NMAT by GMAC 2016: How much helpful are the previous year exam experiences this year

Columnist & Author, MBAUniverse.com

Updated on August 10, 2015

It is but natural for the NMIMS aspirants to understand and know well if the NMAT exam in its new form NMAT by GMAC allows them to utilize the previous year experiences for their benefit or the exam will be in an entirely different format

The previous year exam experiences of NMAT will tremendously help the candidates going to take the first NMAT by GMAC as it will have same structure and content

With the change of name of the exam from NMAT to NMAT by GMAC, the mandatory exam for admission to MBA 2016-18 batch in NMIMS and other universities, the prospective candidates aspiring to appear in NMAT by GMAC are a bit perplexed whether the experiences and pattern of previous exam will be followed this year also or it will be a different exam.

NMAT by GMAC on the pattern of NMAT
In fact despite the transfer of its ownership from NMIMS to GMAC, the first NMAT (Now NMAT by GMAC), the exam has not changed its contents although a few user friendly changes to smoothen the test taking process have been introduced. The first NMAT by GMAC exam from October 6 to Dec 19, 2015 will follow the similar question types and similar sections with same time limit, so that the candidates appearing in first NMAT by GMAC may follow the similar preparation pattern as they did for earlier NMAT exams. Besides, GMAC doesn’t want to provide any different experience to the test takers in the examination hall in the first exam. Hence NMAT by GMAC will be conducted on the same pattern on which NMAT used to be conducted without changing the ingredients of the test.

3 attempts to maximise score in NMAT by GMAC
NMAT by GMAC is going to offer 3 attempts to the candidates to maximise their scores in the prestigious entrance test. If an NMAT by GMAC aspirant is not satisfied with his performance and thinks that he/she can improve the scores by taking NMAT 2016 again, the test can be rescheduled for ‘Retake’ but with a minimum gap of 15 days.

The scheduling to retake the NMAT by GMAC begins on October 6, 2015 and will continue till December 18, 2015. Candidates have an option of retaking NMAT by GMAC up to 3 maximum attempts, including “no shows”. It implies that ‘No shows’ will be considered as attempts. Once your registration for the retake is complete you will receive an email with authorization to schedule the retake for NMAT by GMAC.

You can schedule the retake test on a date 15 or more days after the most recent date of attempt. This means you will have to wait at least 15 calendar days before you can appear for a retake attempt in NMAT by GMAC. You can schedule your test any time during the retake scheduling window, subject to real time availability. You will be able to select any slot that is a minimum of 24 hours later than the time you carry out the scheduling transaction.

Test on previous pattern
The NMAT by GMAC will be a computer-delivered exam. The exam will give each candidate a randomly generated test from a pool of questions, delivered one-at-a-time. The number of questions, difficulty levels, and the time limit for each of the sections in NMAT by GMAC is predetermined and, under normal administration conditions, will be the same regardless of when and where the test is administered. Candidates have a choice of selecting the order/sequence of the test sections. The same pattern was followed in previous NMAT exams. The candidates therefore, do not have to worry as the previous pattern of NMAT exam is followed by NMAT by GMAC.

Question sections on previous pattern
The NMAT by GMAC as per earlier NMAT exam pattern will have 3 sections – Language Skills, Quantitative Skills and Logical Reasoning. All these 3 sections of NMAT by GMAC will be individually timed. Test takers must answer questions and review answers of each section within the allotted time. Test takers are supposed to review their answers before moving to another section of the exam, as once the candidate closes out of a section, all answers are final.

The sections and time limits shall be as follows-

NMAT by GMAC Exam Components	Expected number of questions	Estimated time to solve in minutes
Language skills	32	22
Quantitative skills	48	60
Logical Reasoning	40	38

Question type: similar to previous trend
NMAT by GMAC will have 120 MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) as was the previous trend of NMAT exam. The type and pattern of questions would also more or less remain the same. The overall time limit has also not been changes and the questions are to be solved in 2 hours (120 minutes). No descriptive type of questions would be asked in NMAT by GMAC.

Besides, in accordance with previous NMAT exam pattern, the NMAT by GMAC test takers will be allowed to select the order of the sections to attempt the exam in accordance with their preference. There will be sectional as well as overall cut offs in NMAT by GMAC as happened in earlier NMAT exams. The necessity is to perform well relative to other candidates in each of the 3 sections to get shortlisted for final admission.

NMAT by GMAC not to penalize for wrong answers
Keeping the same scoring pattern of NMAT, the NMAT by GMAC also does not propose any negative marking in the exam. In fact sometimes candidates are just not sure of the right answer on the test and are running out of time. Now the candidates can make an informed guess instead of skipping a question without the fear of a penalty for a wrong answer.

The best part of NMAT by GMAC is that it has retained the structure of NMAT exam without changes and whatever changes are introduced like more payment options for registration fee, facility to send scores to 7 programmes for free are in fact more aspirant friendly. The previous year exam experiences of NMAT will tremendously help the candidates going to take the first NMAT by GMAC as it will have same structure and content.

NMAT by GMAC will have a 75 day testing window beginning October 6 and closing on December 19, 2015. The exam is mandatory entrance test for admission to various MBA/PGDM programmes 2016-18 batch not only to SVKM's Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS School Of Business Management) but also to 11 other universities and B schools.

The registration for NMAT by GMAC was opened on July 2, 2015 and will close on October 5, 2015. Approximately 70000 aspirants are expected to appear in computer based NMAT by GMAC.