XAT 2015 is only a day away. Tomorrow on January 4, XAT 2015 aspirants will arrive at the respective exam centres at 9.30 AM, an hour before the scheduled commencement of the exam. Please remember XAT 2015 will have the same duration of 3 hours with more number of questions in the test. Instead of 103 MCQs XAT 2015 will have 114 MCQs. The sectional bifurcation is going to be as follows Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning-28 questions; Decision making-23 questions; Quant & DI-33 questions ; GK-30 questions. Be prepared to attempt judiciously as the exam has uniform marking system with ¼ negative marking.
What should be the strategy on the day before the test and what are the useful last minute tips to help the aspirants in the examination are some of the questions which go on knocking all the time. Learn how to best utilise your day before XAT 2015 and the last minute tips to improve your score from Prof. S.K. Agarwal, expert on XAT preparation.
It will be quite helpful to visit the XAT 2015 website. Familiarise yourself with the rules and regulations and how to attempt the XAT 2015 in the examination hall. Please attend to the following guidelines, before getting ready for the test.
MBAUniverse.com has placed a good number of topic wise exercises and comprehensive Mock test along with more than 100 probable GK questions for the benefit of prospective XAT takers on its homepage. You should attempt this practice test to assess yourself.
No fresh topic: Focus on tricks and shortcuts in Quant and DI
It is not recommended to go for any fresh preparatory topic on a day before the examination as it creates more confusion than clarity. However, in case you feel that some formulae, topic already learnt by you need a quick revision, you may go for that. For example what type of questions you can solve with trial and error method; what could be the shortcut to find out the interest; percentage of profit and loss; how to quickly arrive at the desired number; how to compare the DI data in diagrammatical or graphical presentation; how to arrive at the square root of some typical number and so on. The strategy to be adopted may be as follows
Quick revision in Reading comprehension
Questions on Reading comprehension in this section may be 16 to 18 based on five passages. You must have practiced a lot on them. However, brush up your practice and read at least one editorial on any abstract topic to find out how much you have understood. You need at least 80% proper understanding of the same else you won’t be able to answer the questions effectively.
Tips to revise grammar and Vocabulary usage
Give around 30 minutes to practice the various types of questions that appear in Verbal Ability section especially on the already learnt topics. It will be better to revise and practice the available questions in this section as they are not very difficult but are tricky and have confusing close options.
Revision tips
- Collective nouns like team, committee, jury etc. when taken as a unanimous group must have singular verb, when divided they will have plural verb. (The jury has decided; The jury were not able to reach a decision)
- Comprise is not followed by ‘of’; consist is always followed by ‘of’(The committee comprises five members; The committee consists of five members)
- Use of articles ‘a’,’an’ is sound based and not alphabet based. It should be ‘a university, a European, an honest man, an honourable person.
- No conditional clause can be in future, it should be – If I do…..; If I did…….; If I had done…; main clause for the same may be – I get the result or I will get the result; I would get the result; I would have got the result.
Last minute tips on Essay Writing
Read a few model essays and think how would you write an essay extempore in 25-30 minutes. In the examination hall you may be given any topic to write. Please do not begin writing immediately. Spend a few seconds, even a minute to gather the thoughts and to frame an outline. Essay may be as short as 300 words but must have relevant information, coherent flow of thoughts, should conclude in balanced manner and with a positive note.
Be quick in Decision Making
Read and understand the given data, facts, information in the passage. It is advised to go through the information with an open mind and read it attentively. Read the questions one by one. Then move to get the available information, whether you have all of that or the requirement is more than the availability. Analyse the information, fit it into a problem solving structure. Once the give data is classified, arriving at the answer will be easier.
Make a to-do-list: Follow XAT 2015 instructions
In case you are not well aware about the location of your XAT 2015 exam centre, please make a visit to the Test centre today. This will help you to understand the distance, time taken to reach the test centre, availability of conveyance. Once you comply with it, you will be tension free.
Prepare a comprehensive but short to do list for the day and the list should contain organising the stationery and papers necessary for the examination, updating yourself about the time and venue of the test, how to mark answers correctly on OMR sheet, estimation of time to be consumed from the place of your stay to the venue of examination, ascertaining the mode of conveyance, the dress you would like to wear on the examination day, and a little last minute revision.
Important – Please note that items like cell phones, calculators, watch calculators, alarm clocks, digital watches with built in calculators/memory or any electronic gadgets shall not be allowed in the examination hall. It is better to avoid the same.
Required documents
Following documents are invariably required to be carried to XAT 2015 exam centre
2 copies of XAT 2015 Admit Card
You will have to carry 2 hard copies of your XAT 2015 Admit Card. You need to paste a passport size photograph on the hard copy of the Admit Card with your signature in the space provided for the same in the admit card. One copy of your Admit Card with photo and signature on it, will have to be submitted at the exam centre.
In case you have not scanned the recent photograph in your application, you are required to carry one with you.
In case Admit Card is incomplete
If your XAT 2015 Admit Card does not have your photograph and signature printed on it, you can get a provisional Admit Card from your exam centre. The procedure to obtain the provisional Admit Card is to visit the XAT 2015 exam centre assigned to you on Saturday Jan 3, 2015 (Today) along with a print out of the Admit Card, Proof of payment for XAT 2015, Copy of XAT confirmation page, 2 passport size photographs, photo ID proof in original as well as 2 copies of the same.
2 Ball Point Pens
You are supposed to carry 2 black or blue ball point pens with you since XAT 2015 is a paper-pen based exam.
Your ID Proof
Please remember to carry your ID proof with you at the XAT 2015 exam centre. Valid ID proof could be Driving Licence, PAN Card, Passport etc.
Be open to all the questions
Do not get biased before the examination. Even the topics that are underprepared may give you pleasant surprise. Maximise your attempts with speed and accuracy. It is not advisable to go for guesses since a penalty of one fourth negative marking for every wrong answer will be imposed.
Manage the time
Remember there will be 140 minutes to solve 84 questions divided in 3 sections. Every section has individual cut off also. It is advisable not to spend too much time on one question or one section only. Divide your time judiciously and evenly to score high in each section.
Please reach in time, occupy the seat allotted to you by verifying the seat number, pasted on the desk and also indicated in the admit card. When you get the Test Booklet, please check that all the pages of the booklet are in order. In case of any defect, immediately bring it to the notice of the invigilator.
Important points to note
Following points should be noted and understood while going to appear in XAT 2015
- XAT 2015 is a 3 hours exam. The exam will begin at 10.30AM and will be over at 1.30PM. The reporting time is 1 hour before. You are required to report at 9.30 AM at the exam centre.
- XAT 2015 will be divided in 2 parts. The first part will be of 2 hrs 20 minutes (140 minutes) containing 3 sections of MCQ type questions. Second part will be of 40 minutes consisting of GK (MCQ type questions) and essay writing test. There will be a break of 5 minutes between the 2 parts.
- You will not be allowed to leave your seat till the exam is over. So when you are seated in your assigned seat before the beginning of the exam, please occupy it after getting free from rest room etc.
- Rough work is supposed to be done on the margins of the XAT 2015 test booklet
- You will be allowed to take the question booklet with you after the exam.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on XAT 2015
