Saturday, March 14, 2015

MHCET First Day Analysis

The MHCET began all over the country today and while the exam has always been easy, this was probably easier than the earlier versions as well. There were several glitches - technical & otherwise- the biggest being the exam having only 4 options when the brochure of MHCET as well as the instruction sheet handed out before the exam clearly mentioned 5 options (should not affect a candidate much though). 

The 200 question exam is not divided by section but an approximate break-up of questions is provided below. 

Logical Reasoning: 85
Quant & DI: 55
Verbal Ability: 60


Detailed Break-up:-



Cut-Offs:- (these are rough estimates only and do not use these as targets)

The paper was definitely quite easy with only a handful of questions that could be termed as moderate-difficult. The English section, especially, was very easy.
Given that and the increased competition with several serious candidates attempting this (for JBIMS), we expect the top score to be possibly even top 170 (if the errors are suitably accounted for). The top score last year was 158.

Percentile-Score (these are estimates only and do not use these as targets)

99.99%ile - 177

99%ile - 147
95%ile - 128
90%ile -  116

Glitches during the exam:

The DTE for some reason has moved to Sify as the exam provider while TCS conducted it last year. They probably changed the vendor very late in the cycle which possibly might have driven the delayed applications as well. The hurried nature of the having a new provider conducting the exam showed in the sub-optimal exam experience that most people encountered. There were several errors in the questions (if you find yourself facing one, just attempt it and move on. No point asking the invigilator as he does not know anything) .

Most visual reasoning images required large amounts of horizontal scrolling and many questions had some portion of the text cut-off (if you face this on 15th, use the "Question Paper" option that previews all questions and refer to the specific question).

The interface itself was poor and difficult to navigate. It takes 3 seconds to move from one question to the next. You are starting with 140 minutes!!
While we have not been big fans of the TCS interface, Sify made TCS's interface look like a work of art.
In our center, the exam start was delayed by more than 30 minutes with 3-4 students having to switch computers 5 minutes into the exam.
It is also unclear why the switch was made given TCS has had a great track record of conducting exams well.

All in all, we hope the DTE fixes the issues for 2016!

Thursday, March 12, 2015

MHCET: Last Minute Tips

The MHCET marks the last major MBA exam of the 2014-15 season. With less than 48 hours to go, here are a few tips to help you optimize performance on test day. 

Before the exam

  • Do not practice or study the night before or the on the day of the exam. Keep you mind fresh and active to help you stay focused for 150 minutes.
  • Ensure you get a good night's sleep (at least 8 hours) before your exam. Lack of adequate sleep can render the mind significantly slower especially when speed is the key during the MHCET.
  • Reach the center well in time to avoid any nervous energy and stress creeping in. Stress can further reduce your performance in a time sensitive test such as the MHCET. Carry your Admit Card, Original Photo ID Proof and a pen. 
  • Get used to the MHCET format. If you have not given the free mock test, click here to take the free test and familiarize yourself with the pattern and type of questions. Click here to take the free mock MHCET. 
During the exam
  • Keep the difficult and time consuming questions for the end. Build confidence by attempting the easy ones first. The confidence will create a positive momentum for you to do well over the 150 minutes. 
  • Visual reasoning questions (there will possibly be 25-30 of them) should be ideally be kept for the last as these are typically more time consuming than the rest. There will be sufficient easy questions in the MHCET for you to locate and attempt during the first half of the test. However, if you have been solving it early and are comfortable with it, go ahead and use what works for you on these type of questions. 
  • Attempt all 200 questions. Remember there is no negative marking. Hence by following the two suggestions above, if you find yourself short on time, then you only have to take a guess on the difficult/time consuming ones and not the easy ones. 

Good luck with the MHCET!

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

CAT Study Planner & Preparation Schedule


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