While an engineering degree from a good institute can start your career at an annual package of 6-8 lakhs, an MBA degree from equally good B school will get you placed in double digits of 10 to 30 lakhs depending upon your skills. To finally convert the call in top rated B schools like IIMs, XLRI, SPJIMR, JBIMS, FMS, MDI, IMT, apart from a good volume of needed preparation, you have to draw your plan which exams you should appear, how to prepare for each of them as every exam is different in one or other way and get shortlisted to succeed in your mission MBA 2017.
After a month or so from now, you will be confronted with regular notifications on MBA entrance exams proposed to be held from September 2016 to January 2017 for MBA 2017-19 admission. Like their peers, all MBA aspirants eye the top B-schools for admission and think that high overall percentile will get them through but in fact you need to have optimum and equally high sectional percentile in the exam to get shortlisted for final admission round. Accordingly, scoring 99+ overall may become useless if you do not score minimum sectional percentile. It holds true for almost all the management entrance exams like CAT, XAT, SNAP, NMAT by GMAC, CMAT among others.
B-schools prefer to shortlist the candidate with balanced sectional scores instead of choosing the candidate with high score in one section and very low score in other section.
Why to prefer MBA
The growing demand for MBA graduates by the corporate, industry and PSUs is not without substance. The qualities that add value in the short 2 years course will transform your thought process, making the most out of deploying minimum time and energy and above all the leadership qualities that it imparts are beyond your imagination
MBA, the short 2 years post graduate programme is full of so many USPs that apart from graduates from engineering, commerce, humanities, literature, pharma and medicine backgrounds, thousands of executives in reputed organizations aspire to pursue it. MBA is the shortest course which awards highest return and a lifelong career growth. Even if you are not doing anything, the MBA brand that is tagged to you will prompt you to remain in command. You will be one of the most sought after persons with managerial capabilities to take consultation from.
Entrance examinations like CAT/XAT fascinate the takers and they go on taking these tests to find their skill status. A few professors at IIMs still take CAT to know if there is any substantial change in the test.
If you appear in MBA entrance exam in 2016, you will get admission in 2017 and will be able to complete your MBA in 2019. The plan has got to be finalized now as the registrations for a number of MBA entrance tests would begin in the month of July 2014.
If you are serious and wish to pursue your MBA from a top rated B school, you must focus on 5 entrance examinations, diarize their probable dates and begin to prepare according to the exam pattern without wasting your time any further.
NMAT by GMAC: Gateway to NMIMS
NMAT is now NMAT by GMAC after it has been acquired by Graduate Management Council. It is the MBA entrance test for Narsee Monjee Institute Of Management Studies (School Of Business Management) Mumbai and other cities. Around 60000 aspirants take this exam every year. Apart from NMIMS, 17 other institutes will also accept NMAT by GMAC scores for admission to MBA/PGDM 2017-19 programme.
NMAT by GMAC is an online test which can be scheduled during a test window of October to December. Registration for this exam is to begin on July 4, 2016.
Composition of NMAT by GMAC
NMAT by GMAC is an objective type multiple choice online computer based exam to be attempted in 2 hours. The test is divided in 3 sections namely Language skills, Quantitative skills and Logical Reasoning. All the sections taken together comprise 120 questions. Number of questions are maximum in Quantitative section followed by Logical reasoning and Language skills. NMAT by GMAC however, has no system of negative marking.
IIFT: November 2016
Entrance examination to Indian Institute of Foreign trade (IIFT) is another very important milestone which most of the management aspirants would like to achieve. Getting into MBA (IB) 2015 at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade is probably more important than getting into any other B-school. There are around 60000 aspirants who appear in IIFT entrance exam for appx.220 MBA seats.
IIFT has two campuses located in Delhi and Kolkata. The entrance test in 2016 for admission year 2017 in IIFT is expected to be conducted on the 3rd Sunday of November 2016. The test is conducted in a single day across the country.
Registration for IIFT 2016 is expected to open in the middle or last week of July 2016 and may continue till the first week of September 2016.
IIFT entrance test composition
Entrance test to IIFT for MBA 2017-19 programme is proposed to remain a paper pencil based multiple choice question type examination. It is expected to be composed of 4 sections, although one section might be clubbed to another and can be sub divided in part 1 and part 2. Number of questions can be from 115 to 130 in all to be solved in 2 hours. So the time management is another crucial factor as you have approximately one minute per question to answer.
Another feature about this test is that there is varying number of questions in different years with varying marking system in the range of 0.5 to 1. The aspirants can expect to get through if they score 45 to 50 percent. One fourth negative marking is also very important factor to keep you on your guard and avoid any wrong or doubtful attempt.
Sectional composition is expected to be as follows, section-1 – English comprehension & RC passages; Section-2- Quantitative Ability; Section-3- Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation ; Section-4-General Awareness
CAT 2016: Gateway to IIMs
The most sought after MBA/PGDM entrance examination Common Admission Test (CAT) 2016 for admission to top rated B schools like 19 IIMs, FMS, MDI, SPJIMR, IMI, IMT, BIMTECH is expected to be conducted in the month of November 2016. The admissions on the basis of CAT scores will be allowed in 2017. CAT 2016 will be convened by IIM Bangalore. It is a yearly test, taken by around 2 lakh aspirants.
Almost all the top B schools except XLRI accept CAT scores across the country. The registration for CAT 2016 is expected to open in the first week of August, 2016 and would continue till last week of September 2016.
Composition of CAT 2016
CAT is also a computer based test. No exam has gone with so many changes and surprises as the CAT has gone in past 2 years. The test which was conducted in a 16 to 21 days test window with 2 sessions every day till 2013, switched over to 2 days test window in 2014 and to 1 day test window in 2015. Since 2014, CAT has increased the number of questions from 60 to 1000 and has also increased the number of sections from 2 to 3 in 2015. CAT 2016 is proposed to have total time duration of 3 hours with sectional time constraint of 60 minutes each. Candidates are not allowed to move between one section to other.
Registration for CAT 2016 is proposed to open in the first week of August 2016. Now, the test is divided into 3 sections from earlier 2 and is expected to be on the same pattern as that of CAT 2015. The division of sections in CAT 2016 is expected to be on following pattern
| Section |
Number of questions |
Time limit |
Total sectional marks |
|
Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension |
34 |
1 hour |
102 |
|
Data Interpretation & Logical Reasoning |
34 |
1 hour |
102 |
|
Quantitative Aptitude |
32 |
1 hour |
96 |
Students taking CAT are not allowed to move to second section before completion of time for first section nor they can move back from 2nd section to first section once the time for first section is over.
3 marks are awarded for every correct answer, while a penalty of 1 mark for each wrong answer will be imposed. Besides, CAT awards percentile scores on the basis of equated system. It means even if a person scores marks in negative he will be awarded a percentile score and the person scoring the maximum minus marks in CAT would be awarded ‘zero’ percentile and a candidate with lesser marks in minus may have ‘non zero’ percentile. Percentile is awarded section wise as well as overall.
The word of caution is to score high sectional percentile which will automatically improve the overall percentile. The role of sectional percentile score is greater than overall high percentile in order to be shortlisted for final admission round.
SNAP: Dec 2016
SNAP is the mandatory MBA entrance examination for admission to 14 Symbiosis B-schools affiliated to Symbiosis International University (SIU) who will accept SNAP 2016 scores for their respective 2 years full time flagship MBA batch 2017-19.
Termed as an important MBA entrance examination, SNAP is proposed to be held in the latter part of December 2016. Registration for SNAP is expected to open sometime in the month of August, 2016 and may continue till November 2016. SNAP is conducted across 30 cities in India in paper pen mode.
Composition of SNAP
SNAP is a paper pen and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) based examination of 2 hours duration. Candidates are allowed with blue or black ball pen, preferably black as the OMR sheet in black ink can be better read by the system. The test comprises 180 questions divided in 4 sections of Verbal Ability and Reading comprehension; General Knowledge and Current Affairs; Quantitative Ability and data interpretation; Analytical and Logical Ability. Maximum marks are 180 and there is a provision of 25% negative marking for wrong answers.
Although candidates are allowed to attempt any section in any order, sectional cut off is also there. One has to score at least a minimum cut off score in each of the four sections.
XAT 2017: Gateway to XLRI
Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is a national level aptitude test conducted in India by XLRI, Jamshedpur. It is another prestigious entrance examination which is conducted for admission to XLRI and other associated B schools. Around 80-90 thousand candidates appear every year in XAT to get admission in more than 100 B-schools who have been shaping the career aspirations of thousands of candidates every year.
XAT 2017 is expected to be conducted on January 1, 2017 across the country. It’s a one day exercise. Registration for XAT 2017 may begin in the 3rd week of August and would end in the last week of November.
Exam pattern
XAT 2017 is proposed to be a conventional paper pencil mode exam. Candidates have to mark their answers with ball point pen on OMR sheet. Ink or gel pens are not allowed.
The test is divided in 5 sections of Verbal and logical Ability; Decision making; Quantitative Ability; General awareness and Essay writing. Except essay writing all the other questions are of objective type. Entire test comprising about 102-108 MCQs and essay writing has to be attempted in 210 minutes.
The results are percentile based and are declared in the last week of January.
Apart from the above key exams, other important exams which may lead you to JBIMS and other good B-schools are MAHCET 2017, CMAT 2017, MAT 2016 September and December exams among others.
Despite being All India exams, the status of B-schools accepting CMAT and MAT scores remain dubious. There are many B-schools in the AICTE list which claims the CMAT score acceptance, but these B-schools categorically deny accepting CMAT scores.
Draw your plan
Prof S K Agarwal, Verbal Ability expert on CAT/XAT preparation suggests the candidates not to miss any important MBA entrance test and draw their plan now. MBA aspirants should register for all the above important entrance examinations as each one sharpens your skills. He advises to watch for the registration opening date for the above entrance examinations and take following steps-
-- Avoid late registration especially for the online tests where you have to choose the testing centre. You may miss your preferred testing centre, if you register late
-- Don’t delay the serious preparation. It takes not less than 4-5 months to have focused preparation for CAT.
-- Remember all the sections are important in the test. High sectional percentile in CAT 2016 is more important than only high overall percentile
-- General awareness is joining many entrance tests very fast and this cannot be prepared like Quant/DI/Verbal or LR in a few days. Preparing GA is a consistent process so make full use of internet, newspapers, TV news and keep yourself updated for current affairs.
It will make you proud if you get through multiple entrance examinations. It will boost your confidence level as well as more options will be available before you.
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