All You Need to Know

CAT 2013- ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
Are you a CAT 2013 aspirant and don’t know the first thing about the exam and probably confused where to
start with? If yes, here’s everything that has been compiled by Mytestbuddy from various reliable sources
that you need to know before you can sit for the exam and we are sure it will help those of you who are yet
confused with where to start!
Brief Intro about CAT:
Common Admission Test (CAT) is an all India management test conducted jointly by the Indian Institutes of
Management (IIMs) as an entrance exam for the management programs of its seven business schools (IIMA,
IIMB, IIMC, IIML, IIMK and many other management institutes).
CAT Exam 2013 Eligibility Criteria:
Candidates who have passed or are in the Final Year of Graduation (any graduate) are eligible to appear for
CAT Exam.
Candidate must hold a Bachelor’s Degree, with at least 50% marks or equivalent CGPA [45% in case of the
candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Differently Abled (DA)categories],
awarded by any of the Universities incorporated by an act of the central or state legislature in India or other
educational institutions established by an act of Parliament or declared to be deemed as a University under
Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, or possess an equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD,
Government of India. The percentage of marks obtained by the candidate in the bachelor’s degree would be
calculated based on the practice followed by the university/institution from where the candidate has obtained
the degree.
Selection Process for CAT Exam 2013:
There will be 2 rounds for CAT exam
1) Written test:
Written test would be multiple type question paper which consists of Reasoning, Data Interpretation,
Quant, English.
2) Interview test:
After written examination if the candidate is short listed for interview, and he/she is appearing for the
final bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification examination must show an original certificate from
the Principal/Head of the Department/Registrar/ Director of the university/institution certifying that
the candidate has obtained 50% marks or equivalent (45% in case of the candidates belonging to SC,
ST, and DA category) based on latest available grades/marks. He/she must submit a photocopy of the
original certificate at the time of interview.

CAT Exam 2013 Paper Pattern:
The duration of the exam will be for 2 hours and 30 minutes including initial 15 minute tutorial.
No breaks will be given during the test. The test consists of questions that evaluate a candidate’s quantitative,
verbal, and logical & data interpretation abilities. Therefore, there are a total of three sections in the test.
There will be about 60 questions in the test.
How to take the CAT Exam
In CAT exam, candidate will be provided with a computer and he/she will be provided a rough paper for
calculations. After the test, candidate must leave the rough paper at the desk. Rough work cannot be done on
any other paper/sheet, as nothing will be allowed inside the testing room.
CAT 2013 Syllabus:
Quantitative Ability
* Geometry, (Lines, angles, Triangles, Spheres, Rectangles, Cube, Cone etc)
* Ratios and Proportion, Ratios, Percentages, In-equations
* Quadratic and linear equations
* Algebra
* Profit & Loss
* Averages, Percentages, Partnership
* Time-Speed-Distance, Work and time
* Number system: HCF, LCM, Geometric Progression, Arithmetic progression, Arithmetic mean, Geometric
mean , Harmonic mean, Median, Mode, Number Base System, BODMAS
* Mensuration, Allegation & Mixtures, Work, Pipes and Cisterns
* Simple Interest & Compound Interest
* Set Theory, Venn Diagram
* Installment Payments, Partnership, Clocks
* Probability, Permutations & Combinations
Data Interpretation (DI) & Logical Reasoning
* Puzzles, Syllogisms, Functions, Family tree – identifying relationship among group of people, Symbol Based
problems, Coding and decoding , Sequencing , identifying next number in series, etc.

* Data Interpretation based on text, Data Interpretation based on graphs and tables. visit tutorial

* Graphs can be Column graphs, Bar Graphs, Line charts, Pie Chart, Graphs representing Area, Venn Diagram,
etc.

* Critical reasoning, Visual reasoning, Assumption-Premise-Conclusion, Assertion and reasons, Statements and
assumptions, identifying valid inferences , identifying Strong arguments and Weak arguments, Statements and
conclusions, Cause and Effect, Identifying Probably true, Probably false, definitely true, definitely false kind of
statement, Linear arrangements, Matrix arrangements.
English:
Comprehension of passage, Verbal Reasoning, Syllogisms , Contextual usage, Analogies, Antonyms, Fill In the
Blanks, Jumbled paragraphs with 4 or 5 sentences, Foreign language words used in English, Sentence
completion, Sentence correction, odd man out, idioms, one word substitution, Different usage of same word,
Errors in word choice, mania & phobia, Incorrect words, Mood, Conditionals & Multiple Usage , Punctuation,
Proverb, Phrasal verb etc.

CAT 2013 Syllabus for GK/GA/BA
* Science, History, Geography, International organizations
* Important quotations
* Social issues, Sports, Finance, Automobiles, Entertainment, Politics etc.
* Current Affairs, Business, Punch line of companies, Top officials of big companies, Major corporate events
* Famous award and prizes
* World Records
* Books and authors



CAT Exam Quant Syllabus
Earlier, i.e. post the online CAT, Quant used to be Number System centric. So much so that students used to say – “just do Number System and you will
clear the cut offs” and indeed this was true more often than not before CAT 2012. However, the online format of CAT has seen a general trend towards a
more balanced paper with some new inclusions as well. Here is the complete list of Quant Syllabus
 Number System
 Progressions
 Percentages
 Profit and Loss
 CI and SI
 Ratio and Proportion
 Time and Work
 Time Speed and Distance
 Geometry
 Mensuration
 Probability
 Permutations and Combinations
 Set Theory
 2-Dimensional Co-ordinate Geometry (A new comer that made it‟s impact hugely in CAT 2010)
 General Aptitude
Note that Algebra, Set Theory are two of the most tested areas now with respect to Quant syllabus for CAT exam. Topics such as percentages may not be
tested directly but form the basis of other chapters and tricks and basic understanding of such chapters goes a long way in helping crack the CAT Exam.
DI/LR CAT 2012 Syllabus
It‟s very hard to put reasoning under a CAT Exam Syllabus title but here we have borrowed the list from TIME institute, which has the best reasoning material
in our opinion. No selling folks, just good facts.
 Graphs, Pie Charts and Tabular Data given and you have to answer the questions that follow based on the data.
 Family Puzzles
 Data Sufficiency
 Circular sitting arrangement
 Sitting Arrangement
 Averages
 Quant Based Logic
 Distribution
 Ordering and Sequencing
 Selections
 Routes and Networks
 Binary Logic
 Cubes
 Venn Diagrams
 Other Areas
VA CAT 2012 Syllabus
 Reading Comprehension
 Para Jumbles
 Para Completion
 Vocabulary Based
 Grammar Based Questions
 Homophones
 Fact Opinion Inference based
 Find Assumptions
Trends over the past year
It has been observed that the general inclination these days is towards Algebra rather than Number system and also set theory questions have become
pretty common since the online Avatar of CAT exam. So be sure to cover these two sections in much detail so that you can maximize your chances on the
final day.
Very Important – Please Read This
First things first…we are not astrologers and there could be questions outside this list.
The point we want to make is – “Do not expect anything for CAT exam.” It‟s true that CAT has lost it‟s surprise factor by going online but it is very important
that you prepare for all sections equally well at this stage especially because of even weight-age being given to all the sections in the paper. Use the above
list just to know about the topics. Further, these topics are very vast in themselves, well, most of them are and you need to know the past trends of CAT that
show up in the exam, so prepare accordingly.
As we have stated previously, we advise you to buy and learn by heart – „Arun Sharma Quant...‟ Guys, is you don‟t have this, we feel sorry for you. This book
is die hard essential and too good not to be kept in your Quant preparation arsenal.
Also, please ensure that you buy the latest version, as the guy (an IIM-B alumunus) updates his almost every year by inculcating the changing aspect for
CAT