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CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation Module 7

Test strategy: sectional timing as a method interview questions

Interview questions on “Test strategy: sectional timing as a method”: warm-ups, then what each harder question tests and how a good answer starts.

18 questions: 6 warm-ups and 12 with model answers · Levels: Fresher to mid

Warm-up questions

Short questions with short answers, each answered in full.

Fresher

Why does each CAT section need a time plan of its own?

Answered in the lesson A 40-minute plan for each CAT section
Fresher

What does expected marks a minute measure, and how do you work it out for a CAT question?

Answered in the lesson Which questions to attempt: marks per minute
Fresher

Is there negative marking for a wrong typed answer?

Answered in the lesson TITA questions: typing answers without options
Fresher

Why is the score the last thing to look at when you analyse a practice paper?

Answered in the lesson Analysing a practice paper: the repair loop
Fresher

Why should the final weeks alternate practice papers with repair weeks?

Answered in the lesson The final eight weeks before CAT
Fresher

Can you bring your own calculator to CAT, and what do you use instead?

Answered in the lesson CAT exam day: rules, calculator and scribble pad

Questions with model answers

What each question tests, the first step of a good answer and the follow-ups to expect.

Fresher to mid

Your QA plan expects 8 sure and 6 maybe questions, but the scan of the real section finds 5 sure and 11 maybe. Your medians are 1 minute 30 seconds for a sure question and 3 minutes for a maybe one. How do you rebuild the plan before the first pass?
What it tests

Rebuilding a section plan from what the scan found: the phase budgets, how many maybe questions fit, which ones to drop at the start, and keeping the check.

First step

Recompute the phases from the new counts. The first pass is now 5 × 1:30 = 7:30, so after a 2-minute scan and a 4-minute check the second pass gets 26:30. At 3:00 each, 8 of the 11 maybe questions fit.
Follow-ups
- Which three maybe questions do you drop, and when?
- Would you shorten the check to fit a ninth?
- What if the scan finds only 2 sure questions?
From the lesson A 40-minute plan for each CAT section
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In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 4 minutes
Fresher to mid

With a 3-minute cut-off your maybe QA questions earn 0.6 marks a minute. Your log shows 20 questions still open at 3 minutes; in the next minute, 4 were answered right and 3 wrong, using 17 minutes of work across the 20. Should the cut-off move to 4 minutes?
What it tests

Pricing the next minute on an open question against the rate of a fresh one, under CAT's MCQ marking, and judging how much a small log can be trusted.

First step

Price the extra minute. Four right and three wrong answers are 4 × 3 − 3 × 1 = 9 marks for 17 minutes of work, about 0.53 marks a minute. Compare that with the 0.6 a minute that the same 17 minutes would earn on fresh maybe questions.
Follow-ups
- What if these were typed-answer questions?
- What if no maybe questions were left to start?
- How many rows would you want before trusting the change?
From the lesson A 40-minute plan for each CAT section
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Nine minutes remain before your check, and five questions are left: P, an MCQ at 85 %, 2 minutes; Q, typed, 50 %, 2 minutes; R, an MCQ at 90 %, 6 minutes; S, an MCQ at 40 %, 1.5 minutes; T, typed, 30 %, 1 minute. Which do you attempt, and in what order?
What it tests

Expected marks a minute for MCQs and typed answers, ranking them, and checking what the last minutes can hold when the ranked order does not fill them best.

First step

Work out each question's expected marks and rate: P is 4 × 0.85 − 1 = 2.4 marks, 1.2 a minute; Q 1.5 marks, 0.75; R 2.6 marks, 0.43; S 0.6 marks, 0.4; T 0.9 marks, 0.9. Then fill the 9 minutes and compare every set that fits.
Follow-ups
- What does the ranked order alone give?
- What if R were a typed answer?
- What if only 6 minutes remained?
From the lesson Which questions to attempt: marks per minute
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Seven minutes before your check, you are 4 minutes into a geometry MCQ and think 3 more minutes give a 70 % chance of a right answer. Two fresh questions remain: an MCQ at 80 % in 2 minutes and a typed answer at 50 % in 3. What do you do, and in what order?
What it tests

Leaving minutes already spent out of the decision, pricing the minutes still needed, and choosing the best set and order for the minutes left.

First step

Price only what is still to come. Finishing the geometry question earns 4 × 0.7 − 1 = 1.8 marks for 3 minutes, the fresh MCQ 2.2 marks for 2 and the typed answer 1.5 marks for 3. Then list the sets that fit in 7 minutes.
Follow-ups
- Why does the order matter when the set is the same?
- What if you now think the geometry question is only 40 % likely?
- What if the check could give up one minute?
From the lesson Which questions to attempt: marks per minute
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Six minutes are left in QA and your check needs 2 of them. Three typed-answer questions are open: A takes 3 minutes at 70 %, B 2 minutes at 40 %, C 4 minutes at 50 %. What do you do with the four minutes, and with any you have left?
What it tests

Valuing typed answers at 3p, comparing marks a minute, fitting the minutes before the check, and typing a best estimate when a wrong answer costs nothing.

First step

Price each one: A is 3 × 0.7 = 2.1 marks for 3 minutes, 0.7 a minute; B 1.2 marks for 2, 0.6 a minute; C 1.5 marks for 4, 0.375 a minute. Then list what fits in the 4 minutes before the check.
Follow-ups
- What if the three were MCQs?
- Would you give up the check to fit B as well?
- How do you make a one-minute estimate worth typing?
From the lesson TITA questions: typing answers without options
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

A typed-answer question asks how many three-digit numbers are divisible by 7. Your working gives 129. How do you check it in under a minute, with no options to compare against?
What it tests

A size check from rounded numbers, putting the answer back through its end points, and catching an off-by-one count.

First step

Estimate first: there are 900 three-digit numbers and about one in seven is divisible by 7, so about 900 ÷ 7 ≈ 128.6. The answer is 128 or 129, so the estimate cannot decide; check the first and the last multiple instead.
Follow-ups
- Why could the estimate not settle it?
- What if the question asked for numbers divisible by 7 but not by 5?
- When is a check not worth its minute?
From the lesson TITA questions: typing answers without options
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Two candidates both score 45 on a practice paper. A lost six MCQs she had marked sure, all wrong by calculation or reading, and had no time sinks. B lost none he had marked sure, but three time sinks cost him 14 minutes over plan. Build each one's repair plan for the next week.
What it tests

Reading an analysis instead of a score, matching each kind of loss to its fix, and choosing one change that the next paper can measure.

First step

Separate the two kinds of loss. A's marks went on answers she should have scored, so her fix is habits and the lessons behind her slips. B's went on minutes, so his fix is in his section plan: cut-offs and leave points. Then give each of them one change to measure on the next paper.
Follow-ups
- What should each of them measure on the next paper?
- What if B's three time sinks were all right answers?
- Should either of them sit two practice papers next week instead of one?
From the lesson Analysing a practice paper: the repair loop
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Your last two practice papers show the same time sink: a DILR set kept 9 and then 11 minutes past its plan, with the next set never reached. What change do you make to your plan, and how will the next paper show whether it worked?
What it tests

Turning a repeated time sink into a rule fixed before the set starts, and choosing what to measure to judge the rule.

First step

Name the rule that was missing: a leave point for every set, its planned decoding minutes plus a small margin, written down before the set starts. Then decide what the next paper must show: DILR's minutes over plan, and the marks from the sets after a slow one.
Follow-ups
- What if you leave a set at its leave point and the next set is slow too?
- How big should the margin be?
- What if the slow set was one you had marked sure?
From the lesson Analysing a practice paper: the repair loop
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

You have five weeks left before CAT, not eight, and have not yet sat a full practice paper. How do you plan the five weeks, and what do you give up compared with an eight-week plan?
What it tests

Fixing a plan's end first, keeping the alternation of papers and repair weeks in fewer weeks, placing the official mock, and naming what a shorter plan cannot do.

First step

Fix the end first: week 1 is the test week, and the official mock opens in week 3. Then see what the weeks before it can hold: a paper in week 5 with its repair week in week 4, and a second paper with its repair week after it.
Follow-ups
- Do you sit the official mock in week 3 or in week 2?
- What happens to topics you have not studied yet?
- What if you can give only 8 hours a week?
From the lesson The final eight weeks before CAT
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

You are taking CAT and NMAT in the CAT 2026 cycle. Where in your final eight weeks do you book the NMAT test day, and what do you check before you book it?
What it tests

Reading two tests' fixed dates together, placing the second test where it costs the CAT plan least, and checking for collisions before booking.

First step

Start from the fixed dates: NMAT bookings close 35 days before CAT, at the end of week 6, and its testing window opens 27 days before, at the start of week 4. So the booking is made by week 6, for a day from week 4 on.
Follow-ups
- Why not book NMAT after CAT instead?
- What if the only day left is the day before a practice paper?
- How does an NMAT day change the repair week it falls in?
From the lesson The final eight weeks before CAT
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Twenty minutes into DILR, with two sets done, you need a 6-minute bio-break. Two sets remain: one needs 9 minutes at about 1 mark a minute, the other 12 minutes at about 0.6. Your plan keeps 2 minutes for the check. What do the FAQs say, and what do you do?
What it tests

Knowing the official rule for bio-breaks, pricing minutes lost from one section, and rebuilding the rest of the section's plan from the clock.

First step

Start from the rule: a bio-break is allowed only in an emergency or for a medical condition, you are frisked again, and the minutes are not given back. So DILR has 14 minutes left instead of 20; keep the check's 2 and see what 12 minutes can hold.
Follow-ups
- What if the break comes in the last 5 minutes of DILR?
- Would you give up the check to fit more?
- How would you plan the day so that a break is less likely?
From the lesson CAT exam day: rules, calculator and scribble pad
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

A DI question asks for the growth from 3,420 to 3,890 to the nearest per cent. The options are 12 %, 14 %, 16 % and 18 %. Do you estimate or use the on-screen calculator, and how?
What it tests

Choosing between an estimate and the calculator by the gap between the options, and estimating a growth rate without rounding both ends.

First step

Look at the gap first: the closest options are 2 percentage points apart, about a seventh of the answer's size, so an estimate must be within about 7 % of the true value. Then estimate the safe way: subtract first, 3,890 − 3,420 = 470, and divide by a round base.
Follow-ups
- What does rounding both ends first give here?
- When would you use the calculator after all?
- What if the question were a typed answer?
From the lesson CAT exam day: rules, calculator and scribble pad
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes

The lessons of this module

A 40-minute plan for each CAT section Free lesson, Pro answers: 15 minutes
Which questions to attempt: marks per minute Free lesson, Pro answers: 10 minutes
TITA questions: typing answers without options Free lesson, Pro answers: 10 minutes
Analysing a practice paper: the repair loop Free lesson, Pro answers: 10 minutes
The final eight weeks before CAT Free lesson, Pro answers: 10 minutes
CAT exam day: rules, calculator and scribble pad Free lesson, Pro answers: 10 minutes

All CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation interview questions · The CAT and MBA Entrance Preparation track

Warm-up questions

Why does each CAT section need a time plan of its own?

What does expected marks a minute measure, and how do you work it out for a CAT question?

Is there negative marking for a wrong typed answer?

Why is the score the last thing to look at when you analyse a practice paper?

Why should the final weeks alternate practice papers with repair weeks?

Can you bring your own calculator to CAT, and what do you use instead?

Questions with model answers

Your QA plan expects 8 sure and 6 maybe questions, but the scan of the real section finds 5 sure and 11 maybe. Your medians are 1 minute 30 seconds for a sure question and 3 minutes for a maybe one. How do you rebuild the plan before the first pass?

With a 3-minute cut-off your maybe QA questions earn 0.6 marks a minute. Your log shows 20 questions still open at 3 minutes; in the next minute, 4 were answered right and 3 wrong, using 17 minutes of work across the 20. Should the cut-off move to 4 minutes?

Nine minutes remain before your check, and five questions are left: P, an MCQ at 85 %, 2 minutes; Q, typed, 50 %, 2 minutes; R, an MCQ at 90 %, 6 minutes; S, an MCQ at 40 %, 1.5 minutes; T, typed, 30 %, 1 minute. Which do you attempt, and in what order?

Seven minutes before your check, you are 4 minutes into a geometry MCQ and think 3 more minutes give a 70 % chance of a right answer. Two fresh questions remain: an MCQ at 80 % in 2 minutes and a typed answer at 50 % in 3. What do you do, and in what order?

Six minutes are left in QA and your check needs 2 of them. Three typed-answer questions are open: A takes 3 minutes at 70 %, B 2 minutes at 40 %, C 4 minutes at 50 %. What do you do with the four minutes, and with any you have left?

A typed-answer question asks how many three-digit numbers are divisible by 7. Your working gives 129. How do you check it in under a minute, with no options to compare against?

Two candidates both score 45 on a practice paper. A lost six MCQs she had marked sure, all wrong by calculation or reading, and had no time sinks. B lost none he had marked sure, but three time sinks cost him 14 minutes over plan. Build each one's repair plan for the next week.

Your last two practice papers show the same time sink: a DILR set kept 9 and then 11 minutes past its plan, with the next set never reached. What change do you make to your plan, and how will the next paper show whether it worked?

You have five weeks left before CAT, not eight, and have not yet sat a full practice paper. How do you plan the five weeks, and what do you give up compared with an eight-week plan?

You are taking CAT and NMAT in the CAT 2026 cycle. Where in your final eight weeks do you book the NMAT test day, and what do you check before you book it?

Twenty minutes into DILR, with two sets done, you need a 6-minute bio-break. Two sets remain: one needs 9 minutes at about 1 mark a minute, the other 12 minutes at about 0.6. Your plan keeps 2 minutes for the check. What do the FAQs say, and what do you do?

A DI question asks for the growth from 3,420 to 3,890 to the nearest per cent. The options are 12 %, 14 %, 16 % and 18 %. Do you estimate or use the on-screen calculator, and how?