Quantitative Aptitude Preparation

The best resources for Quantitative Aptitude preparation is sample papers and previous years' CAT question papers. Since both Quantitative Aptitude is all about Mathematics, it can only be mastered by having enough practice. But only solving question papers and practice papers will not be enough. You will need to first be thorough with the topics and their concepts/formulae. For that refer to books like Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha, Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Nishit Sinha and Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT by Sarvesh Sharma. Sectional mock tests for Quants are also very important for preparation.

Here's a strategic approach to tackle the Quantitative Aptitude section on your CAT exam day:

• Fuel your brain with nutritious food to maintain energy levels throughout the exam.
• Briefly go over important formulas and concepts you might encounter in the QA section.
• Quickly browse through all the questions to get a sense of the difficulty level and identify the topics covered.
• Start with questions you feel most confident about.
• Allocate a specific time for each question based on its difficulty level.
• Aim for accuracy over speed. Remember, there's negative marking in the CAT exam. Don't attempt a question unless you're reasonably sure of the answer.
• If time permits, especially towards the end, go back and review your answers, particularly for the questions you attempted initially.

To score well in Quantitative Aptitude one needs to first master all the concepts and theorems. If you are good at Mathematics or studied it in Graduation, you can score well by just practicing a variety of sample questions for over a period of two to three months. Practice Mental Maths for quick calculation and memorise a minimum of Tables till 20, Squares up to 100, Square roots from 1 to 25, Cubes up to 30. These will help you immensely in cracking Quantitative Aptitude section as well as the Data Interpretation section.

Infact, in some exams Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation are clubbed together as both have Mathematic based questions and require calculation to arrive at the answer. It is because similarity of the nature of the subjects, they are clubbed together in some MBA entrance exams.

The Quantitative Aptitude section is one of the main sections of any MBA exam. It usually has one 1/3 ^rd  (exams having three sections in total) or 1/4 ^th  (exams having four sections in total) weightage in the question paper. Check below the weightage of Quantitative Aptitude in top MBA entrance exams.

• CAT Quantitative Aptitude questions: 22 
• XAT Quantitative Aptitude questions: 27 
• CMAT Quantitative Aptitude questions: 25 
• SNAP Quantitative Aptitude questions: 20 
• IIFT Quantitative Aptitude questions: 25 
• MAT Quantitative Aptitude questions: 40 
• ATMA Quantitative Aptitude questions: 60 
• MAH CET Quantitative Aptitude questions: 50