SNAP 2017 Analysis: Lengthy Reasoning, difficult Quant to bring down cut offs at SIBM Pune

‘A lengthy paper like SNAP 2017 needs more time to solve, I could have attempted more questions, but the time was short’ – was the reaction of the SNAP test taker, Sumit who thinks that he could have attempted many more questions, had there been more time allotted to solve the test paper. This is not the reaction of Sumit only, almost all the test takers who appeared in SNAP 2017 today came out of the SNAP test centre uttering these words.

SNAP 2017 was rated as slightly more difficult than last year by the test takers. Based on the feedback from the candidates, not only MBAUniverse.com but also the preparation centres like Career Launcher, T.I.M.E. have revealed this fact and the anticipation is that the cut off at SIBM Pune, SCMHRD would go down for MBA admission 2018.

The Reasoning was reported lengthy and the Quant was on difficult side. Verbal Ability and Current affairs were also not easy. It is expected that SIBM Pune cut off may go down to around 66-67 marks in SNAP 2017 exam.

SNAP 2017, the first computer based exam in the history of SNAP test for MBA admission to 15 Symbiosis institutes got over at 4PM on December 17. The duration of the exam was from 2PM to 4PM on Sunday December 17, 2017. SNAP 2017 remained a single session exam without any change in sectional composition of questions. The exam was held in 102 test cities as an online computer based test.

SNAP 2017 Analysis & Cut off predictions: MBAUniverse.com, CL, T.I.M.E

A lengthy exam
The first reaction after the SNAP 2017 paper was over, was more or less same from all the SNAP 2017 test takers who reported that the paper was a bit more difficult and lengthy and needed more time to solve.

There were 150 questions in SNAP 2017 exam and the allotted time to solve the question paper was 120 minutes. So less than 1 minute only was available to attempt 1 question. Reasoning was found lengthier than other sections. Current Affairs (GK) section was found a bit on difficult side but focused on last 2 years’ events in the revised exam pattern. This fact was already shared by MBAUniverse.com and the candidates were advised to focus their preparation on Current Affairs on last two years events.

Difficult SNAP than last year, expect low Cut offs : Career Launcher
The Analysis by Career Launcher has rated SNAP a difficult exam on following counts:

• The types of questions differed significantly from the last few years.
• Overall, the paper was more difficult as compared to that of last year.
• The sections were jumbled up.
• The English section was dominated by RC and vocab.
• The Reasoning section had only one question on Verbal Logic.
• Overall, the English and GK sections became much tougher.
• While LR continued its saga of incomprehensible question types, Quant turned out to be more painstaking as compared to previous years.

Expected cut offs by CL
Overall the paper was slightly tougher than last year, and students would have done well to attempt about 85-90 questions with 80-85% accuracy.

Suggested time distribution and attempts:

Difficult than last year: T.I.M.E. Analysis
In view of T.I.M.E. also, ‘SNAP exam, conducted on 17th Dec 2017, in the computer based test format for the first time ever, had the same pattern as it had last year. The overall difficulty level of the exam was higher as compared to last year’s. Since there was no sectional cut-off, it made the job of the students a lot easier i.e., they could focus on maximising the overall score instead of perforce trying to improve their sectional performances in tougher sections.’

T.I.M.E. Analysis highlights

• RC passages were lengthy in nature with around 1000-1100 words. Passage 1 was lengthy and was on “The right to be left alone” or “Privacy” taken from “The Indian Express”. The questions included Title and Tone of the passage and four ‘specific detail’ questions.
• RC Passage 2 was equally lengthy and was on “The Founding Fathers of Australia.There were 5 ‘specific detail’ questions and 1 Vocab based question. Around 20-22 can be considered to be a good number of attempts in this section.
• Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency was lengthier and relatively trickier. This was unlike last year when the section had more doable questions. Surprisingly, the weightage of Pure Maths was a little on the higher side.
• There were only two DI sets which were not calculation intensive and should be on the easy-moderate side for most of the students. There were no DS questions this year.
• One question was ambiguous (p^q =169) and two other questions did not have the correct answer options (1. Sale of two FM Radios, 2. DI question on the technicians and carpenters).
• Current Affairs had no static GK questions. Most of the questions were difficult. There were few easy questions but none of them can be categorised as sitters at all. Around 7-9 attempts in the section in around 10-15 min would have been good for this section.
• Analytical & Logical Reasoning section, unlike last year, apart from the standalone ones, had a few set based questions also. Added to this, there were some tough ones to crack. The level of the section could be pegged at a moderate level of difficulty. Around 18-20 attempts could be considered to be a good attempt in this section.

Cut-Offs predicted by T.I.M.E
T.I.M.E has predicted following cut off scores for top Symbiosis institutes as under:

Overall Analysis of SNAP 2017: Highlights

• Quant was a little more difficult. SNAP test had emphasis on Arithmetic in the QA section 
• Reasoning was lengthy
• Verbal Ability, Current affairs were also on difficult side
• Overall paper was found lengthy and needed more time
• Overall cutoff is expected to go down to 66-67

SNAP 2017 Paper composition

Section-wise Analysis & Cutoffs
SNAP requires the test taker to keep moving on and not waste time on any question that he/she is not able to answer. Solving 150 questions in 120 minutes requires presence of mind and speed also.

General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability
The English section had no surprises but it was a bit more difficult despite being on expected lines. The RC passages were not very difficult. Any student who had given time to attempt the RC passages would have got full marks in the same.

Fill-in-the-blank (FIB) questions were of moderate difficulty level. The section had dose of Vocabulary with Synonyms, Antonyms, Analogies and Idioms and Phrases. Questions on jumbled paragraphs were also doable.

A student who could give about 30 minutes to this section would have attempted close to 25-26 questions and a get a comfortable score of 21+.

Major Topics & Questions: General English
Following were the major topics on which questions were framed in General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability section of SNAP 2017:

• Overall Section: Lengthier than last year
• RC passages more lengthy
• Difficult vocabulary words in many questions
• Higher weightage to Vocabulary & Grammar based questions

Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interprattion, Data Sufficiency
The Quant section with DI and DS was very much on the expected lines but was a little difficult. The QA questions were individual questions while most DI and DS questions were in sets.  There were more questions based on Arithmetic. Besides, Algebra, Geometry, Pure Math, Mensuration also played an important part.

A good student who had spent about 40 minutes in this section could have attempted 24 questions accurately.

A good score in this section would be anything more than 19.

Major Topics & Questions: Quantitative Ability
Following were the major topics on which questions were framed in Quantitative Ability section of SNAP 2017:

• Overall Section: More Difficult than last year
• Higher weightage to Modern Math and Geometry
• No on-screen calculator available

Analytical and Logical Reasoning (LR)
This section was a nightmare for a lot of students. The fact that since last year, SNAP has increased the number of questions and reduced the marks made it difficult for students to score more in this section.

Except for a few questions, most of the questions in LR were either difficult or time consuming.

There were questions on Clocks, Calendars, Blood Relations, Coding-Decoding type among others. Overall this section was not easy. The student who could spend about 30 minutes would attempt around 15 to 20 questions.

A good score in this section would be around 15 marks.

Major Topics & Questions: Analytical & Logical Reasoning
Following were the major topics on which questions were framed in Analytical & Logical Reasoning section of SNAP 2017:

• Overall Section: Lengthy & Difficult
• Major topics of questions were Puzzles, Verbal Reasoning among others

Current Affairs
The GK section in SNAP 2017 had questions from the current affairs and general knowledge areas and that too from the past two years. The section was slightly on difficult side.

A student who is a regular reader of News paper and follows news would find this section on doable side.

Good attempt in this section would be around 11 questions and getting a positive score of 5-6.

Major Topics & Questions: Current Affairs

Following were the major topics on which questions were framed in Current Affairs section of SNAP 2017:

• Overall Section: Moderate to Difficult
• 19-20 questions on Indian national events – Business, economy, Governance, sports, Who’s who, Books, Awards
• 10-12 questions on International events

SNAP 2017 Cut offs
Expected cut off at SIBM Pune could be 66-67 marks, while it could be 58-59 for SCMHRD and 49-50 for SIBM Bangalore. The expected cut offs in top B-schools are:

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on SNAP 2017 exam

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