Sunday, December 28, 2014

CAT 2014 Result Analysis | Score-Percentile Distribution

The CAT 2014 results were declared at 5pm yesterday even while thousands of students were unable to access their results well past 9pm. 
There were sixteen 100 percentilers this time versus eight in 2013. Neha Manglik, a student of BITS Pilani is the only girl in the list and the first girl since 2009 to secure a 100 percentile. Over 1000 students have scored above 200 (scaled score) while close to 10,000 students have scored above 150(scaled score). Around 1.68 Lakh of the 1.97 Lakh registered students took up the test conducted in November and the score-percentile distribution looks as shown below.

Back on Nov 16th, we were the only ones who predicted that one would need a score as high as at least 215 to be get a 99.90 and a safe score of at least 180+ to secure 99 percentile (Read our blog here). 215 turns out to be 99.70 percentile. While most other sources indicated our numbers were extremely high, actual results show that our estimates were in fact slightly conservative!


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Thursday, December 25, 2014

XAT Exam Pattern - Past Year Papers

XAT is the arguably the second most sought after MBA exam after the CAT and one of the last few exams of the MBA Season (CMAT & MHCET the other ones). Many good B-schools accept XAT score with some of the top colleges listed below. We'll also have a look at the XAT exam pattern and its differences from other MBA exams. Click here to sign up for XAT Mock Tests & Decision Making Course.


Top Colleges Accepting XAT Score
XLRI, Jamshedpur
SP Jain IMR, Mumbai
IMT Ghaziabad
TAPMI, Manipal
XIM, Bhubhaneshwar
Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
Prin. LN Welingkar IMDR, Mumbai
Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai
GIM, Goa
XIME, Bangalore

XAT Paper Pattern:- 

XAT is a paper-based test typically conducted in one slot on the first Sunday of the year. 
Like other MBA exams, XAT has an aptitude section (Quant, Resoning & Verbal) but along with that it has a Decision Making section as well. This is unique to the XAT exam.
The objective of the Decision Making questions is to test the ability of a candidate to analyze a given situation, evaluate the various options available to him along with its consequences, and then pick the best or the most effective option.  A real or a hypothetical case is presented with a problem facing one of the stakeholders in the case along with five options, each option being a course of action that can be taken. The student has to understand the case, analyze the main problem and select an action that will solve the problem in the most effective manner. The best way to solve such questions is to eliminate options one by one. 


The other difference in the XAT exam (compared to CAT and others) is that it has a GK + Essay section but whose score is not used initially while shortlisting of candidates. The GK score is used only during subsequent rounds of elimination. The initial shortlist is made on the aptitude section alone. The Essay (one essay to be written) writing is present to test your writing skills. The aptitude section is timed separately and distinct additional time is available for the GK & Essay portions. 

XAT has historically varied the number of questions in the exam every year. Here's a look at how it has been for the last three years.
Scoring Pattern: +1 for correct and -0.25 for incorrect answers.


Number of Questions by section over the last three years. 



XAT 2014 XAT 2013 XAT 2012
Quant + DI 31 36 28
Verbal Ability 28 30 32
Decision Making 24 25 25
Total 83 91 85
GK 20 30 0


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