XAT 2015 Analysis: More questions and surprise elements call for better time management

XAT 2015, held on January 4, 2015 had more number of questions than used to appear in earlier XAT exams. XAT 2015 had surprise elements also with number of questions placed in the exam from forgotten topics. MBAUniverse.com forewarned the aspirants to watch out for the same. The aspirants who paid heed to the suggestions and tips shared with them definitely did better in the test. Questions on number of forgotten topics with higher level of difficulty, increased number of passages, questions which had different trend and didnt appear earlier, appeared in XAT 2015 marking their presence in Various sections.MBAUniverse.com learning team presents a quick analysis of the examination.

More Number of questions

As predicted by MBAUniverse.com, XAT 2015 had 114 MCQ type questions. The test paper was divided in 2 parts. Part one had 3 sections viz Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning with 28 questions; Decision making with 23 questions; Quant & DI 33 questions. The first part was supposed to be solved in 2 hour 20 minutes (140 Minutes). The OMR sheets for first part were collected and a break of 5 minutes was given after the first part of XAT 2015 was over.

Unless too emergent, candidates were not allowed to go out of the testing room during the break. The second part contained 30 GK MCQ type questions and an essay writing topic. During these 40 minutes candidates were seen spending 10-20 minutes to solve GK questions as the number of GK questions was higher in XAT 2015. They preferred carving out more time from Essay Writing. Ideally the candidates who devoted 15 minutes to GK and 25 minutes to essay writing could do better.

The exam was considered moderate and the questions overall were doable. However a few question sets in Decision Making and Data Interpretation were more tricky and consumed more time. Verbal Ability Questions were also doable although questions on RC passages were a bit more difficult. Quant was found doable with a few questions found to be very difficult.

Better time management needed

Although the comprehensive paper pencil based test could be attempted with any question from any section, the fear of sectional cut off called for the time management and candidates had to attempt the questions from all the sections in a balanced manner. The test had the time duration of 2 hours and 20 minutes for first three sections with an additional time of 40 minutes for General awareness and essay writing. The questions were moderate to difficult, a few of them flummoxed the aspirants as the difficulty level was higher than XAT 2014.

In fact, it was the time which the candidates were trying to manage as more calculation intensive questions consumed a lot of time. Getting stuck to any of the questions meant slowing down and losing the opportunity of scoring more marks. As was advised earlier also, the concept to be followed in XAT is always go on moving else one cannot complete the test.

Sectional division of questions

Verbal Ability and Logical Ability 28 questions
Quantitative Ability and data interpretation 33 questions
Decision making 23 questions
General Awareness 30 questions (wouldnt count for percentile calculation)

Verbal & Logical Ability

Verbal Ability and Logical Ability had the prominence of questions on Reading comprehension passages. There were four passages followed by 4 questions each making a total of 16 out of 28 questions. All the passages were of around 500 words. Hence, more than half of Verbal ability section was covered by Reading Comprehension. Passages were moderate to difficult and had rich literary language with penetrating questions. Those who studied the passages carefully were able to answer the questions more quickly as sufficient information was available in the passages.

Verbal Ability had questions based on core grammar concepts in the form of fill in the blanks on usage of verbs, subject verb agreement, appropriate words, synonyms, prepositions, articles. Questions were also framed to identify the parts of speech as used in the sentences like nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunction. MBAUniverse.com repeatedly suggested the aspirants to go through these topics.

There were 3 questions on Jumbled paragraphs in XAT 2014. The questions were easier than in CAT but more difficult than the ones appeared earlier in XAT. Each question had 4 small one/two line sentences to be formed in a coherent manner. Although the questions were tricky, aspirants could attempt the same with attentive reading.

Logical Ability had questions on statements, premise, conclusions, and were doable with application of systematic logic. However, the questions had to be read with concentration.

VA Surprise element in XAT 2015

The surprise element of XAT 2014 has again been repeated in XAT 2015. XAT has placed a question on inferring the last sentence of paragraph which so far used to appear in CAT. There was a long blank to be filled in with the correct option to complete the last sentence of para. This type of question in Verbal Ability section first appeared in XAT 2014.

Decision Making

23 questions on Decision Making were tricky as well as time consuming. Questions were based on sets as well as there were 3 single questions. The 5 sets were based on situation and also included one set of questions based on Venn Diagram. Candidates found the questions that followed the information sets more tricky and time consuming and preferred to attempt the single ones.

A few of the questions had incomplete information which had to be inferred by the aspirants. Answers also had close options. But with attentive reading of the given information, correct answers could be opted . Those who attempted 10 to 12 in this section may be considered as having done well.

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

The 2 sets of Data Interpretation were more difficult and time consuming. The section was more difficult compared to earlier years. More time was required to solve the 33 questions comprising Quant and DI topics. Percentage, Time speed & distance, Geometry, Mensuration, played an important role in formation of questions in this section.

The section needed better time management as it needed more time to solve. Getting 18 onwards correct can be rated a good attempt to get the call from very good B school.

General Awareness

This section had 30 questions based on business, economics, finance, national and international current affairs, committees, appointments, books and authors and other conventional topics. Indepth and regular reading of GK would have helped more as a few GK questions in XAT 2015 were more tricky and needed intensive reading. MBAUniverse.com shared important GK questions on various topics and areas for the benefit of aspirants and most of the questions in the XAT 2015 were directly or indirectly related to such topics. Besides, candidates were advised to prepare the stuff on current affairs related only up to a fortnight before the test. Those who followed these guidelines did better in the test.

Essay Writing

Essay writing in XAT is the test of writing skill of an aspirant. This section needed a well worded essay on the abstract topic Listening is a dying Art, we only listen to reply and revert and not to listen. Aspirants who prepared with MBAUniverse.com also brought innovation in writing by getting to the core of the various topics.

The topic was not difficult and those who wrote after giving a thought to outline produced a better piece of writing in 20-25 minutes. Ideal size of essay would have been around 300-400 words. Essay in XAT plays important role in the final selection PI round as questions are based on it. MBAUniverse.com published model essays on contemporary issues as well as on abstract topics especially for the benefit of XAT takers.

Assessment

Overall examination was moderate to difficult and those who attempted the test with judicious time management may expect to get through with a high percentile. A fair attempt of 65 to 70 questions with not more than 6-7 incorrect may expect a call from leading B schools like XLRI, XIME.

XAT 2015 is the gateway to top rated B schools and it was a good opportunity for those who couldnt score high percentile in CAT 2014 to improve their percentile and explore admission possibility in XLRI, SPJIMR, IMT, XIMB, LIBA, TAPMI and other more than 100 B schools.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on XAT 2015