After getting over with your CAT 2014, IIFT 2014 now is the time to appear in XAT 2015. The forthcoming XAT 2015 will bring the opportunity to get admission in highly ranked B schools which are as good as older IIMs and IIFT. The institutes like XLRI, SPJIMR, XIMB, IMT, LIBA, TAPMI are highly ranked and give high ROI with good learning experience. The fact that XLRI does not accept CAT scores as IIMs do not accept XAT scores is an example to the glory of XLRI.
Synchronize between question booklet and OMR sheet
Prof S K Agarwal, Verbal Ability expert and mentor on XAT preparation emphasizes that the need is more to take mocks for XAT 2015 right from now as only a month remains to appear in XAT 2015 and the delay will result in imperfect practice sessions. In his view those who appeared in paper pen mode IIFT entrance test immediately after CBT CAT 2014 can well understand the intricacies of a conventional paper pen MCQ based test which need more practice to synchronize between the printed booklet of a test paper and the OMR answer sheet. Despite knowing the correct answers candidates forget the order of marking on OMR sheet and the entire hard work sans practice turn into a futile exercise on the actual test day.
XAT 2015: Only hope now
Number of candidates who appeared in CAT 2014 new pattern exam couldn’t complete the test to their expected level. Now they are worried lest they score low marks in CAT 2014. The only hope is XAT 2015 now and unless a proper number of relevant mocks for XAT 2015 are attempted, it will be difficult to get into a very good B school in 2015. The need and importance to take more mocks for XAT 2015, hence is more than earlier.
Take Mocks on same pattern
XLRI, the XAT 2015 conducting B school has already announced that XAT 2015 will be similar to earlier XAT exams with same paper pen conventional pattern, test duration and number of sections in the exam.
Now the XAT 2015 aspirants have to focus and practice more on the similar paper pen mode examination pattern and prepare the topics they have earlier appeared or they anticipate in the forthcoming examination. Right type of Mocks will also guide you to prepare a few more topics.
Nothing new: Work on strong areas
The suggestion however is not to begin any new and difficult topic which can consume more of your time. It will be better to work more on your strong areas and after analyzing the mocks, find out the weak areas among your strong areas. Work more on them, further strengthen them and see that you are answering properly by correctly marking on the OMR sheet.
Begin focusing on Sections: Manage time
XAT 2015 will have no time constraints but has overall time limit. It also has sectional cut off. Taking more Mock tests as per XAT 2015 pattern will help you to decide how much time you should spend in one section and how much you will need to score to clear the cut off.
Unless you know your capabilities how to score the maximum out of minimum time spent, you may not be able to score a high balanced sectional percentile which is a must in XAT 2015.
Apart from the MCQ test the essay writing is also an important part for which you need a good volume of practice before the actual test day. XAT 2015 mocks will be a great assistance to achieve this goal.
Mocks with appropriate Difficulty level
XAT 2015 aspirants would have approximately one and a half minute per question to solve. No body answers all the questions and GK in XAT is usually covered in 10-15 minutes. The questions are to be attempted according to the difficulty level in the actual exam. If your mock for XAT 2015 has all the easy or less difficult questions you may be scoring high in mocks but are not doing justice to your preparation level. In such Mocks even high scores are meaning less. The Mocks are supposed to have a mix of difficult and easy questions, so that you can properly evaluate your preparation level.
In view of Prof S K Agarwal, expert on Verbal Ability and mentor on XAT preparation, aspirants need to attempt mocks on real time basis. If the XAT 2015 Mocks are offered on the same pattern as earlier with the same difficulty level and the aspirant is able to solve more than expected number of questions, it means either the aspirant has prepared very well on versatile topics and has practiced well, this in turn must have improved his/her efficiency level since he/she can attempt the same question in less time, or the mock test is not properly balanced and has thrown before the aspirant more number of questions from some particular type of topics only.
The former situation is good but the latter may lead to a misconception which is far from being good. Therefore the Mocks should be in accordance with the similar difficulty level as expected in XAT 2015.
Mocks: Parameter to Analyze your ability
Mock tests can prove to be the only solution to analyse one’s ability to take XAT 2015. What errors I made, how to select the right type of questions in the test. Aspirants go on making similar mistakes of omitting the doable questions and getting stuck on difficult questions and then getting them wrong. All this can be understood with the help of Mock tests of right quality and their analysis.
The next one month should be devoted to such attempts and improvements to ace XAT 2015 with a high percentile.
One month on Mocks will help improve the attempts
Devote next one month on right kind of Mock tests as per the XAT 2015 pattern. This will help you improve your attempts. Number of times XAT aspirants suffer from the problem of low attempts. This happens even when they have necessary expertise to solve the questions. More practice on Mocks will show the way to come out of this dilemma and the areas where you can improve.
Weigh the strengths and weakness
According to Prof S k Agarwal when we prepare and practice, it’s but natural to think that we have improved. The thought goes on and on the day of test all is not well. Unless you take plenty of right kind of mocks, you may never know where you stand. What are your strengths and weaknesses and which are the areas that need further improvement.
You may be having some strong areas in your weak ones and some weak areas in your strong ones. The strengths are to be further strengthened and weak areas are to be made strong. It’s not only knowledge and expertise but also your ability to choose right kind of questions in the test. You may attempt more questions and may attempt a few of them wrong, the negative marking will push you down in the merit and entire hard work, energy, time and money you invested will become futile. Mock tests are the panacea to this disease and can make you aware of these issues so that you may further improve in XAT 2014 new pattern.
2 Mocks a week
The golden advice is to attempt at least 2 mocks a week till XAT 2015. The next one month will give you an opportunity to solve around 8-10 Mocks, if you go by this suggestion. If you attempt a mock on Sunday, get it analysed on the same day, if possible. Mark your weaknesses by next day. Refer to the clues and get ready for the next mock on Wednesday or Thursday. All this will help you getting richer on your XAT 2015 preparation day by day.
XLRI will conduct XAT 2015 on behalf of XAMI on January 4, 2015 in a single session in paper pen mode. XAT 2015 will a 3 hours test comprising MCQs and essay writing. Online Registration for XAT 2015 will remain open till Dec 8, 2014. MBAUniverse.com would like to forewarn the prospective XAT 2015 test takers to avoid the last day technical glitches that may occur due to heavy rush of applications on the last day of registration process which is not expected to be extended any further. XAT 2015 aspirants should finalize their registration and application at the earliest to avoid the eleventh hour technical and net connectivity problems.
Related Links
XLRI: Go get grab your Dream B School; XAT 2015 is round the corner
XAT 2015 Application form: Know the procedure to apply
XAT 2015 would be similar to XAT 2014 says Dr Munish Thakur, Convenor XAT
XAT 2015 exam date: notification out, exam on January 4
XAT 2015 to assess multidimensional capability: XLRI Admission Chair
XAT 2015: 7 Steps of Registration; fill up the information with patience
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