CAT Syllabus – Check the Latest Exam Pattern and Topics

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CAT Syllabus 

Preparation is the way to achievementin all aspect of life. There are barely any, occasions where things will be given to you on a brilliant platter. CAT (Common Admission Test) is unquestionably not such a field.

CAT represents one of the toughest and most competitive exams in the world with lakhs of aspirants vying for a few thousand seats in the best B-Schools. Therefore in order to succeed in this competitive field, the aspirant needs to ensure that he/she is putting in the right effort in the right way.

For this very reason, there should be a structure wherein they get ready which is the place the CAT test design and the CAT syllabus come in. Prior to jumping profound into the CAT syllabus, an outline of the CAT Exam Pattern will likewise help.

Overview of CAT Exam Pattern

Regardless of being a Computer-based test, CAT is not an online exam.The difference between the two is that in the CBT, the questions are kept constant and simply presented to the students in an online format rather than an Online Test where the questions are stored in question banks and the computer decides the questions to be asked of the students.

The CAT Exam comprises of 100 Questions spread across three sections:

• Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC)
• Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR)
• Quantitative Aptitude (QA)
• Each section is divided into 1 hour each meaning that the exam lasts for 3 hours or 180 minutes in total.
• Switching is not possible between sections although switching between questions within the section is allowed.

There are a total of 34 questions in the VARC area

• 24 questions of 5 sets in the Reading Comprehension sub-section
• 10 questions in the Verbal Ability Sub-section
• There are TITA and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) in each sub-section with the majority in the Verbal Ability sub-section.
• According to the CAT Exam Pattern there were 7 TITA questions in the Verbal Ability sub-section and 3 TITA questions in the Reading Comprehension sub-section

There are a total of 32 questions in the DILR area

• 16 questions each in the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning sub-sections
• According to the CAT Exam Pattern, there were 8 TITA questions which were distributed across the sub-sections equally.

The final section is the QA section which has 34 questions

• There were 7 TITA questions in the CAT although the number can change each year.

CAT Syllabus

The CAT Exam Pattern gives us an idea about how to explore the CAT Exam Syllabus. This article discusses the CAT Exam Syllabus by experiencing it section by section. By leading this activity, the applicant will most likely to distinguish the subject in the CAT Exam Syllabus which can support him/her identify their qualities and henceforth decide the CAT Exam Strategy.

VARC CAT Exam Syllabus 

The VARC CAT Exam Syllabus is:

• Synonyms Antonyms (Vocabulary Based)
• Grammar or English Usage
• Correction in Sentence
• Fill in the blanks
• Jumbled Paragraph and Close Passage
• Analogies and Reverse Analogies
• Meaning/Usage Match
• Verbal Reasoning
• Summary Questions
• Reading Comprehension
• Facts Inferences Judgments

While it is a typical spiel at each Coaching that Vocabulary isn't tried in the CAT Exam, it isn't really valid. The way of testing Vocabulary has changed throughout the years and now CAT for the most part asks for vocabulary questionthrough the Reading Comprehension passages with the goal that students additionally stand an opportunity to conclude the importance of the word from context. Aside from this, synonymsand antonyms are consistently asked in other MBA Entrances Exams because of which they need to be prepared too.

Thus, Fill in the Blanks, Grammar Usage, Facts, Inferences and Judgments and Correction in Sentence are loosely part of the CAT syllabus as they have been asked previously however are never again tried in spite of the fact that they do play a significant rolein other MBA selection tests.

Verbal Ability CAT Exam Syllabus

The Verbal Ability over the past 3-4 years has focused majorly on 3 types of questions:

• Summary Questions
• Jumbled Paragraphs
• Odd sentences in Paragraph Jumbles.

The Summary based questions usually consist of: 

• Small passage of 80-100 words with 4 options
• Objective is to find out the best summary for the passage
• In these types of questions generally, the purpose is to find the options which does not contradict the passage in any manner
• Once you are able to eliminate the other options, the correct answer would emerge.

The Jumbled Paragraph are usually TITA Questions which means that there is no edge for error.

• In these type of questions, 4-5 sentences are given out of order.
• Together they form a paragraph and the candidate has to find the order which best suits the group of sentences. In order to solve these types of questions and make a meaningful paragraph.
  
  • - The first thing that each aspirant needs to do is identify the first and last sentence of the paragraph.
  • - This is usually quite easy since the first sentence introduces a topic while the last sentence makes some kind of a judgment or conclusion.
  • - Following this, the first sentence should lead to the second sentence and so and so forth.

The Odd Sentence in Paragraph Jumbles is also a TITA questions over past 3-4 years:

• The objective for this type of question is to find out the sentence which does not match with the theme established in the rest of the paragraph.
• These questions may be easy or difficult relying on how it is presented.
• For easy questions, the sentence will discuss about something completely different from the theme of the rest of the passage.
• On the other hand, in difficult questions, the sentence will be on the similar topic as the rest of the passage but will vary slightly in terms of the opinion being offered or the theme being set.
• It is also possible for the sentence to present a topic within the theme which is not pursued further.

Overall they can be quite tricky to be answered.

Reading Comprehension CAT Exam Syllabus

The Reading Comprehension comprises of questions based on passages. The questions are generally of three types: Fact-based, Inference-based and Vocabulary-based. The Vocabulary based questions have been already discussed above.

The fact based questions, as the name suggests, expects answers on the basis of facts mentioned in the passage. They are usually the easiest questions in the section.

The Inference-based questions are trickier since the aspirant has to deduce the tone and theme of the author before answering these questions.

DILR CAT Exam Syllabus 

DILR was the trickiest section for aspirant in CAT  but the difficulty level was reduced in CAT. One of the reasons for the difficulty is the unpredictability of the sections in terms of where the sets could be taken from. The CAT syllabus for the DILR section is:

• Caselets and Tables
• Bar Graphs and Column Graphs
• Venn Diagrams
• Line Charts & Pie Chart

·         Combination of at least two sorts connected to one another

• Number and Letter Series
• Calendars, Cubes and Clocks
• Binary Logic
• Seating Arrangement
• Matching
• Logical Sequence
• Connectives
• Blood Relations

Data Interpretation CAT Exam Syllabus

From the above syllabus referenced, the DI CAT Syllabus comprises of Caselets and tables. These caselets have information as of bar graphs, column graphs, venn diagrams, lines and pie charts.

This information must be interpretedso as to solve the questions in the CAT exam. So as to solve these questions, the information must be structured in the most instinctive way so that the questions can be solved.In specific questions,there will be variables that have to left untouchedsince they might be given in the questions. The best way to prepare for this section in the CAT exam is to solve as many problems as possible. 

Logical Reasoning CAT Exam Syllabus

The topics for Logical Reasoning in the CAT syllabus over the years comprises of numbers andsequences, arrangements, syllogisms, logical sequences, blood relations, calendars, cubes and clocks. The questions are usually arrangementswith a mix of different subjects. As can be seen, the number of topics for reasoning is very various andthe combination can lead to very tricky sets. This can be one reason that CAT were considered to have troublesome DILR section. The reasoning topics can prompt to very complicated sets when joined with one another.

The major concern LR questions aren’t to understanding them however comprehending them as quickly as would be possible.

Conclusion

In this section, solving a predetermined number of questions with great accuracy would be enough to get a good percentile in this section.

Quantitative Ability CAT Exam Syllabus

The QA syllabus is quite vast and has been compiled according to experts:

• Number Systems
• LCM & HCF
• Profit, Loss & Discount
• Percentages
• Speed, Time & Distance
• Time & Work
• Simple & Compound Interest
• Ratio & Proportion
• Averages
• Quadratic & Linear Equations
• Complex Numbers
• Logarithm
• Binomial Theorem
• Sequences & Series
• Surds & Indices
• Inequalities
• Probability, Permutation and Combination
• Set Theory
• Functions & Geometry
• Mixtures & Allegations
• Trigonometry
• Coordinate Geometry & Mensuration

The vast number of topics in the CAT syllabus means that it needs to be divided into more manageable chunks. The sub-sections in the QA CAT syllabus includes:

• Commercial Maths
• Arithmetic
• Geometry
• Algebra
• Trigonometry
• Sequences and Series
• Alligations and Mixtures

Commercial Mathematics is reasonably easy to prepare for since the number of questions is limited and the formula to be learnt is fairly straightforward.

Arithmetic is additionally basic and should be easy to prepare for. Most of the topics in Arithmetic are covered in Class X level and the only trick is to solve them as fast as possible.

Geometry has several rules and finding the most important Geometry rules would allow the aspirant to solve these problems as fast as possible.

Algebra and Trigonometry may be used with other topics or may be tested in the CAT Exam. Sequence and Series is a topic which is rarely tested in CAT and regularly in other MBA Entrance Exams. With practice, the questions in this topic can be effectively understood.

Alligations and Mixtures is like Sequence and Seriesas in it is every so often tried in CAT. It is genuinely easy to solve problems of this type with the right direction.

Conclusion

There is no CAT syllabus which is unequivocallymentioned in the CAT Official Websitebecause of which CAT does infrequently pull astonishment on the applicants. However every question in the CAT Exam is solvable since it tests the candidates on knowledge of the basics. Therefore every candidate should ensure that they are thorough in terms of their preparation of the basics. If the aspirant prepares according to the CAT syllabus, the room for unpleasant surprises is greatly reduced.

CAT Analysis

Was CAT just another CDC Mock (Count Down CAT Mock)? That’s what many students exclaimed as they exited the exam! Staying true to expectations, CAT adhered to the pattern of a reduced 2-hour duration, with 40 minutes allocated to each section. However, the number of questions per section remained a topic of speculation right up until the test.

Based on the expectation and CL predictions, CAT aspirants had to face 66 questions in 2 hours with the section-wise distribution of questions as follows:

• VARC: 24 questions in 40 minutes
• DILR: 20 questions in 40 minutes
• QA: 22 questions in 40 minutes

The overall difficulty level for CAT 2021 was moderate. An overall raw score of around 97-99 should fetch a 99%ile in CAT.