XAT 2015: Your academics have major role to play; keep the details updated till Admission

Updated on September 30, 2014

Beginning from Registration process till the final round of admission process, XAT 2015 aspirants will need to keep their academic details updated

"XAT is aimed at assessing the holistic make-up of the candidate. We are not looking at merely imitators, but creators" Prof Munish Thakur, Chairperson XLRI Admission and XAT 2015 convener

Beginning from Registration process till the final round of admission process, XAT 2015 aspirants will need to keep their academic details updated. Academics play an important role in XAT 2015 registration process, getting shortlisted for GDPI after XAT 2015 written test and finally in getting admission offer from XLRI or other top rated B school associated to XAT 2015.

According to Prof Munish Thakur, XLRI Admission Chairperson and XAT 2015 convener “XAT is aimed at assessing the holistic make-up of the candidate. We are not looking at merely imitators, but creators. Test takers may be very good at attempting objective Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) but may not have real life driven written communication skill, or a wider perspective on important issues of our times, which is a basic requirement. The candidates in XAT are tested on both the counts and would then be shortlisted based on their performance in essay writing as well.” The message is clear that apart from high XAT 2015 percentile, candidates need good academic profile as well, to get shortlisted for GDPI round.

XAT 2015 is to be conducted by XLRI on behalf of XAMI. The test will be held on Sunday, January 4, 2015 in paper pen mode in a single session in 47 cities in India and 2 international cities. XAT 2015 on line registration will remain open till November 22, 2014.

XLRI has been conducting Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) for the last 60 years at All India level. XAT is aimed to select the most appropriate candidates who wish to pursue management education. Apart from XLRI, XAT scores will be used by 11 member institutes and 100+ other B schools as the criteria for admission to MBA/PGDM programmes for 2015-17 batch.

Academic details needed in Registration process

Complete Academic details beginning from standard 10th onwards need to be inserted in the application form during the process of registration for XAT 2015. You are required to fill up not only the stream of your academic study but also the percentage of marks that you secured at various exams.

Although XAT 2015 specifies no age bar, but a candidate of 50+ years of age and holding 2 years graduation degree awarded in mid eighties in any diversified stream like Humanities; Commerce; Science is not eligible to apply as minimum 3 years’ graduation is required to appear in XAT 2015. So the concept of ‘old is gold’ may be good for Engineering/ Medical/ paramedical/Law back grounds but not for erstwhile other graduate degree holders.

Your Academics: Criteria to get shortlisted for GDPI

According to ‘Sansarg-XLRI Call Getters Connect’ a student representative body at XLRI Jamshedpur “Group Discussion, Personal Interview, Essay and GK shall be duly considered as part of the evaluation by the interviewers and will be given due weightage by the same. Unlike other B-schools, XLRI does not disclose the distribution for each of the above. It is counterproductive to think in that direction.” Accordingly, Candidates with excellent academic profile even with slightly less XAT 2015 scores would stand a better chance to be short listed for GDPI.

For example a candidate scoring 98 percentile with good sectional percentile in XAT 2015 but having an average academic record may not get short listed for GDPI whereas a candidate with 96 percentile with good sectional percentile and excellent academic record may be short listed for final admission round. Written exam has a 50% weightage in admission to XLRI in XAT. Rest of the weightage is distributed among the following achievements-

Academic Profile

Work Experience

GDPI round which assesses your communication skill, ethics and values, General Awareness

Searching admission to XLRI: Avoid spelling mistakes

Your academic excellence is tested through your documents also. XLRI doesn’t like a candidate making spelling mistakes. So beware of making any spelling mistake. Spell-check your documents thoroughly. Don’t depend only on ‘spell check’ in word, go through it yourself. You just cannot afford a spelling mistake in an XLRI Personal Interview.

Your CV: Reflection of Academics

You are required to prepare your short CV of one page before GDPI round at XLRI. Unlike other B schools, XLRI wouldn’t give you a prescribed format to prepare the CV. You have to write it on your own in the best possible manner.

The suggested ingredients in the CV are your academic career, achievements both professional and academic, extra-curricular activities and anything else which you feel would help the interview panel understand you better. Please remember your CV will reflect your communication skill and attitude also. So be careful while preparing it.

You have to market yourself on whatever parameter you want to. Although bringing a CV is recommended but not at all compulsory in XLRI GDPI round, it gives you an edge, so prepare it well and bring it along.

Academic profile: composition at XLRI

More students from technical and business back ground prepare hard and get admission in XLRI. The ratio of other diversified academic profile is also increasing but still with their expertise on Quant, Data Interpretation, Decision making, more engineers, financial consultants, business administrators, strategic thinkers, marketers, pharmacists get admission in XLRI. Majority of students are from engineering background. Next academic back ground stream is finance.

Apply for more than one programme: Stand a better chance

Candidates may apply for more than one programme in XLRI. Those who apply for multiple programmes may be called for multiple interviews and/or group discussions after XAT 2015. The selection criteria for different programmes may differ depending on the nature of the programme. XAT 2015 written test will have multiple components and you need to maximize your performance in each of these components.

According to XLRI “In its pursuit of academic excellence, XLRI actively encourages the students from diverse backgrounds. While preparing the shortlisted candidates for the interview, in addition to XAT performance, XLRI may factor in academic ability and the relevant work experience.”