IPMAT 2020: Exam Pattern Revised; Last Minute Tips and Dos & Donts for Exam Day & Test Taking Strategy

IIM Indore has completely revised the IPMAT 2020 exam structure, marking scheme and final selection process for IPM 2020-25 batch. IPM aspirants should now be aware that the IPM AT exam, with so many changes in its pattern will be conducted on September 7, 2020 in the afternoon as a computer based test. 

IPMAT 2020: 5 Key Changes in Exam & Selection Process

• Total questions reduced to 60 from 100 earlier
• Sectional Time limit reduced to 30 minutes for each section from 40 earlier
• Test duration reduced to 90 minutes from ealier 120 minutes
• Maximum Marks reduced to 240 from 400 earlier
• Selection process will be based on Video Assessment instead of personal interview

IPMAT 2020 preparation time is now over and you should gear up for the IPMAT exam day. Your focused attention should now be on revisiting and strengthening what you have learnt, more practice sessions, taking Mocks, identifying and improving upon your errors, removing your weaknesses and further strengthening your strong areas instead of conceptual clarity, strengthening of fundamentals or starting anything new.

For the candidates seeking admission in IIM Indore 5 year Integrated Programme in Management (IPM) 2020-25 batch with BBA+MBA degree, this article on IPMAT last minute tips for exam day and test taking tips, will help the test takers to score high percentile in IIM Indore IPMAT 2020 exam.  Here are the Key tips 

IPMAT Last Minute Tips for Exam Day
If you are positive, remain cool and calm throughout the exam, you can score high and remain motivated.  Any feeling of pessimism or the stressful feeling, fearing some problems related to preparation, exam room strategy or unanticipated technical glitches just before IPMAT 2020 exam day is uncalled for and unfounded. You have to take the bull by the horn. Be confident and remain motivated, any dip in the confidence level at the eleventh hour may turn the tables against you.

1. Check the Revised IPMAT Exam Pattern, Time Duration, Reporting Time
Please see below if you have missed anything regarding the IPMAT 2020 exam pattern before reading other important tips

• IPMAT 2020 is an objective-type test comprising MCQs and Short Answer (SA) questions
• There are two sections namely Quantitative Ability and Verbal Ability
• There are 60 questions (Redu ced from earlier 100) in total in IPMAT 2020 exam
• IPMAT 2020 test duration is reduced to 90 minutes from earlier 120 minutes
• Each correct answer carries 4 marks. 
• There is a negative marking of 1 mark for each wrong answer for MCQs.
• There is No Negative marking for Short Answer (SA) questions
• Candidates must answer the sections in a pre-specified order and this order is same for all the candidates.
• Quantitative Ability section has a time limit of 60 minutes
• Verbal Ability section has a time limit of 30 minutes.

IPMAT IIM Indore: Test Structure

Section Name	Questions format	Number of Questions	Time duration for the section (In minutes)
Quantitative Ability (QA)	Multiple choice (MCQs)	20	30
Quantitative Ability (QA)	Short Answer (SA)	10	30
Verbal Ability (VA)	Multiple Choice (MCQs)	30	30

 Read More

2. No Sleepless Night before Exam Day
No Sleepless Nights before the exam day is the key to succeed in IPMAT. Sleep before 4-5 IPMAT exam day is of utmost importance. Many IPMAT toppers not only take full sleep 3-4 days before the exam, they also take mocks during the time of actual IPMAT till 1-2 days before the exam.

7 hours of sleep before the exam is good. One cannot emphasize on the importance of a well-rested body and mind for the test-day. So, it is recommended to take 7-8 hours of sleep, light breakfast/meal a hour before the test and lots of water to be had during the test.

3. Download your IPMAT Admit Card & Gather Other Documents
IPMAT 2020 Admit card was released at 5 PM on August 26, 2020. If you have not yet downloaded and taken print of your IPMAT 2020 admit card, do it now and don’t wait for exam day. At least one or two days before the exam, you should collect and organize all the documents and items required for the exam day. The important documents include

• The hard copy of IPM AT Admit Card, duly signed and photograph pasted on Admit Card is mandatory to be carried at the exam Centre.
• Only two documents are allowed inside the test hall – 1.Admit Card (Duly signed and photograph pasted on Admit Card); 2.Original Photo ID card & one self attested Photocopy of the Photo ID

4.  Important Do’s for Exam Day

• Visit Test Centre a Day Before the Exam: Ascertain the exact location of the test venue at least a day prior to the IPMAT exam day to check for the travel time and transport availability
• Arrive Early: Reach the test venue well before the time on the exam day
• Use Rest Room Before the Exam Starts: Before entering the testing room, use the rest room as you may not get time and may not be allowed to leave the testing room during the exam duration
• Handover Your Phone to Local Guardian: Instead of bringing your phone to test centre, hand it over to your guardian living nearby so that they may be contacted in case of emergency

5. Don’ts for IPMAT Exam Day

• No Jewellery in Testing Room: DO NOT wear any jewelry or other items containing metal.
• No Phones, Smart Watch, Electronic Gadgets allowed: Do not carry Mobile phones or any other electronic gadgets such as Smart watches, calculators are NOT ALLOWED inside the test centre.
• No Personal Belongings: There is no facility for safekeeping of your personal belongings outside the test hall and IPMAT exam centre or IIM Indore will not be responsible for its loss.
• No Stationery in Testing Room: No stationery items like pen, pencil, paper are allowed inside the test centre. Rough pad/ Sheet(s) and pen will be provided to the candidates for rough work, which will have to be returned after the test. Candidates should clearly write their name and application number on the rough pad/ Sheet(s).

IPMAT Last Minute Test Taking Tips  

1. Be at Your Best Performing State
Experts and IPMAT toppers suggest to be at your best performing state. The strategy for IPMAT day is to be at your best performing state. You can get this state by being well fed, not sleepy and having a calm mind. Have a light lunch before exam, have perfect sleep the night before and have enough confidence on the day of the exam so as to avoid any panic.

2.  Take IPMAT Without Stress: Treat Like Another Mock
IPMAT toppers suggest to take the IPMAT  just like any other aptitude test. Keep reminding yourself it’s just an aptitude based test and you just need to perform to your full potential without any panic attack. You must be performing well in yours mocks and try to give yourself some confidence by thinking of your mock percentiles.

The reason for taking different mocks is to make you so comfortable with the pattern that the final exam would feel like any other mock. In the last week focus more on the revision of concepts and analysing your previously attempted mocks.

3. IPMAT Test Taking Strategy – Plan in Advance
As your aware of IPMAT exam pattern, fomat and syllabus, you should plan your test taking strategy in advance. On the actual test day, remain very calm and confident. You should plan how to attempt different sections. For example, in VA section, plan whether to do all the RCs and then proceeded to grammar, vocabulary, parajumble, and other questions or vice-versa. In QA, attempt the easy ones first followed by difficult ones.

4. Learn to Say ‘No’ to a question
Only lot of Reading and trying to attempt all the questions without assessing and managing the limited time available in IPMAT exam is not a good practice. Knowing more only is not sufficient, you should learn to say ‘No’ to a question and move to the next as time available is less. Focus equally on all the sections. The time spent on one single difficult question will go waste as there are equal marks for each correct answer. It is very much possible that you may attempt correctly two questions instead of one only during the same time that you have spent on the difficult question. So better to skip it.

5. IPMAT last minute tips: How to attempt the exam Section wise?
Following section wise test taking tips will help you to improve your score and crack the entrance exam:

Last Minute Tips for Verbal Ability Section
In the Verbal Ability section first of all attempt the questions based on idioms and phrases, vocabulary, fill in the blanks. Complete the doable questions in 5-10 minutes. You need to solve around 10 such questions with accuracy. You can attempt these questions in first attempt as no guess work is required.

In next 20 minutes for verbal ability section, attempt following questions:

• Grammar based questions - correction of errors in sentences
• Other such questions based on Vocabulary which could not be solved in first attempt
• Questions based on Reading Comprehension passages
• Questions on Jumbled paragraphs
• Critical Reasoning questions
• You are required to solve around 17 questions on these topics with accuracy in 30 minutes. 

Last Minute Tips for Quantitative Ability
You should spend around 20 minutes to solve Quant questions and adopt the following strategy:

• In the first attempt choose only most doable questions. 
• Don't attempt such questions which are difficult or you are doubtful about their answers
• Solve around 12 questions 

Final Attempt round

• You have already solved doable 25-26 questions in 50-55 minutes
• Now you are left with a little more difficult questions
• By now you have also gone through the entire question paper
• You still have good time left to attempt the remaining test paper
• In next 10 minutes try to attempt as many questions as possible
• Move on to maximise your attempts and avoid very difficult questions
• Target 10-12 questions but do not feel bad if you are able to solve around 7-8 questions

Final submission

• At even less than 90% accuracy, you can expect to be shortlisted for personal interview
• Ensure that you have followed the instructions for attempting the exam 

More seats in IIM Indore IPM 2020-25
IIM Indore has increased its intake in IPM 2020-25 batch to 150 students from earlier 120. Accordingly, more candidates will find admission opportunities in IIM Indore 5 year IPM programme this year.

The candidates who clear the Aptitude Test would be shortlisted and shall be called to appear for Personal Interview as per the admission norms of IIM Indore.

After three years of intensive study at graduation level of BBA, the IPM participants at IIM Indore train as managers along with the participants of the Institute’s Two Year Post Graduate Programme in Management, undertaking the same course package in management studies in year 4 and 5.

The IPM students have bagged offers from recruiters like Deloitte, J P Morgan, HDFC, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICRA Management Consulting, Nomura & Tata Sky among others.

Established in 1996, IIM Indore is the sixth in the family of 20 Indian Institutes of Management. Since its inception, IIM Indore has been acting as a leader in the field of management education, interfacing with the industry, government sector and PSUs. IIM Indore is registered as a Society under Societies Registration Act, 1973. Prof. Himanshu Rai is the new director of IIM Indore.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on IIM Indore 5 Year Integrated Programme in Management