CAT prep: What all is covered in the exam?

by Ankur Agarwal

CAT is an exam which not only tests the skills and abilities of the aspirant in various sections namely Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability, Logical & Analytical Reasoning, and Data Interpretation, but also the ability of the person to make the maximum out of the time allotted. Hence, the ideal way ahead would be to get to know the basics and get them right.

First things first, know your syllabus.

Essentially, CAT is an aptitude test, which is basically Mathematics, English and Reasoning. Whatever is covered, is supposed to test all aspirants on an equal basis and hence, it has to be something that everyone studied till Std X. Since everyone chooses their own field after Std X, so no point in giving anyone any undue advantage.

Here's an overview of d X subject-wise topics covered in CAT:

1.  Mathematics or Quantitative Section:

Here are the following five broad topics:

1. Percentages and its applications:
   Percentage, Profit and Loss
2. Ratio and Its applications:
   Ratio, Variation, Time and Work, Time, Speed and Distance, Averages and Partnerships, Alligations and Mixtures
3. Algebra:
   Linear and Quadratics Equations, Surds and Indices, Inequalities, Logarithms
4. Numbers and its applications
5. Geometry and its applications:
   Geometry, Trigonometry, Mensuration

The important point to note is that these are the basic topics and a majority of the questions are covered from these topics maybe directly or as an application of the basics. CAT, however, does not focus on asking the concepts directly but the idea is to test the application of the concepts thoroughly.

2.  English or Verbal Section:

This section does not leave out any part of the application of English as a language and the various ways in which it can be tested. Although there is no such exhaustive list of topics as every year few new types of questions appear, still in order to enumerate Grammar, Vocabulary, Critical Reasoning (and its numerous applications), Reading Comprehension are the prominent ones.

Grammar, for example, can be tested by word usage, fill in the blanks, choosing the correct/incorrect sentence etc. Vocabulary can be tested by choosing the correct meaning, synonym, antonym and analogies to name a few. Critical Reasoning has the widest range of applications across and the best way to understand it would be by practicing.

3. Analytical Reasoning Section:

Here we have a lot of things random and otherwise and all we need to do is to figure out how to solve them. There may not be a standard approach or the best way to go about it, but yes there is a lot of brainstorming to be done. Some of the commonly known topics are Blood Relations, Direction Sense, Puzzles, Arrangements, Data Structures, Series, Coding-Decoding, Clocks and Calenders. For these topics one can figure out an approach which suits them best, but, it is always better to get the analytical bent by practicing in order to tackle the unthinkable!

4.  Data Interpretation Section:

What we get in this section is a lot of data organized in a different ways eg. Table, Bar, Pie, Line graphs etc. or sometimes unorganized in caselets. A quick look may not yield any result but practice can help you understand data FAST! And solve it thereafter. Good knowledge of basic maths and quick fire mental calculations are required in order to crack this section.

Now, let us shed all inhibitions of ourselves being good in one area and not so good in another. Let us take mock aptitude tests in order to understand our current understanding. That is a starting point.

All the Best!

About the author:

Ankur Agarwal heads the IT and Publishing verticals of Endeavor Careers and Catgurus - a leading online Testing portal for CAT Aspirants.

CAT scores are used for admission to 19 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and various other top B-Schools. Are you eligible for the IIMs? To know more, click here