ATMA 2012: Paper pattern & guidelines for the test

ATMA, the MBA entrance exam conducted by Association of Indian Management Schools has been announced, which will open the door for MBA admissions 2012-14 at leading B schools. Unlike previous years, there is a major change in the mode of delivery of the exam.

ATMA which was traditionally a paper pencil based test will have two avatars from 2012. ATMA will be held five times in the year 2012. While the first one will be held in the usual paper pencil based format, the next four tests will be held in the online format.

The important dates for ATMA 2012 are as follows:
The registration process has started from Tuesday, November 22, 2011 and the process will end on Friday, January 27, 2012.
The first paper pencil based exam will be held on Sunday, February 12, 2012.
The next exams, which will be held in the online format, will be held on Sunday, April 29, June 2, July 29 and August 19, 2012.
Talking about the dates of the exams, Dr. Apoorva Palkar, ATMA 2012 Chairperson and Director, Singhad Institute of Management and Computer Applications said, We want to give the candidates more chances to take the test. Those who wont be able to take the test in February can take the test in the online in the months of April, June, July and August. We have not chosen the months of March and May as most of the universities will conduct their exams in these months.

ATMA 2012 Pattern
The test contains 170 questions spread over six Sections. Each Section is timed separately. The duration of the test is three hours. The questions cover Analytical Reasoning Skills, Quantitative Skills and Verbal Skills.
The sections, number of questions and their duration are as follows:
Section Question Context related to No. of Questions Duration in minutes
A Quantitative Skills I 30 35
B Verbal Skills I 25 30
C Analytical Reasoning Skills - I 30 30
D Quantitative Skills II 30 25
E Verbal Skills II 25 30
F Analytical Reasoning Skills II 30 30
Total 170 180

AIMS has given certain guidelines for taking the exam/for answering the questions. The instructions given are as follows:
Before starting to attempt, read the directions carefully. Clear familiarity with the directions and questions is necessary. It is important to read the directions for each set of questions carefully. All the necessary instructions and guidelines will be given in the Test Booklet, ATMA says.

The questions are numbered serially from 1 to 170. Start answering from the first question and proceed serially, mentions AIMS.

You may find a wrong question in the exam, but you dont have to worry about it. AIMS ensures by saying, In case you find a mistake in the framing of the question or the answer choices given or both, you need not waste your time on them. You will be given credit for any such question if found incorrect in design.

You should manage your time wisely. You will get around one minute for each question in every section on an average. In order to balance time and attempts, you should choose the questions carefully.
As ATMA says, A candidate is not expected to answer all questions within the specified time frame. You are advised to proceed through the test at an even pace, skipping the more difficult questions, wherever necessary. You can return to the unanswered questions later, within the time specified for each section. If you wish to review your answers in a section, you can do so only in that section within the time limit.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more on ATMA 2012.