The CAT 2008 paper was moderately tough, with Verbal Ability section testing the aspirants. Comparatively speaking, some would have found Data Interpretation (DI), with a mix of calculations and logic to be on the tougher side. Vocabulary based questions in its old format reappeared in CAT after a span of two years! The emphasis in the Verbal Ability section with 40 questions allotted to it is probably to check the much-debated lack of language skills of the Indian management graduates.
| Section | Topics | Number of Questions | Total Marks |
| I | Quantitative Ability | 25 | 100 |
| II | Logical Reasoning and Data interpretation | 25 | 100 |
| III | Verbal Ability | 40 | 160 |
| Total | 90 | 360 |
