“CAT Syllabus – Does it provide an edge to students with a Mathematics background?”
Ashish goes to a career counselling seminar. The following conversation takes place between Ashish and the counsellor which may be helpful for many MBA aspirants.
Ashish – “Sir, I am a commerce student, can I prepare for CAT exam?”
Counsellor – “Yes, of course, graduates from any stream can appear for CAT.”
Ashish – “But I am not an engineer and do not have a mathematics background.”
Counsellor – “Mathematics education does not guarantee success in your career. Non-math students have to plan their preparation differently according to the CAT Syllabus; that’s it!”
Numerical Aptitude is given utmost importance in the CAT syllabus. It is not baseless at all as two major sections of the CAT namely Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation test mathematical knowledge. So, it is considered that CAT exam is more difficult for students with non-mathematics background than it is for engineers. In this article, we have given a few tips for students with a non-math background to succeed in CAT.
PRAQTISE Fact File: Nishant Gupta, a student with a non-maths background who scored more than 99 %le in CAT
NAME YEAR Q.A %le VA %le LR & DI %le CAT %le Nishant Gupta 2016 95.8 99.7 99.6 99.97
Quantitative Aptitude
Quantitative Aptitude is the most feared section of the CAT syllabus for students with a non-math background. Students should plan their preparation topic wise. Those students who are not so comfortable with mathematics should spend more time on the core chapters and practice as many questions as possible. The titles mentioned below are considered to be among the easier ones:
- Percentage
- Profit and loss
- Ratio, Variation and Proportion
- Time, Speed and Distance
- Work and time.
Once students are comfortable with basic chapters, they can move on to tougher sections. Students should first try to identify the difficulty level of questions based on such topics. Attempt them only if you are comfortable with the question to avoid negative marking. The topics listed below are considered relatively difficult:
- Permutation and Combination
- Probability
- Numbers
- Higher Mathematics.
Logical Reasoning and DI
These are the sections where the non-math students can score to get a high percentile overall. This section has almost 1/3 the weight of the overall CAT syllabus every year. It has two sub-sections called Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation. Students with a non-math background can focus more on logical reasoning questions as it does not involve complex calculations. On becoming comfortable with analytical reasoning, one can try to increase his/her speed using short-cut tricks and Vedic Math methods. Students can start solving Data Interpretation sets once they are comfortable with calculations.
Verbal Ability
It is crucial to get a good grip on the Quantitative Aptitude questions and Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation for CAT. At the same time, one should not ignore the Verbal Ability section as IIMs, and other top B-schools, have sectional cut offs. Verbal Ability is a crucial part of the CAT Syllabus. So, Verbal Ability section should be given due importance in preparation. If Q.A. is the weakness, a student can focus on the Verbal Ability section to get the desired percentile. Verbal Ability has two subsections:
Grammar: Students can concentrate on the fundamental concepts of grammar such as tenses, articles, conjunctions, voices, degrees, verb, noun, adjectives to get closer to cut off. Also, para jumbles are an easy target as one can master them with little practise.
- Reading Comprehension: RCs are considered as relatively tough questions. Students should make a habit of reading on different subjects from news-papers and magazines. Magazines such as Readers Digest and India Today are usually the source for RC questions. Attempt RC sets from familiar topics first and then abstract and unfamiliar subjects if time permits.
A PRAQTICAL Look
As per the new paper pattern, students can only spend 60 minutes per section in CAT. Each section should be individually completed within 60 minutes. Hence, it is crucial to have a plan in place for tackling the quants section.
A non-math background should not hinder an aspiring MBA student to get into his dream college. The right approach is to leverage your strengths and acquire a basic level of comfort in areas of weakness.
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Image sources:
http://www.feminiya.com/8-tips-to-remove-maths-phobia/