What is Syllabus of CAT?
This is the most frequent question asked when one starts preparing for CAT. CAT is a test with no predefined syllabus, however past trends suggest that CAT tests in general aptitude including Verbal Ability (English), Quant Ability (Mathematics), Logical Resoning (LR) and Data Interpretation (DI) skills.
Similar to CAT, there are other admission tests - MAT, XAT, CMAT and SNAP. There are some B-Schools (like IIFT and IRMA) which conduct their own exam. And there are state level entrance tests for admission to colleges in respective states.
CAT English/Verbal Ability: Reading comprehension, verbal reasoning, syllogisms, analogies, antonyms and synonyms, fill in the blanks, sentence correction, idioms, etc.
CAT Maths/Quant Ability: Number systems, geometry, trogonometry, probability, permutation combination, algebra, mensuration, time and work, averages, percentages, profit and loss, quadratic and linear equations, etc.
CAT Data Interpretation: Interpretation and analysis of data based on text, tables, graphs (line, area), charts (column, bar, pie), venn diagram, etc.
CAT Logical Reasoning: Clocks, calendars, binary logic, seating arrangement, blood relations, logical sequence, assumption, premise, conclusion, linear and matrix arrangement, etc.
CAT - known as Common Admission Test is all-India national level computer based test conducted by IIMs (Indian Institutes of Management) as entrance exam for admission to management programmes. Based on CAT percentile score, candidates are called for next stage of selection rejection process which usually consists of Group Discussion, Essay and Personal Interview (GDPI). CAT is multiple-choice based test with penalties for wrong answers.
CAT 2014 New Paper Pattern: There are two sections. The first section is Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and second section is Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning. The duration of the exam is 170 minutes. There is no separate time limit on sections. Each section has 50 questions.
From the year 2009, CAT is conducted online as Computer Based Test (CBT). From CAT 2009 to CAT 2013, it had 60 questions to be attempted in 2 hours and 15/20 minutes.
CAT 2011 had only 2 separately timed sections. From 2011, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) started using CAT score instead of JMET and FMS exam respectively. The pattern for CAT 2012 and 2013 were same without any surprise element.
