CMAT 2017: Check Syllabus, prepare GK to add 25% score & get full marks for top MBA colleges accepting CMAT

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
January 21, 2017
CMAT 2017 exam pattern makes GK section as important as Quant, Verbal or Logical Reasoning
Every correct answer will award you 4 marks improving your score and awarding you higher place in merit

25 questions in GK or General Awareness in CMAT 2017 could turn the table in your favour. The CMAT 2017 exam pattern  and Syllabus make GK section as important as Quant, Verbal or Logical Reasoning. General Awareness (GK) has equal share of weightage in CMAT and according to Prof S K Agarwal, Expert on CMAT preparation, General Awareness section can be prepared well by devoting 30 minutes a day regularly for next 9-10 days.

Please remember there will be 25 questions based on General Awareness in CMAT in the form of MCQs (Multiple Choice questions). Every correct answer will award you 4 marks improving your score and awarding you higher place in merit. All the 4 sections have equal number of questions, General Awareness will play the same role in pushing up your merit position in CMAT as other sections can do.  A good attempt in GK section can change the game and you can sure add high score of 100 marks with the help of this section.

AICTE will conduct the yearly CMAT 2017 on Saturday, January 28, 2017 across the country. January 29 has been kept as the reserve day in case the CMAT 2017 needs to be rescheduled. National Level Common Management Admission Test (CMAT) 2017 is an online computer based test and is conducted by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). The exam will take place in 62 cities all across India in a single session from 9.30 AM to 12.30 PM.

400+ MBA colleges accepting CMAT 2017 scores
For admission to MBA/PGDM 2017-19 batch, more than 400 MBA colleges accepting CMAT scores will use CMAT 2017 scores. All these B-schools will offer AICTE approved MBA/PGDM programmes.

Not only this almost all the 440 MBA/PGDM institutes in Maharashtra accept CMAT scores through DTE-CAP round for admission to their flagship programmes. Although for the batch 2017-19 JBIMS, Mumbai has announced not to accept CMAT scores, last year it offered admission to high scorers in CMAT.

CMAT 2017 Syllabus : GK a key constituent
CMAT 2017 Syllabus  for the exam is slightly differentiated from CAT exam as it includes GK and awards equal importance to GK. The area of preparation otherwise is as wide as that of CAT, XAT, IIFT, MAT.

CMAT considers GK as important as other sections while there is no GK in CAT, and in XAT the GK despite being present is not counted for calculation of percentile score. Another key fact is that the difficulty level of CMAT questions is easier than in CAT or XAT.

Don’t skip CMAT Mock Test
With only a few days left to appear in CMAT 2017, past CMAT toppers and experts on CMAT preparation advise to solve as many sample papers and Mock Test to score high in CMAT 2017.

To help CMAT 2017 aspirants prepare better, experts at MBAUniverse.com and VistaMind Education have prepared CMAT Mock test with answer keys and solutions. The CMAT Mock test contains expected type of questions. CMAT 2017 aspirants should take the full length Mock which contains latest and proposed type of CMAT questions to assess their preparation in revised CMAT 2017 exam pattern.

GK with 25 questions & 100 marks
General Awareness or General Knowledge has a separate section in CMAT with 25 questions. It is as important as other sections as the merit list is prepared by taking into account the scores from this section as well. It is a tool to improve your overall score by 25% and can add 100 marks to your total score. CMAT toppers have always focused on this section more as it given an edge over your peers.

You are supposed to continue preparing the General Awareness and keep yourself updated from all the sources namely-

1.Latest editions of Books on General awareness like Manorama Year Book
2.Regular reading of newspapers and periodicals and taking notes from them
3. Digital and Electronic media updation like TV, internet
4. Focus on appointments, business, corporate news, policy changes, economic policies of the Government, recent achievements-national and international, political activities going on around the world, sports, tragedies. In fact there is no limit to explore the areas of study in General Awareness section.

Divide GK into parts to prepare
You may divide the General Knowledge section in four parts  - A. Conventional   B. Business, Finance & Economy based   C. Current Affairs India (Political, Social, Sports, Films, awards etc.)  D. International (personalities-past & Present, global events etc.)

Award due weightage to each section. You can prepare Conventional GK with the help of GK books available in market; Current GK which is based on current reading of newspapers and periodicals;  Business & Economics GK -for example recent demonetization policy of the Government of India, changes in Fiscal and monetary policy, CRR, Repo Rate, devaluation and up valuation of Rupee, this should be updated regularly with the help of specific news papers like Economic times, Financial Express and by watching economy based news.  Please remember current GK-whether Business, national and international has an on-going preparation method and thorough reading of the newspaper only can keep you updated.

Prepare conventional GK also
Good books on GK are available in the market and may be considered the best to prepare in a short time like Manorama Year Book, General Knowledge refresher, General Knowledge by S. Chand & Co. and so on. Devote a few minutes every day and try to learn this type of GK as much as possible. You may even mug it up-if you can but better way will be to relate one event to the personality, it will help you to prepare more than one question in a single reading. You may have questions based on the topics like Authors of the books, Historical facts & events, Personalities, places, questions  based on inventions, discoveries and Geography, Physics, Chemistry, Biology.

Read more on Business, Finance & Economy
This is one of the most favourite sections of GK that appear in the CMAT exam. Business and finance oriented General Knowledge improves your understanding of economic environment, strengthening your IQ and making you better equipped to face the Group discussions and Personal Interviews.  Try to cover hot topics in Business, Finance and Economy. Going through them will help you to prepare better for your forthcoming CMAT examination.

Please read whatever stuff is available on such topics as you may confront these questions in different manner like ‘ What is the current CRR’,  ‘Difference between CRR & SLR’ ‘ Instruments for money control’, “The authority that can change the Bank Rate of the Country” , ‘Which is the petroleum product from which subsidy has been fully withdrawn’, ‘Budget speech of the President marks the beginning or the conclusion of budget session’ ‘ Where the budget is presented first in Loksabha or RajyaSabha’, ‘Which company is not included in the NAVRATNA companies of India’ and so on.

Regularly read the business, economy page of newspapers like ‘The Hindu, The Economic Times’ periodicals like The week, India Today, The Economist – mark the striking events, read editorials and other articles analyzing various national and international events. Year books, purchased by you, will also be a good help in the preparation.

Update Current Affairs
India: Put more emphasis on last few years’ events in the country – Important changes, Events like Election results, important schemes announced, Cricket, Recent announcements by Government, Commonwealth games, creations of additional states, appointments – Private and Public sector, awards etc.   Global happenings that mark their impacts in the country must be well read.  Although there is no syllabus for GK, you must brush up whatever you have read. Draw a quick plan to revise and learn.

Regular reading of the national events in the newspapers like The Hindu and the above mentioned ones will be quite advantageous. You need to spend around 15 minutes a day to it and one event will link you to another. Read the associated events as they are also the probable questions.

International -   Answers to Questions based on International affairs sometimes are difficult to distinguish due to the close similarity in names, cities, figures etc. So the important part is to find out some key word in the articles wherefrom you learn and prepare the GK.

Put more emphasis on latest and last decade events and global happenings like Brexit, global depression, happenings at UNO, economic swings that made impact on Indian Economy, Appointments – like the Trump victory as the President of America- his core international policies that may impact our Country.

Probable GK topics
While year 2016 has seen many changes in national and international scenario, 2017 is poised to witness even more.  Following question topics in different forms could be of great help for CMAT 2017 aspirants

-Fiscal deficit & Monetary controls; Tools & authority using them
-Goods & Services Tax (GST); status; key features, 
-International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS)
- FDI in Defence, Infrasturure, insurance and other sectors; proposals, present and proposed maximum limit
-Smart city project; the announced cities; key features
- Proposed IITs and IIMs; number; where established;
-Past and proposed GDP growth rate
-Preponing the date of budget presentation

Key advice
No doubt the pressure becomes more when the examination is at hand; so have a balanced approach.  Too much of mugging or burning mid-night oil may not be so effective  as you may get confused or may forget whatever you learnt last night.  It is better to revise the items that you have already studied and keep pace to keep you up-to-date.

Since examination paper must have been prepared, at least a fortnight before the examination date, you may eliminate such events which take place a fortnight or so prior to examination date

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