MICAT-1 Exam Over on Dec 2, 2023: Expert Analysis Reveals a Moderate Difficulty Exam; Check Key Changes, Section wise Cut Offs
Out of the two MICAT exams, MICAT-1 has got over on December 2, 2023. The Exam was held from 9.00 AM to 11.15 AM as a computer-based test. While there was no change in the exam pattern, the candidates gasped for time in Psychometric Test. The Section-C score remains the turning point to get GE-PI call. It is expected that a score of around 25 marks in Section C may get you a GE PI call from MICA.
MICA Ahmedabad conducts its own admission test MICAT for the candidates who apply to MICA for admission to PGDM or PGDM-C programme on the basis of CAT/XAT/GMAT scores. The PGDM-C is the flagship programme of MICA, Ahmedabad. The two-year, full-time, residential programme is AICTE approved and is deemed equivalent to an MBA by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). While MICAT-I is over, MICAT-II is scheduled on January 27, 2024. Check below the MICAT-1 Analysis from IMS experts with:
- MICAT-1 Exam Pattern
- MICAT-1 Difficulty Level as Compared to Previous Year
- Overall Analysis
- Sectional Analysis
- MICAT-1 Expected Cut off for MICA Admission 2024
MICA MBA Admission 2024 Open: Apply Now
MICAT-1 Analysis from IMS Learning
MICAT (MICA Admission Test) is the ONLINE entrance exam for PGDM-C/PGDM from MICA, Ahmedabad. Generally, MICAT is held twice for admission to the batch in the ensuing year. MICAT-I is held in December and MICAT-II in January for the batch commencing a few months later in June/July. MICAT I 2023 for 2024-2026 batch was held on December 02, 2023, from 9 AM to 11:15 AM.
Test Structure and the IMS estimate of good attempts:
|
Section
|
Name
|
No. Of Questions
|
Time allocated
|
Good Attempts
|
|
A
|
Psychometric Test
|
150
|
30 minutes
|
ALL
|
|
B
|
Descriptive Test
|
4
|
25 minutes
|
ALL
|
|
C
|
i. Divergent and Convergent Thinking
|
20
|
80 minutes
|
Dec-13
|
|
ii. Verbal Ability
|
20
|
11-Dec
|
||
|
iii. Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation
|
20
|
09-Oct
|
||
|
iv. General Awareness
|
10
|
05-Jun
|
- Navigation between sections not allowed
- Section C carried 1 mark per question. 0.25 for each incorrect response.
- No Negative Marks for the Psychometric Test and the Descriptive Test
- Psychometric Test is compulsory and the performance in the psychometric test is used as a qualifying criterion for the next stage. Candidates must attempt all the questions
in the Psychometric Test to ensure that their paper is evaluated. However, the marks or the assessment criteria of the test are not revealed to the candidates.
VERDICT
Students who have ‘cleared’ the Psychometric Test and secured an overall score of 25 in Sections C (i) to C (iv) can expect a call for the GE-PI round (subject to their fulfilling the other criteria specified at : https://www.mica.ac.in/postgraduate-programme/selection-processand- timelines
ANALYSIS BY SECTION
Section - A
PSYCHOMETRIC TEST: There were 150 questions in this section.
Apparently, there are no correct or incorrect responses in a psychometric test. Around 37 questions presented a situation/course of action and the test-taker had to mark either True or False. Around 113 questions were about a particular personality trait or a course of action. which required the candidates to respond with one of the following 8 options.
- Totally Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat Disagree
- Somewhat Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Totally Agree
Given that 150 questions were to be attempted in 30 minutes, it was necessary to work fast and mark the answer quickly.
Section - B
DESCRIPTIVE TEST
This section tested the analytical and descriptive writing ability and creative skills of testtakers. The first three questions were related to each other. The topic for the first three questions was “If social media gets really social”. For the first two questions, students had to write three points each, ‘for’ and ‘against’ the topic. These two questions carried 10 marks each. In the third question, students had to write 300 words answer to ‘how a young manager can employ the social ability of social media to create an egalitarian work culture in their organization’ The instructions stated that the points for the third question should not include the points stated in the first two questions. 20 marks were allocated to this question.
The fourth question in this section consisted of four pictures. Students had to write down a story using these images in any order (A-B-C-D or D-C-B-A or any such combination). The order was to be mentioned before the story. The pictures were related to: ‘A red square, A roadside barber, A monument, A chariot without a horse’. This question carried 30 marks. This section was to be attempted in 25 minutes and carried no negative marking.
Section C
APTITUDE TEST
The aptitude test had 4 sub-sections with a total of 70 questions. These 70 questions had to be solved within 80 minutes. The test this year had a mix of questions with 8, 6, 5 and 4 options. This was a change from the previous year Out of 70 questions, about 30 had 8 options.
(i) Sub-section: DIVERGENT AND CONVERGENT THINKING
The Reasoning section comprised 20 questions including word-association, analogies, statement-assumption, data sufficiency, puzzle, numerical series-odd one out, Circular arrangement and visual reasoning questions.
|
Topic
|
No. of Qs.
|
Overall Difficulty Level
|
|
Verbal reasoning
|
||
|
Word Association
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Syllogism
|
1
|
Medium
|
|
Collective Noun
|
1
|
Medium
|
|
Non-verbal reasoning
|
||
|
Visual Reasoning - 3 (analogy, sequence completion, paper folding)
|
16 (8 questions with 4 options + 8 questions with 8 options)
|
Medium
|
|
Data Sufficiency - 1
|
||
|
Puzzles – 12 Arrangement (Linear - 2, Circular - 1), Symbol based Family Tree - 2, Directions - 2 (based on Pythagorean triplet), Coding - 2, Number analogy - 1, Alphanumeric Sequence - 1, Odd One Out - Series - 1
|
||
In this section, 12-13 questions (in about 25 minutes with 90 % accuracy) would be considered a good attempt.
(ii) Sub-section: VERBAL ABILITY
This section consisted of jumbled paragraphs, word pairs, paragraph completion(cloze), fill in the blanks, and two Reading Comprehension passages.
|
Topic
|
No. of Qs.
|
Overall Level of difficulty.
|
|
Reading Comprehension - Passage 1 (Technology and lack of boundaries - 200 words)
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Reading Comprehension - Passage 2 (Commercial traffic in the Indian Ocean - 250 words)
|
4
|
Medium
|
|
ill in the blanks [3 Cloze, 1 4*4 grid]
|
4
|
Easy
|
|
Critical Reasoning - Inference
|
1
|
Medium
|
|
Jumbled Paragraphs
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Summary
|
1
|
Medium
|
|
Jumbled sentence
|
1
|
Easy
|
|
One word substitute - passage
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Odd sentence
|
1
|
Medium
|
|
Para-completion
|
1
|
Medium
|
|
Synonym
|
1
|
Easy
|
In this section, 11-12 questions (in about 15-20 minutes with 90% accuracy) would be considered a good attempt.
(iii) Sub-section: QUANTITATIVE ABILITY AND DATA INTERPRETATION
There were 20 questions in the section, out of which 16 questions were on quantitative ability and 4 questions were on Data Interpretation. The Quantitative Ability section was dominated by 6 Geometry questions and then followed by 5 questions of Arithmetic. Overall, the section was Medium in terms of level of difficulty and it was one notch more difficult than the corresponding section last year. The majority of the questions had as many as 8 options.
There was one calculation intensive set on Data Interpretation involving a bar graph with a table involving 4 questions. The set was a straight-forward one with average figure calculation.
Following was the break-up of the questions in the Quantitative Ability section:
|
Area
|
No. of Qs
|
LOD
|
|
Arithmetic
|
||
|
Average, Mixtures & Allegations, Linear Race, Ratio-Proportion, Percentages, Partnership.
|
5
|
Medium - Difficult
|
|
Algebra
|
||
|
Quadratic
|
1
|
Difficult
|
|
Geometry
|
||
|
Rectangle, Pentagon, Cylinder, Trigonometry - 3
|
6
|
Medium - Difficult
|
|
Modern Math
|
||
|
Set Theory (Venn Diagram), Probability
|
2
|
Difficult
|
|
Numbers
|
||
|
Sequence - odd one out, Factors
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Data Interpretation
|
||
|
Bar Graph & Table
|
4
|
Difficult
|
In this section, an attempt of about 9-10 questions in about 30 minutes with around 90% accuracy would be considered good.
(iv) Sub-section: GENERAL AWARENESS
The General Awareness section consisted of 10 questions. Out of the 10 questions, 6 questions were of ‘match the column’ type while 4 were based on marketing and branding. Also, Static GK contributed 2 questions while the remaining 8 questions were based on current affairs. In this section, an attempt of 7 - 8 questions in about 5-7 minutes with 70 percent accuracy would be considered good.
Previous Year MICAT Analysis
Below is shared the previous MICAT exam analysis
MICAT 2023 Analysis
MICAT Exam for MICA admission 2023 has got over at 11.15 AM on Saturday, December 3, 2022. The exam was considered a bit more difficult than last year. A score of 25 in Psychometric Test may lead to the call for PI round by MICA. Apart from being the mandatory exam for MICA admission 2023, MICAT-I has 50% Weightage in Shortlisting for PI round, MICAT-I Analysis reveals that the exam was conducted in 48 cities in India and was taken by a good number of candidates.
Below is shared the MICAT-I Exam 2023 Analysis for MICA Admission 2023
MBAUniverse.com shares MICAT-I exam analysis with following details;
- MICAT Exam Pattern
- MICAT Difficulty Level as compared to previous year
- MICAT expected cut off for MICA admission
- MICAT Analysis from top Coaching institutes like IMS, CL, TIME
MICAT-I 2023 was a multidimensional computer based examination. The exam assesss candidates in areas such as Divergent Thinking Abilities, Written Communication Abilities, General Awareness about contemporary social and business issues, including areas relevant to media, marketing, advertising & current affairs and Analytical & Verbal Abilities. The Admission test also included psychometric profiling to assess the candidate’s leadership potential.
MICAT-I Test Duration
Total duration of the examination was of 2 hours and 15 minutes.
MICAT-I Sectional Composition
MICAT-I consisted following three sections
|
Sections in MICAT-I
|
Name of Sections
|
Sectional Time Duration
|
|
Section A:
|
Psychometric Test
|
30 Minutes
|
|
Section B:
|
Aptitude Test with 4 Sub Sections:
1) Verbal ability;
2) Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation;
3) General Awareness; 4)Divergent and Convergent Thinking
|
1 hours 20 Minutes
|
|
Section C:
|
Descriptive Test
|
25 Minutes
|
Section Wise Questions, Marking pattern, Important Instructions
The 3 broad sections effectively made the MICAT an exam with 6 sections as per following details:
Section A: Psychometric Test
- Total Time allotted to this section was 30 minutes
- Around 150 questions were to be attempted in 30 minutes
- The questions had to be quickly answered
- No Negative Marking for the questions in this section
- There was no right or wrong answer for the questions in this section
- It was important to answer all questions in the Psychometric section
- Any un-attempted question will be allotted ZERO mark
- You couldnot go back to any other section or move ahead to any other section from Psychometric test until the end of 30 Minutes
Section B: Aptitude Test with 4 Sub sections on Verbal ability; Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation; General Awareness; Divergent and Convergent Thinking
- Total time allotted to this section was 1 hour and 20 minutes
- Each correct answer is awarded +1 Mark
- All questions are of MCQ type
- Total number of Questions expected in this section are 100
- Maximum Marks for the section are 100
- Verbal Ability had 25 questions
- Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation had 25 questions
- General Awareness had 25 questions
- Divergent and Convergent Reasoning (Thinking) had 25 questions
- Questions in this section carry negative marking of 0.25 mark for each wrong answer.
Any un-attempted question is allotted ZERO mark.
You could navigate across sub-sections – 1; 2; 3;4 in the Aptitude test during the allotted time of 1 hour and 20 minutes - You couldnot move to any other section like Psychometric Test or Descriptive Test from Aptitude Test till the allotted time of 1 hour 20 minutes was over for Aptitude section
Section C: Descriptive Test
Total time allotted to attempt this section was 25 minutes
- All the questions were of descriptive type
- Total Questions were 4
- You needed to type short answers in the given space
MICAT 2022 Analysis for MICA Admission 2022
MICAT-I: Exam Dates and Time Duration
- MICAT I Exam Date: Dec 4, 2021
- MICAT I Test Cities: 48
- MICAT Exam City Abroad: None
- MICAT I Test Duration: 2 Hours 15 Minutes (135 Minutes)
- MICAT I Test Timing: 9AM to 11.15AM (Single Session Exam)
- Reporting Time at Test Centre: 8 AM
- MICAT I Testing Mode: Computer based test
MICAT-I Analysis: Overall Exam Pattern
MICAT-I exam duration has been reduced to 2 Hours 15 minutes from earlier 2 hours 45 minutes. The revised exam pattern of MICAT Exam held on Dec 4, 2021 was as below:
|
Sections in MICAT-I
|
Name of Sections
|
No. of Questions
|
Sectional Time Duration
|
|
Section A:
|
Psychometric Test
|
150
|
30 Minutes
|
|
Section B:
|
Aptitude Test with 4 Sub Sections:
1) Verbal ability:
2) Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation;
3) General Awareness;
4) Divergent and Convergent Thinking
|
20
20
20
20
|
80 Minutes
|
|
Section C:
|
Descriptive Test
|
4
|
25 Minutes
|
MICAT-I Difficulty Level
Overall difficulty level of MICAT-I exam was moderate
MICAT Analysis 2022: Testing & Scoring pattern
Following was the testing & scoring pattern in MICAT-I held on Dec 4, 2021
- MICAT offered 1-Minute break between different sections
- No navigation allowed between MICAT exam sections
- There were No Negative Marks for the Psychometric Test and the Descriptive Test
MICAT Analysis 2022: Expected Cut offs
- Psychometric Test was compulsory and qualifying. Candidates had to attempt all the questions in this test
- No Negative marking for Psychometric Test and Descriptive Test
- Students who clear the Psychometric Test and secure an overall score around 36 to39 percent can expect a call for the GE-PI round
- The shortlist will be prepared based on the Composite Score formula with 50% weightage for CAT/XAT/GMAT and 50% for MICAT
- Around 1/10th of the total number of candidates who appear in the two MICATs are shortlisted for GE & PI based on the Total MICAT Scaled Score
MICAT, conducted by MICA Ahmedabad, is a Computer Based Test (CBT). It is conducted twice for selection of PGDM-C and PGDM programs offered by MICA. A candidate is allowed to appear in both the MICAT exams – MICAT-I and MICAT-II which are conducted in the months of December and January respectively for admission in MICA. Better of the two MICAT Scores are considered for admission. MICAT-I was conducted on Dec 4, 2021 while MICAT-II will be held on January 29, 2022. MICAT-II Analysis will be published after the exam is over. Apart from MBAUniverse.com analysis for MICAT, the detailed analysis by IMS, CL, TIME is also published with exam difficulty level and expected cut offs.
MICAT-I Analysis by IMS
Below is shared the MICAT exam analysis by IMS Learning for the MICAT-I exam held on December 4, 2021
MICAT (MICA Admission Test) is the ONLINE entrance exam for PGDM-C/PGDM from MICA, Ahmedabad. Generally MICAT is held twice for admission to the batch in the ensuing year. MICAT-I is held in December and MICAT-II in January for the batch commencing a few months later in June/July. MICAT I 2021 was held on December 04, 2021, from 9 AM to 11:15 AM. This year, like last year, the test was of 135 minutes owing to the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Test Structure and IMS estimate of good attempts:
| Section | Name | No. Of Questions | Time allocated | Good Attempts |
| A | Psychometric Test | 150 | 30 minutes | ALL |
| B | Descriptive Test | 4 | 25 minutes | ALL |
| C | i. Divergent and Convergent Thinking | 20 | 80 minutes | 11-12 |
| ii. Verbal Ability | 20 | 11-12 | ||
| iii. Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | 20 | 9-10 | ||
| iv. General Awareness | 20 | 08-Sep |
- 1-Minute break between different sections
- Navigation between sections not allowed
- Section C carried 1 mark per question. 0.25 for each incorrect response.
- No Negative Marks for the Psychometric Test and the Descriptive Test
- Psychometric Test is compulsory and the performance in the psychometric test is used as a qualifying criterion for the next stage. Candidates must attempt all the questions in the Psychometric Test to ensure that their paper is evaluated. However, the marks or the assessment criteria of the test are not revealed to the candidates.
VERDICT
Students who have ‘cleared’ the Psychometric Test and secured an overall score of 35-38 in Sections C (i) to C (iv) can expect a call for the GE-PI round (subject to their fulfilling the other criteria specified at : https://www.mica.ac.in/postgraduate-programme/selection-process-and-time...
Those who have attempted the IMS test pack of MICAT (a series of 5 tests) would find that the structure, level of difficulty and the types of questions were quite similar to those in the actual test.
ANALYSIS BY SECTIONS
Section - A
PSYCHOMETRIC TEST
There were 150 questions in this section.
Apparently, there are no correct or incorrect responses in a psychometric test. Around 33 questions presented a situation/course of action and the test-taker had to mark either True or False. Around 117 questions were about a particular personality trait or a course of action. Which required the candidates to respond with one of the following 8 options.
- Totally Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat Disagree
- Somewhat Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Totally Agree
Given that 150 questions were to be attempted in 30 minutes, it was necessary to work fast and mark the answer quickly.
Section - B
DESCRIPTIVE TEST
This section tested the analytical and descriptive writing ability and creative skills of test-takers. The first three questions were related to each other. The topic for the first three questions was “Cultural diversity is celebrated while individual efforts are made to assimilate the differences into the mainstream. Then why should we desire diversity?” For the first two questions, students had to write three points each, ‘for’ and ‘against’ the topic. These two questions carried 10 marks each.
In the third question, students had to write a 300 word answer to ‘Suggest steps by which a young manager can ensure creativity and innovation keeping in mind homogenous cohorts.” The instructions stated that the points for the third question should not include the points stated in the first two questions. 20 marks were allocated to this question.
The fourth question in this section consisted of four pictures. Students had to write down a particular pictorial combination (A-B-C-D or D-C-B-A or any such combination) and explain it with the help of a story. The pictures were related to: ’A fire extinguisher, a horse in an open field, a QR code, a mason tiling the walls.’ This question carried 30 marks.
This section was to be attempted in 25 minutes and carried no negative marking.
Section C
APTITUDE TEST
The aptitude test part had 4 sub-sections with 20 questions per sub-section. These 80 questions had to be solved within 80 minutes. This year all sections in the aptitude test saw a mix of questions with 4 options and 8 options. This was a change from the previous year.
(i) Sub-section: DIVERGENT AND CONVERGENT THINKING
The Reasoning section comprised 20 questions including word-association, analogies, statement-assumption, data sufficiency, coding, puzzle (symbol based logic + family tree) and visual reasoning questions. Out of 20 questions, 8 had 8 options each while the remaining 12 had 4 options each.
|
Topic
|
No. of Qs.
|
Overall Difficulty Level
|
|
Word Association
|
3
|
Medium
|
|
Statement Assumption
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Analogies
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Statement Conclusion
|
2
|
Medium
|
Following was the break-up of the non-verbal reasoning questions in the section:
|
Type of questions
|
Number of questions
|
Overall Level of difficulty
|
|
Visual Reasoning (Total 3 questions)
|
||
|
Odd man out (Group)
|
1
|
Easy
|
|
Complete the series (Next figure)
|
2
|
|
|
Logical Data sufficiency (Total 1 question)
|
||
|
Data Sufficiency
|
1
|
Medium
|
|
Miscellaneous (Total 7 questions)
|
||
|
Puzzle
|
3
|
Difficult
|
|
Binary Logic
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Coding
|
2
|
Easy
|
In this section, 11-12 questions in about 25 minutes with 90 % accuracy would be considered a good attempt
(ii) Sub-section: VERBAL ABILITY
This section consisted of jumbled paragraphs, word pairs, paragraph completion (cloze), choosing the grammatically correct sentence questions, and three Reading Comprehension passages. Out of 20 questions, 11 had 8 options each while the remaining 9 had 4 options each.
|
Topic
|
No. of Qs.
|
Overall Level of difficulty.
|
|
Grammatically correct sentence
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Jumbled Paragraph – 5 sentences
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
One word substitution (passage)
|
2
|
|
|
Reading Comprehension – 1 (Classic mythological hero - 500 words)
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Reading Comprehension – 2 (Bitcoin and decentralized finance - 200 words)
|
2
|
Medium
|
|
Reading Comprehension - 3 (Extension and effects of the human sense - 450 words)
|
5
|
Difficult
|
|
Cloze (5 blanks)
|
3
|
Medium
|
|
Word pair (Synonyms)
|
2
|
Easy
|
In this section, 11 - 12 questions in about 15-20 minutes with 90% accuracy would be considered a good attempt.
(iii) Sub-section: QUANTITATIVE ABILITY AND DATA INTERPRETATION
There were 20 questions in the section, out of which 16 questions were on quantitative ability and 4 questions were on Data Interpretation. The Quantitative Ability section was dominated by 12 Arithmetic questions and then followed by 3 questions of Geometry and 1 question on Modern Math- Numbers. Overall, the section was Medium in terms of level of difficulty and it was one notch more difficult than the corresponding section last year. One important characteristic of this section was that only 5 questions had 4 options and the remaining 15 questions had as many as 8 options. There was one set on Data Interpretation involving a bar graph with 4 questions and a singular question on line graph.
Following was the break-up of the questions in the Quantitative Ability section:
|
Area
|
No. of Qs
|
LOD
|
|
Arithmetic
|
||
|
Time-Speed-Distance, Mixtures-Allegations, Time and Work, Percentages, Ratio-Proportion, Profit & Loss
|
12
|
Medium - Difficult
|
|
Geometry
|
||
|
Triangles, Coordinate Geometry
|
3
|
Medium
|
|
Modern Math
|
||
|
Permutation & Combination
|
1
|
Difficult
|
|
Data Interpretation
|
||
|
Bar Graph
|
4
|
Medium
|
In this section, an attempt of about 9-10 questions in about 30 minutes with around 85% accuracy would be considered good.
(iv) Sub-section: GENERAL AWARENESS
The General Awareness section consisted of 20 questions. Out of the 20 questions, 11 questions were based on national issues while 9 were based on international topics. Also, Static GK contributed 8 questions while the remaining 12 questions were based on current affairs. Overall, the section was more difficult than that of last year’s MICAT. The questions were about business, ad agencies, books and authors, awards, geography, economics, terms, laws and acts, and logos. 4 questions could be classified as easy; 8 as medium and 8 as difficult. 19 out of 20 questions had 8 options each.
In this section, an attempt of 8 - 9 questions in about 5-7 minutes with 70 percent accuracy would be considered good.
Previous Year MICAT Analysis for MICAT 2021
MICAT-I has remained a multidimensional computer based examination. The exam assessed candidates in areas such as Divergent Thinking Abilities, Written Communication Abilities, General Awareness about contemporary social and business issues, including areas relevant to media, marketing, advertising & current affairs and Analytical & Verbal Abilities.
MICAT-I: Key Highlights
- Held on December 5, 2020, MICAT was the computer based exam
- It was held in 48 cities across the country
- MICAT was divided in Verbal ability (VA), Quantitative ability and Data Interpretation (QADI), General awareness (GA), and Divergent and Convergent Thinking (DCT) sections
- The Admission test also included psychometric profiling to assess the candidate’s leadership potential
- Break of 1 Minute between sections
- Sections had individual time limit. No Navigation was allowed between sections
- Section C carried +1 mark for each correct answer and - 0.25 mark for each wrong answer
- No Negative Marking in Psychometric Test and the Descriptive Test
- No marks for any un-attempted question in the Psychometric test
- Difficulty Level: Moderate to Difficult
MICAT Exam Pattern
|
Section
|
Name
|
Total Questions
|
Sectional Time (In Minutes)
|
|
A
|
Psychometric Test
|
150
|
30
|
|
B
|
Descriptive Test
|
4
|
25
|
|
C
|
i. Divergent and Convergent Thinking
|
30
|
80 (Sub divided into 4 sections)
|
|
|
ii. Verbal Ability
|
25
|
|
|
|
iii. Quantitative Ability Data Interpretation
|
25
|
|
|
|
iv. General Awareness
|
25
|
Final Selection Process after MICAT
- Candidates need to clear the Psychometric test first. Those who qualify on the Psychometric, their CAT/XAT/GMAT relative performance will be considered (Subject to a minimum cut-off in CAT total percentile/XAT total percentile/GMAT score)
- Those who qualify on the basis of relative performance subject to a minimum cut-off in Scaled Scores for each of these sections (namely: VA, QADI, GA and DCT) and CAT/XAT cut-off or GMAT score shall have their Descriptive Tests evaluated.
- Those who qualify on the basis as mentioned above and on the basis of relative performance subject to a minimum cut-off in Scaled Score in DT shall be considered for short listing for GE and PI. Shortlist will be prepared on the basis of MICAT-I and /or II or better of the two relative performances if a candidate has taken both MICAT-I and MICAT-II.
- The shortlist will be prepared based on the Composite Score formula of 50% CAT/XAT/GMAT and 50% MICAT
- Approximately 1/10th of the total number of candidates who appear in the two MICATs will be shortlisted for GE & PI based on the Total MICAT Scaled Score.
MICAT-I Exam Analysis by IMS Learning
The detailed analysis of MICAT-1 exam held on December 5, 2020 for PGDM admission 2021 at MICA as shared by IMS Learning is given below:
MICAT (MICA Admission Test) is the ONLINE entrance exam for PGDM-C/PGDM from MICA, Ahmedabad. Generally, MICAT is held twice for admission to the batch in the ensuing year. MICAT-I is held in December and MICAT-II in January/February for the batch commencing a few months later in June/July.
Overall, the MICAT- I matched the pattern and difficulty level of the last year’s MICATs - neither too easy nor too difficult, barring the normal peculiarities of the test. The General Awareness was reported as difficult. In a major change from the previous years, the psychometric test consisted of 150 questions instead of 27 to 35 questions.
MICAT Analysis 2019: Structure and Good Attempts:
|
Section |
Name |
No. Of Questions |
Time allocated |
Good Attempts |
|
A |
Psychometric Test |
150 |
30 minutes |
ALL |
|
B |
Descriptive Test |
4 |
30 minutes |
ALL |
|
C |
i. Divergent and Convergent Thinking |
30 |
105 minutes |
19-20 |
|
ii. Verbal Ability |
25 |
19-20 |
||
|
iii. Quantitative Ability Data Interpretation |
25 |
18-19 |
||
|
iv. General Awareness |
25 |
15-17 |
- 1-Minute break between different sections
- Navigation between sections not allowed
- Section C carried 1 mark per question. 0.25 for each incorrect response.
- No Negative Marks for the Psychometric Test and the Descriptive Test
- ‘No marks would be given for any un-attempted question in the Psychometric test’. (Earlier, Psychometric Test used to be a qualifying Test which made it compulsory to attempt all the questions)
VERDICT
Students who have ‘cleared’ the Psychometric Test and secured an overall score of 48-50 in Sections C (i) to C (iv) can expect a call for the GE-PI round (subject to their fulfilling the other criteria specified.
Those who have attempted IMS test pack on MICAT (a series of 5 tests) would have found that the level of difficulty and the nature of the questions in these tests, as well as the structure of the paper were similar to those asked in the actual MICAT.
ANALYSIS BY SECTIONS
Section - A
PSYCHOMETRIC TEST
There were 150 questions in this section - up from 27 last years. In this section, there were no correct or incorrect responses.
Around 30 questions presented a situation/course of action and the test-taker had to mark either True or False.
The other 120 questions were about a particular personality trait or a course of action. Students had to select any one option. The eight options from which students needed to mark their answer were:
- Totally Disagree
- Strongly Disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat Disagree
- Somewhat Agree
- Agree
- Strongly Agree
- Totally Agree
Given that 150 questions were to be attempted in 30 minutes, it was necessary to work fast and mark the answer quickly.
Section B
DESCRIPTIVE TEST
This section tested the analytical and descriptive writing ability and creative skills of test-takers. The total time given for attempting these questions was 30 minutes. The first three questions were related to each other. The topic for the first three questions was ‘Laziness: How it can benefit society’. For the first two questions, students had to write three points each, ‘for’ and ‘against’ the topic. These two questions carried 10 marks each.
In the third question, students had to write a 300-word answer to ‘suggest steps by which a young manager could ensure that laziness could be used as a tool for organizational success’. The instruction clearly stated that the points for the third question should not include the points stated in the first two questions. Twenty marks were allocated to this question.
The fourth question in this section consisted of four pictures. Students had to write down a particular pictorial combination (A-B-C-D or D-C-B-A or any such combination) and explain it with the help of a story. The pictures were related to an ‘old dilapidated house with a newly constructed gate which was painted red, a shopping complex, a drone in the form of a bee and a window grill with 3 panels’. This question carried 30 marks.
Section C
(4 Sub-sections)
(i) Sub-section: DIVERGENT AND CONVERGENT THINKING
The Reasoning section combined 30 word-association, statement-assumption, data sufficiency and visual reasoning questions. Usually, questions in this section used to have 5 options. However, this year there were 4 options.
|
Topic |
No. of Qs. |
Level |
|
Word Association |
9 |
2 Difficult, 5 Moderate, 2 Easy |
|
Statement Assumption |
4 |
2 Easy, 2 Moderate |
The non-verbal reasoning questions in the section were of easy-to-moderate level of difficulty. Following was the break-up of the non-verbal reasoning questions in the section:
|
Type of questions |
Number of questions |
Level of difficulty |
|
Visual Reasoning (Total 11 questions) |
||
|
Odd man out (similar pairs) |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Analogy (A:B::C:D) |
4 |
|
|
Complete the series (Next figure) |
3 |
|
|
Logical Data sufficiency (Total 4 questions) |
||
|
Data Sufficiency |
4 |
Easy-Moderate |
|
Miscellaneous (Total 2 questions) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Family Tree |
1 |
Medium |
|
Arrangement |
1 |
Easy |
In this section ,19-20 questions in about 30 minutes with around 80% accuracy would be considered a good attempt
(ii)Sub-section: VERBAL ABILITY
This section consisted of jumbled paragraphs, synonyms, double blanks, sentence errors, paragraph completion, idiom-based questions and a Reading Comprehension passage. Like last year, only 1 RC passage was present this year. The passage was on the easier side.
|
Topic |
No. of Qs. |
Level |
|
Grammatically correct sentence |
1 |
1 Moderate |
|
Jumbled Paragraph – 4/5 sentences |
5 |
3 Easy, 2 Moderate |
|
Synonyms of the highlighted word used in the sentence |
3 |
1 Easy, 2 Moderate |
|
Reading Comprehension – 1 Passage |
5 |
3 Easy, 2 Moderate |
|
Antonym |
2 |
2 Easy |
|
Error in underlined part |
2 |
1 Easy, 1 Moderate |
|
Preposition-based FIB (3/4 blanks) |
1 |
1 Moderate |
|
Phrase-based FIB |
1 |
1 Easy |
|
FIB with Four blanks |
1 |
1 Moderate |
|
Meaning of underlined idioms/ Idioms-based FIB |
4 |
1 Easy, 3 Moderate |
In this section, 19-20 questions in about 25-30 minutes with around 80% accuracy would be considered a good attempt.
(iii) Sub-section: QUANTITATIVE ABILITY AND DATA INTERPRETATION
There were 25 questions in the section, out of which 20 questions were on quantitative ability and 5 questions were on Data Interpretation. The Quantitative Ability section was dominated by 7 Arithmetic questions and then followed by 6 questions of Geometry and 5 questions of Modern Math. There was 1 question from Numbers and 1 question from Algebra. Most of the questions were based on elementary concepts but were time-consuming. Overall, the section was Easy to Moderate.
There were two sets on Data Interpretations. One set had a table and the calculations were based on Average and Percentage. The other set had a pie chart in which the break-up of the production quantity of 5 products was given in terms of degrees and the questions were asked on the percentage and ratio.
Following was the break-up of the questions in the Quantitative Ability section:
|
Types of questions |
Number of questions |
Level of difficulty |
|
Arithmetic (7 questions) |
||
|
Profit & Loss |
2 |
1 Easy, 1 Moderate |
|
Mixtures |
1 |
Easy |
|
Ratios |
1 |
Easy |
|
Time Speed & Distance (Trains, Circular Tracks, Boats and Stream) |
3 |
2 Easy, 1 Moderate |
|
Numbers (1 question) |
||
|
Fractions |
1 |
Moderate |
|
Modern Maths (5 questions) |
||
|
Set Theory |
1 |
Easy |
|
Permutation & Combination |
3 |
1 Easy, 2 Moderate |
|
Series & sequences |
1 |
Difficult |
|
Geometry ( 6 questions) |
||
|
Plane Geometry (Angle of elevation) |
4 |
4 Moaderate |
|
|
|
|
|
Mensuration |
2 |
1 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
|
Algebra (1 question) |
||
|
Quadratic Equations |
1 |
Easy |
|
Data Interpretation (5 questions) |
||
|
Table |
2 |
Easy to Moderate |
|
Pie Chart |
3 |
Easy to Moderate |
In this section, an attempt of about 18-19 questions in about 40 minutes with around 80% accuracy would be considered good
(iv) Sub-section: GENERAL AWARENESS
General Awareness section consisted of 25 questions. Out of the 25 questions, 7 were on National issues while 13 were on international topics. 5 questions were of miscellaneous types (logos, taglines etc.) Also, 18 questions were of static type while 7 were on current affairs. Overall, the section was more difficult than last year’s MICAT. The questions were about business, government, politics, ad agencies, laws and acts, and logos. 5 questions could be classified as easy; 12 as medium and 8 as difficult.
In this section, an attempt of 15 – 17 questions in about 10 minutes with around 60% accuracy would be considered good.
