Books are always the best source to clear the fundamentals and prepare for any exams. Preparing for highly competitive MBA Entrance exam like CAT, proper books should be there as they enhance the knowledge of the subject and provide insights about the topics. You Can find lots of books in the market but to choose the best books to prepare CAT 2018 and other MBA entrance exam, is the key to success.
Common Admission Test (CAT) is the most popular and important exam for MBA aspirants. Students seeking admissions in 20 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other top MBA colleges in India prefer CAT EXAMINATION. Every year the number of students increase to a great extent, every year about 2 lakh students or even more students appear in the CAT EXAMINATION. This year IIM CALCUTTA is conducting the CAT 2018 EXAMINATION which will be held on 25 November 2018.
The CAT EXAMINATION will be divided into sections such as Quantitative Ability (QA) questions, Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) questions and Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning questions (DILR). These sections have different weightage in CAT EXAMINATION question paper, which slightly changes every year although most of the exam pattern remains the same.
This article discusses the weightage, pattern of the question paper in a section-wise format and also suggest some good reference books which are usually recommended by toppers and experts in CAT PREPARATION.
READ Too: CAT 2018 Registration Begins; Check CAT Schedule, Registration Process, Reservation
1. QUANTITATIVE ABILITY (QA)
This section consists of around 102 marks that would approximately means 34 questions. This section covers topics like Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Number System, Profit & Loss, Time-Speed-Distance, Ratios and Proportion etc. This section can ask easy formula-based questions or the tricky application based.
The recommended books for the same are :
| Books | Author | Publisher |
| How to Prepare For Quantitative Aptitude for CAT | Arun Sharma | Mc Graw Hill Education |
| Quantitative Aptitude | R.S. Aggarwal | S Chand |
| Quantitative Aptitude for CAT | Nishit Sinha | Pearson |
| : Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT | Sarvesh K Verma | Arihant |
For brushing the basic concepts, NCERT of 10th is recommended. Otherwise, the book by Arun Sharma is called bible for quantitative aptitude, this book also contains the past test papers of IIFT, SNAP, XAT etc MBA Entrance Exams.
The quantitative aptitude for CAT By Nishit Sinha has a huge number of questions with varying difficulty levels from easy to advanced level. With easy approach and short techniques and fast tips, Quantum by Sarvesh K Verma is popular among CAT aspirants.
READ ALSO: How To Prepare CAT 2018, MBA Entrance Exam Without Coaching?
2. VERBAL ABILITY AND READING COMPREHENSION (VARC)
VARC constitutes 34 questions out of the total of 100 questions which is nearly 102 marks. This section is based on the candidate’s knowledge about the English language, the grammar and vocabulary specifically. The reading comprehension part has about 24 questions and the rest 10 belong to verbal ability part.
The major topic covered in this section are Fill in the blanks, Verbal Reasoning, Sentence completion, Grammar, Syllogisms, Jumbled paragraphs, Para Completion and inference, Contextual usage. The best-recommended books for the VERBAL ABILITY AND READING COMPREHENSION are
| Books | Author | Publisher |
| How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT | Arun Sharma
Meenakshi Upadhyay |
Mc Graw Hill Education |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT’ | Nishit Sinha | Pearson |
| Word Power Made Easy | Norman Lewis | Penguin (ed. 2018) |
Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension by Arun Sharma is the most recommended book, because of the division of the book in 4 parts Reading Comprehension, Verbal Ability, Verbal Reasoning and CAT Papers (Real and Sample). Based on the tips on previous papers you will find this book easy. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT’ by Nishit Sinha who himself is the CAT topper is considered one of the best books because of the CAT online tests CDs attached, 2000 solved questions, last 7-year question papers and many more.
The book by Norman Levis focuses on methods to improve vocabulary, pronunciations and reading speed. Recommended by CAT toppers, this book is famous among CAT aspirants but this book is way more for CAT EXAMINATION, the former two will be good.
READ ALSO: Application Process Started For NMAT By GMAC 2018, Register Before October 03, 2018
3. DATA INTERPRETATION AND LOGICAL REASONING (DILR)
Data interpretation consists of around 32 questions, this section basically checks the candidate’s interpretation ability from the given data. This section contains questions related to Tables & its variants, Bar Chart, Line Graphs, Pie Charts, Venn Diagram, Miscellaneous data types – Spider, Triangle, Scatter Diagram. The best books for the DILR are –
| Books | Author | Publisher |
| Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for CAT | Nishit Sinha | Pearson |
| How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for the CAT | Arun Sharma
Meenakshi Upadhyay |
Mc Graw Hill Education |
| Quantum CAT Common Admission Tests For Admission into IIMs by | Sarvesh K Verma |
Data interpretation and logical reasoning by Nishit Sinha is considered best among all, relatively cheap, covered all the basic concepts required, excluded all the unnecessary tricky concepts or questions. This book will be the best pick for CAT aspirants. The next book How to Prepare for Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning for CAT (Tata McGraw-Hill) by Arun Sharma also covers the fundamentals of different topics but it requires extra study from forums as well. The Quantum is the best for solving the tremendous amount of variety of questions.
LOGICAL REASONING
DATA INTERPRETATION is more about calculations whereas LOGICAL REASONING is about logic. This section tests the mental strength and presence of mind of the candidate. LOGICAL REASONING requires more problem-solving abilities, which can be obtained by practising the maximum number of question in a minimum amount of time. This section is to conceptualizing or brainstorming.
Out of 32 DILR questions, 16 are logical reasoning ones, and even in which 12 will be MCQs and rest 4 the non-MCQ type. The major topics of this section are Blood Relations, Series, Proposition, Direction Sense, Coding-Decoding, Assumptions, Puzzles, Clocks and Calenders, Statements, Data Arrangement, Family Tree, Venn Diagram etc.
| Books | Author | Publisher |
| Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for CAT | Nishit Sinha | Pearson |
| Logical Reasoning for the CAT | Arun Sharma | Mc Graw Hill Education |
| Trishna’s Verbal Ability And Logical Reasoning For The CAT And Other MBA Examinations | T.I.M.E. Publisher | Pearson |
Again, the best authors here are Nishit Sinha (Pearson Publications) and Arun Sharma (Mc Graw Hill Education) both giving the basic and easy approach with clarity in various topics. Both books are recommended by CAT toppers or experts. Trishna’s logical reasoning ‘s plus point is its number of questions, with an increasing difficulty level. Fir logical reasoning one needs to broaden their mind, no matter which book they are referring, it needs to be done 2-3 times for speed.
READ MORE: XAT 2019 Preparation Tips, Study Plan And Strategy
These are some of the books which are frequently suggested by experts and toppers as best books to prepare CAT 2018. Most of these belong to the same publishers, who are famous for their reference books. If you are preparing for CAT then you can refer online test series, youtube tutorials, coaching centres material (if enrolled in any) along with these books. There are mock tests and question banks available too.
All the best CAT Aspirants!
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