XAT is abbreviation for Xaviers’ Aptitude Test. It is an entrance test conducted by XLRI on national level for selecting the most suitable students for management education. Additionally, many other institutes all over the country use XAT scores for admission to their various management programs. The test is conducted on first Sunday of the year in which program starts. It is a online test which takes three and half hours. A good score in XAT will get you shortlisted for succeeding round of admission process at one of the top rated B schools in India.
The XAT Exam is distinctly different from the other entrance exams for MBA programs, as it features a segment on Decision Making. This is an area presents various situations and cases and that checks your management aptitude and also identifies if the student uses correct recourse in these situations.
Let’s share the preparation strategy for XAT exams, the areas you need to focus on, and how to move ahead with the preparations in the crucial few days. Before going ahead with preparation of different section, need to understand the pattern of the XAT exam first. The total duration of the exam is 3.5 hours. Paper 1 will have 170 minutes, i.e. 2 hours 50 minutes and after a break of 5 minutes, candidates have to start with Paper 2, the duration of which is 35 minutes.
Let us move to the Xaviers’ Aptitude Test (XAT) taking strategy and look at each section individually in the order which can be beneficial for the student.
Decision Making: In a standard Questions for XAT decision making, the instance has one or few objectives to be fulfilled and there are few restrictions on the way to these objectives. The first task should be find the restriction and next task should be objectives to be met. The student should thoroughly read the question once. Find the constraints and the objectives and try to find the ideal answer which compromises on none.
Verbal Ability: XAT question selection is more important, while attempting XAT verbal ability questions need to read the passage twice and understand what the question is about. Do not opt for the option which is given in the passage but has not been asked for in the question. Grammar question are not too easy too and require good command on the language. One thing about this section is you always have an idea when you have selected the right option.
Quant and Data Interpretation: You need to be tactical while solving XAT Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation section. You need to find the right type of questions to solve first to get better grades. Caseless questions in DI should always be attempted first. In Quant, Arithmetic questions should be completed first followed by Number systems and algebra.
General Knowledge: A XAT score between 6 to 8 is considered sufficient in this section. Preparation part of XAT General Awareness section can only be having knowledge of all the updates for at least past 3 months.
Part B Essay: You need to analyze what the topic is all about. Always state your opinion on the topic. Using of British spelling to the American spelling have a advantage as it is more preferred language.
