How to Get Started with CAT DILR Section: Beginner’s Guide

To solve CAT DILR problems you must first analyse the question and try to pick sets that have direct data representation. Next read the question and try to identify what is asked in the question.

Table of Contents

How to Solve DILR Problems?
Basic Concepts of DILR CAT
Topics to Focus on Before Solving DILR Questions
What Strategy Should You Follow for CAT DILR?

How to Get Started with CAT DILR Section: Beginner’s Guide

Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning is considered to be one of the trickiest sections from quant in the CAT exam. Before starting to solve questions from this topic you must first understand the nature of the question and what it is asking. To save some time in the exam, try to solve the questions from sets having direct representation. Moreover, if you are well versed with the topic it is advised that for DI problems use more tables, charts and grids and for LR questions you must make use of diagrammatic representation along with tables, charts and graphs. If you analyse the questions asked from this section in the past you will find most questions being concentrated on sub-topics like games and tournaments, arrangements, puzzles, tables, venn diagram, graphs and distribution. Therefore we can say that you must focus majorly on practicising questions more from these sub-topics. Now let us begin with this article on how to solve DILR problems.

Also Read: CAT 2025: Final 30-Day Study Plan and Strategy to Crack the Exam

How to Solve DILR Problems?

You can check the ways to solve questions from this section.

If you are starting with DILR questions begin with analysing the structure of the problem. You can check for keywords or constraints that are mentioned in the question
One of the most followed way of solving questions is to organise the data. It is recommended that for DI questions you can use tables, grids to solve the questions. However, for LR try using charts and graphs to organise the given data and then solve the questions.
Doing mental calculation is very much required to solve questions mostly from the Data Interpretation section. Therefore you must use approximations if you find data that are not close. Again, for logical reasoning, always recheck the constraints / keywords that are mentioned in the question.
Academicians recommend that you must pick sets that have direct data instead of wasting your time on trap sets

Also Read: Boost Your CAT QA Speed and Maintain Accuracy with Practical Tips

Basic Concepts of DILR CAT

Before beginning with this topic you must check the basic concepts from the below table.

Basic Concepts	Things to Follow
Numerical and Arithmetic Foundations	It is recommended to have conceptual clarity on topics like - Percentages & Ratios (e.g., increase/decrease, part-to-whole comparisons) Averages & Weighted Averages Speed Calculation (Vedic/approximation methods) Fractions ↔ Percentages ↔ Decimals conversion Proportions and Scaling
Data Representation Forms	Basic statistics should be well versed to solve questions from Tables – rows, columns, missing values Bar Graphs – simple, stacked, and comparative Line Graphs – trends, slopes, intersections Pie Charts – percentage distributions, overlapping data Caselets – data given in paragraphs instead of charts Mixed Data – multiple types (table + graph + paragraph)
Logical Structures	For logical reasoning it is important that you organise the information in the form of Arrangements, Grouping & Selection, Ranking & Ordering, Binary Logic etc
Problem-Solving Approach	Ability to convert words into structured data (tables, diagrams, matrices) Identify constraints and eliminate impossible cases Comfort with trial & error + elimination strategies Spotting inferences without full calculation

Topics to Focus on Before Solving DILR Questions

Most importantly before you start attempting questions on DILR keep in mind to have complete grasp on the following topics. The below mentioned topics are the basics behind solving DILR questions.

Seating Arrangement
Venn Diagram
Quantitative Reasoning (Focus of Missing Numbers)
Rankings
Puzzles

Also Read: CAT Weightage Chart 2025: Section & Topic-wise Weightage

What Strategy Should You Follow for CAT DILR?

You can follow the strategy that is mentioned to solve questions correctly.

While you are scanning the sets either you go through it for 3 to 4 minutes and then pick at least 4 to 5 sets that are easily doable in the exam. Or else without wasting much time check for 1 to 2 sets that you can quickly solve and which are the easiest so that you can save some time for other questions.
Most CAT academicians and also CAT qualifiers have mentioned that selection of the set is most crucial during the exam. Therefore they advise students to solve the easier ones first as that will help them to score marks and also save time. Wasting your time on tougher questions will only reduce your percentile overall.
Lastly, what we can say is that you must leave those questions that are not doable in the first place and also which are time taking. Rather than focusing on 2 to 3 tougher questions try solving 7 to 8 easier ones correctly.
Patrick Dsouza a 7 time 100 percentiler in CAT in one of his interviews after the results have said that games like Sudoku, Minesweeper, Kakuro, Hidato has helped him to build a thinking process which will eventually aid in solving DILR questions.

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