What This Book Actually Is
Arun Sharma's Quantitative Aptitude is one of the most referenced books for Indian competitive exams — CAT, XAT, NMAT, and similar MBA entrance tests. It covers arithmetic, algebra, geometry, number theory, and modern math topics. The book is split into chapters with theory sections followed by practice sets arranged by difficulty level. That structure is why people keep searching for it as a PDF. I've been coaching for these exams for years, and I've seen this book used by thousands of students. It's not perfect. But it's thorough. The examples are well chosen. The exercise sets scale from basic to advanced in a way that actually works if you follow the progression.
Quantitative Aptitude By Arun Sharma Pdf Free
There are countless websites claiming to offer the book as a free PDF download. Most of them are sketchy. Some host malware-laden pages. Others just redirect you through ad networks until you close the tab. I can't recommend any specific piracy site. What I can tell you is that the legitimate way to get the book is through Amazon, Flipkart, or the publisher's website at Pearson India. The latest edition runs around 900 pages and costs roughly Rs 450 to Rs 600 depending on the retailer. That said, I understand the financial pressure many students face. If you find a free PDF somewhere, make sure your antivirus is active before opening it. I had a student once who downloaded a copy from a forum link and got three pop-up infections within minutes. He ended up reinstalling his OS. Not worth saving sixty dollars.
How the Book Is Structured and What Each Section Does
The book opens with a diagnostic test. Take it seriously. It tells you where your baseline stands. I've watched students skip this and start reading Chapter 1 straight through. That's inefficient. You'll waste time on topics you already know and underspend time on the areas that actually need work. After the diagnostic, the chapters break down like this: arithmetic covers percentages, profit and loss, ratios, averages, time speed distance, time and work, and mixtures. Algebra includes linear equations, quadratic equations, inequalities, and functions. Geometry handles triangles, circles, coordinate geometry, and mensuration. Number Theory is its own section and it matters more than people think. Modern math rounds it out with permutations combinations, probability, and logarithms. Each chapter follows a pattern. Theory first. Then solved examples. Then practice sets at three difficulty levels. Level 1 is basic. Level 2 is exam-level. Level 3 is CAT-level tough. Move through Level 1 quickly. Spend real time on Level 2. Level 3 is optional depending on your target score.
What People Get Wrong When Using This Book
Most students treat the theory sections like novels. They read them cover to cover without solving anything. That's a mistake. The theory is reference material, not something you absorb passively. Read a paragraph. Close the book. Solve two problems from that section. Repeat. That cycle builds actual retention. Another common error is skipping Number Theory. Students assume it's too advanced or too niche. In CAT, Number Theory questions show up regularly and they're often the ones that separate good scores from great ones. Sharma's treatment of divisibility, remainders, and HCF LCM is solid. Don't gloss over it. I ran into a specific problem last year with a student who was drilling Level 3 problems in the Time Speed and Distance chapter. He was getting stuck on questions involving trains crossing platforms with changing speeds. The issue wasn't that he didn't know the formula. It was that he was trying to set up complete equations every time. I had him switch to a relative speed approach where he only calculated the combined speed once and used that consistently across variations. His accuracy in that topic jumped from about 40 percent to 85 percent in two weeks. No different book needed. Just a different approach to the same problems.
Counter Intuitive Things About This Material
Here's something most guides won't tell you: the order of chapters in the book is not the optimal order to study them. The book arranges topics by mathematical classification. Your exam doesn't care about that. Start with Arithmetic. It's the foundation. Everything else builds on percentages and ratios. If your percentage concept is weak, you'll struggle with profit loss, compound interest, and data interpretation simultaneously. Another thing: the solved examples in the book are useful but they're not the hardest version of each concept. The practice sets at Level 2 and 3 are where the real exam pattern lives. I've seen students who only did the examples and then walk into the exam unprepared for the actual question complexity. Do the examples for understanding. Do the practice sets for proficiency.
When This Book Won't Help You
If you're targeting exams outside the MBA entrance space — like government banking exams or SSC CGL — this book is overkill in some areas and undercoverage in others. Banking exams emphasize simplification, approximation, and data interpretation heavily. Sharma's book touches on these but doesn't dedicate enough volume to the rapid calculation techniques that banking exams require. For those, you'd be better off with a book specifically designed for banking aptitude or you'd need to supplement with additional practice materials. Similarly, if your foundational math is very weak — say you're struggling with basic algebra or fractions — this book will frustrate you. It assumes you have at least a Class 10 level grasp of math. If you don't, spend a month on basics first. NCERT textbooks from Class 8 to 10 will rebuild that foundation faster than you pushing through Sharma and failing repeatedly. The Level 3 problems in some chapters are genuinely difficult. Not exam difficult. Textbook difficult. I've timed myself on a few of them and they take 8 to 12 minutes each. In the actual CAT, you won't have that kind of time on any single quantitative question. Knowing which Level 3 problems to skip is a skill in itself. Mark the ones that feel like pure puzzle construction rather than application of core concepts and come back to them only if you have extra time after attempting everything else.
Practical Study Plan Using This Book
Allocate two months minimum. Study five days a week. Six hours per day split between this book and mock tests. The mock tests are non negotiable. Reading the book without testing yourself is just decoration. Take one full mock every weekend and review it thoroughly on Monday. Thursday should be dedicated to revisiting the topics you missed in that mock. Track your accuracy per chapter. Not your speed. Accuracy first. Speed comes naturally when you stop making silly errors. I had a case where a student was solving Level 1 problems in under thirty seconds but getting 30 percent wrong. He slowed down to ninety seconds per problem and his accuracy went to 95 percent. His speed was actually better in the end because he stopped needing to redo calculations. Don't collect multiple books. One solid resource used well beats five resources used poorly. Sharma's book is one of the better ones available. Pair it with previous year question papers and you have everything you need for most MBA entrance exams.
