Your preparation strategy for MAT May 2017 exam is passing through the last phase or must have come to close with MAT May 2017 exam date in PBT format scheduled for tomorrow on May 7. This year MAT 2017 exam has brought more than earlier admission options and many top MBA colleges like JBIMS, SIMSREE, K J Somaiya, N L Dalmiya, PUMBA, Dy Patil among 700 others will accept MAT 2017 exam scores.
There is no doubt that a well devised preparation strategy for MAT May 2017 exam will lead to better scores giving more admission opportunity in good B-schools. According to MAT exam preparation expert and mentor Prof S K Agarwal if you have taken care of preparing with conceptual clarity for MAT May 2017 exam and have made your fundamentals stronger, have gone through properly planned study schedule, have improved well on your weaker areas after identifying them in accordance with MAT Syllabus and MAT exam pattern, you are sure to get a good score in MAT May 2017 exam.
In fact, according to MAT toppers, the top score of 800 in MAT May 2017 exam is not very difficult, if you are well prepared, have taken plenty of MAT Mocks, analyzed them well and have taken care not to repeat the mistakes. After attempting each MAT Mock test, it is advisable to check your percentile with percentile predictor and gauge your performance level.
Revise only: Don’t begin anything new
Since only a day is left to MAT May 2017 exam date, you should devote your time today to revise it only. It is not advisable to study anything new on the last day as it may confuse you further. The best way to revise is to do it by writing. It will save your time and energy.
Attempt MAT Mocks & mark answer on dummy OMR sheets
Your nearest stationary shop must have blank OMR sheets, buy a few of them. You may also download them from various websites for free. Take their prints and use them to solve MAT Mock tests and previous Mock test papers.
MAT Mock tests are available on sites. Attempt MAT Mocks and mark your answers on dummy OMR sheet as it will help you in 2 ways – one that you are able to see the actual type of questions which you will face in MAT May 2017 exam tomorrow and second that you will be able to understand well on answer marking pattern for MAT May 2017 exam.
Another key point you should remember while solving the MAT Mock and checking your MAT percentile after attempting the MAT Mock is to analyse the mistakes that you have made. Take note of these mistakes and make sure they are not repeated.
The best way to analyse MAT Mock is to check it section wise and see whether you know the topic and mistake can be avoided with revision. If the topics on which question is based is new to you, do not try to study it fresh now.
More questions for the section in which you are not able to score good enough, should be attempted and more sectional Mocks and past papers should be solved to get high marks in the particular section.
Focus on Top 4 scoring sections
To save your time and energy, there is no need to revise further on GK as it will not be counted to calculate your percentile in MAT May 2017 exam. You need to score high in the first 4 sections in MAT May exam - Quant, English Language Comprehension, Reasoning, Data Interpretation & sufficiency which are also relevant to CAT/XAT/CMAT and other MBA entrance exams.
MAT Syllabus 2017 and MAT May exam pattern indicate that there would be 200 questions in MCQ format in MAT May exam. MAT exam pattern reveals that it has 5 sections and there are 40 questions in each section. Score of one of the 5 sections in MAT exam, Indian & Global Environment carrying 200 marks will not be included in calculation of percentile score in MAT 2017 May exam as per the practice by AIMA.
According to past MAT exam toppers like Ketan Anand, it is not necessary to attempt GK questions. The section is not taken into account to calculate your percentile and merit score. So save your time on the last day to MAT May 2017 exam and ensure that your first 4 sections are well prepared and attempted.
Revisit the key scoring topics
The weightage to all the sections in MAT exam is equal. If you analyse previous MAT question papers, MAT Mocks, you will find that more questions on following topics frequently appear in MAT exam. You should check how prepared you are for MAT May 2017 exam by going through these topics. Prof S K Agarwal, expert and mentor on MAT preparation reiterates not to begin anything new at the eleventh hour and focus only on revision-
MAT exam analysis reveals that questions in all the 4 sections in MAT exam have remained more or less same in past without throwing any surprise element. If you focus on following key topics, it could help you emerge a winner in the MAT May 2017 exam.
Language comprehension
Out of 40 questions in language Comprehension section 10 are supposed to be based on vocabulary comprising synonyms-antonyms, jumbled words and picking odd man out, inserting correct words to fill in the blanks.
4-5 comprehension passages followed by 4 questions each are expected in the MAT exam. Other questions are supposed to be based on jumbled paragraphs, core grammar usage, summary/main thought essence of paragraphs. Questions are supposed to be moderately difficult and are expected to be answered in 30 minutes, if you attempt the section with due concentration.
Mathematical Skills
Major share of questions in this section are based on Arithmetic like Percentages, Profit and Loss, Time and Work, Averages etc. The difficulty level is expected to be moderate but may consume a bit more time. Candidates with more practice will be able to solve more of the questions within prescribed time. Those who can attempt this section with accuracy may expect a higher score.
Other favourite topics on which questions may be based are LCM/HCF; Probability; Mensuration; Geometry among others.
Intelligence and critical reasoning
Favourite MAT topics in this section are Assertions reasons, Family tree, analogies, Direction, series, cause & effect, calendar, distribution, assertions. The section is supposed to have moderate level of difficulty but may be more time consuming.
Data analysis and Sufficiency
70% of the questions in this section are expected to be on data interpretation. Pie charts, bar diagrams, charts, line graph, and data comparison are the main areas on which the questions are expected in this section. A few questions may be time consuming but overall the questions are supposed to have moderate difficulty level.
Indian and Global environment
This section is not taken into account to calculate MAT percentile score. MAT 2017 May exam scores will keep this section as qualifying, although it is an integral part of MAT question paper. Scoring well in this adds to your scores and your score card also reflects it. In the final admission round good B schools may consider the score in this section also.
Questions in this section are based on conventional GK, business and economics, current affairs, International events, Who’s who. 15 minutes is a sufficient time to answer this section.
Time Management with speed & accuracy
Time Management is a big issue in MAT exam. There are 200 questions to be solved in 2½ hours (150 minutes). It means less than a minute is available to solve a question. On the top of it each question carries a negative marking of ¼ mark.
It requires good time management with speed and accuracy to maximise your attempts and score high in MAT May 2017 exam. If you mark one wrong answer, you will lose the credit for the question and will be imposed a penalty also, pushing you back in score. So the need is to maximise your attempts within the below suggested time limit for each section
|
Section no. |
Section Subject |
Number of questions |
Suggested time to solve (In minutes) |
|
1 |
Language comprehension |
40 |
25 |
|
2 |
Mathematical skills |
40 |
40 |
|
3 |
Data Analysis and Sufficiency |
40 |
35 |
|
4 |
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning |
40 |
40 |
|
5 |
Indian and Global Environment |
40 |
10 |
|
|
Total |
200 |
150 |
Choose the question smartly
There is no need to take any question as a challenge as all the answers will carry equal marks in MAT May 2017 exam. You have the liberty to move between the sections as there is no sectional time constraint, so you can maximise the attempts and solve the easier section first moving to the more difficult one.
There are candidates who begin well usually, with the first section in MAT. They consider themselves strong in the section and start from the very first question. They continue solving questions in the same section one after another without realizing that in their zeal to maximise the attempts, they are losing time rapidly. Later on, they have to struggle through a few very tough questions and it may take plenty of their time which may not be available then.
The other sections which you could not attempt so well despite having the guts may cast the penalty of low scoring. So don’t take any question as a challenge and don’t stick to one section only because you have pretty good idea about it.
It is advisable not to waste time, In case you find the question beyond your reach, switch over to next one. You may come back to it, if time permits.
If you find that you have zeroed on two answer options and have to choose one of them, give a few seconds to visualize and choose the preferred one. But don’t try to gamble and it will be better to skip the question.
Testing room strategy on MAT May 2017 exam date
To avoid mistakes in MAT May 2017 exam, adopt the following strategy in testing room
- Target high percentile to get an edge over your peers
- Make 4 to 5 attempts per section. The best doable questions should be covered in the first attempt followed by more difficult questions.
- Skip the questions which you do not find doable in the first instance. If time permits, come back to it.
- Begin with the most favourite section. Also try to maximise attempts in last section as you may get tired by the time you reach the last section.
- Don’t try to cram your head with the unknown type of questions that may cause fatigue.
- Go to the examination hall with open mind to attempt any type of questions.
Please note that MAT scoring pattern is different from other MBA entrance exams. There are 160 questions divided in 4 sections scores of which are taken into account to calculate your percentile in May MAT 2017 exam. Each question carries maximum 1 raw mark and after scaling your MAT raw score goes up many times. This score is converted to highest composite score of 800. Roughly it means that your 1 question will carry 5 marks in your final composite score. Accordingly 160 marks are converted to 800 marks. On the basis of this score, you will get your percentile.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on May MAT 2017exam
