XAT 2017: Crack XAT with high score - 25 days strategy by Expert

The Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is probably the second most important MBA entrance exam after CAT according to Prof Arks Srinivas, CEO, VistaMind Education. Though SNAP and NMAT compete very closely with XAT in terms of the number of people writing the exam yet the fact that XLRI Jamshedpur which is among the top 5 management institutes in the country and a few other institutes select students only on the basis of XAT makes this exam a coveted exam to crack.

Unlike last year, the exam pattern has not been announced as yet by the XAT team. However, the basic structure of the exam has remained same for a long time and basis that one can plan the Strategy for XAT 2017, says Prof Srinivas.

Understand the XAT Pattern
XAT 2017 exam to be held on January 8, 2017 will be a paper based test. The test is divided into two parts Part I and Part II. Following details share the pattern along with number of questions for the past two years
Part I*

MCQs (No of Choices per question) : 5
Negative Marking :

S no
Section

XAT 2015
# Qns

XAT 2016
# Qns*

TOTAL TIME GIVEN
140 min
170 min

1
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning
28
26

2
Decision Making
23
23
3

Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation
33
29

Total
84
78

*Marking for unattempted questions is - 0.05 marks (The negative marks only from the 14th unattempted questions)
Part II

Total Time Allotted : 30/40 minutes
General Awareness : 25 questions
Essay writing : 1 Essay
No Negative Marking

XAT 2017 Exam Strategy
According to Prof Arks Srinivas One cannot attempt a Competitive Exam without a proper strategy to tackle the vagaries of the exam. The Strategy detailed below would typically be aimed at ensuring two main points.
1. Reading every question in the paper so that one doesnt miss out on sitters
2. Maximizing scores to get the best percentile possible.
Given below is the Strategy for overall time division for the paper

S no.
Section
No of Questions*
Time Allotted
(in min)

Expected Attempts
1
VA & LR
25-28
40
18-20

2
DM
22-25
50
17-20

3
QA & DI
26-30
60
12-15

4
Buffer
20
3-5

Total
73 - 83
170
50 60

*Expected no of questions in XAT 2017
Buffer time should be used to give to that section to maximize the score OR use that time to give it to that section so as to get the cutoffs (if in danger of not crossing the cutoff marks in a particular section)
Part II - GK & Essay (30/40 Min)

In the Part II of the paper, there is expected to be a GK section with 25 questions and an Essay to be written. The marks of Part II are taken only at the time of the Interview (for XLRI) and wont be used at the shortlisting stage for the GDPI.
This year, the GK questions may not be specific questions and may have general questions with options, which require common sense to decide! One should finish the GK part in about 10 minutes and give 25 minutes for the Essay.
XAT essay writing in last 3 years
The Essay topics for the last three years were
XAT 2016: Technology and Nature are Natural Enemies
XAT 2015: Listening is a dying art. We hardly listen to understand, we only listen to refute or reply
XAT 2014: Corruption is the root cause of economic slowdown in India
The essay should be around 300 words with at least three paragraphs

Introduction to the topic while taking a stand
Pros & Cons of the Issue/topic while giving examples to support your stand
Conclusion based on a summary of the above arguments with concluding comments !

Final Word
After IIFT, CAT, NMAT & SNAP, XAT happens to the last of the mega MBA entrance exams for this season. Also, apart from XLRI, more than 150 institutes take the XAT scores including SPJain, XIM Bhubaneswar, LIBA, GIM among others.
Give it your best shot and make the most of the remaining few days for the XAT preparation.

You should take a few XAT Mock tests to assess yourself. MBAUniverse.com & VistaMind offers you to take free Mocks and guage your preparation at https://goo.gl/forms/it0OsBb3GsL5EuQ03