With 100 days left for the Exam, it is very important on how efficiently one strategises and utilises the time at hand as it is not too late to make it to the dream college. Here is a note on how to do the same by dividing the time available into 3 phases. Phase 1 – Concepts Strong foundation is very important for any given process. With 100 days with us, we recommend that you spend 60 days to learn up the concepts of the syllabus and practice them thoroughly. Set aside each day 3 hours each for Quantitative aptitude and 3 hours for Logical Reasoning for the first 30 days and repeat the same w ..read more

This section is always the make it or break it section for most of the students as there is sectional cut-offs in most Top B-schools and hence plays a crucial role in getting the dream college. It is rather time consuming and tricky section compared to the other two. It consists of 32 questions out of the total 100 questions. Out of this 16 are on Data Interpretation and the other 16 on Logical reasoning. Data Interpretation This section consists of 12 MCQs with negative Marking and 4 Non-MCQs without Negative Marking. This part requires data comparison and data analysis which when correctly d ..read more

Now the Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension section contains 34 questions like Quantitative Aptitude section but the way to tackle the question here is definitely different. Let us see the various topics under this section and the effective ways to approach them to get the best scores the smart way. Reading Comprehension This is the major part of VARC section. The lengths of the passages have considerable reduced and it is based out of different areas like business, economics, inferential, philosophical, literary, medical, current affairs, politics, history, mythology, etc. It is sugges ..read more

To effectively ace this section of CAT, let’s first understand in detail the structure and composition of Quantitative ability from the recent CAT paper and then lay out a plan to tackle it. Pattern Total number of questions = 34 Time allotted = 60 mins Number of MCQ = 23 Number of non-MCQ = 11 Marks for each correct answer = +3 Marks deducted for wrong answer = -1 Topics Arithmetic: with 40% of the total number of questions, this stands out to be the most important part of Quant. It comprises of questions from topics like percentages, averages, mixture and allegation, time and work, ratio and ..read more

To crack an exam like CAT, where 2 lakh plus students take up the exam and around 15 – 18k students make it to the top prestigious B-schools, it is important to have the right tools for your preparation. Prepleaf provides just that and gives you an added edge over others by providing customised tests that effectively helps you work on your areas of improvement. You can checkout the platform here: CAT Preparation – Prepleaf. Practice Series We’ve all heard the quote “Practice makes a man perfect” and strongly believe it as an important step to crack CAT and other competitive exams. So we’ve got ..read more

There is plethora of books and study material available in the market as well as on the internet for CAT, what is important is to choose the right set of books and leverage them in the right way to get the best benefits for acing the exam. So, let’s get to the list without further ado! Quantitative Aptitude 1. How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude by Arun Sharma This is a popular choice of the CAT aspirants, the reason being the ease of comprehension. Not only for CAT but it is also best bet for other MBA entrance exams like IIFT, XAT, NMAT, SNAP, MAT etc. The book focuses on basic concepts ..read more

Okay soldiers, fret not. As the right mind-set and strategised preparations can still help you crack CAT and land you in your dream college. Here we have put together some of the tested ways to ace CAT with 1 month’s preparation. 1. Focus on the important topics only With the little amount of time at hand it’s really important to focus only on the topics that would help you fetch maximum marks. One should refer to the previous years’ papers and pick the topics with more weightage. This will work out as the concepts in CAT are all of which have been studied in school and could be brushed upon w ..read more

Though the trend of the all popular exams is to have the students attending coaching classes, with right resources and proper guidance one can easily skip the coaching class phase and prepare from home. The following are some of the tips and tricks that would help you get the desired score and B-school. 1. In-depth game knowledge Having thorough knowledge about the exam is must to ace it. One should understand the pattern and syllabus in detail. After knowing this you should diligently prepare an execution plan by properly analysing your current place when it comes to the various topics of the ..read more

Algebra is one of the most important topics when it comes to the Quant portion of the CAT syllabus. The majority of the questions in this section, are either form algebra or from geometry. Keeping in mind the vast syllabus of number system in CAT, we will cover only the concepts and tricks which are less known yet important. 1. Maxima of Quadratic Rational Function The functions of kind (ax2 + bx + c) / (mx2 + nx +q) are called quadratic rational functions. To find maximum (or minimum) value of such functions, we equate it with y, i.e. (ax2 + bx + c) / (mx2 + nx +q) = y. ax2 + bx + c = ymx2 ..read more

Number System is known for intriguing conceptual problems that test the best brains. It requires combination of pure mathematical knowledge and logic skills. Keeping in mind the vast syllabus of number system in CAT, we will cover only the concepts and tricks which are less known yet important. 1. Zeroes in n! Greatest power of prime number, p, which divides n! is [n!/p] + [n!/p2] + [n!/p3] + . . . , where [ . ] is greatest integer function. Note that this is only valid when p is prime number. For example, greatest power of 7 that divides 120! is [120/7] + [120/49] + [120/343] = 17 + 2 = 19. N ..read more