The Hindu Business Line : No jack-in-the-box this year….

Bangalore/Hyderabad, Nov 18 ‘No bombshells,’ said Mr Ram S., a software engineer who was among the two lakh students that took the common admission test on Sunday. Shockers, either in design or the content of the question paper, which have come to be associated with the CAT every year, were notably absent this year. In fact, IIM aspirants across the country are now looking forward to the result with hope and expectation.

The question paper was similar to last year’s with three sections comprising 75 questions. Students and training institutes for CAT felt that the quantitative analysis, with emphasis on data sufficiency was tougher than last year, but was ‘manageable.’ “The language section was simple compared to last year. The logic and data interpretation was more generic while the quantitative aptitude was manageable,” Mr Kunal Minhas, currently an IT professional with Satyam Computers here, told Business Line.

Ms Swathi Sudha, a B.Tech graduate from Vizianagaram, said there were no ‘shocks’ in the exam. “Except the appearance of para jumbles in the language section, the paper was on the predictable lines. I am happy and look forward to join the IIM soon,” says Ms Swathi, who took the exam for the first time.

Mr S. Balasubramanian, Director, TIME, Chennai, an institute that trains students for competitive examinations, said that there was a reappearance of grammar-based questions in verbal analysis and some students were ‘taken aback at this.’

According to initial estimates, the cut-off would be around 90/300 this year, as compared to 110/300 last year, he said. About 1,600 students after qualifying would be admitted in seven IIMs in June 2008.

Related Stories:
Few surprises at CAT this year