normalization process to be implemented shall adjust for location and scale differences of score distributions across different forms and the scaled scores obtained by this process shall be converted into percentiles for purposes of shortlisting.”

Apply the GATE formula
CAT Centre 2017 states “The process of Normalization is an established practice for comparing candidate scores across multiple Forms and is similar to those being adopted in other large educational selection tests conducted in India such as Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).”

So, in order to assess your performance in CAT 2017 and to know your scaled and normalized CAT score, you need to follow the GATE score equating and normalization process.

Check here the CAT scoring, scaling and normalization and percentile calculation process

The biggest MBA entrance exam CAT 2017 with 2.31 registered candidates was over at 5.30PM on November 26, 2017. The exam was conducted in 2 slots. Slot-1 was from 9AM to 12noon and slot-2 was from 2.30PM to 5.30PM.

CAT 2017 result is proposed to be declared on January 7 and immediately after the CAT result date, IIM Ahmedabad, Calcutta will release their shortlist of candidates alongwith the waiting list for final admission round.  Check your chances to get call from IIMs

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on CAT 2017, result date, IIMs admission process

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