CAT 2016: Logical Reasoning - high weightage area; Toppers & expert unanimous on 45 days preparation plan

CAT 2016 proposes to focus more on Logical Reasoning area with 15-16 questions all set to appear in the forthcoming exam. Without standing alone, LR in CAT 2016 will form an independent and high weightage area in DILR section and can prove to be a game changer in boosting your score in CAT 2016. The overall weightage to Logical Reasoning in CAT 2016 exam is now 16% while the sectional weightage is 50%.

Logical Reasoning was separated from Verbal Ability section in 2015 and now has found a place with Data Interpretation as a separate section in CAT 2016. Questions on both DILR taken together have formed a new 3rd section now which is as important as other sections. Earlier till 2014 Logical Reasoning was clubbed to Verbal Ability section and Data Interpretation was clubbed to Quantitative Ability Section.

Prof S K Agarwal expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on CAT 2016 preparation suggests to prepare Logical Reasoning treating it at par with VARC and Quant sections. Since reasoning is considered as one of the important sections in all the MBA entrance exams, IIMs have also decided to give it the due importance in CAT 2016 leading to 20 IIMs. And other top B-schools like FMS, SPJIMR, MDI, IMI, IMT among others.

CAT topper & IIMA student shares LR preparation plan
CAT 2015 topper with 100 percentile and IIM Ahmedabad student Pranjal Agarwal sharing the preparation strategy for Logical Reasoning, advises If you want to score really well, you shouldnt start by skimming over the questions and then deciding which ones are easy; your preparation should be such that you know you have to attempt all the questions. Just make sure that you have a point where you realize that a set is just taking too long to solve or that you are unable to solve it.
Target to solve 80% to score high.

CAT topper Pranjal suggests Overall, its important that you solve at least 80% of the questions in each section. I had only left the 4 questions in DI and attempted all the others in the other sections.
How to attempt LR questions

1. -- It is best advised to practice and adopt an elimination strategy in the questions.
2. -- Do not try to rush to the answer. The purpose is to eliminate all the unfeasible options or combinations/sequences in a given question by using the clues given.
3. -- It may be possible that you can get a single correct combination/sequence or there might still be ambiguity left, depending on the information given.
4. -- The questions that follow would also only expect you to eliminate the other options. There are no shortcuts for this section; you just have to logically eliminate wrong options.
5. -- The best way to improve here is by practicing to improve your speed.

LR Syllabus for CAT 2016: Key topics
Although topics on Logical Reasoning cannot be restricted nor there is any limitation to what should and what shouldnt appear in LR section of CAT, following topics, if prepared well, will lead an aspirant to a well-placed position. You need to develop your skills in Logical Reasoning section to get a good percentile.

It is suggested in the interest of the aspirants to prepare, attempt and practice more and more exercises & Mocks on the following topics, although you may face questions based on other topics which have never been asked so far. But following are the favourite topics in CAT, prepare them well

1. -- Seating Arrangements
2. -- Matching puzzles
3. -- Constraint based arrangements
4. -- Blood Relations family tree
5. -- Syllogism
6. -- Proposition based followed by either deductive or inductive argument.
7. -- Assumptions
8. -- Statements
9. -- Sets
10. -- Binary logic
11. -- Venn Diagrams
12. -- Clocks and calenders

Books & Study material
To overcome the hurdles and ace the LR section, there are very good books available in the market on Logical Reasoning apart from the study material provided by various online or offline coaching centres imparting training for CAT 2016. A few of them are-
How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for the CAT - by Arun Sharma (Published by McGraw Hill)
-- Logical Reasoning and data Interpretation for the CAT- by Nishit K Sinha (Published by Pearson)
-- Online study material and study centres practice exercises (Available from TIME, CL)

CAT preparation expert Prof S K Agarwal finds Logical reasoning as one of the most important parts of CAT 2016 exam and advises the aspirants to devote full time to its preparation. Stating the facts, he suggests, CAT aspirants are well aware that human brain is considered superior because it has the power to reason. It can distinguish between right and wrong, can pick out the relevant from the irrelevant. Looking at its importance CAT has combined logic to reason making it more advanced, more pointing and value added. Logical Reasoning (LR in short) therefore, becomes a guide to good decisions by following a systematic thought process. Hence IIMs have awarded LR higher importance in CAT exam.
If you can hit 8 LR and 8 DI correct, you may expect a very good percentile in this section. There is no dearth of time as well since you have full 60 minutes for 32 questions meaning around 2 minutes per question.

Prof S K Agarwal suggests that Logical Reasoning needs your natural reasoning instincts to crack the questions. It needs less efforts to prepare and once you begin practicing them you will start enjoying to solve more problems on Logical reasoning. Since practice is the key to success in LR section, the questions in this section can be understood and solved fairly easily, if proper attention is paid to this section.