Whether Common Admission Test (CAT) 2024 will see the same number of questions or not will be known only on the day of the exam as the number of questions for CAT 2024 has not been revealed, as is the norm for every CAT of late — the number of questions will be known only during the exam and not earlier. Do note, the CAT is known to spring surprises on students —  from the number of questions to the topic coverage to the difficulty level.

Though given that there have been minimal changes that we have seen in the recent CATs, unless there is a major reason like COVID in 2020, we may expect the overall pattern to remain the same as that in the previous years.

Of the 22 questions in the Quantitative Ability (QA) section, in CAT 2023, eight were short-answer questions which did not carry any negative marking for wrong answers. These are questions which needed the test takers to type the answer, which could be, in most cases, a number or a term. All the other questions were multiple-choice, with a penalty of one mark for each incorrect answer. Correct answers were given three marks, for both the question types.

As the sections are timed individually, selective preparation — not preparing for seemingly tougher topics — is very risky, as one may end up getting questions from the areas that he/she has left out during preparation. Not attempting them and focusing on other doable questions in the exam will not work if one has time left in the section but has exhausted all doable questions.

Therefore, in the last couple of weeks leading up to the exam, the students should focus on getting better with all the topics in Quant. Then, the focus should shift to concentrating on specific areas which would give them the maximum return for their time. This would help students attempt at least the easier questions from topics that they feel are difficult.

AIMCAT performance analysis
Students should have a clear understanding of their comfort level with all Quant topics. All India Mock CAT (AIMCAT) performances should be analysed topic-wise. The areas in which the students have been scoring below par and in which the scores have been fluctuating should be the areas of focus.