Important topics for CAT 2021: For the CAT exam, it is extremely important for the students to be thorough with the preparation. One of the most distinctive features of this exam is that there is no predefined CAT syllabus and the syllabus topics mentioned here are based on the analysis of previous year CAT papers.
In the CAT exam, there are three sections which are quantitative aptitude, verbal ability & reading comprehension, and logical reasoning & data interpretation. In all these sections, there are several topics which are included in the syllabus. Among the different topics, there are a few crucial topics which are repeated every year and will have good weightages in CAT 2021 also.
These CAT 2021 important topics are based on the latest CAT exam pattern and questions from these topics have high chances of being included in the CAT 2021 exam. Here, some of the most important topics for CAT exam from QA, VARC, and LRDI sections are listed.
Important Topics For CAT 2021 Exam
CAT 2021 will be conducted by one of the IIM in the last week of November 2021. To ace CAT 2021, aspirants are required to be thorough with certain important topics from each section. Below, some of the crucial CAT topics from each of the sections are given.
Important Topics for CAT Quantitative Aptitude
Quantitative aptitude is probably one of the most crucial sections in the CAT exam. The CAT 2021 paper is expected to include 34 questions from the quantitative section which will include both MCQs and TITAs. Some of the most important topics in this section include:
| Topic Name | Expected No. of Questions | Difficulty Level |
| Number System, Basic Arithmetic | 5-10 Questions | Moderate |
| Geometry & Mensuration | 7-8 Questions | Moderately Difficult |
| Algebra | 6-7 Questions | Moderate |
| Permutation & Combination | 1-2 Questions | Easy |
| Probability | 1-2 Questions | Moderate |
| Time, Speed, and Distance | 1-2 Questions | Moderately Difficult |
| Trigonometry, Logarithms, and Sets | 1-3 Questions | Easy |
| Profit, loss, and Discounts | 1-2 Questions | Moderately Easy |
| Interests (SI, CI) | 1-2 Questions | Moderately Difficult |
| Time and Work | 1-2 Questions | Difficult |
In this table, almost all the topics that can be included in the exam are given. Candidates are suggested to check the weightages of these and prepare accordingly. It is advised to focus more on the Number system and geometry topics as they hold the maximum weightages.
Attempt for Above 95 Percentile: 25+
Important Topics for CAT Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
In CAT VARC section also, 34 questions are included of which, 17 are from reading comprehension passages. There are different question types in CAT RC passages while a few types in the verbal part. Some of the important topics in the VARC section is:
| Topic Name | Expected No. of Questions | Difficulty Level |
| Reading Comprehension Passages | 24 Questions | Moderately Difficult |
| Para-Jumbles | 2-4 Questions | Moderate |
| Para-Summary | 2-3 Questions | Moderate |
| Sentence Completion and Correction | 2-3 Questions | Moderately Easy |
| Odd Sentences | 1-2 Questions | Moderate |
| Fill in the Blanks | 1-2 Questions | Easy |
| Word Usage (Vocabulary) | 1-2 Questions | Easy |
In this section, the reading comprehension passages should be given utmost attention as most questions are from the passages. The passages can be from any subject like science & technology, history, psychology, etc. and the questions are one of the most time-consuming yet scoring questions in the entire CAT section.
Attempt for Above 95 Percentile: 26+
Important Topics for CAT Logical Reasoning & Data Interpretation
This section consists of a total of equally divided 32 questions. The questions in this section are easily solvable but time-consuming. The important question types from these sections are based on the following topics:
| Topic Name | Expected No. of Questions | Difficulty Level |
| Seating Arrangement, and Data Arrangement | 5-6 Questions | Moderately Difficult |
| Blood Relations | 2-3 Questions | Moderate |
| Syllogisms and Venn Diagrams | 2-3 Questions | Easy |
| Assumption and Binary Logic | 1-2 Questions | Easy |
| Clocks & Calendars | 1-2 Questions | Moderately Easy |
| Puzzles | 1-2 Questions | Moderate |
| Data Sufficiency | 3-5 Questions | Moderate |
| Graphs Related | 5-8 Questions | Moderate |
| Tables and Caselets | 3-5 Questions | Moderately Difficult |
The difficulty of this section depends upon the conducting IIM. In CAT 2017 exam, this section was very difficult and so, an attempt more than 15 was also considered decent. This year, this section is expected to be easier.
Attempt for Above 95 Percentile: 20+
Note: It should be noted that the “Attempt for Above 95 Percentile” is based on the analysis of CAT 2017 question paper. The numbers might change according to the difficulty of the individual sections this year which will be updated accordingly.
Also Read:
| CAT Quantitative Aptitude | CAT Verbal Ability |
| CAT Reading Comprehension | CAT Logical Reasoning |
| CAT Data Interpretation | CAT Sample Papers |
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