NMAT 2012 Qualitative Comparison with CAT 2011

Having appeared for CAT and NMAT in the space of 8 days, one intuitively starts comparing the two
exams, their exam players, the experience etc while appearing for the test and even hours after the test.
I appeared for CAT on 24th October and for NMAT on 1st November in the 9:00 a.m. slot. Since I cannot
disclose the NMAT pattern or questions due to the NDA, I will try and make my analysis more
meaningful by giving you a comparison between CAT and NMAT in terms of interface and experience so
that you can plan for each exam better! However, please note that some of my views here under
Recommendations are purely personal and you may have to apply them in your exam keeping your
preparation level in mind.

Area

Check-in
Process

NDA

Tutorial

Section
Order and
Selection

CAT

NMAT

Recommendations

1) Admit Card Mail

+ 1 Valid ID card
needed
2) Biometrics
includes
photograph and
fingerprint
3) Bags and
valuables not
allowed in the
test lab. Only a
wallet allowed.
1) 1 minute after
the tutorial and
just before the
test

1) Confirmation
Mail + 2 Valid ID
cards needed
2) Biometrics
includes
photograph and
signature on a
digital pad
3) Bags and
valuables not
allowed in the
test lab.

1) Where I had suggested carrying 2 ID

cards for CAT, I would recommend
carrying 3 for NMAT. It helps to have
an extra ID
2) Try to carry an ID that shows you face
AND sign clearly. The NMAT
authorities check these on biometrics
vs ID card
3) Carry only as much stuff as you really
need

1) 15 minutes

1) 10 minutes

1) 2 sections with
no choice in
selection.

1) 2 minutes
before the
tutorial and test

1) 3 sections with a
choice in
selecting section
order
2) There is a

1) Both the non-disclosure agreements

more or less say the same thing.
Make it a point to read them quickly
and accept them at the earliest
1) Both the tutorials give you an
overview of the screens and features
that you will encounter during the
exam. An added advantage of the
NMAT tutorial is that at the end of
the tutorial, you can try the
functionalities of the review screen
using the slides of the tutorial. Since
time saved in the tutorial does not
get added to the exam, utilize this
time to go through the tutorials well
1) NMAT has been more studentfriendly in the sense that it has
allowed the student to decide firsthand what order he/she wants to
attempt the sections in.

3)

4)

Sections

1) Section 1 QA +
DI 30
questions 70
minutes
2) Section 2 VA +
LR 30
questions 70
minutes

1)

2)

3)

separate screen
that allows you
to pre-determine
the order in
which you will
attempt all 3
sections.
The screen gives
you 6
combinations of
section orders
and you have
click on the one
that suits you the
best.
If you do not
select the section
order within 3
minutes, the
system
automatically
starts the test
using the first
section order
given.
QA 48
questions 60
minutes
VA 32
questions 22
minutes
LR 40 questions
38 minutes

Negative
Marking

1) Yes, but
undisclosed

1) No

Termination
of Section

1) Not allowed
before the
scheduled time

1) Lapse of
schedule time
2) Completion of

2) There is a section order screen which

has a time limit of 3 minutes. This
screen gives you 6 combinations: VAQA-LR, QA-LR-VA, VA-LR-QA etc. You
can select any combination that you
want. The sections will be displayed
as per your selection
3) If you do not select within 3 minutes,
the system selects the default option
i.e. VA-QA-LR
4) Also, once you select the section and
start the test, you cannot change the
order midway. So, if you select VQQA-LR and during VA, you feel you
want to attempt LR second, it will not
be possible.

1) Unlike CAT, since you know the

structure in terms of subject area
beforehand because of the breakup
given by the NMAT authorities, you
can plan and prepare accordingly. In
CAT, you wont know how much time
to spend on DI and how much on QA
1) CAT clearly wants a focus on accuracy
and attempts based on whether you
are confident of what you know.
2) NMAT obviously wants you to
attempt all questions) like MHCET)
because of the no-negative marking
policy.
3) For questions where you are not sure
in NMAT, flag the question and in
the last 2-3 minutes, randomly mark
those questions. Dont waste time on
those questions initially.
1) Unlike CAT, if you finish your section
slightly earlier than allowed, you CAN
end that section and move to the

lapses

questions
2)

3)

1)

Breaks

1) No breaks
allowed 30
minutes prior to
and during the
exam

1) Breaks allowed
but they are
timed. Any time
that you use in
the break gets
deducted from
that section

2)

3)

1)

Group
Questions

1) Number of
questions in the
set declared
beforehand
2) All questions
seen one below
the other on the
right hand side
of the screen

1) Number of
questions in the
set NOT declared
beforehand
2) Each question
seen on a fresh
page

2)

3)

1)
Highlighting
in RCs

1) Allowed in CAT

1) Not allowed in
NMAT

Section End
Warnings

1) 5 minutes
before the end
of each section

1) 5 minutes before
the end of each
section

1)

next section.
However, your time saved in this
section does not get added to the
subsequent section.
So, in case you save time on, say,
Verbal Ability, it is a better idea to
review your questions. You will
anyways lose the spare time by
ending.
For CAT, it makes sense to take your
water and toilet breaks well in
advance.
For NMAT, though the Pearson
authorities were slightly more lenient
and allowed people to take water and
toilet breaks even 10-15 minutes
before the exam, it may not be wise
to take a chance.
In NMAT, if you manage to end
section 1 or section 2 with more than
5 minutes to spare (unlikely), you
could use it to take a break.
As is evident, CAT scores more than
NMAT in this regard. In NMAT, when
you start a group question, you dont
know how many questions that set
has. This makes attempt planning
virtually impossible.
For each question, you need to use
the Next and Previous buttons.
This harms you if the latter questions
of a set are easier or multiple
questions are related to each other
e.g. if calculating data for question 1
can help solve question 4 as well.
In CAT, since you can see all
questions together, you can decide
whether you want to attempt all the
questions or some or skip the set
altogether.
Since highlighting is not allowed in
the NMAT RCs, finding relevant data
may become slightly more difficult.
You may need to practice NMAT RCs
accordingly.
Since NMAT gives only one warning
i.e. 5 minutes before the section is
scheduled to end, you will have to

and 1 minute
before the end
of each section

Difficulty
Level

Attempts

1) Challenging
compared to
last year

1) 21 in section I
with
approximately
17-18 correct (I
assume)
2) 30 in section II
with
approximately
27 correct
(Again.
Assumption)
3) 51 in all

1) Simpler
compared to last
year

1) 48 out of 48 in
QA
2) 36 out of 40 in LR
3) 32 out of 32 in
VA
4) 116 out of 120 in
all

keep a tab of when approximately 2

minutes are left. This will help in
marking the questions you havent
attempted
1) I found CAT 2011 more challenging
compared to last year with a better
quality of questions
2) I felt NMAT 2012 was simpler
compared to my NMAT exam last
year but was on the lines that I
expected

1) For CAT, I would suggest anywhere

between 17-19 attempts with 15+
correct in section I and 23 -24
attempts in section II with 20+ correct
2) For NMAT, try to attempt all 120
questions

Please note that the last two points above (in RED) depict my personal performance and opinions and as
such, should not be taken very rigidly. Please look at your actual exam and then take a decision. You can
use these as a guideline.
Wish you all the very best!