Keep your XAT, NMAT, CMAT strategy ready along CAT prep

As major MBA Entrance exam dates have been announced for academic session 2014-16, your Prep strategy must include simultaneous preparation for other exams like XAT, NMAT & CMAT even as CAT would be over in October-November.

Your simultaneous preparation for other MBA exams can add many other admission opportunities at top B-schools.  For example, XLRI’s XAT will be held in January 5. The two month gap between CAT & XAT gives you enough time to prepare for XAT provided you are mentally prepare for that. After the XAT exam, second CMAT of the season will be held in February. This again gives you a one month gap to prepare for the test after XAT. You can also schedule your NMAT test date in December so that you get some breathing space to prepare for that exam also after your CAT.

Thus a well planned preparation strategy can ensure good scores in different exam and hence admission opportunities at top B-schools. While the basic preparation that you would do for CAT will help you prepare for other entrance exam also, you must analyze the pattern of other exams as well to keep yourself mentally prepare to switch over to preparation for XAT, CMAT, NMAT at appropriate time.

Thus, sustaining your prep momentum for other important MBA entrance exams during and after CAT is very important to ensure admission in 2014-15 academic year.

The major MBA entrance exams dates have already been announced.

Unique Features of MBA Entrance Exams:
While CAT is considered as the most prestigious and recognized entrance exam for MBA admission, the other entrance exams like XAT, NMAT, CMAT are also known for some of their unique features.

Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT)
While other major MBA entrance tests have become computer-based, XAT continues to be a paper pencil test.

Though your CAT preparation will cover most of the XAT syllabus, you will need consistent preparation for the General Awareness section that was added only last year in XAT.  The paper of XAT 2013 was divided into two sections, each with different scoring sheets. The first part had multiple-choice questions for three sections – Verbal Ability, Decision Making & Quantitative Aptitude. The time allotted for it was 2:20 hours. The second part had essay writing and General Awareness questions and time stipulated for it was only 40 minutes. 

NMIMS Management Aptitude Test (NMAT): 
NMAT offers you two more re-take after your first attempt. The best of the three scores are used for admission process.

NMIMS School of Business Management (SBM) conducts NMIMS Management Aptitude Test (NMAT) for admission to its different management programmes including two Year Full -Time programs MBA, MBA – Banking, MBA – Capital Market, MBA-HR, & MBA-Pharmaceutical Management at Mumbai campus and PGDM at Bengaluru & Hyderabad Campuses. The testing window for NMAT is spread over the months of October–December.

NMAT is an objective type multiple-choice test. (There will be no descriptive type questions).
The candidate should note that it is important for them to perform well relative to other candidates in each of the 3 sections of the test as the score of each section and the overall score is used to shortlist the candidate for the second stage of the selection process as well as in the final ranking. Please note that there will be no negative marking.

Common Management Admission Test (CMAT)
The CMAT is conducted twice for every academic year. For example, while the first CMAT for admission year 2014-15 will be held in September this year, the second test will be held in the month of February next year. The better of the two scores are considered for the admission process by different B-schools.

CMAT is a three-hour test. The sections are: quantitative techniques & data interpretation, logical reasoning, language comprehension and general awareness. The total number of questions is 100, with 25 questions in each section. There is negative marking of one mark and each correct answer will fetch four marks. The overall difficulty level of the exam is easy to moderate.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more news and prep articles on MBA Entrance Exams.