CAT 2024 Slot 2: Moderate difficulty with easier VARC and tricky DILR section

The second slot of CAT 2024 was moderately challenging, with an easier VARC section, a tougher DILR, and a formula-driven QA section. Overall, the exam difficulty ranged from easy to moderate, with good attempts estimated at 44+ marks.

In Short

• CAT 2024 Slot 2 conducted from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm on 24 November 2024
• Approx. 85k students appeared in Slot 2 with slight pattern changes
• Anil Sable discussed slot difficulty, VARC easier, DILR tougher

Hello, CAT 2024 aspirants! How was your exam experience—smooth sailing or a tough nut to crack? Following the conclusion of Slot 1, Slot 2 of the CAT 2024 exam was successfully conducted today, November 24, 2024, from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm in the afternoon.

As per our understanding, approximately 85,000 students appeared for CAT 2024 in the Second Slot. Slot 2 of the CAT exam came up with slight variations that are discussed here.

Anil Sable, PD Academics at Supergrads by Toprankers, who appeared for the CAT 2024, shed detailed insights on difficulty levels, weightage and other important updates here!

CAT 2024 EXAM PATTERN

Well, the CAT exam pattern of 2024 showed a slight change in Slot 2. The overall questions asked were 68 - VARC (24), DILR (22), and QA (22).

The overall pattern remained the same for all three slots, but the number of MCQs and TITA questions varied.

These have been discussed below:

CAT EXAM 2024 SLOT 2 ANALYSIS

Slot 2 of the CAT 2024 exam was finally conducted in the afternoon session from 12:30 pm -2:30 pm.

"The second slot of the CAT exam was a bit harder than the first one. The VARC section was easier, but the DILR was tougher compared to slot 1. The RC questions were manageable.

The data interpretation was a little trickier than slot 1. In the Quant section, there were questions that were based on direct formulas. Overall, the difficulty level of the CAT exam was easy to moderate."

Here is the difficulty level of each section for Slot 2:

The CAT 2024 Slot 2 exam brought some unexpected elements for aspirants. The Quantitative Aptitude (QA) section included previous year questions from topics like Simple Interest and Compound Interest (SICI) and Time and Work. Unlike Slot 1, Para Jumble questions appeared in the Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) section. While VARC was comparatively easier in Slot 2, the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) section posed more challenges.

In terms of question distribution, VARC featured 24 questions with two TITA and was moderately difficult, with a good attempt range of 18-20. The DILR section included 22 questions, of which eight were TITA, and was rated moderate to difficult, with 12+ good attempts. QA also had 22 questions, including six TITA, with a moderate difficulty level and around 12 good attempts. Overall, the exam maintained a moderate difficulty level with 44+ good attempts.

CAT EXAM 2024 SLOT 1 ANALYSIS

Slot 1 of the CAT exam was conducted in the morning from 8:30 am to 10:30 am.

Bhushan Bapat, Head of Academics, CAT Division at Supergrads, Toprankers remarked:

"Slot 1 of the CAT 2024 exam was easier than last year. The VARC section was moderate, DILR was manageable, and QA was also moderate. Students reacted positively, noting a little surprise in the exam. Overall, the difficulty was moderate, and higher cutoffs are to be expected this year."

Here is the difficulty level of each section for Slot 1:

The Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) section in CAT 2024 featured a total of 22 questions, structured into five sets—three sets with four questions each and two sets with five questions each. Notably, no Para Jumble questions were included in this slot, which came as a surprise to many aspirants.

Based on expert analysis, the cutoffs for this year's CAT exam are expected to be higher, considering the manageable difficulty levels across sections.

Breaking down the sections, VARC had 24 questions, including 22 MCQs and two TITA questions, with a moderate difficulty level and a good attempt range of 18-20. DILR had 22 questions, with 14 MCQs and eight TITA questions, categorised as easy to moderate, with 12+ good attempts. The QA section also included 22 questions (16 MCQs and six TITA), and the difficulty level was moderate, with around 12 good attempts. Overall, the exam maintained a moderate difficulty level, with 44+ being a good attempt range.

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The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta has finally conducted the CAT exam on 24 November 2024, with 3.29 lakhs active registrations. The exam was held in 170 cities in three slots. The CAT answer key will be available on the official website iimcat.ac.in. After the 3–4 days of the exam. Visit regularly to check it!

--Analysis shared by Karan Mehta co-founder Toprankers.