CMAT 2025 Do-or-Die Topics - Know Section-Wise Important Topics

CMAT 2025 Do-or-Die Topics - The Common Management Entrance Test will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on the 25th of January 2025. With the days numbered for the test and the candidates in the final laps of their CMAT 2025 preparation, Careers360 has designed an invaluable article for elevating their CMAT 2025 preparation. We have compiled a set of CMAT Do or Die topics on which the candidates should put their maximum effort during this last phase. These CMAT do-or-die topics are shortlisted after thoroughly analysing the CMAT question papers from the previous year and the CMAT examination trends. The candidates are strongly recommended to prioritise these CAT do-or-die topics to stand a chance to enhance their CMAT scores in the time available for them.

New: CMAT MCQs Guide: Section-wise Practice Questions

Latest: CMAT Free Mock Test Series | CMAT PYQ with Answers

CMAT 2025: 10 Free Mock Tests with Solution | All Sections 1000+ Questions

This Story also Contains

1. CMAT 2025 Highlights
2. CMAT 2024 Topic Wise Weightage
3. CMAT Do or Die Topics: Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation
4. CMAT Do or Die Topics: Logical Reasoning
5. CMAT Do or Die Topics: Language Comprehension
6. CMAT Do or Die Topics: General Awareness
7. CMAT Do or Die Topics: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
8. CMAT Preparation Resources by Careers360
9. CMAT Previous Year’s Question Papers

CMAT 2025 Highlights

• For each right answer, the candidates will be awarded 4 marks. There will be 100 questions in total in the CMAT 2025 question paper. The maximum mark is 400.

• The CMAT 2025 question paper will have 5 sections, Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, General Awareness, Language Comprehension and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. There will be 20 questions asked from each section.

• The CMAT 2025 question paper will not have any sectional time limits. This will enable the candidates to move freely across the sections and attempt the sections according to their convenience.

• The CMAT 2025 exam is expected to follow a similar pattern to the CMAT 2024 exam.

CMAT 2024 Topic Wise Weightage

The topic-wise weightage of the CMAT 2024 examination is given below. It is calculated after mapping each question of the official CMAT 2024 question paper with its corresponding topic of each section. This analysis will provide the candidates with a better understanding of what topics to focus on during this last phase of the CMAT 2025 preparation. These topics must be considered as the CMAT do-or-die topics because the CMAT 2025 exam is expected to follow the similar CMAT exam trends of the CMAT 202 exam.

Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation

Logical Reasoning

General Awareness

Language Comprehension

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

CMAT Do or Die Topics: Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation

The candidates can observe from the above table that the most important CMAT topics under the Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation include topics such as:

1. Number Systems

2. Percentage

3. Compound Interests and Simple Interests

4. Profit and Loss

Number Systems

The concept of number systems is vast and can include questions from subtopics such as squares and square roots, cubes and cube roots, fractions, decimals, unit digits, simplification and divisibility and so on. This is one of the broadest topics of the CMAT 2025 syllabus and requires extensive CMAT preparation making it a do-or-die CMAT topic. A minimum of 3-4 questions can be expected from this section alone in the CMAT 2025 examination.

Types of Questions

• Divisibility Rules

• Factors and Multiples

• Prime Numbers

• Remainder Theorem

• Unit Digits and Cyclicity

• Number Properties

• Base Systems

• HCF and LCM

• Modular Arithmetic

• Perfect Squares and Cubes

• Number of Factors

• Digital Sum and Root

• Arithmetic Progressions in Numbers

Percentage

In almost all the management entrance examinations, the topic percentage plays a very important role. This is mainly because topics such as percentages and ratios can be applied to other quantitative aptitude topics such as data interpretation, time, speed and distance and so on. While the concept of the percentage is easy, their applications may be tricky. Hence, the candidates must practice a lot of percentage-based questions to enhance their CMAT Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation preparation.

Types of Questions

• Percentage Increase and Decrease

• Profit, Loss, and Discount Calculations

• Successive Percentage Changes

• Percentage Comparison between Two Quantities

• Finding the Percentage of a Quantity

• Reverse Percentages (Finding the Original Value)

• Percentage Change in Ratios

• Population or Growth Problems

• Mixtures and Alligation (Percentage Concentration)

• Simple and Compound Interest (Percentage Applications)

• Questions on Average Percentages

• Percentage Distribution in Data Sets

• Work and Time Percentage Problems

Compound Interests and Simple Interests

Usually, the candidates can expect questions from both compound interest and simple interest in the management entrance examinations. While most of the questions only require direct equation substitution to find the answers, the questions from the Compound Interests and Simple Interests section can be calculation-intensive and at times, time-consuming. To overcome this challenge, the candidates should practice a lot of different questions from this section to improve their efficiency and accuracy which in return helps them to perform better.

Types of Questions

• Calculation of Simple Interest (SI)

• Calculation of Compound Interest (CI)

• Difference between SI and CI

• Finding Principal Amount

• Finding Rate of Interest

• Finding Time Period

• Questions on Half-Yearly and Quarterly Compounding

• Effective Rate of Interest in CI

• Growth of Amount over Multiple Years

• Depreciation-Based CI Questions

• Population Growth using CI Formula

• Conversion of SI to CI and Vice Versa

• Real-Life Application Problems Involving Loans and Investments

Profit and Loss

The profit and loss topic is also one of the favourites of the examiners. This means that the candidates should consider the Profit and Loss section to be another important CMAT do-or-die topic. One of the major challenges faced by the candidates in this section is that the Profit and Loss section involves the usage of different formulas for a single question and often at times, can be confusing.

Types of Questions

• Calculation of Profit and Loss Amount

• Profit and Loss Percentage

• Cost Price (CP) and Selling Price (SP) Calculations

• Marked Price and Discounts

• Successive Discounts or Gains

• False Weights and Deceptive Practices

• Relationship between CP, SP, and Profit/Loss

• Finding Overall Profit/Loss in Transactions

• Partnership-Based Profit Sharing

• Questions Involving Multiple Items and Transactions

• Break-Even Point Calculations

• Selling at Two Prices and Averaging Gains/Losses

• Comparison of Profits/Losses at Different Scenarios

CMAT Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation Preparation Tips

Given below are some of the CMAT preparation tips for tackling the questions from the various Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation topics.

• The candidates should ensure that they understand the concepts very well. For solving the numerical questions, conceptual clarity is more important than mugging up.

• Byhearting all the formulas can be extremely beneficial.

• The candidates should also focus on solving a wide range of questions from all the topics such as number systems, profit and loss and so on. They must start with easy-level questions and gradually move towards medium and then complex questions.

• The candidates should ensure that they engage themselves in CMAT mock tests and CMAT sample paper practice.

• After each CMAT mock test or sample paper, the candidates should analyse their mistakes and work on improving them.

• Various shortcut methods are available throughout the internet for quickly solving numerical ability questions. The candidates can make a note of it.

• The candidates are also strongly encouraged to regularly solve the CMAT previous year’s papers to gain a greater understanding of the CMAT exam pattern, exam trends and the most important CMAT topics to focus on.

CMAT Do or Die Topics: Logical Reasoning

Considering the CMAT exam trends and the analysis of the CMAT previous year’s question papers, we can shortlist a few topics which can be considered as CMAT do-or-die topics under the logical reasoning section. The topics are:

1. Critical Reasoning

2. Analogy and Odd One-Out

3. Coding and Decoding

Critical Reasoning

The critical reasoning section is one of the most important CMAT do-or-die topics in the logical reasoning section. This section involves questions from statements and reasoning, statements and assumptions statements and conclusions etc. A minimum of 2 questions are sureshot from this section and the number can rise even more.

Types of Questions

• Statement and Conclusion

• Statement and Assumption

• Statement and Course of Action

• Statement and Argument

• Statement and Inference

• Strengthen the Argument

• Weaken the Argument

• Draw the Most Logical Conclusion

• Statement and Effect

Analogy and Odd One-Out

In any management entrance examination, a question from either analogy Odd One-Out or both is a must. This is a very easy section and the candidates are expected to answer the questions asked in this section. For analogy-based questions the candidtes must draw a relationship between the given factors or objects and for odd-one-out type questions, they must find the item which does not belong with the others.

Types of Questions

• Word Analogy – Identifying the relationship between pairs of words.

• Phrase Analogy – Finding the relationship between phrases or groups of words.

• Number Analogy – Understanding relationships between numbers.

• Odd One Out (Words) – Choosing the word that doesn’t fit with the others based on meaning or context.

• Odd One Out (Numbers) – Identifying the number that doesn’t follow the pattern.

• Odd One Out (Alphabets) – Picking the letter that doesn’t match the others.

• Odd One Out (Shapes) – Finding the shape that doesn’t belong.

• Odd One Out (Series) – Identifying the element that doesn’t fit in a sequence.

• Analogy-Based Statements – Matching relationships are given in a statement to options.

Coding and Decoding

The coding and decoding questions are fairly common in the logical reasoning section of the management entrance examinations. This topic is also placed under the easy category and can be helpful for the candidates to enhance their scores. Normally out of 20 questions logical reasoning questions in the CMAT examination, the candidates can expect around 2-3 questions from the coding and decoding section making it an important CMAT do-or-die topic.

Types of Questions

• Direct Coding – Simple substitution of letters or numbers.

• Reverse Coding – Decoding using reverse patterns.

• Pattern Coding – Finding relationships in coding patterns.

• Mixed Coding – Combining different types of codes.

• Alphabet Coding – Assigning codes to letters.

• Number Coding – Assigning codes to numbers.

• Word to Number Coding – Converting words into numbers.

• Number to Word Coding – Converting numbers into words.

• Direction-Based Coding – Codes based on directions.

• Letter Group Coding – Coding using groups of letters.

• Symbol Coding – Using symbols to represent letters or numbers.

• Decoded Pattern Matching – Finding patterns from decoded sequences.

• Analytical Coding – Solving complex coding-decoding problems by analyzing relationships.

CMAT Logical Reasoning Tips

While the logical reasoning section is one of the easiest scoring sections in the CMAT examination, the candidates should still be aware of the various CMAT preparation tips for the logical reasoning section. Following these tips during the candidate’s preparation journey is essential for ensuring maximum marks in the logical reasoning section of the CMAT 2025 examination.

• Practice solving logical patterns and sequences regularly.

• Diagrammatic questions are also an important part of the CMAT logical reasoning section. The candidates should practice topics such as Venn Diagrams in detail to understand these topics.

• Develop quick reasoning skills by practising daily.

• Focus on accuracy to minimize errors in reasoning questions.

• Manage time effectively to solve complex problems within the allotted time.

• Using elimination techniques can also be very helpful.

• For questions such as seating arrangements, the candidates are strongly advised to draw the diagrammatic representations (lines for linear arrangements and circles for circular arrangements) to quickly find the accurate positions. This is because mind mapping may not be highly effective in such questions and may lead to confusion and wrong answers.

• The candidates are also strongly advised to practice logical puzzles such as sudoku to improve their critical thinking skills.

CMAT Do or Die Topics: Language Comprehension

The language comprehension section is also another potential top-scoring section of the CMAT examination. The candidates are tested based on their language skills in this section. While this section can be considered easy to moderate level difficulty, the candidates with lesser language skills may face challenges in this section. According to the exam trend analysis, given below are the important topics of this section.

• Reading Comprehension

• Vocabulary

• Para jumbles

Reading Comprehension

RCs are very common in almost all the question papers of various entrance examinations. CMAT is also no exception in this regard. At least 5 questions are expected to be asked from this section giving it a weightage of 25%. This means that the candidates can confirm their 20 marks if they accurately answer all the questions asked in the RC topic of the Logical Reasoning section.

Types of Questions

• Main Idea Questions

• Specific Detail Questions

• Inference Questions

• Tone and Attitude Questions

• Vocabulary in Context

• Structure and Organization Questions

• Critical Reasoning in RC

• Fact vs. Opinion Questions

• Title or Heading Selection

• Purpose of the Author

• Comparative Questions

• Logical Continuation

• Cause and Effect Questions

• Sentence Completion

• Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is another essential topic that the candidates should not forgo during their CMAT 2025 preparation journey. The vocabulary section can include various types of questions in which the synonyms and antonyms are sureshot for the CMAT examination. It is necessary that the candidates prepare well in this section because a minimum of 2-3 questions are always asked from the vocabulary topic.

Types of Questions

• Synonyms

• Antonyms

• Word Meanings

• Fill in the Blanks

• Cloze Tests

• Analogies

• One-Word Substitution

• Idioms and Phrases

• Homonyms and Homophones

• Spellings and Common Errors

• Word Usage in Context

• Root Words and Etymology

• Confusing Words

Para jumbles

As far as the para jumbles section is considered, the candidates are asked 2-3 questions from this section. A group of sentences will be given in shuffled order and the candidates should find the right order of sequencing.

CMAT Language Comprehension Tips

The candidates can follow the given below tips and tricks to enhance their CMAT 2025 preparation for the language skill section.

• Vocabulary can only be enriched through rigorous reading. The candidate should ensure that they read various articles, essays and newspapers dily and note the meanings of the new words whenever they find a new word.

• The candidates should understand and practice various grammar and sentence structure rules.

• Practice is inevitable for success in the language comprehension section of the CMAT examination. The candidates should ensure that they practice a lot of questions related to the language comprehension section before attempting the CMAT exam 2025.

• It is often seen that some candidates overlooks the language comphrehension section thinking it is easy. This may lead to overconfidence and less preparation. This may negatively affect the candidate’s overall performance.

CMAT Do or Die Topics: General Awareness

General Awareness is one of the most difficult sections in any competitive exam. The sole reson is its extensive syllabus. There is no fixed syllabus as far as the GA section is considered and topics ranging from History to current affairs can be asked. However, analysing the previous year’s question papers, a few sections can be shortlisted and they can be given more preference during the candidate’s preparation to improve their CMAT score. Some of the topics are listed below:

• Indian History

• Famous Personalities

• Sports and Current Affairs

Indian History

Indian history must be the first topic that the candidates should cover during the General Awareness preparation of the candidates. This is because the rich history of India ranging from various civilizations to Indian Independence is a go to topic for framing the questions making it a necessary do-or-die topic for the CMAT preparation.

Types of Questions

• Ancient Indian History

• Medieval Indian History

• Modern Indian History

• Important Dynasties and Rulers

• Freedom Struggle and Independence Movement

• Social and Religious Movements

• Cultural Developments (Art, Architecture, and Literature)

• Key Historical Battles and Wars

• Famous Historical Personalities

• Important Acts and Reforms

• Chronology of Events

• Economic History (Trade, Agriculture, and Industry)

• Historical Treaties and Agreements

Famous Personalities

This is also a very important section in the CMAT examination. The candidates will be asked questions about the various eminent personalities. A minimum of 2 questions can be expected from this topic. Given below are a few important question types that the candidates can expect from this section.

Types of Questions

• Sobriquets and Nicknames

• Titles Conferred by Governments

• Famous Quotes and Their Speakers

• Inventions and Discoveries

• Books Written by Personalities

• Awards and Achievements

• Contributions to Social Causes

• Historical Roles Played

• Significant Positions Held

• Birthplaces and Early Life

• Major Speeches Delivered

• Monuments and Structures Named After Them

• Events Associated with Them

CMAT General Awareness Tips

The candidates should not be discouraged by the fact that the CMAT general knowledge section may be difficult. They are advised to follow these tips and tricks to enhance their preparation and try to achieve the maximum possible marks in the CMAT examination.

• The candidates must read newspapers daily and listen to the news. A lot of questions are asked based on current affairs in the CMAT examination. Hence, having a clear understanding of the latest trending current affairs is highly beneficial for the candidates.

• Static GK topics should also be considered and thoroughly revised by the candidates. The candidates can make a timetable and stick by it for this.

• Studying from yearbooks is also helpful as they contain all the necessary information about the previous year.

• Free GK mock tests are available for the candidates. It can help them retain and memorize the information.

• For memorizing dates, the candidates can seek the help of mnemonic devices.

CMAT Do or Die Topics: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship section was made a compulsory section since CMAT 2022 examination. The candidates should be aware of the various important topics of this section. It involves the following concepts:

• Innovation, Technology, and Business Planning

• Market Analysis and Entrepreneurial Traits

• Entrepreneurial Process and Investment

CMAT Innovation and Entrepreneurship Tips

The CMAT 2025 aspirants can go through the following tips and tricks for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship section to enhance their preparation and score well in the section.

• Understand key concepts like types of innovation, stages of entrepreneurship, and business models.

• Focus on government initiatives such as Start-up India and MSME policies, as they are frequently asked.

• Study real-life case studies of successful startups and innovative business strategies.

• Prepare funding methods like venture capital, crowdfunding, and bootstrapping, along with their pros and cons.

• Understand topics such as intellectual property rights, including patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

• Practice questions on innovation trends such as sustainable development and social entrepreneurship.

CMAT Preparation Resources by Careers360

Now that the candidates are aware of the various important topics for the CMAT 2025 examination, it is time for practice. Given below are the important CMAT resources curated by Careers360 for the all-around performance of the candidates.

CMAT Previous Year’s Question Papers

The candidates can download and study various CMAT question papers using the links given below.