MAT 2019 December Exam Analysis: Moderate Difficulty Test with No Surprise Element; Remains on Similar Pattern

MAT 2019 December Paper Based Test has got over at 12.30 afternoon on Sunday December 8, 2019. The paper based MAT 2019 December exam did not have any surprise element and has remained on similar pattern of last PBT MAT exam held in September. The exam had a few difficult questions in Language Comprehension, Data Analysis & Sufficiency and Quant sections. A few questions in Intelligence and Critical Reasoning section were also found a bit tricky as compared to earlier MAT exams.

LIVE!MBAUniverse.com MATPercentile Predictor-Check Your % in 5 Minutes Now
AIMA has again changed the order of conducting MAT exams in December 2019 and is once again conducting PBT MAT before CBT MAT. Earlier in September 2019, instead of conducting paper baased MAT first, the computer based MAT exam was conducted a week before the PBT MAT.

There were more than 50 MAT exam centers for paper based MAT exam while the number of candidates appearing for computer based MAT exam are fewer so the MAT test centres for CBT MAT are about 12. AIMA has announced to declare MAT December 2019 exam result on December 28.

The December MAT 2019 exam analysis reveals that AIMA has adopted a different pattern of conducting MAT exams in a single month. The detailed MAT exam analysis consists of MAT exam structure, difficulty level - overall and section wise, surprise elements, key topics and questions in the exam, sectional composition, important topics asked section wise and expected Cut offs in top MBA colleges accepting MAT score.

MAT 2019: December Exam Highlights

• Test contained4 RC Passages of 500 words followed by 20 Questions in Language Comprehension section
• 2RC Passages were opinion based and were on Abstract ideas, while 2 were fact based
• Reasoning had a few tricky questions otherwise the section was moderate
• Reasoning had 18-20 questions based on Family Relations and Statements Cause & Effect
• Data Analysis and Data Sufficiency as separate section had more questions on Graphs and Pie charts
• Data Sufficiency had a few difficult questions on Graphs and Pie charts
• Arithmetic had major share of questions of moderate difficulty level in Mathematical skills section
• Paper Based MAT on December 8, 2019 contained some of the difficult questions in Language and Data Analysis also.
• Candidates have shared the feedback that the MAT 2019 Paper based test on December 8 was moderate although parts of Verbal, Data Analysis & Reasoning took some more time to solve.
• Candidates would need higher scores as there would be tough competition in getting admission to a good MBA college.
• Overall raw score of 110 is expected to fetch 90+ percentile cut off in MAT exam

Overall Analysis

• There were 200 questions divided in 5 sections in MAT 2019 December exam
• All the questions in MAT exam carry equal marks.
• Every right answer is awarded with a credit of 1 mark
• Every wrong answer attracts a penalty of negative marking (0.25 mark) which is deducted from the score awarded for right answers.
• All the questions are in MCQ format followed by 4 answer options.
• Individual Sectional Time Limit: No, can switch to any section and any question

MAT 2019 December PBT exam Date & Time
Sunday December 8, 2019 from 10AM to 12.30PM
Number of test centres for Paper Based Test
51
Total number of questions in the exam
200
Number of sections in the exam
5
Number of answer options per question
4
Maximum Marks per question
1
Negative Marking
0.25 mark for every wrong answer

Level of Difficulty
Moderate
Total maximum raw score
200
Total maximum scaled score out of which percentile score will be awarded
800

Sections considered for percentile calculation
4 (Indian & Global Environment not considered)
Number of questions considered for percentile calculation
160
MAT 2019: December Exam Pattern

Section no.
Section Subject
Number of questions
Suggested time to solve

1
Language comprehension
40
30

2
Mathematical skills
40
40

3
Data Analysis and Sufficiency
40
35

4
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
40
30

5
Indian and Global Environment
40
15

Total
200
150

MAT Sectional Analysis
Language comprehension
There were 40 questions in the section. Major topics and number of question are:

Topic
Number of Questions
Difficulty level

Reading Comprenhsion
20
Moderate

Number of RC Passages
5
Easy to Moderate

English Language
20
Moderate

Errors in Sentence formation
3
Moderate

Antonyms
3
Moderate to difficult

Synonyms
3
Moderate

Fill in the Blanks with correct vocabulary words
3
Moderate

One word substitution
2
Moderate

Phrases & Idioms Substitution by words
3
Moderate to Difficult

Jumbled Paragraphs
3
Moderate

Except a few questions the section had moderate difficulty level and could be answered in time
A score of 27-28 marks could lead to 90 percentile in Language Comprehension section

Mathematical Skills

Out of the 40 questions in the section, more weightage was awarded to Arithmetic based questions
Around 15 questions were based on Arithmetic like Interest, Percentages, Time and Work,Profit, Loss, Partnership. The questions were a little time consuming although were moderate.
Other questions were based on topics likeEquations, Ratio, Proportion & Variation, Geometry & Mensuration, Permutation and Combinations, Probability etc.
The questions were of moderate difficulty level
The section could prove to be a percentile booster for the candidates who did this section well
A score of 29-30 marks could earn 90+ percentile in this section

Data Analysis and Sufficiency

This section had maximum questions on Data Interpretation
More prominent in this section were Graphs, Pie charts, bar diagrams, charts, line graph, data comparison
Time remained the major hurdle to solve these questions with speed and accuracy
Questions on Data Interpretation (DI) occupied more than 50% space in the section, rest of the part covered questions on data sufficiency and data comparison
A score of 22-23 marks is expected to get 90 and above percentile

Intelligence and Critical reasoning

This section had 40 Questions
More questions were on Analytical and Logical reasoning and fewer questions were there on Critical reasoning
10 Questions were based on Family Relation, 10 on Statements-Cause & Effect, and others were Statement Assumptions, Reasons, analogies, direction, series, Incorrect Terms.
The questions were formed in sets as well as individual questions
The section was a little lengthy with moderate level of difficulty
A score of 26-27 marks may lead to a percentile above 90 in this section.

Indian and Global environment

Suggested time limit by AIMA to answer the 40 questions in this section was 15 minutes but 10 minutes were enough to attempt this section
Questions were formed on Awards, Government policies, rules, regulations, GST, Constitution of India, Appointments, Capitals, Current National and International Events, US Trade Policy.
No re-thinking or recalling was required for what you do not know or are confused on it.
Ideal time to attempt one question was less than 30 seconds
This section is not counted for percentile calculation in MAT exam
Many Candidates skipped or answered very few questions in this section to save time for other sections

Surprise Element
The MAT 2019 December exam had no surprise element and was on the same pattern as that of first last MAT exam in September 2019.

Time Management: Key Issue

The time limit to attempt 200 questions was 150 minutes. Less than 1 minute was available before the test takers to answer each of 200 questions.
Candidates who could not manage time well, were seen gasping for Time Management to maximise their attempts across the sections.
Those who adhered to the time limit to solve questions in each section helped them to do better in the exam as with this strategy more number of questions could be attempted with accuracy
Many of MAT 2019 September test takers could not attempt more questions despite knowing their answers in paper based test as they struggled for time

How to Manage Time in MAT Exam: Tips by Test Takers
Two and half hours were allotted to solve 200 questions in MAT exam. With some of the questions found more difficult and penalty of negative marking existing for all the questions, Candidates were found gasping for more time. Many candidates who did not follow time schedule could not get across the 70-75 questions.
Although the overall MAT paper based exam remained moderate, a few questions consumed more time of the test takers.

Skip or Scantly Attempt GK Section
A unique way to manage time with an aim to attempt more questions, was found by the test takers. Since the GK section in MAT exam is not counted for score calculation, many candidates skipped or attempted very few questions in Indian and Global Environment section and utilized this time to attempt the questions in other sections. The strategy helped them to maximise the attempts in all the 4 core sections.

Didnt Devote More than 30 Seconds
Most of the MAT 2019 September test takers while coming out of the testing hall, revealed that they maximised the attempts by not wasting the time in case they found even a slightly difficult question in their initial attempts. Besides, none of them devoted more than 30 seconds on one question as during this time they could know whether the question was doable or difficult.

Avoided Negative Marking
Apart from maximising the attempts, these candidates ensured that they should attempt only the questions which could solve accurately. The strategy boosted their confidence level further and they expect higher score due to no or very little loss due to negative marking.

Ideal attempts and Cut offs
The December MAT 2019 test takers who maximised the attempts in the exam need to score high keeping in mind the negative marking. Giving time to each of the sections and not getting down by any one section remained an important factor to help the candidates to get high score.

Following table consists of the broad MAT analysis, with guideline to achieve cut off above 90 percentile, ideal attempts according to the difficulty level of questions in each section and suggested time limit to solve each of the 5 sections to score high in December MAT 2019:

Sno
Section
No of Qs
Ideal time (in minutes)
Ideal attempts
Score required to get 90+ percentile

1
Language Comprehension
40
30
28
28

2
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
40
35
27
27

3
Data Analysis and Sufficiency
40
38
24
23

4
Mathematical Skills
40
37
30
30

5
Indian and Global Environment
40
10
15

Separate sectional marks, not counted for percentile calculation
200
150
124
108-110

Scoring in MAT & MBA Admission with MAT

• Admission to good B schools out of the list of B schools available at the AIMA site can be explored with a percentile of 80 and above.
• MAT score card will contain 6 scores. For each of the 6 scores, a percentile score is given. This shows the percentage of examinees who scored below the candidate based on the entire MAT testing population. The percentile below figure can change with each administration for the same scores.
• MAT 2019 December exam would award scores keeping the Indian and Global environment section out from percentile calculation.
• The scores are to be awarded out of 160 marks and accordingly the test takers will get their merit position where their scores are sent by AIMA.
• Raw score of 70+ is expected to award the percentile of 80+ and the raw score of 110 can award you the percentile of 90

MAT 2019 December Exam Difficulty Level
MAT exam 2019, held on December 8, had a moderate difficulty level. Besides, there was no change in the MAT exam pattern which had 200 questions in MCQ format divided in 5 sections. The MAT 2019 test takers found the exam as easy to moderate difficulty level although parts of Verbal, Data sufficiency were rated as bit difficult.
MAT 2019: 18000+ take December Exam
Management Aptitude Test (MAT) 2019 December exam was attempted by more than 18000 candidates approximately. Most of them considered it as the preparatory net practice exam before XAT 2020 and CMAT 2020. With around 10-12% absentees only, the actual test takers may go beyond the number of 18000.