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Monday, October 13, 2014

NMAT 2015 Analysis



NMAT 2015 Analysis

Narsee Monjee Aptitude Test, popularly known as NMAT, has started the proceedings for the intake of 2015-17 batch. Offering three attempts to a student, NMAT has rolled out a red carpet for the serious MBA aspirants and students are expected to the most of it. 

The exam pattern:
Number of Questions: 120

Number of Sections: 3

Sectional Cut-Offs: Yes. This means, to be successful, a candidate has to have a considerably good performance across all the sections.

Pattern: A student is shown 6 possible arrangements in which the test can be taken. He/she has to select the pattern which suits him/her the most.
Moving across questions/ sections: You CANNOT move across sections. Further, you cannot jump the questions too. For an e.g. if you are on question 1, you cannot directly go to question 3, you have to go through question 2.

Let us now have a look at each of the three sections.

Language Section:

Out of a total of 32 questions in this section, most of the questions were of Reading  Comprehension (RC). There were two passages and had a total 8 questions among them. There were questions on Parajumbles, Sentence Correction, Vocabulary, Grammar and cloze test too.

Interestingly quite a few number of questions based on prepositions were asked.

Most of the questions in RC were direct (factual – based on RC) questions.
Please note that this is the most scoring section in NMAT and one should be able to solve (not merely attempt) at least 24 questions in this section. The sectional cutoff for this section in the last few years has been at 55 and we do not expect it to change.

Quantitative Ability Section:

There were 28 questions of Quantitative Aptitude and this section had Data Interpretation (DI) and Data Sufficiency (DS) also.

The 12 questions of DI were split in 3 sets of 4 questions each and were not calculation intensive but they did require one to understand the data before proceeding to the questions.

There were 8 questions of DS from all areas of quantitative aptitude. A good practice of DS questions would surely come handy.

This section has come as a big surprise this time around. There were a number of questions which are quite new to even a very seasoned test taker.

An attempt of 25-28 questions in this section with proper calculation would be considered good and the remaining questions should be marked randomly.

Reasoning:

This section had questions on Verbal as well as Analytical reasoning.
This section had questions on Linear and circular arrangement, Syllogism, Assumption-conclusion etc. constituted a major part of this section.

One could easily solve some 23-25 questions in the given 38 minutes.

The sectional cutoff for this section has been around 61-62 and should be the same this year also. A safe score for clearing the sectional cutoff is 65.

Overall:
To conclude, we can say that the test was manageable and would have the cut-offs near the previous year marks.

An attempt of 75-80 questions and a random marking of the remaining questions can be considered good enough for one to crack this stage of testing.

The overall expected cutoff (flagship programmes):
NM Mumbai: 205-208 marks
NM Bangalore and Hyderabad: 200 marks 
 
Disclaimer: All information on cut-offs, analysis, answer key and scores are based on independent analysis and evaluation made by us on the basis of inputs received by us and our own discretion. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on this information. 

Keep growing!


Paridhi Trivedi Parikh | Hardik K. Parikh

Building Careers, Shaping Lives!

IBPS CWE PO/ MT (Officer Scale 1) 2014 Exam Analysis

IBPS CWE PO/ MT (Officer Scale 1) 2014 Exam Analysis
The much-awaited examination of Probationary Officers (PO) conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) started from October 11, 2014. As usual it was an online examination.
We would like to mention that this time too, IBPS lived up to its expectation of having a surprise element or in other words “something new” in the pattern of the examination. Most of the students found the questions in the examination to be more of indirect than direct.

Let us understand the pattern first.

Paper Pattern:
Number of questions: 200 questions
Time: 2 hours
Sections: Five
Marking Pattern:  (a) 1 mark for every correct answer (b)  -0.25 for every incorrect answer

Our Analysis:
As per the feedback that we got from various sources, our own inputs and after having a detailed discussion with the student fraternity, we present a crisp and clear analysis.
Section
Total Questions
Max. Marks
Level of Difficulty
Good Attempts
Good Score
Reasoning
50
50
Moderate-Easy
27-31
23-27
English Language
40
40
Moderate-Easy
28-31
23-27
Maths
50
50
Moderate – High
20-23
17-19
General Awareness
40
40
Easy
22-25
18-20
Computer Knowledge
20
20
Very Easy
13-15
11-12
Total
200
200

110-125
92-105


Sectional Cutoff  (Expected) -
Subject
General
OBC
SC
ST
Reasoning
10-13
6-9
6-9
6-9
English Language
6-9
3-6
3-6
3-6
Maths
6-9
4-6
4-6
4-6
General Awareness
8-11
6-8
6-8
6-8
Computer Knowledge
7-10
5-7
5-7
5-7
Overall cutoff on total score
61-70
60-68
59-64
32-38

Analysis of the questions asked in different sections:
Reasoning  
The questions in this section were relatively easy.

There were many questions from Critical Reasoning area. As usual, the questions on Sitting Arrangements  (linear – one of the set was related to arrangement on floors) were in good number too.

Questions from Syllogism and Inequalities formed another important area.

Questions from Directions, Input-Output and Statement-Conclusions were also found.

English Language
Again a relatively easy section.

Max Weightage: Reading Comprehension (20 questions – 2 sets – 10 questions from each set)

Important Areas:
Cloze Test: 10 questions  - Easy
Parajumbles: 5-10 questions – Easy to Moderate

Other questions: Vocabulary based questions, Sentence Correction questions were also found.

Maths
This section can be classified as difficult to moderate.

Questions from Data Interpretation (DI) were seen in good numbers in some of the examination slots. Even the questions which followed DI were mostly indirect. There were 3-4 sets in most of the examination slots. Each set had approximately 5 questions. DI was in the form of Tables, Pie-charts and Bar charts, amongst others.

Other questions were from Data Sufficiency, Percentage, Time, Speed & Distance, Geometry, Mensuration, Number Series (Odd One Out), Simple and Compound Interest and Linear Equations.

General Awareness
Unlike most of the previous IBPS examination wherein most of the questions were from Banking, this year surprisingly saw many questions based on current affairs.

Questions from Banking were found too.

Most of the questions were manageable if a student has read newspaper regularly.

Computer Knowledge
The questions in this section were relatively easy. Questions Hardware, Networking and Software were asked. Many questions were related to MS Office, particularly MS Excel and shortcuts in MS Excel.

Concluding..
Overall, the paper can be rated to be of moderate difficulty level. An overall score of 70 (for general category) should be good enough to get a call for the interviews.

Disclaimer: All information on cut-offs, analysis, answer key and scores are based on independent analysis and evaluation made by us on the basis of inputs received by us and our own discretion. We do not take responsibility for any decision that might be taken, based on this information. 

Keep growing!


Paridhi Trivedi Parikh | Hardik K. Parikh