CAT, in general, has two kinds of students taking it. Those weak in Quant and those weak in Verbal. But the third section, Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning, is generally looked at as a bugbear by both the categories of students. That is not because of the inherent difficulty of the questions given in the section, but more because of the novelty and surprise factor that these questions generally tend to bring in.
That said, this section can be cracked with the right kind of preparation and effort. Let us look at how this can be done in this third and final part of the series on CAT preparation articles.
One key aspect to be kept in mind is that all the questions in this section are set-based. That would mean that it is very likely that if the set is properly understood and the information processed the way it is to be done, one could attempt, correctly, all the questions in the set. Even if students are not able to get a complete handle of the information, often they would be able to answer one or two questions with the information that they can process. This would mean that even for tough sets, there could be some hope for the student to salvage something with a proper approach. To be able to do this, students should ensure that they go through all the questions of the so-called ‘difficult-looking’ set and move on only after that ensuring that whatever questions can be solved quickly with not much time and effort are solved.
The questions in Logic in the recent CATs can be broadly said to come from areas like Puzzles, Venn Diagrams, Cubes, Quant-based Reasoning. Questions on other popular areas like Deductions and logical Connectives, Coding-Decoding etc. are seen not in the CAT but in ‘Other management Entrance Exams’ like SNAP/CMAT/MAT etc.
Working out problems from the Study Material Booklets is the best way to prepare for the different varieties of Questions that appear in CAT. Puzzle books like those by Shakuntala Devi, George Summers etc. provide exposure to high-level logic puzzles and the approaches to tackle them.
It is essential to practice as many sets as one can so that the approaches for different kinds of sets are well entrenched in one’s mind.
The skills required to crack questions in DI are
1. Ability to analysis and understand difficult/complicated data
This is a skill which one can acquire through regular practice. The practice needs to involve questions of various difficulty levels and types. One approach would be to start solving all the DI sets from your study material. Once this is done, it is time to move online using 'Online Practice Tests'.
2. Ability to do calculations quickly
Speed of calculations is what the students should focus on, along with practicing different sets. Acquiring this skill is often easier said than done as it is difficult to get over the old habits of scribbling numbers on paper even for simple additions.
As in the case of LR, practice is the key for DI to ensure that one is well-versed with problem-solving approaches so that a new and different kind of a set can also be cracked with the prior exposure that one gained through practicing various kinds of sets.
All the best!
About The Author
Mr Ramnath Kanakadandi, Sr. Course Director at T.I.M.E. is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is currently serving as a Senior Course Director at T.I.M.E. With over two decades of experience, he has held senior management roles across various industries, specializing in test prep, business process reengineering, and outsourcing. In addition to his professional pursuits, Mr Kanakadandi is a dedicated enthusiast of cricket and tennis. In his leisure time, he plays cricket, feeding his passion for the sport."
