CAT Preparation

In CAT exam, there are 20 questions in the Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning section and the total sectional marks is 60 out of 198. In CAT 2020, there were 24 question on DILR and the sectional marks were 72. In CAT 2021 and CAT 2022, there were 20 questions and the sectional marks were 60.  The 20 questions are equally divided into both Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. That means, Both Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning have 10 questions each. The questions are mostly in sets. There’s rarely any standalone question in DILR.

Some of the top MBA entrance exams carrying a high weightage of Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning questions are MAH CET, ATMA, CAT, CMAT, XAT IIFT, to name a few.

Candidates must read books on economy, philosophy, science, astronomy, psychology, sociology, history, geography, psychoanalysis, economics, astronomy, art & culture, literature, fiction novels, auto-biographies and biographies. Most of the passages that appear in any MBA entrance exam are based on these topics. The RC passages length may vary but most of the times the language is tough with foreign words and expressions or a good amount of data.

It is also recommended to candidates to read research papers, survey reports, etc. to have the practice of understanding and relating data in a quick read. Always refer to dictionary for word meanings while reading books.

CAT Quantitative Aptitude has the potential of 100 percentile if you prepare well. The Quantitative Aptitude topics of CAT are advance level Mathematic topics from Class 9 and 10. So, for any candidate, the foundation is already there, they only need to work on it further.

The important topics of CAT Quantitative Aptitude include Geometry,  Ratios and Proportion, Inequalities, Trigonometry, In-equations, Quadratic and Linear Equations, Work and Time, Algebra, Surds and Indices, Percentages, Mensuration, Time-Speed-Distance,  Logarithms, Partnership (Accounts), Number System, Square Root and Cube Root, Profit & Loss, Geometric Progression, Probability, Mean-Mode-Median, Binomial theorem, Simple interest and compound interest.

Maximum questions are asked from Arithmetic and Geometry so keep the main focus on these two topic. Understand and memorise the formulas and theorems well, and practice enough questions to be thorough with their application.

CAT DILR is all about practice. So, you need to practice a lot of questions from DILR to be able to master it. This section of CAT is equally divided into 10 questions each on DI and LR. The Data Interpretation questions are based on Mathematical tables, bars, pie charts, etc. so you need to work on it alongside Quantitative Aptitude. Learn some basic rules of tables, bars, pie charts as well as some basic rules of mathematical calculations. If you can read the data correctly, you can solve the CAT questions. However, to be able to solve questions quickly and accurately, you need to practice a good number of sample questions and mock tests.

For Logical Reasoning, you will have to depend totally on practice tests and exercises. The CAT LR questions are mostly based on series, number system, coding-decoding, family tree, circular patterns, blood relations, etc. So, you need to practice a lot of questions on these to be able to solve them in the exam. Go through CAT previous year question papers to know the type of questions are asked and practice them.

CAT VARC section is dominated by Reading Comprehension and Parajumbles, thus you need to focus on reading speed and comprehension. To prepare for this section, candidates need to start early on and start reading books and novels to improve English. The CAT RC passages are long, dense and inference based so you need to be very clear about reading and understanding the passage. You can’t speed read or leave out any sentence.

Practice a lot of sample CAT RC questions throughout your preparation phase. Also practice previous years CAT question papers so that you have a good enough experience of the types of Reading Comprehension passages that are asked in CAT.

Moreover, take guidance from mentor and practice time bound English exercises. Refer to dictionary for word meanings and foreign words.