Syllabus of CAT

Syllabus of CAT





CAT - The Common Admission Test to the six IIMs is also the entrance test for few other top B-Schools such as SP Jain, MICA, and T A Pai. CAT tests your skills in five broad areas viz.

  1. Verbal ability and reasoning
  2. Reading Comprehension
  3. Quantitative skills
  4. Data Interpretation
  5. Analytical and Logical reasoning
Verbal Ability & Reasoning
Verbal ability and reasoning accounts for half of the verbal section
A typical 50 marks section of verbal comprises Verbal ability and reasoning section and the Reading Comprehension section. Verbal ability accounts for about 25 to 30 marks questions in the verbal section and the reamining 20 to 25 marks questions are Reading comprehension questions.
In CAT 2004 there were 0.5, 1 and 2 marks questions in the verbal section and in CAT 2005 there were 1 mark and 2 marks questions in the verbal section. CAT 2006 and CAT 2007 had 25 questions in the Verbal Ability section with each question carrying 4 marks. Of these 12 to 15 questions were Reading Comprehension question and the remaining questions were Verbal Reasoning questions.
The questions that typically appear in the verbal section can be classified in one of the following types
1.Vocabulary Based
Questions based on testing one’s vocabulary could be plain vanilla “synonym - antonym” questions as it appeared in CAT 2001, CAT 2002. Alternatively, the questions on vocabulary may appear as fill in the blank with the appropriate word as it appeared in the 0.5 marks section of CAT 2004 or as part of the 2 marks section in CAT 2005.
There have been interesting variations to this question as in CAT 2001 and CAT 2002 where a simple word was given. Four alternate usages for the word was given and four different shades of meaning for the word was given. One had to match the usage with the appropriate meaning. A sample of such a question is given if you follow the link at the bottom of the page.
However, please note that the emphasis on vocabulary has been on the decline and the need to memorize meanings of words such as “pleonasm” or “pterodactyl” is not essential to crack such questions in CAT.
2.English Usage / Grammar
Sentence correction or Grammar based questions appear in different flavours in the CAT verbal section. It could be questions where you are asked to spot the section of a sentence that is gramatically incorrect or it could be questions where a part of a sentence in underlined and you are provided with four or five alternative choices. You have to select the choice that0 corrects the error in the underlined part.
More recently in CAT 2005, questions on grammar appeared with a twist. A set of 4 sentences were given and you had to find out how many out of the 4 sentences were gramatically correct.
A good understanding of the basics of English grammar coupled with adequate exercises on the different types of common errors that appear in CAT will help you sail through these kinds of questions.
3.Verbal Reasoning
These questions could take multiple forms. The most common one is that of rearranging sentences of a paragraph. It could also include paraphrasing what has been said in a paragraph. In some CAT papers questions similar to the ones that appear in the Critical Reasoning section of GMAT have been tested.
CAT 2006 witnessed the comeback of Fact Inference Judgement questions. These questions which were a standard feature in CAT in the early 90s made a comeback in 2006. You will be given 3 or 4 sentences and will be asked to select which of the statements is a fact, which a judgement and which an inference.

CAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Comprehension accounts for a third to a half of the verbal section in CAT

A typical 100 marks section of verbal comprises Verbal ability and reasoning section and the Reading Comprehension section. Verbal ability accounts for about 40 to 60 marks questions in the verbal section and the reamining 60 to 40 marks questions are Reading comprehension questions. In CAT 2006, 15 out of the 25 questions in the verbal section were reading comprehension questions (i.e., 60 out of 100 marks). In CAT 2007, 12 out of the 25 questions in the verbal section were reading comprehension questions (i.e., 48 out of 100 marks).

Reading Comprehension questions come in groups of four to eight questions, and are based on reading passages that range from 250 to 750 words in length.

CRACKING THE SYSTEM

To be able to perform well in these types of questions you need to:

  1. read quickly in a way that will allow you to understand the main idea of the passage
  2. eliminate answer choices that could not possibly be correct
  3. take advantage of outside knowledge
  4. take advantage of inside information (the answer that is generally correct in exams like CAT), and
  5. find answers in some cases without reading the passage.

BASIC PASSAGE TYPES

Passages that you will find in the CAT exam can be broadly classified into one of the following types.

  1. The social science passage
    This usually concerns a social or historical issue. You might see a passage about world population control or the history of the rise to power of a clan in medieval India.
  2. The science passage
    This might describe a scientific phenomenon, such as aviation, super conductivity or plate tectonics.
  3. The business passage
    This usually discusses a business-related topic. For example, you might see a passage about the privatization of state-owned industries, pricing of options and futures or the causes of inflation.
  4. The entertainment passage
    This usually discusses a topic related to entertainment, sports, leisure. The passage could be on a topic such as the lifestyles of the rich and famous, the reason for the success of a Hollywood or Bollywood movie.
The Quant (Math) section in CAT usually accounts for a third of the questions in CAT. For instance, in CAT 2006 the quant section had 100 marks worth questions out of the total of 300 marks worth questions. More often than not students who take CAT find the quant section as the toughest one. Albeit, CAT 2006 was an exception

CAT Quantitative Ability (Quant / Math)

Broadly categorized as Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry CAT typically tests a student’s quantitative ability from over 25 topics. These topics that appear in CAT are of high school level. Click on the links that follow each topic for details of what is covered in Ascent’s Quant Refresher books on these topic and for accesing an archive of sample questions from these topics.

  1. Arithmetic
    1. Number Systems and Number Theory
    2. Percentages
    3. Profit and Loss
    4. Interest
    5. Speed, Time and Distance
    6. Pipes and Cisterns
    7. Races
    8. Averages
    9. Ratio, Proportion
    10. Mixtures and Alligations
  2. Algebra
    1. Linear and Quadratic Equation
    2. Logarithm
    3. Progressions - AP, GP, HP
    4. Binomial Theorem
    5. Inequalities
    6. Permutation & Combination
    7. Probability
    8. Function
    9. Set Theory
  3. Geometry
    1. Geometry
    2. Co ordinate Geometry
    3. Trigonometry
    4. Mensuration

Data Interpretation (DI) Section

Data Interpretation accounted for 50 marks questions in the Common Admissions Tests (CAT) since CAT 2001. CAT 2005 had 30 questions in this section. 10 of the 30 questions were 1 mark questions and the remaining 20 were 2 marks questions. CAT 2006 and CAT 2007, each had 25 questions in this section. Each qeustion carried 4 marks

Data Intrepretation section can be broadly classified as comprising two types of questions.

  • Data Interpretation (DI)

    In these questions data is presented either in the form of a table or a bar chart or a pie chart or a line graph or as a combination of one of these formats. Following each of these data presentations, there will be 4 to 6 questions. You are expected to answer the questions by interpreting the data given in the table or graph. Here is a sample data interpretation question.

  • Data Sufficiency (DS)

    Every Data Sufficiency problem consists of a question followed by two statements. You have to decide NOT WHAT THE ANSWER IS, BUT WHETHER THE QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED based on the information given in the two statements.

    CAT exams till 2004 had DS questions either as part of the quant section or as part of the DI section. CAT 2005 and CAT 2006 did not have any DS questions at all. But it staged a comeback in CAT 2007. Hence, one cannot rule out such questions in future CAT exams.










149 Comments »

  1. ramakrishna ramakrishna says:

    please send me the questio paper of cat previous five years

  2. nazmin nazmin says:

    please provide me last five year cat paper with solution

  3. krishna krishna says:

    i would be very much greatful if u send me last 7-8 years solved CAT paprs.

  4. ashok ashok says:

    it helped me to understand about cat exam

  5. naresh naresh says:

    gives a good idea about cat…

  6. nitin sharma nitin sharma says:

    tell me how to clear cat,mat,snap,cds

  7. nitin sharma nitin sharma says:

    pls send me last 10 years question papers of cat, mat ,snap,and cds

  8. mastan mastan says:

    pretty good suggestions

  9. aparajita aparajita says:

    please send me cat last five years question papers

  10. saiful anam mir saiful anam mir says:

    please send me cat last five years question papers.

  11. Ajay Kumar Ajay Kumar says:

    it would be a great pleasure for me, if you send me a brief syllabus for the CAT 2009 and solved question papers of last 4 or 5 years.

  12. shubham upadhyay shubham upadhyay says:

    please send me a syllabus for cat 2009 and solved question papers of last 5 years.

  13. Sarvesh kumar Sarvesh kumar says:

    Send me information about CAT syllabus. Last 10 Years question paper. And best books name for preparation.

  14. Richa A Richa A says:

    i would be very much greatful if u send me last 9-10 years solved CAT papers…

  15. srikanth srikanth says:

    plz send the cat syllubus model.my number is 9703750575

  16. chandra shekhar chandra shekhar says:

    please provide me last five year cat paper with solution.

  17. Ayush Ayush says:

    Please send me CAT last five years papers with solutions..

  18. sujai sujai says:

    i would be very much greatful if u send me last 7-8 years solved CAT paprs.

  19. arun arun says:

    send me about cat based colleges

  20. JOITA BHATTACHARJEE JOITA BHATTACHARJEE says:

    please send me CAT last 5 years solved questions..

  21. SWATI SWATI says:

    PLEASE SEND LAST 5 YEARS MAT SOLVED PAPER

  22. prem prem says:

    please send me previous years cat qn papers…

  23. Ravikant singh Ravikant singh says:

    sir..
    i am bbm 2nd sem student. After bbm i want admition in IIM. Please tell me what should my 1st steep for this and sir send me some previous years paper also….

  24. KUSH KUSH says:

    Please provide me with pattern of exam & its syllabus along wth question pattern Thank you

  25. nitin bisht nitin bisht says:

    plz provide me previos 10 yrs question papers of cat.

  26. ayusmita ghosh ayusmita ghosh says:

    plzzz i will be highly thankful to u if u able to send me 10years cat question paper

  27. suresh suresh says:

    please send me previous years cat qn papers…

  28. Ravindra Singh Ravindra Singh says:

    my request is not different from the rest.
    All i want is previous question papers…
    Or may be if any 1 can provide me with any useful links for the preparations.
    my email id is dementedravi@gmail.com

  29. Jagadish Jagadish says:

    Thanks to Compete India for giving me a clear cut idea about the syllabus of CAT.

  30. sandip sandip says:

    plz provide me previous 10 years question papers of cat with solution…i m will thankful to compete india..

  31. arjun arjun says:

    thanks for giving information on cat.

  32. Ravindar Ravindar says:

    Thank you for providing this much info
    I would greatly appreciate if some one give me a info where to find previously solved cat ques papers

  33. swetketu prabhat swetketu prabhat says:

    sir      i want to participate as a regular engineering student     i want the materials about that one.

  34. premkumar premkumar says:

    sir,the information given was useful..does gk qns come in cat..please send me solved previous years cat qns…

  35. premkumar premkumar says:

    somebody answer me does GK qns come in CAT..please answer….

  36. prakash prakash says:

    it would be a great pleasure for me, if you send me a brief syllabus for the CAT 2009 and solved question papers of last 4 or 5 years.

  37. Akki Akki says:

    It would be great help if somebody send me last 5-7 yrs CAT papers with solutions.
    Do some1 have link to download the same..

  38. chandan chandan says:

    its interesting

  39. praveen raj praveen raj says:

    sir now at this time i am doing a course of b.tech from anand eng. college agra . now i am in 2nd year from elctronics&instrumentation engg… and iwant when i complete my course then i will face the exam of cat and take admission in iim.i think now i have 3 years for prepairing of cat.i want to start my preparatin from now a days.so i want to know what will my first step for my preparation for cat2012.please tell me.my no.is 9368429622.if you want then send me mail on my g-mail praveen.raj976@gmail.com.i hope you will help me….

  40. RAVI PRAKASH SINGH RAVI PRAKASH SINGH says:

    plz send me cat syllabus2009 and name of basic reference books of all sections

  41. krishnamohan krishnamohan says:

    please send me last 10 years CAT question papers
    with solutions.

  42. Deepak Karthik Deepak Karthik says:

    Please send me ample question papers of CAT questions and Suggest me ways to improve my skills for cracking Question papers … Is it possible to prepare only with Google or should i buy some books ???

    Mail me plzz !!

    Thanks in advance !!

  43. rahul singh rahul singh says:

    sir,plz send me last 5 year solved paper of cat.you are very thankfull.

  44. anu gupta anu gupta says:

    sir please send me last five years question paper (2005-2009).

  45. javeed javeed says:

    pleeeeeeeeease send me cat-2009 question paper with solutions….

  46. Nageshwar bedre Nageshwar bedre says:

    Send me both Syllabus and last 5years question paper, with their solution or keys…………..

  47. Himanshu Mewara Himanshu Mewara says:

    Sir Please give me cat syllabus.

  48. pankaj bhatiya pankaj bhatiya says:

    plz provide me the last five yrs cat question papers…..
    i’ll be highly obliged……..

  49. puneet arora puneet arora says:

    piz send me last 5 years cat question papars with solution

  50. sneha sneha says:

    send me perfect cat syllabus for 2009 entrance exam as soon as possible

  51. Aryan Aryan says:

    please send me last 5 years CAT papers urgently

  52. Nisha mulik Nisha mulik says:

    plz send me previous 10 yrs papers of cat exams

  53. Nisha mulik Nisha mulik says:

    plz send me previous 10 yrs papers of cat exam

  54. Jessie Jessie says:

    It would be really grateful if you could send me last 5 years solved in CAT question papers.Thanks in advance.

  55. Tejkumarch Tejkumarch says:

    please send me the last 5 year solved CAT quesion paper.

  56. Debajyoti Sarkar Debajyoti Sarkar says:

    Send me the detailed syllabus of CAT 2010 and some details about the new pattern of the examination.

  57. vani vani says:

    plzz send me last 5 yrs solved CAT question papers…..

  58. mohit yadav mohit yadav says:

    please send me last five years paper of cat and also send me top 10 colleges list by CAT.

  59. prakharrawat prakharrawat says:

    pls send last 10 year solved paper

  60. priya priya says:

    I am b-tech 3rd year student
    please send last 10 years solved papers

  61. priya priya says:

    please Send the complete syllabus of CAT 2010 and some details about the new pattern of the examination.

  62. Riya Manohar Riya Manohar says:

    Please send me solved question paper of CAT about last 10 yrs .

  63. kiran g kiran g says:

    Sir could you please sent me CAT 2009 previous year questions and the syllabus. thank you..

  64. James Raja James Raja says:

    Please send me the last three year cat question papers with solution.

  65. guna guna says:

    please Send the complete syllabus of CAT 2010 and some details about the new pattern of the examination

  66. md sowban firdaus md sowban firdaus says:

    please send me last 2yr cat question paper with solution. and give me suggestion for preparation of it……….

  67. varun varun says:

    thnx for imformation……its gud if u provide solved papers

  68. manzer imaam manzer imaam says:

    please provide me last 5 years question paper

  69. adhavan adhavan says:

    sir,now iam in the 2nd year of my engineering.what will be the correct time to start the preparation for CAT2012.

  70. Ramneek Kaur Ramneek Kaur says:

    I’ll b very thankful if u please send prevoius years CAT question papers with their solutions.

  71. Abhishek Abhishek says:

    please send me questions and solutions of cat question papers of previous 5 years.

  72. Aman Aman says:

    please send me the questions & solutions of last 5 years cat exams

  73. nikita nikita says:

    good guidance……would u plz send me some tricks to solve ques of math quickly

  74. nikita nikita says:

    good guidance…..would u plz send me some easy tricks to solve math ques quickly

  75. tanya tanya says:

    Plz send me the questions and solutions of previous 5 yrs cat exam.

  76. Shobhit Shobhit says:

    please send me questions and solutions of cat question papers of previous 5 years

  77. shahbaz shahbaz says:

    pls send me the question paper & solutions of previous 3 years paper.

  78. Vikram singh Vikram singh says:

    please tell me some useful books for cat2010.

  79. rama rama says:

    i want previous cat papers with solutions.please send me

  80. shakir shakir says:

    pls send me cat syllabus for 2010,fms mba syllabus

  81. Victor Laha Victor Laha says:

    Sir, I am b-tech 3rd year student
    please send last 10 years solved papers.My mail address is, victorlaha864@gmail.com

  82. abhishek abhishek says:

    pls send me last 10 years paper ………

  83. james james says:

    i do not know how to prepare for for cat plz tell which books should i refer

  84. james james says:

    i do not know how to prepare for for cat plz tell which books should i refer.my father ia very poor so plz give me proper guidance

  85. james james says:

    i m from a poor family and want to prepare for cat plz give me proper guidance

  86. hemant hemant says:

    please send me last 10 years cat exam solved paper if possible.. thanks..

  87. naveen naveen says:

    your information gives very good idea about the cat exam, please send me last five years cat exam question papers with solutions

  88. Praveen singh Praveen singh says:

    kindly send me syllabus of CAT 10 with 5 previous tear solved papers

  89. Swapnil Swapnil says:

    Sir send me last 10years question papers with soln.
    Thankyou.

  90. vivek kumar vivek kumar says:

    send last 5year question iof xat.

  91. RANJEET JAYSAWAL RANJEET JAYSAWAL says:

    sir,please send me last five year question paper in my email.
    thank u

  92. padmalaya mallick padmalaya mallick says:

    kindly send me syllabus of CAT 10 with 5 previous year solved papers

  93. Rajneesh Mehta Rajneesh Mehta says:

    i am appearing for the CAT exam for IIM first time. Plz send me the syllabus and previous five years question papers of CAT for IIM

  94. ankit raj ankit raj says:

    i am appearing for the CAT exam for IIM first time. Plz send me the syllabus. and previous five years question papers and solution of CAT exam

  95. paromita das paromita das says:

    i am an electronics & instrumentation engg 3rd year student,i want 2 prepare 4 cat pls send me the 5 yrs question paper &tips how 2 prepare for cat?

  96. DURGESH DURGESH says:

    plz send ten previous year cat papers

  97. aakanksha johri aakanksha johri says:

    please send cat papers of last ten years..
    and thank you for sharing this information.

  98. isha isha says:

    plzz send me last 5 year cat question paper with solutions….

    i shall be very thankful to you

    with regards,
    isha

  99. annie chanana annie chanana says:

    just wanna know the maths syallubus of cat??

  100. rishabh sahu rishabh sahu says:

    plz tell me about the syllabus of cat and how to clear it

  101. sriraaj sriraaj says:

    plz send the vat books to be buy 4 prep of CAT

  102. NISHTHA NISHTHA says:

    please send me syllabus of MBA entrance exam. how to clear it?

  103. Mohsin Khan Mohsin Khan says:

    Plz provide me the last 10 year of cat papers with necessary solution

  104. ranjan kumar ranjan kumar says:

    sir i am doing b.tech from kiit university……i have completed 4th semester……..now i have two years preparing for cat………i want to start my preparation from now a days……..so i want to know what wil my first step preparation for cat 2012…..sir please help me……

  105. kaykash kaykash says:

    sir i have completed my 2ndbtech,i want to prepare for cat plz tell me how to tart my preparation without any coaching

  106. Vartika Vartika says:

    Sir plz send me past 5 years question papers of CAT.

  107. Muhammed Ashik Muhammed Ashik says:

    Really you people are doing a great job by providing the perfect ignite for people like me who have just started preparing for this year’s CAT…

  108. Muhammed Ashik Muhammed Ashik says:

    sir,It would be great if you could sent me the last 10 years CAT question papers and its explanatory solutions..

  109. DEVI DEVI says:

    please send me cat last five years question papers

  110. mujtaba mujtaba says:

    plz ,send me the details of online mocks

  111. deepak deepak says:

    i would be very grateful if you send previous years paper with solution……..

  112. deepak deepak says:

    i would be very grateful if you send previous years paper with answer……..

  113. nitin kumar nitin kumar says:

    i would be very greatful if you send last 7-8 yrs paper with solutions……………..thank you

  114. Jewel Jewel says:

    I need CAT syllabus exam December 2010 session. Please send me current syllabus and question paper

  115. neelam garg neelam garg says:

    please give me previously 5 years papers????
    also give proper syllabus of CAT
    and any coaching is required for d xam please tell me…….

  116. navneet bhattar navneet bhattar says:

    sir please send me last five years question paper (2005-2009).

  117. and also the proper syllabus.

  118. plz send me last 10 years entrance paper of symbiosis,st xavier,mudra

  119. Srinivas Srinivas says:

    please send me last five years question papers if available

  120. Abhshek kumar Abhshek kumar says:

    it is perfect, plz send me last five year question paper with answer.

  121. keshav keshav says:

    please send me ths cat 2010 syllabus

  122. palakshi palakshi says:

    plz send me last five year cat paper and 2010 syllabus

  123. PBag PBag says:

    please send me last five years CAT solved papers

  124. shashwat shashwat says:

    Please send me at least 10 years solved papers of CAT.

  125. vishnu vardhan vishnu vardhan says:

    please send me syllabus paper and previous 10 years question papers with solutions sir

  126. MOHANABARIZETH.A MOHANABARIZETH.A says:

    please send me last 5 years question papers
    for CAT exam with solution to my id
    my email id is mbarizeth@gmail.com

  127. Jaspreet Singh Jaspreet Singh says:

    hi can u send me material for CAT prepration.. means useful links or ebooks whatever…

  128. devender yadav devender yadav says:

    hello sir plese tell me good books for all subjects for cat and last year cat paper with solution at my email i devender.yadav75@gmail.com

  129. GAGANDEEP GAGANDEEP says:

    SIR PLZ SEND ME THE LAST FIVE YEARS QUESTION PAPER FO CAT EXAMS

  130. kailash kailash says:

    sir please send me last 10 year papers for cat

  131. vishal tyagi vishal tyagi says:

    sir plz send me the last five years question paper for cat and the latest syllabus also !!!!!!!!!!

  132. vishal tyagi vishal tyagi says:

    sir plz can u tell me the the 1 thing about me sir my english is very poor give me some instraction to improve this plz send some english section for cat

  133. sonal rai sonal rai says:

    sir plz send me last 1o year papaers for cat with solution.

  134. abhishek anand abhishek anand says:

    sir plz can u send me the brief syllabus of CAT ……………..and guideline how to prepare for the CAT

  135. Shantanu Mridha Shantanu Mridha says:

    Sir please send me last 10 year solved papers for cat.

  136. Bipin Kumar Bipin Kumar says:

    I want to join the online class room for preparing cat, so what to be done for it?
    And Please sent me some sample papers for cat exam, in my email id.
    And also required their syllabus.

  137. deep deep says:

    send me syllabus..! plz plz plz plz plz

  138. Vinod Vinod says:

    please send me the questio paper of cat previous five years

  139. saurabh sharma saurabh sharma says:

    i want 10 years question papers

  140. zishan zishan says:

    sir ,
    i m a b.tech final yr std i m going to appre in CAT10 .can u send me a last 3yr CAT Q paper with ans.
    THANK U

  141. Jai Prakash Jai Prakash says:

    i m student of bsc(it) & i want to appear in cat.
    plz send 5 year earlier question to me

  142. kunal hedaoo kunal hedaoo says:

    i m electrical engg. student would it be good enough to give cats ….

  143. soniya shiroha soniya shiroha says:

    plz send me last 5 year cat exam paper with solution plz i would thankful to you

  144. DHARTI DHARTI says:

    Can u please give me instructions regarding how should i prepare online so that i don’t have to purchase books.

  145. manish choudhary manish choudhary says:

    i would be very much great full if u will send me last 10 years solved CAT question papers.

  146. manish choudhary manish choudhary says:

    Can u please give me instructions regarding how should i prepare online so that i don’t have to purchase books.

  147. preeti preeti says:

    i am in 3rd yr. ob b.tech.i want to prepare for cat 2012.what should be the best way of processing

  148. dikshit dikshit says:

    @preeti
    me 2 in 3rd year btech.. i know very well on how to prepare bt need a very gud n dedicated partner… if any1 interested to work in a grp plzzzz mail me at dc0037@gmail.com

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