CAT toppers guide on Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning - By: MBA

Following the footsteps of those who have attained success always helps. Similar is the case with the CAT toppers and CAT Exam aspirants. In a previous article of MBAUniverse.com you have seen the preparation strategy for cracking CAT 2010. In this article, the CAT toppers will share their strategy for excelling in the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section. The CAT toppers who have shared their views on the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning preparation for CAT 2010 aspirants are Ankit Gupta, 99.34 percentiler taken admission in IIM Indore; Shipra Pandey, 94.89 percentiler, taken admission in MICA and Gaurav Swarnkar, 94.34 percentiler, taken admission in NITIE through the
CAT Exams.

As far as the section is concerned, it is more related to practice and your logical understanding. Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning in CAT Exam is more related to IQ but still it can be managed,” Gupta says.

Strategy for CAT 2010 exam preparations

As is common among the CAT toppers, practice is the only strategy for excelling in the CAT Exam sections like Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. For Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, practice is the key to success. So, understand the topics and practice more and more, says Gupta. Pandey voiced similar advice. I kept solving a lot of aptitude questions for my CAT Preparations, she says.

According to Swarnkar, speedy calculation is the key to crack the Data Interpretation section. For Data Interpretation, you should be very prompt with some results like - tables up to at least 20, squares of up to 30, cubes till 12, reciprocal ratios up to 1/25, and square roots and cube roots. This will solve 80 per cent of your DI problems; rest 20 per cent is application of your brain in understanding the problem,” Swarnkar mentions.

For CAT Preparations in Logical Reasoning also, Swarnkar feels that practice is the only key. Logical Reasoning in CAT Exam is nothing but practice, a simple advice is DO NOT APPLY YOUR PERCEPTIONS while solving them. Just stick to the lines written in the question. Pen down every situation and condition given and stick to it till the end,” he says.

The common point between all the CAT toppers is that, practice is the key to success in this CAT Exam section. Be fluent and thorough with the concepts which you can gain through reading more news papers, especially the data given in various forms.

But the amount of practice will depend on your strength and weakness. For Gupta, his strongest section was Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning. So he took the least time to prepare for it. I gave least time for preparation on Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning but everybody has a different set of strengths and weakness so I would like to advice that identify them and capitalize on your strengths and work on your weaknesses for your CAT Preparation, Gupta says.

Strategy for

The same strategy should be followed during the final CAT exam also. You should start with the section of your strength so that you gain confidence and then move towards your weak areas. For me the most successful was to start with Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning, which was my strongest section and gain confidence and then I attempted Quantitative Ability and Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension respectively. But, this is a matter of personal preference, Gupta explains.

Choosing the right question is also a deciding factor for CAT Exam. According to Pandey, you should not waste much time on a question which you can't solve beyond five minutes. Data Interpretation is a matter of good choice as well as practice. Choosing the wrong caselets in the CAT Exam can be dangerous but enough practice tells you which cases to go forward with and which traps to leave. My suggestion is that even if you are stuck in a caselet for five minutes or so and then you realize that its a waste of time and you are not getting anywhere near solving it, its better to leave it rather than making it a prestige issue and solving it but leaving the rest of Data Interpretation and also missing out on other sections, she says.

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