SNAP 2018 Analysis by CL, T.I.M.E., IMS, Bullseye: Easier Exam Leading to Higher Cut offs

One of the leading MBA entrance exams SNAP 2018 has got over at 4 PM on December 16, 2018. The exam was conducted in single slot as computer based exam from 2PM to 4PM in 92 test cities. 

Top coaching institutes for SNAP namely IMS, T.I.M.E., Career Launcher, Bulls Eye have come up with their comprehensive analysis of SNAP 2018 exam with expected cut offs for all the top symbiosis institutes. The experts at all these preparation institutes have rated SNAP 2018 as easier than last year exam leading to higher cut offs. The overall analysis for SNAP 2018 with expected cut off score in the exam has been announced by these institutes. Besides the SNAP 2018 percentile predictor, based on your performance in SNAP 2018 exam, can also be used to know the nearest SNAP 2018 percentile. Last year the experts at these coaching centres had rated the SNAP exam on the difficult side and had predicted the cut off scores for the low and high percentile range.

We share below the SNAP 2018 Exam Analysis and expected cut offs in detail by T.I.M.E., Career Launcher (CL), IMS and Bullseye. The SNAP 2018 section wise analysis by them is followed by expected SNAP 2018 cut offs in the article brought to you by MBAUniverse.com:

SNAP 2018 Analysis & Expected Cut Offs by CL
Finally the SNAP 2018 season saw its first ‘easier than last year’ exam. The paper was more in tune with the kind of papers seen pre-2016. The types of questions were much more conventional and even the Special Questions, basically a variant of the TITA questions seen in CAT, didn’t pose any issues. Overall, the paper was easier than the previous two years. There were four sections viz. General English, Quantitative Ability, Current Affairs and Analytical & Logical Reasoning in the paper with 30+5, 30+5, 20+5 and 30+5 questions (MCQ+Special Questions) in each section respectively. The sections were jumbled up. There were 1 mark given for each correct MCQ answer and 0.25 marks penalty for each incorrect MCQ answer. The same for the Special Questions was 2 and 0.5 respectively. The total time given for the paper was 120 minutes.

The English section was dominated by RC and vocab. The Reasoning section had only one question on Verbal Logic.

Overall, the English and Quant sections became easier. Even LR, while continuing its saga of a couple of incomprehensible question types, was easier than last year. Current affairs was along the lines of last year.

A detailed analysis of the paper is as follows:

General English

There were 2 RC passages in the paper. Each passage contained 5 questions. The first passage was on Google’s attempts to track the movement of the user. One question was on the title of the passage. Rest were fact based. The second passage was on the opening up of the economy. All the questions were fact based. 

The vocab questions were more or less easy. There were 2 questions on synonyms and 1 question on antonym. Furthermore, there were two other vocab-based questions that were visible under the newly constructed special questions segment. One question was about the plural form of “crisis” and the other referred to the meaning of “arbitration.” The Fill in the blanks questions were based on grammar. 

Overall, it was an easy section to attempt. An attempt of 30-32 in 25-30 minutes with 85% plus accuracy is desirable.

A detailed break-up of the question patterns is as follows:

Quantitative Ability
The quantitative ability section turned out to be easier as compared to previous years. The weightage to Geometry and Modern Math increased and there were no questions from number system. The lack of a calculator meant that estimates had to be used while answering quite a few questions.

This section surprised students as there were no questions from DI and DS which made quant less time consuming. Also the question based on log tan 1+logtan 2.. was the same as that in one of our mocks. 
While the questions weren’t very difficult it was important for students to spend a good amount of time on this section. An attempt of 23-25 in 45 minutes with 85% accuracy would be good.

Logical and Analytical Reasoning
The Reasoning section of SNAP finally veered away from weird questions, as has been the norm over the last 2 years. The paper tested reasoning skills along with basic Physics knowledge (read the pendulum and candle questions).

The set on sitting arrangement was long and expressed as a passage instead of point format, making it all the more tedious. However, if one was willing to spend about 12-13 minutes then it would have lead to 7 correct answers. Questions from coding decoding and paper folding were best left alone if you are not good with visualization.

Overall, a difficult section but way ‘less weird’ as compared to previous year papers.

Current Affairs
The section had different kinds of questions and was dominated by BA and Polity. Overall the section was similar to last year, and students would have done well to attempt about 10-12 questions with 60-65% accuracy in about 10 minutes.

Expected SNAP Score Cut offs
Overall the paper was easier than last year, and students would have done well to attempt about 85-90 questions with 80-85% accuracy.

Suggested time distribution and attempts:

SNAP 2018 Exam Analysis & Cut Offs by T.I.M.E.
Complete SNAP 2018 analysis with expected cut offs for MBA admission 2019 in SIBM Pune, SCMHRD among other Symbiosis institutes by T.I.M.E. is shared below:

The SNAP exam conducted on 16th Dec 2018 in the computer-based-test format went glitch-free.

The overall difficulty level of the exam was lower as compared to last year’s.

The broad distribution of questions in the test was as under:

Since there were no sectional cut-offs, it made the job of the students a lot easier i.e., they could focus on maximising their overall score instead of perforce trying to improve their sectional performances in tougher sections.

Let us have a closer look at each of the sections:

General English
The section had a total of 35 questions. There were 30 NORMAL questions of 1 mark each. There were 5 SPECIAL questions (non-MCQ or Input box types – where the answer had to be entered on the screen) of 2 marks each.

The distribution of the questions area-wise was as under:

The RC area had two passages with five questions each. The passages were lengthy in nature with around 750-850 words.

Passage 1: A lengthy passage on “Google tracks your movement – whether you like it or not” or “Privacy” taken from “CBS news”. The questions included 1 Title, 1 Specific detail, 3 Contextual Reference (of a phrase)/ Inference based questions.

Passage 2: Another lengthy passage on “Tired of globalization – Trade and Poverty” taken from “The Economist”. There were 4 ‘specific detail’ questions and 1 Vocab based question.

Around 22-24 can be considered to be a good number of attempts in this section.

Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency
The section was relatively easier compared to the last year. There were 30 questions of 1 mark each (normal MCQ type). There were 5 Special questions of 2 marks each (non-MCQ type). The section had more doable questions and perhaps for the first time, Data Interpretation questions were completely missing. Continuing the tradition, there were no Data Sufficiency questions in this section but the same were asked in the Logical Reasoning section. The weightage of questions from algebra was on the higher side.

One question appeared to not have the correct answer options (h, c and v of a cone).

The broad distribution of the questions from various areas is as below:

A good student could have attempted a net of 22-24 out of 35 questions in this section by spending around 35-40 minutes. However, this called for a judicious selection of the questions.

Analytical & Logical Reasoning

The Analytical and Logical Reasoning section had a reasonable number of easy and moderate questions.

There were 30 questions of 1 mark each (normal MCQ type). There were 5 Special questions of 2 marks each (non-MCQ type).

Unlike last year, apart from the standalone ones, there were 7 questions based on a caselet. Added to this, there were also some tough ones to crack.

The level of the section could be pegged at a moderate level of difficulty.

The question distribution in the section was as below:

Out of 35 questions in this section, 19 to 21 would be a good number of attempts.

General Awareness
The General Awareness section had 25 questions.

The questions were asked from various categories as below:

As the name of the section suggested, there were no static GK questions. Most of these questions were not difficult especially for those who read newspapers regularly. Most of the questions were pertaining to events which took place in the last few months.

Around 12 to 14 attempts in the section in around 10-15 min would have been good for this section.

Cut-Offs:

Note: The above mentioned estimated cut-offs are for general category students, the cut-offs for SC/ST/DA/Kashmiri migrants will be lower. Please note that there are no sectional cut-offs for SNAP.

SNAP 2018 Analysis and Expected Cut offs by IMS
As officially announced earlier, SNAP-2018 underwent slight change in pattern from that of SNAP-2017. While SNAP-2017 consisted of 150 questions, SNAP-2018 consisted of 130 questions. Of the 4 Sections in the test, 3 sections (Quantitative Ability, General English and Analytical & Logical Reasoning) had 35 questions each, and the fourth Section on Current Affairs had  25 questions.

A new feature of 2018 SNAP was the Special Questions. 5 questions in each section were designated as ‘Special questions’ (similar to TITA questions in CAT). These special questions had a weightage of 2 marks while all other MCQs had a weightage of 1 mark each.  

The test interface was similar to that of CAT. However, students had an option of submitting the test after 45 minutes. It was important to click on the button ‘Save and Next’ in order to ensure that the answer was recorded by the system. If only answer was clicked and next question was selected from the questions palette on the right, the answer was not recorded by the system. There was also an option of viewing the question paper (without options) by clicking the button ‘View question paper’ on the top panel of the interface towards the right side.  

In terms of level of difficulty, SNAP-2018 was slightly easier than the last year’s exam. SNAP-2018 was characterized by an easy Quantitative Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency section, medium Analytical and Logical Reasoning section, and an easy General English section. The Current Affairs section was easy as compared to last year’s test.

Like in the previous years, Analytical and Logical Reasoning section contained a few questions that were based on the principles of Mathematics. About two questions also required understanding of concepts of science in order to solve them. There was one set on matrix arrangement with 7 questions. All other questions were standalone questions. Out of 35 questions in the section, only one question was on Verbal Reasoning and the remaining 34 questions were on Non-Verbal Reasoning.  

Following table shows the overall structure of the exam.

The analysis of each of the sections is given below.

QUANTITATIVE DATA INTERPRETATION AND DATA SUFFICIENCY
The biggest surprise of SNAP-2018 was that there was no question on Data Interpretation. Like in the previous 3 years, this section was dominated by Arithmetic and Modern Mathematics. Out of the 35 questions in the section, 9 questions each were on Arithmetic and Modern Mathematics, while 8 questions were on Geometry. Like in SNAP-2017, there were no questions on data sufficiency. Most of the questions in this section were of an easy-to-medium level of difficulty. However, this section also had a few tricky questions. Therefore judicious selection of questions was important.   
Following table shows the break-up of the questions in the section.

A good strategy would be to attempt about 28-30 questions in 40 minutes with 85% accuracy.

ANALYTICAL & LOGICAL REASONING
Like in the previous two years, most of the questions in Analytical & Logical Reasoning sections in SNAP-2018 were standalone questions. Out of the 35 questions in the section, 28 questions were standalone questions while the remaining 7 questions formed one set based on matrix arrangements. Out of the 28 standalone questions, 27 questions were on Non-Verbal Reasoning and only one question was on Verbal Reasoning.

Like in SNAP-2017, there were 5 questions that tested the concepts of Mathematics. These questions could have very well been included in the Quantitative

Ability section as well. Two questions in the section also required understanding of the concepts of science in order to answer them.  There were no questions on sequential output.

Following was the break-up of the questions in the section:

*: These questions required understanding of the concepts of science in order to solve them. 
A good strategy would be to attempt around 20-22 questions with 85% accuracy in 35-40 minutes. 

GENERAL ENGLISH
The difficulty level of the General English section this year went down noticeably from last year’s test. The questions were straightforward and doable. The section consisted of 35 questions: 25 Verbal Ability questions  and 10 Reading Comprehension (RC) questions. It was one of the easiest General English sections in recent years. 

The VA questions were predominantly vocabulary-based, though there were some grammar-based questions as well. The words tested were fairly commonly used words, and the not-so-common ones had incorrect options that were easy to eliminate. The grammar-based questions were also easy. 

The RC questions were distributed evenly between two passages. Both the passages were easy enough to understand, and most of the questions were direct ones. 

However, one of the passages was quite long (1250-1300 words), so reading it was time consuming. Students should have, however, attempted both passages as the questions were very easy.

4 of the 5 Special (TITA) questions were on the easier side. Only one question required the knowledge of a proverb.  Answers to the TITA questions were to be entered in numerals.

A good strategy would be to attempt around 29-30 questions with 80-85% accuracy in 30-35 minutes. 

CURRENT AFFAIRS
In the ‘Current Affairs’ section, only the TITA questions were slightly difficult. This section contained a healthy mix of questions from diverse areas. There were 25 questions from 2017-2018 news items. About 8 questions were very simple; 12 questions were moderately difficult and about 5 questions were tough. There were about 18 questions based on national events and 7 questions based on international affairs. Most of the questions were news events of this year.

A good strategy would be to attempt about 14-15 questions in 10-15 minutes with 65-70%
accuracy.

OVERALL Expected Cut Offs
Overall, SNAP 2018 was an easy test. For General Category Cut offs are expected as under:

SNAP 2018 Paper Analysis & Expected Cut offs by Hitbullseye
SNAP 2018 was based on changed pattern as declared by the Symbiosis International University (SIU) on its website. There were Objective Type (MCQ) questions as well as Non MCQs. Quant and General English sections were easier than last year’s. However there were no DI questions in Quant section. General Awareness section was dominated by current affairs and was a bit tricky. Analytical & Logical reasoning section was moderate. Overall time management and selection of questions will play a major role in clearing cut-off.

Overview of the paper:
There were 130 questions (4 Sections) in all and the time allotted was 2 hrs. The four sections were as follows:

Overview of Different Sections:

Overview of Different Sections:

Expected Cutoffs (Score)

(Last year in SNAP, Cutoffs were on the basis of percentiles. However, for students’ convenience we are converting these percentile cutoffs into score cutoffs)

SECTIONAL - ANALYSIS

SECTION I: General English
Evaluation: Verbal section had conventional types of verbal questions ranging from grammar, vocabulary, fill-ups to reading comprehensions etc. However verbal was easier in comparison to last year’s. The verbal section was dominated by reading comprehension followed by vocabulary based, grammar and sentence completion questions. There were two RCs in the paper. One of the RCs was based on issue of location tracking of individuals by Google and privacy and the other one was based on globalization and trade barriers. The questions based on them were easy. The vocabulary questions were easy to moderate this year. A few grammar based questions purely checked the fundamentals of grammar.  There were questions based on idiomatic usage and parts of speech. There were 5 question carrying 2 marks each. These included one jumbled up sentence, one question of spelling (Arbitration), one question plural (of crisis), one proverb, one relating to past participle form of word (wear). The overall feel of the section was easy.

Good Attempt: 22 to 24 questions in about 20 - 25 minutes.

SECTION II: Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation & DS
Evaluation: The biggest surprise in this section was that DI was missing. There were questions based on number system, percentage, geometry, averages, permutation & combination, S.I/CI, sets, and logs etc. There were 7 questions based on mensuration. Some of them were calculation intensive. The questions based on permutation combination were tricky. As compared to other topics percentage, permutation combination, mensuration, algebra and logs had higher coverage each having roughly 4 questions. The remaining topics tested the student’s grab of fundamental concept. Overall the feel of the section was moderate and selection of questions was important to get hold on the paper.

Good Attempt: 22 to 25 questions in about 35 - 40 minutes.

SECTION III: General Awareness
Evaluation: GK was on expected lines and dominated by current general awareness questions as has been the trend. This section required you to be thorough with your knowledge of Business, Awards, Government policies, and Politics etc. (for eg. three questions based on recent vidhan sabha elections in five states, winner of earth award, Modicare, company acquisitions etc.). Interestingly a lot of questions were from current affairs which were less than 1 month old but no single area dominated in terms of no of questions asked in the section. Overall this section was tougher as options were tricky. The cut off expected in this section is not very high.

Good Attempt: 12 - 15 questions in about 10-15 minutes.

SECTION IV: Analytical & Logical Reasoning
Evaluation: This section was much trickier as compared to quant and infact a few questions of quant were present in this section also. There were a few questions on blood relation, puzzles, coding, direction sense, number series, data sufficiency etc.  One set of seven questions (about twelve people in two parallel rows) was tricky & verbose and should have been avoided. There were conventional puzzles (like paper folding, binary logic etc.). The series question and coding were bit confusing and time consuming. Again selection of question was also important in this section to clear the cut off.

Good Attempt: 20 - 23 questions in about 35-40 minutes.

SNAP 2018 exam result is expected on January 12, 2019. Candidates will have to view and download their SNAP 2018 score card from SNAP Test official website. Each of the Symbiosis institutes will announce its shortlist and dates for final admission process.    

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on SNAP 2018