CAT 2017: Exam Tentatively In December; Know Complete Syllabus

New Delhi: Are you planning to appear for CAT 2017 and wondering what should be your first step? Ideally, the first step will be to apply for the exam but the commencement of application process is still almost a month away. So let's skip to the second step which is preparing for the exam. When preparing for the CAT exam, you will need to know a concise list of the topics from which questions are generally asked in CAT exam. A clear idea of the syllabus will help you prepare for the exam in a structured and focused manner.

The first myth that should be dispelled about CAT syllabus is that IIMs have set a syllabus for CAT exam. None of the previous IIMs have ever set a syllabus for CAT exam and nor will IIM Lucknow set a syllabus for CAT 2017.

The CAT exam syllabus which you come across online or are provided by coaching centres are all based on the CAT exam structure in the previous years and the topics which have been repeated over the years in the exam. 

CAT 2016 question paper had three sections - Verbal and Reading Comprehension, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, and Quantitative Aptitude. It is expected that CAT 2017 will follow the same pattern and will have same number of sections in the question paper. 

Based on previous year question trends we have prepared an outline for the CAT 2017 syllabus.

Read Here: Important Points About CAT 2017 Exam Pattern
 

Verbal and Reading Comprehension (VRC)

• In VRC section there will be 5 Reading Comprehension passages. 
• The Reading Comprehension passages will cover a wide variety of topics such as Current affairs, Social and Economic issues, Literature, Science and Technology, Culture, History and Politics etc.
• The questions asked from the Reading Comprehension passage can be true/false statement based on the passage, Author's point of view on the issues raised in the passage, Inference from the passage, central idea of the passage and its purpose.  
• The questions from the Reading Comprehension part will be objective in nature.
• In case of Verbal Ability questions can be of the following nature - Jumbled Paragraph, Summary of a paragraph, essence or central idea of a paragraph, jumbled paragraphs with out of context sentence, sentence correction, Vocabulary based questions. 
• Verbal Ability questions will mainly be Non-MCQs. 

 

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DI & LR)

• Data Interpretation Section will have both MCQ and Non-MCQ questions.
• DI questions will mainly be based on Data Tables, Data charts, bar diagrams, Pie charts, Graphs, Data analysis and comparison. 
• In case of Logical Reasoning, the topics are vast but some of the recurring topics are Clocks, calendars, binary logic, seating arrangement, blood relations, logical sequence, assumption, premise, conclusion, linear and matrix arrangement.
• LR questions can be individual or be in a set of 4 or more questions. 

 

Quantitative Ability (QA) 

• CAT questions in QA are mostly based on topics from the Mathematics syllabus till class 10th including a few topics from 10+2 syllabus as well. 
• Some important topics are - Number System, Algebra, Percentage, Profit and Loss, Probability, Permutation and Combination, Time and Work, Averages, Mean, Median, Mode, Speed, Time and Distance, Ratio and Proportion. 
• Some other important topics are - Linear Equation, Quadratic Equation, Geometry, Trigonometry, Co-ordinate Geometry, Mensuration, Set Theory, Binomial Theorem, Surds and Indices, Mixture and Allegations. 

Read Here: How To prepare For CAT 2017 In 150 Days?