XAT 2016 result expected before January 31, 2016 may bring pleasant surprise for the aspirants who may get shortlisted at XLRI, SPJIMR, XIMB, IMT and other top rated B-schools despite scoring a bit low percentile.
It has happened in CAT 2015 and it may be repeated in XAT 2016 result. Candidates scoring a bit low sectional percentile in CAT got shortlisted by top rated IIMs, on the same ground you can expect to be at XLRI or other top rated B-school even with a slight dip in XAT 2016 scores.
Simple equation
The significant changes announced to make XAT 2016 easier, instead of making it more aspirant friendly continued with high level of difficulty. While announcing the changes before the XAT 2016 exam, XLRI had earlier shared "The level of difficulty of the questions has also been carefully designed. In order to enable students to attempt as many questions as possible and encourage them to demonstrate all-round skills, the difficult level of the questions has been brought down"
But in view of experts and mentors on XAT 2016 preparation from MBAUniverse.com, VistaMind among others ‘If anything, the above special announcement was most misleading. Students who expected to find an easy paper were left wondering what would be difficult if this paper was easy. XAT 2016 was probably more difficult than the XATs of previous years.’
Expect call from XLRI at low scores
The experts at VistaMind suggest “Ignore that you have written XAT 2016 and start preparing for GDPI. You would be surprised that you would get a call from some of the institutes that you thought was impossible!’
According to the experts it is very much possible that you would score a high percentile – sectional as well as overall with low score in view of the difficulty level in each of the 3 sections in XAT 2016. The raw scores that might get cut off percentile in various management courses at XLRI and XIMB could be as below-
Expected cut offs at XLRI
XLRI has 3 major PGDM programs, the HRM, the BM program and the Global BM Program. The HRM program typically has a lower cut-off than the BM program.
XLRI: PGDM (BM) 2016-18
The first section on Verbal & Logical Ability would need 7 marks out of maximum 26 to clear the cut off and qualify the sectional hurdle. It is expected that the candidates who score 6.5 marks would get 80 percentile and those who score 7.5 marks would be awarded with 85 percentile in VALA section. The minimum required percentile to clear the cut off would be 80 to 85 in this section.
The second and stand alone section on Decision Making might require 7 raw marks out of total 23. This could award 80 percentile needed to clear the cut off in this section for BM course.
The third section in part-1 on Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation would require you to score at least 8 marks out of total 29. This raw score is expected to fetch you 90 percentile-much needed for this section to get into PGDM-BM programme.
The overall raw score needed to be shortlisted for BM programme is expected to remain at 28 marks out of total 78 marks for the first 3 sections.
XLRI: PGDM (HRM) 2016-18
For PGDM-HRM at XLRI you need to score 7.5 marks in the first VALA section; 7 marks in Decision making Section and 6 marks in Quant & DI section. Total score of 26 could get you shortlisted for XLRI-HRM programme 2016-18.
XLRI: PGDM –Global BM
If you are exploring admission opportunity in PGDM Global-BM programme, you need to score 6.5 in the first VALA section; 7 in Decision making section and 8 in Quant & DI section. Total score of 26 may get you shortlisted for this programme.
XIMB Bhubaneshwar
One of the top rated B-schools, XIMB can offer you admission with a score of 25 marks overall. The sectional scores should however be 6.5 in Verbal & logical Ability; 7 in Decision Making and 6 in Quant & DI.
In view of the experts XAT 2016 was decidedly difficult. Even the Decision Making section which at first glance appeared easy, was made complex by the closeness of the answer choices. Verbal area was full of Critical Reasoning questions and the Reading Comprehension passages and questions were atrociously difficult.
Despite the time allotted for the exam going up, the cut offs may still not be high in XAT 2016. For a person who attempted reasonably well in the paper, it is advisable to apply to some of the institutes under XAT and expect GDPI calls. XAT scores are taken for admission not only to XLRI but also to XIMB, GIM, LIBA, IMT, SPJIMR, XISS, XIME with a total number going as high as 148 B-schools.
Self Assessment opportunity
The entire question paper and the answer keys to XAT 2016 test MCQs for Part-1and Part-2 are available on the home page of XAT 2016 website. Candidates can now check their answers for XAT 2016 questions in all the 4 sections comprising 78 questions in first 3 sections on Verbal-LR, Quant-DI and Decision Making and 25 questions in GK section.
While the score in first 3 sections in XAT 2016 will be responsible for calculation of percentile on the basis of which candidates will be shortlisted for final admission round, score in GK section will be accounted for in the final admission, the GD-PI round. If a candidate finds that he has performed well, he should be ready to get shortlisted by the relevant B-school.
XAT 2016 test takers can very well assess their position and can judge the scores they would be going to get based on the accuracy of the answered questions. The explanations are supposed to help the aspirants in ascertaining their chances to be shortlisted by top rated B schools and also provide them guidance for the future.
XAT 2016 was held on January 3, 2016. There were 78 questions in Part – I divided in 3 sections of Verbal Ability with 26 questions, Decision Making with 23 questions and Quant with 29 questions. Each question carried a maximum weightage of 1 mark. The first section of Verbal and Logical Ability had high difficulty level although questions in Decision Making and Quant sections were a bit easier.
XAT 2016 exam began on time at 10 AM and was over at 1.30 PM. The 78 questions in the first part of the exam had to be solved in 170 minutes and the Part-2 of the exam comprising GK and Essay Writing had to be attempted in 35 minutes. Negative marking of one fourth mark for wrong answer was applied while a penalty of 0.05 mark per question was applied in case the test taker left more than 13 questions unattempted.
The composition of the questions in XAT 2016 was more or less same as predicted by MBAUniverse.com earlier. There were no surprise elements either. Those who would score as advised above in each of the 3 sections can expect a call from XLRI and other top rated B-schools like SPJIMR, IMT, XIMB among others.
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XAT 2016: Sectional percentile equally important; cut off to apply in top B-schools
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on XAT 2016
