• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • CAT Online Coaching
  • CAT Coaching in Chennai
  • Bharath’s Reading List
  • CAT Preparation
    • How to Prepare for CAT Exam
      • How to Prepare for CAT Quantitative Aptitude
      • How to prepare for CAT DILR
      • How to prepare for CAT VARC
    • 2IIM’s CAT Questions
    • CAT Syllabus
    • CAT Previous Year Paper
    • What is CAT Exam all about?
  • 2IIM CAT Preparation Reviews

2IIM CAT Preparation Blog

The Best CAT Online Coaching

Best Online CAT Coaching

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Phone
  • YouTube
You are here: Home / PGDBA Examination / How to prepare for PGDBA examination

How to prepare for PGDBA examination6 min read

July 15, 2021 By Rajesh 6 min read

Visit online.2iim.com

How to prepare for PGDBA examination

The PGDBA program is a highly sought-after and fast growing program that is helmed by 3 illustrious institutions: IIM Calcutta, IIT Kharagpur and ISI Kolkata. It is a program that targets the fast growing field of data science and analytics. The program has been designed to give a holistic idea of the field of business analytics and data science along with industry experience in the form of the 6 month long internship. The course design is one of the reasons that the program has grown to the extent that it has.

To prepare for PGDBA written test, it is very important to look at the syllabus and previous year question papers in detail because syllabus is little different than CAT in Quantitative Aptitude and for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning Data Interpretation the depth is neither like CAT nor the level of difficulty matches with the CAT. This is a go to article for you if you are willing to appear for this exam. Let’s start!

PGDBA Examination Pattern

SectionTotal No. of QuestionsMarking Scheme
Quantitative Aptitude25+3/-1
Data Interpretation & Data Visualisation5+3/-1
Logical Reasoning5+3/-1
Reading Comprehension & Verbal Ability15+3/-1

In short, PGDBA Exam pattern comprises of the following components

  • It’s a three-hour online Computer-Based Test.
  • All the questions are MCQ type questions having four answer choices per question.
  • The test comprises a total of 50 questions carrying 150 marks.
  • There is no negative marking for unattempted questions.
  • Each incorrect attempt will draw a penalty of 1 mark.

Syllabus

Quantitative AbilityData interpretation & visualisationLogical ReasoningReading Comprehension & Verbal Ability
Calculus
Linear Algebra
Number System
Combinatorics
Arithmetic
Geometry
Trigonometry
Co-ordinate geometry
Algebra
Venn Diagram based sets, Line/bar charts, multiple graphs and other standard DI templatesArrangement puzzles, sequencing puzzles, Math Puzzles, puzzles based on blood relation etcReading Comprehension
Sentence Correction
Parajumbles
Word Usage

Preparation Tips

Quantitative Aptitude

If you investigate the official syllabus of the QA section, it covers almost all the topics of 11 and 12th std mathematics. The difference between CAT and PGDBA is that CAT tests your ability based on 8-10th std mathematical concepts whereas PGDBA focuses on +2 level maths. Syllabus of PGDBA is short and the exam level is easy.

The pattern of PGDBA will help you understand how to cover the portion of Quantitative Ability first and then move on to the other segments. Now, let’s see important topics that one must have command on to clear this exam.

CalculusSet theory, Relation, and Domain – Range of a function
Limit – give more emphasis on L’Hospital rule
Learn the concept of continuity and differentiability well, and practice a lot of questions from these topics
Differentiation of single variable and application of derivative
Indefinite integral
Definite integral and definite integral using property
Application of integration – give more emphasis finding area encolsed by the curve using definite integral
Linear AlgebraBasic properties, Determinants, transpose of matrices, rank of a matrices
Number SystemSyllabus of CAT
CombinatoricsSyllabus of CAT – give more emphasis on permutation and combination, and basic counting. From Probability don’t forget to practice questions from Bayes’ Theorem.
ArithmeticSyllabus of CAT
GeometrySyllabus of CAT
TrigonometrySyllabus of CAT – Learn Height and Distance well, practice questions from 3D problems
AlgebraSyllabus of CAT – Also have an idea about Complex number, nth root and cube root of unity
Co-ordinate geometrySyllabus of CAT – Also practice questions from the Conic section

Books that can help you with topics like Calculus and Linear Algebra

  • NCERT class XI and XII Mathematics text books
  • Test of Mathematics at the 10+2 level by Indian Statistical Institute
  • Calculus by Michael Spivak
  • Introduction to Linear Algebra by Gilbert Strang

Data interpretation and Logical reasoning

Both the Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section of PGDBA are quite like the CAT Data Interpretation and logical reasoning section. If you’re someone who is preparing CAT, in that case you don’t have to do anything separately. Solve past years papers of IIFT, XAT and CAT, that’s all.

Reading Comprehension and Verbal Ability

The syllabus for the Verbal Ability section in the PGDBA Exam is like the CAT Exam. In terms of the difficulty of the section, it can vary across the years. In past The PGDBA Exam had a moderate Verbal Ability section with the Reading Comprehension questions being slightly difficult while the other questions were moderate. Reading Comprehension should be the second most important point of focus of the candidate, after QA. RC passages are always based on a centralized idea. The centralized idea has three components, namely, i) Topic – what is the passage about, ii) Scope – what aspect of the topic does the passage focus on, iii) Purpose – why did the author write the passage. As you begin to read the passage, determine the centralized idea. That would help you answer the big purpose of the author behind writing this passage. Recognizing these three components is very crucial for answers.

Tips – Solve previous years question papers of CAT, and read 2-3 articles from Bharath’s curated reading list everyday.

Mock Tests

Mock tests are the final and the most critical step. It is sporadic for any candidate to perform up to their potential in the Entrance Exams because the time limit ensures that they must solve the problem in a reasonable amount of time. Due to this reason, the PGDBA Preparation must include timed Mock practices as well. The best mock tests available for PGDBA exam are the actual previous years question papers of PGDBA Examination. So earmarking 1 mocks per week will give you an idea about the entire test-giving experience.

I will end this blog with a quote from Rajesh Sir – ” Prepare for the exam like everything depend on it, but write the exam as nothing depends on it.” Don’t take too much pressure for this exam. Just relax. Give your best and forget the rest. Best wishes 😀

Visit online.2iim.com

Abhishek Mukherjee works for 2IIM. Apart from solving interesting math questions he likes to eat biriyani and watch movies.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • WhatsApp

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • CAT Mock Exams: Tips to Remember
  • Tips for 1st year MBA students
  • Reading List | This Week | June 4th week 2022
  • Common MBA Myths
  • Mistakes to avoid during MBA

Categories

  • Announcements (37)
  • B-School Selection Process (9)
  • CAT 2020 (33)
  • CAT 2021 (81)
  • CAT 2022 (11)
  • CAT DILR (19)
    • Data Interpretation For CAT (4)
    • Logical Reasoning For CAT (6)
  • CAT Gyan (93)
  • CAT Live Sessions (2)
    • CAT Meetup (1)
  • CAT Preparation Strategy (189)
    • Achievers talk (6)
    • Announcements (29)
  • CAT Quantitative Aptitude (30)
  • CAT Reading List (136)
    • Economy Business (1)
    • Fiction Others (1)
    • Humans Culture (2)
    • Politics Law Crime (2)
    • Psychology & Philosophy (2)
    • Reading List – This Week (125)
    • Technology Industry Science (2)
  • CAT Verbal Ability (18)
    • CAT Reading Comprehension (10)
  • CAT WAT GDPI (17)
  • GMAT (2)
  • IIFT 2022-2024 (1)
  • IPMAT (3)
  • MAH-CET Preparation (1)
  • mba (24)
    • rural management (1)
  • MICAT (1)
  • Mock CATs (5)
  • NMAT (3)
  • PGDBA Examination (2)
  • SNAP 2021 (1)
  • Top B-schools (5)
  • Uncategorized (12)
  • XAT 2021 (4)
  • XAT 2022 (2)
  • XAT Preparation (10)
    • Announcements (3)

Archives

  • June 2022 (21)
  • May 2022 (17)
  • April 2022 (9)
  • March 2022 (4)
  • February 2022 (6)
  • January 2022 (4)
  • December 2021 (1)
  • November 2021 (4)
  • October 2021 (12)
  • September 2021 (14)
  • August 2021 (32)
  • July 2021 (31)
  • June 2021 (22)
  • May 2021 (9)
  • April 2021 (5)
  • March 2021 (14)
  • February 2021 (15)
  • January 2021 (21)
  • December 2020 (19)
  • November 2020 (8)
  • October 2020 (14)
  • September 2020 (33)
  • August 2020 (31)
  • July 2020 (31)
  • June 2020 (12)
  • May 2020 (9)
  • April 2020 (8)
  • March 2020 (12)
  • February 2020 (10)
  • January 2020 (14)
  • December 2019 (5)
  • November 2019 (5)
  • October 2019 (7)
  • September 2019 (11)
  • August 2019 (6)
  • June 2017 (1)
  • October 2015 (1)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • January 2011 (1)

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Phone
  • YouTube

Footer

The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight,
but they, while their companions slept,
were toiling upward in the night.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Copyright © 2019. All rights reserved by 2iim.com - A Fermat Education initiative. Privacy policy | Terms & Conditions