CMAT Preparation Tips And Trend Analysis 2024

If you are looking for CMAT preparation tips, it is also important to understand what the trend has been in previous years’ CMAT. Candidates who follow the best CMAT preparation tips and the understand the previous year's CMAT analysis can easily ace the exam. In this article, we’ll understand what CMAT is, along with an analysis of the previous years’ exam pattern and weightage and CMAT tips and tricks to crack the exam.

New: CMAT 2024: Admit card download link | Chapter-wise MCQ (All 5 Sections)

Suggested: CMAT 2024 sample papers | 10 Free mock tests | 1000+  Practice MCQ

Also See: Language Comprehension | General Awareness | Logical Reasoning | Quant.

Admission Alert: Jindal Global Business School accepting applications for MBA

This Story also Contains

1. Overview of CMAT
2. Trend Analysis of Previous CMAT Exams
3. CMAT Preparation Tips
4. Strategies for Each Section of CMAT
5. Online Resources and Preparation Tools for CMAT
6. Free Topic-wise MCQ PDFs for CMAT

Overview of CMAT

The Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) is a computer-based national-level entrance exam for admission to MBA/PGDM courses. Till 2018, it was conducted by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) every year as per the directions of the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India. However, now it is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). It is conducted in a single sitting. The CMAT score is accepted by about 1,300 B-schools (government and private) in India. Some of the other details, important as part of CMAT exam tips are as follows –

Quick link - What are the best books for the preparation for CMAT 2024?

Marking Scheme:

1. Each question carries 04 marks.
2. For each correct response, the candidate will get 04 marks.
3. For each incorrect response, there is a negative marking of 01.
4. Unanswered/unattempted questions will be given no marks.
5. The candidate needs to choose only one option as the correct answer
6. However, in case the Answer Key is challenged later and there are multiple correct options or some change in the key, only those candidates who have attempted it correctly as per the revised Answer key will be awarded marks.
7. In case a question is cancelled due to some technical error, full marks shall be given to all the candidates – even to those who have not attempted that specific question.

Trend Analysis of Previous CMAT Exams

• It is crucial as part of CMAT preparation tips that you are fully aware of the latest pattern of the exam. As discussed earlier, the paper will contain five sections/subjects - Language Comprehension, Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, General Knowledge and Innovation & Entrepreneurship having an equal number of questions and marks. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship section was first introduced in CMAT 2021. This was an optional section in CMAT 2021 and included 25 questions. However, in CMAT 2022, the section was made compulsory and it has since then included 20 questions. This section includes such topics as testing the entrepreneurial skills of the aspirants.
• Making a study plan is the first step when you start preparing for an exam and that plan is made on the basis of a number of things including past trends. Here is a brief analysis of the difficulty level of past years’ CMAT.

CMAT Analysis 2023 - Section wise (Shift - 1)

CMAT Analysis 2023 - Section wise (Shift - 2)

As far as the topics asked are concerned, here is a list, section-wise :

CMAT Previous Year CMAT Question Papers

Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation

• QA – 15 questions
• DI – 5 questions
• Most questions on DI involved simple calculations
• DI section contained questions from Pie charts and tables, partnership, geometry
• The QA section was dominated by Arithmetic which contained 6 questions from these topics - Time-speed-distance, Ratio-Proportion, Profit & Loss, SICI, Average, Partnership.
• 2-3 were from algebra (quad equations, quad inequality)
• 5 questions on numbers (surds, HCF, LCM)
• 1 question on geometry (triangles)
• 1 question on modern maths (probability)
• Most questions on QA were easy

Logical Reasoning

Non-Verbal Reasoning – 12 questions

• Directions - 1
• Series Completion - 1
• Counting the number of triangles and squares - 2
• Linear Arrangements - 2
• Family Tree - 3
• Coding - 1

Verbal Reasoning – 8 questions

• Syllogisms
• strong/weak arguments
• assertion-reason
• analogy
• odd one out
• questions were easy to solve and not lengthy

General Awareness

• Static GK - 16

Current Affairs - 4

• Chemistry, Constitution of India
• Static History
• Dance form and state
• Authors and books
• National parks
• Country and capital
• GDP
• Currency notes
• Commonwealth games
• Geography
• Rivers
• Inventions and inventors
• Chief of naval staff
• Most questions on Indian events
• Fewer questions on international events
• Medium difficulty

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Business and Entrepreneurship concepts – 16
• Business GK - 4
• Angel Investor
• Atal Innovation Mission
• Low-end disruptive innovations
• FIIB venture capitals
• Business goals
• Urbanization
• Family business and startup
• Types of entrepreneurs etc
• Nascent entrepreneur
• Phases of funding
• Reasons for failure
• Medium difficulty

Language Comprehension

• Reading comprehension passages – 5 (containing 70-100 words)
• Vocabulary - 7
• Synonym
• Antonym
• Fill in the blanks
• Idiom
• Match the following
• Grammar - 7
• Fill in the blanks
• Identify the correct statement
• Direct & Indirect speech
• Question tag
• Classify the sentence
• Verbal reasoning – para-jumbles
• Most questions were easy to solve

CMAT Analysis 2022

Based on the difficulty levels across sections, as discussed above, we can expect the following in CMAT 2024 –

CMAT Preparation Tips

The following CMAT preparation tips for mba and tricks will guide you in your preparation.

• The most important thing is to thoroughly understand the exam – the CMAT syllabus, the pattern, the marking scheme and the difficulty level. Familiarize yourself with everything.
• You need to have a well devised study plan taking into account all that you know about the exam and also about your current knowledge level. A comprehensive action plan includes building conceptual clarity and getting adequate practice. Start with the topics that you find easy so that completing them will give you the confidence that you will be able to answer well in a certain section of the area and things are under control.
• You must know what to study and what not to study. Your goal is not to get the sea of knowledge but to catch the fish of selection. Targeted study is the key. Therefore, study material is of paramount importance as part of CMAT preparation tips. Focus on quality, not on quantity. The Complete Reference Manual for CMAT by SK Sinha, S Satyanarayan, and JS Rana is generally considered the best choice for CMAT.

Besides, these are some useful books which will help you excel in CMAT 2024.

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION –

• How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT - Arun Sharma (McGraw Hill Education)
• Word Power Made Easy - Norman Lewis
• Objective General English – SP Bakshi

QUANTITATIVE TECHNIQUES & DATA INTERPRETATION –

• How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT - Arun Sharma (McGraw Hill Education)
• Quantitative Aptitude - Dr R S Aggarwal (S. Chand)

LOGICAL REASONING –

• How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for CAT - Arun Sharma (McGraw Hill Education)
• Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT - Nishit K Sinha (Pearson)

GENERAL AWARENESS –

• Lucent’s
• Manorama Year Book and Competition Success Review
• Newspapers - The Hindu, Economic Times and Financial Express

INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP –

• Innovation & Entrepreneurship - Peter F. Drucker
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation Management - by R Gopal
• The more you practise, the better it is. Start with chapter-wise practice, gradually moving on to mock tests which emulate the real exam and cover the entire syllabus.
• Focus on time management. You need to be wary of it throughout your preparation and on the day of the exam. Do a time-bound practice every time. You can’t afford to waste time. During the exam, do not get stuck on difficult questions. If you can’t solve a particular question, move on to the next one and come back to it later, if time permits.
• The practice of CMAT Mock tests and sample papers is of utmost importance. They help you understand the level and types of questions that may be asked in the exam. They help you track your progress.
• If your marks are dipping in the tests that you are practising from, you will know that something needs to be set right. Try to identify your weak areas. Therefore, it is necessary that you properly analyze your mock test results and learn from your mistakes.
• Stay updated with current affairs and general knowledge for which newspapers are also a great source. The best ones, as discussed earlier, would be The Hindu, Economic Times and Financial Express.
• You need to increase your speed and accuracy. Whenever you practise something, try to analyze it in order to see if there is any quicker approach to finding the solution. Work more and more to make your basics strong and work your way up. Once your fundamentals are clear, you will get the required accuracy. Aim for accuracy even if you have to sacrifice speed a little. Attempting questions in haste and making careless mistakes will harm your overall score. Strike a balance between accuracy and speed.
• It is important to stay positive and confident but that doesn’t come in isolation. Prepare yourself well for the exam and do not postpone things. Keep ample time for revision. This way you get the feeling that you are in control of things and you automatically feel confident and positive. Keep your ultimate goal in mind and seek help from your peers if needed.

Strategies for Each Section of CMAT

CMAT exam tips are not complete without discussing the strategies for each section.

Quantitative Techniques and Data Interpretation

• Start with fundamental concepts in mathematics.
• Solve more and more problems from topics like arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and data interpretation.
• Try to find time-saving methods in everything you do. Make use of formulas and tricks to shorten the process. For instance,

2 articles were sold at Rs 2,400, one at 20% profit in case 1 and another one at a 20% loss in case 2.

Case 1:

Detailed Calculations

CP = {100/(100 + P%)} x SP

Therefore CP= {100/(100 + 20)} x 2,400 = 2,000

Profit = SP-CP = 2,400 - 2,000 = 400

Case 2:

CP = {100/(100 – L%)} x SP

Therefore CP= {100/(100 - 20)} x 2,400 = 3,000

Loss = CP-SP = 3,000 - 2,400 = 600

Net Loss = 600-400 = 200

Net Loss % = (200/(2000+3000)x 100 = 4%

"Or applying shortcut:"

Net % profit or loss will be: [m-n-(mn/100)]

= (20-20-(20x20)/100) = -4%. Negative means net loss of 4%

• Make concise notes of important concepts, formulas and rules with example problems. Keep revising them. The notes should contain such brief information as you may revise just before the exam, like the following relations in data interpretation–

Value of sector = (Angel of sector/360°) x Total Value

Value of sector = (Percentage of sector/100) x Total Value

Logical Reasoning

• Familiarize yourself with the different types of questions that can be asked.
• While solving a question, properly read all the information that is given and note the details in short.
• As per the need, make diagrams, tables, charts and symbols on the basis of the details provided.
• If a question is taking too long, leave it and move on to the next one. Come back to it later, if time permits.
• Sometimes, you may think you have found the correct answer and mark it as your answer in a hurry without reading the other options carefully which may be more accurate.
• Never jump to conclusions. An option may seem correct but it may be possible that there is a better option. So don’t mark your answer in a hurry. Take time to read all the options carefully.
• Your rational thinking and analytical aptitude are put to the test. So, you need to work on sharpening your mind in general. For this, there are some effective and fun ways like brain teaser games, sudoku, chess, crosswords, and puzzles.

Language Comprehension

• Do a lot of consistent reading from a variety of topics, the best source for which would be newspapers.
• Reading comprehension and vocabulary go hand in hand. While reading anything, keep a notebook ready to note down the difficult words you come across. Find their meanings and note them along with a sample sentence so that you remember them for a longer time.
• Also, learn vocabulary from a book. The best would be Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis. Keep revising it or you’ll forget most of the things you learn.
• Work on building your reading speed. The Pacer Method may help you. In this you trace the line you are reading with a pen or with your finger. This helps you focus only on the thing intended to be read.
• Increasing your eye span works wonders. Eye span is the maximum number of words you can read in a single glance without changing your eye position.
• For Para-jumbles, practise more and more. Start with shorter questions if you find them difficult. In the beginning, do not care about speed while practising. Accuracy is more important. Speed will come naturally with practice.
• The entire grammar section needs to be done but the base has to be strong.
• Pay special attention to the basics of tenses and identifying the different parts of speech. These two things help you a great deal even in more advanced questions.
• One important thing that is often ignored for this section is that Fill in the Blanks can be based on anything. It is not a topic to be studied in itself but a way of asking the various things across the entire syllabus. We’ll understand this taking the following two examples,

The exam is difficult but with a disciplined preparation strategy, you will ___.

1. Bring it in
2. Bring it off
3. bring it forward
4. bring it up

Solution -

All of these are phrasal verbs having different meanings, according to which we’ll get to the correct answer.

BRING IN - to make or earn a particular amount of money

BRING OFF – to succeed in doing something difficult

BRING FORWARD –

1. to move something to an earlier date or time
2. suggest something for discussion

BRING UP –

1. raise a child
2. to mention a subject or start to talk about it

So, the correct answer would be BRING OFF.

(Meaning - The exam is difficult but with a disciplined preparation strategy, you will succeed.)

Now, going through the questions asked in the previous years, you may draw the conclusion that there was no question asked on phrasal verbs and there were one or two questions on fill in the blanks and you may leave the entire topic of phrasal verbs without realizing that it is very much a part of your syllabus and can be asked in any format.

1. Mohit’s parents were pleasantly surprised to see how ___ he had performed in the exam.
2. Good b. Well c. Poorly d. marvellous

Solution –

Option C is logically wrong as no parents would be pleasantly surprised to see their child performing poorly.

Options A and D are wrong for the same reason. PERFORMED is a verb. In the blank, we need a word that qualifies/describes the verb PERFORMED. So, here an adverb is needed because an adverb qualifies a verb. GOOD and MARVELLOUS are adjectives, therefore wrong. The correct answer is WELL which is an adverb.

General Awareness

• The CMAT contains questions on Static GK as well as Current Affairs, with more weightage of questions on Static GK.
• Even Static GK questions are often directly or indirectly related to some recent event.
• Stay updated with the latest news through newspapers, magazines and online sources.
• You will have to memorize a lot of things for which you may utilize mnemonic techniques. These techniques use associations to help you remember information. They are known to improve memory.
• Writing helps you retain information so get in the habit of writing in order to learn.
• Make concise self-help notes. Whatever chapter you do, make a summary of it in the form of one-liners or bullet points. These will help in revision as well.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• Be thorough with the basics of entrepreneurship. Think of every question that can be formed on entrepreneurship.
• Familiarize yourself with basic terminology, such as government schemes that provide funds to start-ups.
• Stay aware of management-related developments.
• Similar to General Awareness, make concise notes for memorizing and revising.

Online Resources and Preparation Tools for CMAT

A plethora of resources are just a click away in the form of websites, apps, and online courses where you may get self-help notes, instant solutions to your doubts, and practically unlimited quizzes. Here’s a list of the top online coaching providers in the country that can spearhead and polish your CMAT 2024 preparation –

• Hitbullseye
• IMS India
• BYJU’S Exam Prep
• Endeavorcareers
• Time4education
• Stalwart Careers
• Career Launcher

Keep in mind a few things before starting your preparation with any platform -

1. The teachers of the different subjects - their knowledge, teaching style as well as accessibility, in case you wish to clear some doubts.
2. The class timings, in case you wish to attend live ones.
3. The quality of the study material provided.
4. The fee structure. Also keep in mind that a lot of things – notes, lectures and tests are available for free across different platforms.

There are several mock test platforms, including the ones mentioned above, that provide tests sometimes for nominal fees and some tests even for free. Some of these are interactive ones where you can clear your doubts.

There may be some instances where you find a particular topic or equation difficult. In such cases, study forums and discussion forums help immensely. You may interact with other members of the group which may include aspirants as well as teachers, and find solutions to your problems. Some of these can be found on Telegram.

Expert Insights and Recommendations

Regarding CMAT tips and tricks, toppers and experts always advise aspirants to be consistent with their preparation. They advise aspirants to make their weaknesses their strengths and value time. Time can be a game changer. It is advised to work smartly and make a note of which topics are important and are repeatedly asked. Study them thoroughly. It doesn’t matter how poorly you have performed previously. Every exam is a new chapter – brings new challenges, new failures and most importantly new successes.

Group study is something that has always helped students a great deal. The modern form of it is online study groups. Toppers and experts often highlight its importance in terms of staying updated with the latest news regarding the exam, doubt clearing and staying motivated as you are in contact with many others who are in the same situation as you are.

When you start your CMAT preparation after doing a comprehensive analysis of the syllabus and the pattern, stick to your study plan with dedication. Don’t be disheartened with hurdles in your way. Neither should you waste time in any way. Do rigorous practice in a disciplined way, strengthening your weaknesses. Learn from your mistakes. Stay updated with the help of the best quality study material and newspapers. Don’t underestimate the importance of sectional and mock tests as well as previous years’ questions.

Stay positive. Based on past trends, CMAT is not a tough exam. It is fairly moderate. Good quality study material, previous papers, and tests are readily available which you can make use of from the comfort of your home and pull off this exam.

Free Topic-wise MCQ PDFs for CMAT

Candidates preparing for the CMAT exam can use the PDFs to practice different types of questions and fine-tune their preparation.

CMAT Quantitative Techniques And Data Interpretation MCQs

CMAT Logical Reasoning MCQs

CMAT Language Comprehension MCQs

CMAT General Awareness MCQs

CMAT Innovation And Entrepreneurship MCQs