CMAT is one of the few popular management exams that test the general knowledge of the applicants. The General Awareness section in CMAT consists of 25 questions, each carrying four marks.
The GA section carries 100 marks and there will also be negative marking for incorrect responses in CMAT. A candidate has to build a strong GK base to score 98+ percentile in CMAT.
So, if a candidate is preparing for exams like CAT, NMAT and CMAT, he or she will have to devote extra time for the CMAT General Awareness section. However, most candidates with engineering or technological background find this section to be the toughest in CMAT paper.
Find out the topics covered, strategies to prepare and a good attempt of the GA section.
What are the topics covered in the General Awareness section of CMAT?
The section will consist of two types of general knowledge: Static GK and Current Affairs.
Static GK Topics
- History (Indian National Movement, Ancient, Medieval)
- Indian Polity and Constitution
- Physical Geography
- Indian & World Geography
- Indian Economy
- Personalities
- National and International Organizations
- Sports
- Books & Author
- Miscellaneous
Current Affair Topics
- National Economy
- Business News
- Recent Science & Tech Innovations
- Political Events of Importance
- Events of International Importance
- Organizations in News
- Famous Personalities
- Sports
- Miscellaneous
Strategy to prepare for CMAT General Awareness
- Read Newspaper– The CMAT paper expects you to know what is happening in your surroundings. Familiarize yourself with the events of national and international importance. Have a separate notebook for making notes of the events/news you find important. Reading the newspaper every day will also help in building a good vocabulary. The following are some of the best newspapers one can read while preparing for the CMAT GK.
Newspapers to Read: The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Times of India, Business Standard
- Read Magazines– Business magazines like The Economist or The Frontline will help you to gain more knowledge than the businesses in the news. The aforementioned business magazines will help you to know about the world economy and the economies of different countries.
Apart from business magazines, a candidate must also read the monthly current affairs magazines. Magazines like Kurukshetra, Yojana, etc will give the candidates the latest and important information related to various government policies.
- Previous Years’ Papers– Solving previous year CMAT question papers will help the aspirants to understand the trends of the questions set by NTA.
- Read Yearbook– The yearbook covers a diversity of domains that the newspapers cannot cover. The Manorama Yearbook, one of the most popular yearbooks, also includes the personalities, recent books, authors and details about various awards.
- Sectional Mocks– Candidates can also attempt the sectional mock tests. The mocks help a candidate to try different types of questions.
Stay connected with fellow students on PaGaLGuY for CMAT 2020 Exam
What is a good General Awareness attempt in CMAT?
It is not possible to know about everything in a short period. Thus, it is not necessary to attempt all the questions of this section. A 60% to 70% attempt of the General Awareness section with 85% accuracy should retrieve a good percentile.