Advice to Aspirants - CAT : Quantitative Aptitude | Additional Study Material for CAT PDF Download

One needs grit, determination, planning, and execution to clear the CAT exam. The tough part is to clear CAT 2021 with a very high percentile for IIM admissions. Every good B-Schools like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, etc. require a good CAT percentile and you can achieve that great Quant percentile with a planned preparation. 

Quantitative Aptitude: The quantitative aptitude of CAT consists of numerical questions to assess the candidate’s mathematical skill, accuracy and speed.

But before going any further, let’s understand:

(a) Why do we need to study Quant?
(b) The type of questions that come in CAT.

Why do we need to study Quant?

Problem Solving: Businesses have a lot to think about- profits, competitors, regulations, employees and so on. An entrepreneur or a management executive struggles with challenges every minute. You as a future MBA Grad person with quantitative aptitude will be better equipped to handle the problems.

Numbers: Numbers play a crucial role in businesses and commerce in general. Balance sheets, profit and loss calculations, investment analysis, all of these and other such functions require the individual to be comfortable with numbers as he/ she will have to deal with all kinds of numerical data on a day to day basis. Quantitative aptitude, therefore, forms an important pre-requisite for courses such as MBA.

Analysis: An integral part of possessing quantitative aptitude is analysis. Numbers amount to nothing if the proper and correct analysis does not accompany them. A person with a quantitative aptitude will be in a better position to analyse and make sense of the data given. 

Accuracy: Quantitative aptitude also ensures one’s accuracy. Given that numbers, percentages, graphs, formulas, analysis are at play, it is crucial for the executive to be highly accurate, as there is little scope for errors. 

Most competitive exams and other MBA entrance exams in particular, give a lot of weightage to quantitative aptitude, as the nature of their future jobs demand that they have a certain amount of numerical ability. 

Brief about topics covered for Preparation

The syllabus includes questions related to elementary and basic mathematics. Quant requires the candidates to be completely acquainted with the fundamental concepts to solve the questions.

The syllabus can be broadly divided into:

• Geometry and Mensuration
• Algebra
• Number System
• Arithmetic
• Combinatorics

For its preparation you need to do the following:

• Practice Vedic maths daily to have a good hold on calculations.

Vedic Maths EduRev Course link

• Complete basics from NCERT maths (class 6-10), and then Arun Sharma (Quant). Once you are clear about the basics, start doing advanced level questions.
• Make a note of topics you are weak in and practise its questions. (Add link for topic wise ques here)
• Go through the formula book that includes formulas and questions that are important for revision. (Add link here)
• Solve lots of questions daily.

Let's try one of the questions which have been asked in the CAT 2020 exam:

Type of Questions that Come in CAT:

• Quantitative Aptitude- 26 questions. 18 MCQs and 8 non-MCQs.
• In CAT 2020, the questions laid emphasis on learning from basics and being able to comprehend more than remembering lots of formulae and shortcuts.
• The questions asked are based on basics and test your understanding of the topic.
• In this section, there will be a mixture of easy, moderate, difficult level-wise questions. Speed is of significance while solving these questions.
• Questions may be based on multiple concepts, so after preparing for individual topics one must solve questions from mocks as well.
• The questions and options often contain vital clues that can help solve the question.

How EduRev helps you?

Edurev Videos
First, watch the EduRev videos recommended for your basic understanding.

We provide videos that explain basic concepts of every topic, tell you how to solve questions and also some trick and shortcut videos to help you solve questions quickly.

Vedic Maths- Helps you improve your speed in solving Quant questions

Topic Wise Solved CAT, XAT & Other Papers - In both Document & Video formats

Edurev Notes
Once you have seen the content of the videos, notes are the best way to continue your understanding of the topic with detailed examples & concepts and revising the topics.

At EduRev, you not only get notes & examples you get to attempt the questions as you continue to read. Our users loved and greatly benefitted by this, its the time you check this out too. They help you a lot don't miss learning through them!

Edurev Tests
We have made quick tests along with the detailed notes and video lectures to help you revise the topic just after you've studied it. These tests help you check your knowledge instantly and are a great self-improvement/instant feedback tool.

Formula Sheets

Its always to good to have the formulas compiled along with shortcut tricks to questions. You can access all these formula sheets & docs inside the chapters. We have made sure that you have the shortcut tricks & formulae compiled for every chapter

Other Features

• Analysis of what you have learnt
• Detailed solutions for each question
• Nationwide rankings
• Mock Tests
• Previous Year Papers

Some tips that will help you to score well in CAT 2021 Quant section:

• Learn multiplication tables from 1 to 40, squares from 1 to 40, cubes from 1 to 30, factorials till 10, and also percentage conversions.
• Solve previous year papers of CAT to get a help you understand the types of questions that appear in exam. You can also solve previous year papers as tests here (add link). 
• Attempt the mock tests on a regular basis to understand your level of preparation level (Add link to mock tests)
• CAT is a timed test – So make sure that you solve questions quickly. Here is a link for shortcut and trick videos (Add link to videos).

Which books to read?

Quantitative Aptitude: 

We have covered, every
(i) How to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT by Arun Sharma,
(ii) Sarvesh K. Verma- Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT Common Admission Tests,
(iii) Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT by Nishit K. Sinha

FAQs

Ques: What comprises CAT Quantitative Aptitude section?

Ans: CAT Quantitative Aptitude simply means the ability of an individual to solve numerical and mathematical calculations in a limited time. It assesses the capability of playing with numbers in a logical manner. This is very often required in most of the competitive exams.

Ques: How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT 2021?
Ans: Quantitative Aptitude demands a lot of practice and to save time for practising more, one should adopt all small and simple tactics to increase his practice and reduce his errors.”He should give frequent mock tests and strengthen the fundamental concept and basics by going through different study materials and different Quantitative Aptitude books.

Ques: What are the topics covered in the Quantitative Aptitude for CAT Syllabus?

Ans: Following are the most crucial topics to prepare for CAT Quantitative Aptitude Test.
Permutations and Combination

• Percentages
• Profit and loss
• Probability
• Time and work
• Simple and compound interest
• Time, speed and distance
• Number systems
• Ages
• Averages

Ques: What are the important CAT 2021 Quantitative Aptitude Tips to crack the exam?
Ans: CAT is not having any defined syllabus. So, candidates are required to prepare from various topics and more or less rely on previous year question sets of CAT. Thus, to solve this dilemma, they should follow the toppers trick and expert opinion. Simultaneously a candidate should try to appear in frequent mock tests available online.

Ques: Which are the best CAT experts Quantitative Aptitude Tips & Tricks to score high in Quant 2021?
Ans: Weightage of each topic must be checked by candidates in order to decide how much time they wish to devote to that particular topic. It is recommended that candidates should focus more on the basic topics number system and geometry as they hold the good amount of weightage in CAT entrance exam. Not only in CAT, but other top business institutes who also cover most of these topics from the QA section. When candidates are done with the basic concepts, they should pick up past year question papers and practice them.

Ques: Which are the best books for the CAT Quantitative Aptitude Section?
Ans: Previous years papers are the best to practice and check your preparation. Practice and practice because it will make you perfect. You can refer to some of the best books like NCERT, ARUN SHARMA, ABHIJEET GUHA ETC.

You can visit the official CAT website to know more about CAT.

Here are a few more  Questions from CAT 2020 to help you understand the type of questions asked during the exam:

Try Attempting these

#Practice Question

Ques 2: In a class, 60% of the students are girls and the rest are boys. There are 30 more girls than boys. If 68% of the students, including 30 boys, pass an examination, the percentage of the girls who do not pass is?
Ans: 20%
Explanation: Let total number of students in the class = x
Number of girls = 60% of x = 0.6x
Number of boys = x – 0.6x = 0.4x
Given, 0.6x – 0.4x = 30
So, x = 150
Therefore, number of students = 150
Number of boys = 0.4x = 0.4*150= 60
Number of girls = 150 – 60 =90
Number of students who do not pass the exams = 32% of x = 32x/100 = 32*1.5 = 48
Number of boys who failed= 60 -30 = 30
So, number of girls who failed = 48 – 30 = 18
Required percentage = 18/90 *100 = 20%

If you were able to solve these questions, that is really great you can start working on improving your speed through tests & shortcut methods. If you couldn't do these don't worry, follow the video lectures, notes & tests - We are sure you are going to crack the exam!