CAT 2026 · Slot 3 · Expected paper

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CAT 2026 Slot 3 DILR Q19: Scheduling

The set
A college is organizing eight seminars, one for each of its doctoral students — J, K, L, M, N, O, U and V. Four students belong to Marketing, three to Operations and one to Strategy. Each student is guided by one of W, X, Y, Z and A. W, Y and A guide two students each, while X and Z guide one student each. Every student and their guide belong to the same department.

The seminars are scheduled in four consecutive 30-minute slots: 9:00 am, 9:30 am, 10:00 am and 10:30 am. At most three seminars can take place in a slot, and a guide cannot supervise two seminars in the same slot. Students guided by the same guide must be scheduled in consecutive slots.

The following information is also known:
1. At least one Marketing student has a seminar in each of the four slots.
2. J is the only student scheduled at 10:00 am. J is guided by Y.
3. O is the Strategy student and is scheduled at 10:30 am.
4. At least one Operations student is scheduled at 9:00 am.
5. K and U are Operations students and are scheduled in the same slot. A Marketing student guided by A is also scheduled in that slot.
6. W guides K and L, and W's two students are scheduled in the first two slots.
7. J and U are scheduled in consecutive slots.

MCQ · +3 / −1 · medium

Who among the following are NOT guiding any Marketing students?
Answer and solution

Correct answer: C

Solution

Answer: C — W, X and Z

1. There are exactly four Marketing students and four slots requiring one each, so each slot has exactly one Marketing student. J alone in Slot 3 is therefore Marketing. O is Strategy.

2. K, U are Operations. W guides K and L in the same department, so L is the third Operations student. The remaining J, M, N, V are Marketing.

3. W’s students K, L occupy Slots 1 and 2. U shares K’s slot and is consecutive to J in Slot 3, so K, U must be in Slot 2 and L in Slot 1.

4. Slot 2 also contains an A-guided Marketing student. A’s other student must be consecutive and cannot use Slot 3 (J is guided by Y), so is in Slot 1.

5. Y guides J in Slot 3 and the last Marketing student in Slot 4: Slot 2’s sole Marketing place is already assigned to A. Slots therefore have counts 2,3,1,2.

6. W guides L/K in Slots 1/2; A guides Marketing students in Slots 1/2; Y guides J and a Marketing student in Slots 3/4. X, Z guide U and O in either order. M, N, V can permute across Marketing places in Slots 1,2,4; 6×2=12 complete assignments remain.

Question-specific deduction:
There are four Marketing students: J and the remaining three students M, N and V. J is guided by Y. The Marketing student in Slot 2 and the Marketing student in Slot 1 are guided by A, because A's two students must be in consecutive slots. The Marketing student in Slot 4 is guided by Y, since J is Y's student in Slot 3 and Y's two students must be in consecutive slots.

Thus, A and Y guide all four Marketing students. W guides K and L, both Operations students. The remaining guides X and Z guide U and O, who belong to Operations and Strategy respectively. Therefore, W, X and Z do not guide any Marketing student. Option C is correct.

G Strategy shortcut

Method: Use four Marketing students across four slots: exactly one per slot. W puts K in Slot 2 and L in Slot 1; A then fills Marketing Slots 1/2, Y fills 3/4. Only the M/N/V permutation and X/Z swap remain.
Verification: Thus, A and Y guide all four Marketing students. W guides K and L, both Operations students. The remaining guides X and Z guide U and O, who belong to Operations and Strategy respectively. Therefore, W, X and Z do not guide any Marketing student. Option C is correct.

G Strategy: Method: Use four Marketing students across four slots: exactly one per slot. W puts K in Slot 2 and L in Slot 1; A then fills Marketing Slots 1/2, Y fills 3/4. Only the M/N/V permutation and X/Z swap remain. Verification: Thus, A and Y guide all four Marketing students. W guides K and L, both Operations students. The remaining guides X and Z guide U and O, who belong to Operations and Strategy respectively. Therefore, W, X and Z do not guide any Marketing student. Option C is correct.

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