MBA Entrance Exams India (Updated 2012)
Every
year students from the field of engineering, commerce, arts & science
appear for MBA entrance exams in India. They aspire to
create a mark in the field of management. B-Schools such as the IIMs,
XLRI, FMS, IIFT, S.P.Jain, Jbims, Nitie, Tiss ,Symbiosis ,MDI etc are the
best in the class. The pre-requisite to get into a prestigious B-School
is to clear and score well in an entrance exam. In recent years B-Schools have
come up with different entrance exams. These entrance exams are somewhat
similar to each other however they are different when it comes to the quality
of questions and the number of questions. Here is a brief on these entrance
exams
CAT: Common Admission Test (CAT) is conducted by the Indian
Institutes of Management (IIMs) every year in the month of Oct-November.Over 2,
00,000 students took CAT in the year 2010 and about 1,80,000 in 2011. Only 1%
of this made it to the IIMs. The rest settled for other B-Schools. The exam
consists of 3 sections i.e Verbal & English language skills, Quants and
Arithmetic problems, Data Interpretation and Logical reasoning. There were a
total of 60 questions and total time was 2.15 hrs. CAT 2011 was a computer
based test and had multiple answer choices. The questions carried differential
marking thus one had to be judicious while attempting a question. CAT is the
most reputed MBA entrance exam in India and it is
continually evolved during the last decade.
CAT 2011 Format Structure Analysis
CAT
2011 was an computer based test. Total allotted time was 165
minutes(2 hours and 35 minutes) to a candidate in which 140 minutes were for
the CAT test and 15 minutes for demonstration of how to
give CAT. You can skip these 15 minutes whenever you want and directly
start the test by clicking start tab. However we advise our students to
get familiarization with computer based CAT before they
go further. There were 2 sections:
1. Verbal
Ability and Logical Reasoning
2. Quantitative Ability
and Data Interpretation
You
were given 70 minutes for each section. Once the
first 70 minutes were over you cannot go back to section
1 and make changes in your answers. Each section had 30 question i.e.
total 60.
CAT 2011 Eligibility Criteria
· For
general candidates: 50% marks or equivalent CGPA in Graduation.
· For
SC/ST candidates: 45% marks or equivalent CGPA in Graduation.
· Final
year candidates students in their final year are also eligible
to apply
CAT
2012
It
is a computer based test. Applications for CAT 2012 will start from
the month of August 2012. You can buy CATapplication form from a branch of
Axis Bank authorized to sell the forms
How to prepare for CAT
2012?
CAT
has come a long way from being a speed based test to a quality test. 60
questions in 140 minutes is not very much but the standard of questions has
gone higher with time. Therefore you should focus on higher level of difficulty
in questions. But first get your basics right. This goes for every section. We
advise you purchase Arun Sharma CAT book of quantitative ability,
data interpretation and logical reasoning, and verbal ability. They have
different level of difficulty and they have explained all types of questions
which come in CAT.
For XAT and MICAT Please use the Book Mentioned Above for English and
Vocabulary. This will also help you in CAT.
XAT: Xavier’s
Aptitude Test is conducted by the Xavier’s Labour Relations Institute (Jamshedpur). The test in recent
years has gained popularity for its quality of questions. XAT 2010 was of 2
hours duration followed by an essay for 20 minutes. The topic for the essay was
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not every man’s greed.”
XAT
2010
|
Section
|
Number
of questions
|
|
Verbal
and Logical Ability
|
31
|
|
Data
Interpretation and Quantitative Ability
|
40
|
|
Analytical
Reasoning and Decision Making
|
30
|
*The
negative marking scheme changed compared to XAT 2009. In each section, 0.2
marks deducted for the first six incorrect answers and for every wrong answer
after that, 0.25 marks were deducted.
Recommendation: XAT
is a tough paper & one should keep his nerves calm while .XAT usually is
the last entrance exam and thus many students leave studies before it. One
should rather continue to prepare well. XAT is not a speed based test thus one
should have good accuracy. Colleges accepting XAT score are in this
link:
http://catiim2011.blogspot.com/2011/04/list-of-associate-colleges-for-xat.html
FMS: Faculty
of Management Studies Delhi University conducts its own
independent exam. FMS is one the best B-School in the country. The different
sections of the exam are: Quantitative ability, Verbal ability, English
comprehension, Analytical ability & Logical Reasoning. The questions need
to be attempted within two hour duration. FMS 2011 had 200 questions with 50
questions in each section. It was a test of speed and accuracy.
IIFT: Indian
Institute of Foreign Trade is one of the most prestigious B-school in India. It conducts its own
exam usually in the month of November. IIFT is a paper pencil based test of two
hours duration. It covers the sections of Verbal Ability, General Knowledge
& Awareness, Logical Reasoning and Quantitative Analysis. The IIFT 2011
test was of 2 hrs and had 135 questions in all.
SNAP: Symbiosis
National Aptitude Test is conducted by Symbiosis International University. In 2010 the test had
a total of 150 questions with no sectional cut off. Negative marking of
1/4th was there. The paper consists of 4 sections i.e. English, Quant, G.K
and Logical Reasoning. The paper in 2010 was as follows.
· English: It
consisted of 40 questions with 1 mark each. The questions were of Reading
Comprehension, Verbal Ability, Verbal reasoning, Idioms and Phrases.
Questions varied from easy to difficult.
· Quantitative Ability
and Data: This section consisted of 40 questions of 1 mark each.
· G.K:
There were total of 40 questions of a mark each. Questions were moderate and
were tricky. It consisted of current affairs and G.K questions.
· Analytical
& Logical Reasoning: There were 30 questions in this section with two marks
each. The topics of the questions were: Quant based Reasoning, Missing Numbers,
Linear & Circular Arrangements, Deductions, Data Interpretation, and
Critical Reasoning etc.
· Colleges
under SNAP.
NMAT: It
is the entrance exam for SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management
Studies (NMIMS) Mumbai. This time it was a computer based test. NMAT 2010
gave every candidate 3 chances to give NMAT. The best of the score of any one
was chosen as the candidate’s NMAT score. The first online computer based NMAT
exam held from 30th January 2010 to 8th
February 2010,
had 120 questions compared to 150 in the paper pencil version.
However, NMAT maintained its 3 section format.
The three sections were:
- Language Skills
- Quantitative Skills, Data Interpretation and Data
Sufficiency
-
Logical Reasoning
MICAT : MICAT is held by Mudra Institute of Communication &
Advertising (MICA) . MICA is the best B-School in Indiato offer
courses in Marketing, Branding and Advertising management. The pre-requisite
for MICAT is CAT. However in 2011 only its was only MICAT that one has to pass
through and not CAT. The paper checks your command on English. Its a mix of
quality and speed. The paper comprises of English,Quants, Reasoning
,G.K, Psychological Test ,Picture Story writing and Essay writing.
The paper is divided into 3 sections.
English,Quants, Reasoning in section 1. Picture Story and Essay
writing in section 2. There were 4 essays in 2011 paper. These two sections
were of 2.15 Hrs and half hour section for physiological section. One
has to complete each question in the physiological test
section otherwise the paper will not be checked.
IBSAT : ICFAI Hyderabad organizes IBSAT
every year for its intake. Its a speed based paper
and comparatively easy one.
