Know All About Common Aptitude Test (CAT)

Common Admission Test, commonly known as CAT is a Management Based Entrance Exam, conducted by the Indian Institute of Management each year, to get an admit in the Management Programs from top B-Schools in India. The test is designed by the prestigious IIMs on a rotational basis each year. It is considered to be one of the most competitive entrance examinations in India, where over 2 Lakh students appear for the test each year.

QUANTITATIVE ABILITY

The third and final section of the CAT Examination is Quantitative Ability. As compared to the previous two sections, Quants is one section, where there is always a surety of being able to attempt questions with better accuracy. The difficulty level of this section is also certainly not very easy, but the approach toward each and every question is pretty straightforward. Each and every question in the Quants section is based on the concepts of topics covered in the Section.

Some common topics covered in Quantitative Ability are

• Arithmetic- Fractions, Percentages, Profit and Loss, Time and Work, Time Speed and Distance, Ratio and Proportions, Averages
• Number Systems- Integers, Factors and Multiples, Divisibility, HCF and LCM, Remainders
• Algebra- Equations, Inequalities, Surds and Indices, Logs, Progressions, Functions
• Geometry- Lines, angles, triangles, circles, quadrilaterals, polygons, areas, volumes, and coordinate geometry.
• Mensuration- Measuring geometric figures, such as areas and volumes of 2D and 3D shapes, are covered in this category.
• Modern Mathematics- Probability, permutation, and combination, set theory, and basic concepts of statistics.
• Trigonometry- Concepts of trigonometric ratios, trigonometric identities, and solving trigonometric equations may be part of this section.
• Number Theory- Properties of integers, divisibility, factorials, remainders, etc.

The questions asked in this section are generally straightforward, you just have to understand and interpret the question properly to be able to understand the problem and solve it accordingly.

We will divide the preparation again into 3 Phases – Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced

BEGINNER

We start off from the basics. This will include revising the above-mentioned topics from NCERT Math Books from Class 6^th to 10^th. CAT Does not include questions from higher Math like Calculus. Go through the topics in your textbooks and solve the Examples to get a grip on the formulas and concepts.

Also, some basic calculations like-

• Learn Tables from 1-20
• Learn Squares from 1-30
• Learn Cubes from 1-15
• Learn Reciprocals from 1-30 (i.e. 1/1, ½, 1/3…..1/30)

To complete the Beginner phase, it should not take you more than 15 Days at max.

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INTERMEDIATE

During the Intermediate Phase, we shift our focus to the Study Material for Quantitative Ability and start solving the material topic by topic. During the Intermediate phase, we will also start taking Topic-Wise and Section-Wise tests as we progress through the syllabus. The Intermediate phase for QA should not take more than 2 Months at max.

ADVANCED

In the advanced stage, we are now going to focus only on testing and analysis, attempting only Tests in this stage. It is again very crucial to understand that Analysis is just as important. Analysing tests will act as Automatic Revision for you and you will not have to allocate time separately to revise whatever you have studied.

CAT Test Pattern

CAT is a Computer Based Aptitude Test. The test contains questions of two types- MCQs and Non-MCQs.

As per CAT 2022, the format of the test is as follows-

• Mode- Computer-Based Test, Online
• Test Fee- INR 1200/- for SC, ST, PWD and INR 2400/- for Other Students
• Each year, one IIM is nominated to Conduct the entire Application and Testing Process
• Total Questions- 66
• Question Format- MCQ (70%-75%) and Non-MCQ (25-30%) or TITA (Type in The Answer) Questions
• Total Duration- 120 Minutes (40 Minutes Per Each Section)
• Sections-

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension- 24 Questions, 40 Minutes

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning- 20 Questions, 40 Minutes

Quantitative Ability- 22 Questions, 40 Minutes

• Marking Scheme (+3) For Correct Answer, (-1) for Incorrect Answer. Negative Marking is applicable only on MCQ Based Questions. Non-MCQ or TITA Questions do not carry any negative marking.
• The score is released in Percentile (%ile) and not marks. Percentile is basically a rank. Percentile states how many students are below oneself. For Example- If I score a 90%ile, it means that there are 90% of students below me in the test, or out of 100, my rank was 10, meaning I am above 90 students.

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Important Dates for CAT Exam 2023

• Registration for CAT 2023 Opens: 2^nd August 2023, from 10:00 AM (IST)
• Registration for CAT 2023 Closes: 20^th September 2023, till 5:00 PM (IST)
• Admit Card Download: 25^th October 2023 to 26^th November 2023
• CAT 2023 Exam Date: 26^th November 2023
• Declaration of Result: 2^nd Week of January (Tentative)

Registration Fee-

• INR 1200/- for SC, ST, and PwD Category
• INR 2400/- for General, NC-OBC, EWS, and other categories