CAT 2023: Errors in Question Paper? Experts file Objections to IIMs, Challenge Many Questions; Aspirants worry about impact?

Held on November 26, CAT 2023 exam has created a lot of anxiety amongst MBA aspirants. Recognizing that CAT 2023 was a much more difficult paper than previous years, leading CAT coaching institutes have released their expected CAT Score Vs Percentile predictions, where a significantly low score of 73-75 is sufficient for very high 99 percentile.

But even before the dust could settle, upon release of ‘Objection form and Response sheet for CAT 2023’ by IIM Lucknow on December 5, IIMs are under scrutiny again as experts have raised objections on many questions and answers. IMS Learning, one of the foremost CAT coaching companies in India, has put up as many as five objections to IIMs. Other CAT Experts too have raised similar objections.

Reacting to the developments, hundreds of students have asked MBAUniverse.com – Will IIMs actually uphold these objections? If yes, what will be the impact on CAT Scores and Percentile? Read this MBAUniverse.com report to understand the issue, and the likely impact on results of 3 lakhs CAT 2023 test takes. We also look at the past outcomes on same issue during CAT 2021 and CAT 2022.

IIMs Release ‘Objection form and Response sheet for CAT 2023’ on December 5
As in past, IIM Lucknow released Objection Form and Response Sheet for CAT 2023’ on December 5, which is a healthy practice as it shows that IIMs are open to outside views on CAT paper, which is a cynosure of all eyes! Announcing the same on December 5, IIMCAT.ac.in, the official CAT website flashed: “Objection form and Response sheet for CAT 2023 appeared candidates is live…. Please refer your registered mail id for further details.” The objection process was open for only four days -- from December 5 till 5 PM on December 8. In case the test takers were not satisfied they had to challenge the official answers of IIMs, citing their reasons.

What is Objection Form?
So, what is Objection Form and how is it used? Along with the release of Candidate response sheet and official answers, IIM Lucknow released the CAT 2023 object form. The test takers were allowed to challenge and raise objection to the CAT 2023 official responses, in case they were not satisfied with the official answers. Candidates needed to raise objection with a fee of Rs.1500 per objection on official CAT website using their valid login details.

IMS Learning raises several objections to CAT Questions
During the Objection Form window, IMS, one of the best-known CAT coaching institutes in India, raised objections to several questions. Announcing their intent as soon as the process was opened, IMS Learning published a notification on their social media channel, “On Behalf of the student community, we will be raising Objections against a total of 5 Questions…”

A few days later, IMS Learning went ahead and challenged a total of 5 Questions as below:

• Slot 1: 3 DI questions
• Slot 2: 2 Verbal questions

According to IMS, the way information was presented in the question and options were framed were ambiguous.

Other Experts Raise Objections Too
Another CAT coach, who is also a popular Youtuber, has filed many objections. For instance, he has filed objection to VARC question (ID:48916816211) asked in Slot 2. 

In addition to CAT experts, a few students have also informed MBAUniverse.com that they too have raised similar objections. Acknowledging the ambiguity in CAT 2023 paper, in an earlier interaction, CAT Guru Arun Sharma told MBAUniverse.com, “In CAT 2023, the answers are too close to each other, and you don’t feel in full control of the paper especially under time pressure!” Read more.

Hundreds of students have asked us – Will IIMs uphold these objections? If yes, what will be the impact on CAT Scores and Percentile? We try to answer these questions.

Lessons from the Past: Objections upheld by IIMs
Responding to the student anxiety, MBAUniverse.com decided to dig deeper to understand how IIMs have dealt with this issue in past.

• CAT 2022 - IIM Bangalore Accepted 2 Objections: In CAT 2022, IIM Bangalore accepted the objections with regards to two questions from the DILR section, one each Slot-2 and Slot-3. These questions were not considered for evaluation as they were found ambiguous. Scores of candidates for the DILR section were adjusted on a ‘prorate basis’.
• CAT 2021: IIM Ahmedabad Found 1 Objection Valid: In CAT 2021, IIM A accepted the objections with regards to one question from the VARC section, in Slot-3.

What are the implications for 2.88 Lakhs CAT Aspirants?
So, what are the implications for 2.88 Lakhs CAT Aspirants. Based on interactions with past CAT Convenors, MBAUniverse.com understands that a CAT expert-group from IIMs will be discussing each objection, and reaching to their conclusion. They are expected reach an internal agreement in coming days, and will make it public in coming weeks.

It is understood that objections raised for Quant and DILR questions have better chance to be accepted than VARC, since they are relatively more general.

Here are the possible scenarios that emerge:

Scenario 1 - Objections are Upheld: In case the objections raised for the questions are found valid, the concerned questions will not be evaluated and all the test takers for the said slot will get ‘prorate score’, as informed by IIM Bangalore last year.

In simple terms, this means that IIMs shall decide to remove the contentious question/s from the responses of all test takers. If this happens, this shall imply that there is no impact on percentile of any CAT test taker, although individual scores will change.

Scenario 2 - Objections are Rejected: If the objections are rejected, there is of course no implication on the award of score. The answer key remains the same.

Questions and Answer Options in Contention
Following are some of the questions and answer options where the objections have been raised:

Slot: 1 | Section: DILR

A visa processing office (VPO) accepts visa applications in four categories – US, UK, Schengen, and Others. The applications are scheduled for processing in twenty 15-minuteslots starting at 9:00 am and ending at 2:00 pm. Ten applications are scheduled in each slot.

There are ten counters in the office, four dedicated to US applications, and two each for UK applications, Schengen applications and Others applications. Applicants are called in for processing sequentially on a first-come-first-served basis whenever a counter gets freed for their category. The processing time for an application is the same within each category. But it may vary across the categories. Each US and UK application requires 10minutes of processing time. Depending on the number of applications in a category and time required to process an application for that category, it is possible that an applicant fora slot may be processed later.

On a particular day, Ira, Vijay and Nandini were scheduled for Schengen visa processing in that order. They had a 9:15 am slot but entered the VPO at 9:20 am. When they entered the office, exactly six out of the ten counters were either processing applications, or had finished processing one and ready to start processing the next.

Mahira and Osman were scheduled in the 9:30 am slot on that day for visa processing in the Others category.

The following additional information is known about that day.

1. All slots were full.
2. The number of US applications was the same in all the slots. The same was true for theother three categories.
3. 50% of the applications were US applications.
4. All applicants except Ira, Vijay and Nandini arrived on time.
5. Vijay was called to a counter at 9:25 am.

Question ID: 48916816398

Q.7: What is the maximum possible value of the total time (in minutes, nearest to its integer value) required to process all applications in the others category on that day?

Case Sensitivity: No

Answer Type: Equal

Possible Answer: 200 (Official Answer by IIMs)

Question ID: 48916815947

Q.9: Which of the following statements is false?

1. The application process of Osman was completed before Vijay’s.
2. The application process of Osman was completed before 9:45 am.
3. The application process of Mahira started after Nandini’s. (Official Answer by IIMs)
4. The application process of Mahira was completed before Nandini’s.

Slot: 1 | Section: DILR

The schematic diagram below shows 12 rectangular houses in a housing complex. House numbers are mentioned in the rectangles representing the houses. The houses are located in six columns – Column-A through Column-F, and two rows – Row-1 and Row-2.The houses are divided into two blocks - Block XX and Block YY. The diagram also shows two roads, one passing in front of the houses in Row-2 and another between the two blocks.

Some of the houses are occupied. The remaining ones are vacant and are the only ones available for sale.

The road adjacency value of a house is the number of its sides adjacent to a road. For example, the road adjacency values of C2, F2, and B1 are 2, 1, and 0, respectively. The neighbour count of a house is the number of sides of that house adjacent to occupied houses in the same block. For example, E1 and C1 can have the maximum possible neighbour counts of 3 and 2, respectively.

The base price of a vacant house is Rs. 10 lakhs if the house does not have a parking space, and Rs. 12 lakhs if it does. The quoted price (in lakhs of Rs.) of a vacant house is calculated as (base price) + 5 × (road adjacency value) + 3 × (neighbour count).

The following information is also known.

1. The maximum quoted price of a house in Block XX is Rs. 24 lakhs. The minimum quoted price of a house in block YY is Rs. 15 lakhs, and one such house is in Column-E.
2. Row-1 has two occupied houses, one in each block.
3. Both houses in Column-E are vacant. Each of Column-D and Column-F has at least one occupied house.
4. There is only one house with parking space in Block YY.

Question ID: 48916816317

Q.17: Which of the following houses is definitely occupied?

Answer Options

1. D2
2. A1
3. F2

4. B1 (Official Answer by IIMs)

Aspirants advised to focus on next steps
Hope this article provides some clarity on this CAT Objection process. Looking at past trends, you also now know the likely impact on CAT results. Till the CAT 2023 Result is released later this month, we recommend you not to worry about this issue, and instead focus on next positive steps that will take you forward towards your Deam B-school!

Meanwhile, check following tools:

• CAT PERCENTILE PREDICTOR 2023: CAT Percentile predictor by MBAUniverse.com is a free and simple to use tool to predict your CAT Percentile and Score based on your CAT 2023 exam performance. Read more and Register Now.
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