IRMA-2009 Analysis

Exam Snapshot

Number of Questions 200
Sections 4
Marking Scheme 1
Negative Marking 1/4
Number of Choices 5
Duration 120 Min

Like every year the management exam season for 2009 begins with IRMA and this was an exam that was the right primer for the upcoming IIFT and CAT exams and the remainder of the test season. IRMA 2009 was on the lines of 2008 with the exact same distribution of Qs across sections and the areas that were tested. The paper can be classified as "Easy-Moderate" in terms of the difficulty level and had no major surprises compared to that of 2008. Though students might feel happy about their performance, the point to be kept in mind is that the "Relative performance" alone matters which means that unless one gets a better score than the others, he/she will not be able to get the coveted call from IRMA. This year the score in the 'Issues of Social Concern' section will determine the fate of the students. However with this section being quite difficult with emphasis on trivia, the scores in this section would be quite low and those who were able to balance their performance in the other three sections would stand a good chance of securing a call. The ideal number of attempts in this paper would be around 120-130 and this coupled with an accuracy level of 80-85% should help one get a call.

English Comprehension

No. of Questions: 40

IRMA gave a slightly different English Comprehension section this year, with a lot more emphasis on Vocabulary than on Reasoning or Grammar. To begin with there was a passage on "Organic Farming and the Green revolution" which is in line with kind of passages given by IRMA in the past few years. There were 10 direct Qs from this passage and 5 Qs on Vocabulary from words highlighted in the passage. The passage was taken from an extract written by Kiran Patil titled "Organic Farming in India". The Qs were straight forward and the choices were quite direct and this would have increased the number of attempts, accuracy and score. The Vocabulary Qs from the passage were slightly tricky and could have confused students. The 5Qs on the 'Correct phrase to be inserted into the blank' were all based on topics of rural development and if one read the sentence carefully there were enough clues to reveal the answer. The 5Qs on para-Jumbles were nowhere near the standard of CAT and each one of them could be answered in quick time. There was a cloze test on "Rural India" which had 10Qs. Here a score of around 7-8 was possible in about 5-6 minutes. A good time allocation for the RC would be around 12-15 min and that for Verbal would be around 15-20 mins. Overall this was a slightly easier section than the one in 2008 and the cut-offs are expected to go up from 20 marks in 2008.

The cut-off for this section is expected to be around 20-24. A score in the range of 28-30 should be considered to be very good.

Area Description Marks Difficulty level Expected Score Good Score
Verbal Ability Cloze Test 10 Easy-Moderate 4 8
Verbal Ability Fill in the Blanks (2 blanks) 5 Easy-Moderate 2 4
Verbal Ability Appropriate phrase in sentence 5 Moderate 2 3-4
Verbal Ability Para- Jumbles 5 Easy-Moderate 2 4
Reading Comprehension Passage on Organic Farming and the Green revolution 15 Moderate 5-6 9-10
Overall 40 Easy-Moderate 15-16 28-30

Quantitative Ability

No. of Questions: 50

The Quant section of IRMA includes topics from Arithmetic, Data Interpretation and Speed Math. Those with a penchant for quick calculations would have been at an advantage in this section. The questions on Arithmetic were very easy and were based on the straight forward application of formula and did not call for any reasoning to be exercised. The DI sets on 'Villages' and the one on 'Children going to school' involved fairly simple calculations and should have been attempted. The number based puzzle on 'Men, women and children with various past-times' ad all the data embedded and was the one to be attempted for a high score in this section. The only limiting factor in getting a huge score in this section would be time. A good time allocation for this section would be around 35 min.

The cut-off score should be around 22-26. A score in the range of 32-34 should be considered to be very good.

Area Description Marks Difficulty level Expected Score Good Score
Speed Maths Approximations 5 Easy-Moderate 3 4
Arithmetic Permutations & Combinations, Probability

Percentages,

T&W, T&D, Numbers, PPL, SI/CI, Partnerships, Ratio Proportion, Mensuration

 15 Easy-Moderate 5-6 10-11
Data Sufficiency Arithmetic based 5 Moderate 2 3
Data Interpretation Line Graph (Investments of 3 farmers) 5 Easy-Moderate 6-7 12-13
Pie Charts (Children going to school in villages) 5 Moderate
Table ( People participating in an annual fair from different villages) 5 Moderate
Table (Prices of Food grains) 5 Easy
Venn Diagram Caselet (men, women and children in a village) 5 Moderate-Difficult 2 3
Overall 50 Easy-Moderate 18-20 32-34

Analytical Reasoning

No. of Questions: 50

Those not familiar with the Critical Reasoning variety of Qs would have found this section to be on the tough side (next only to the Issues of Social Concern section). The easy Qs that would have boosted the scores of such students were the 10 Qs on Decision Making pertaining to the 'selection of a candidate' and the logic puzzle pertaining to the seating arrangement which could have been cracked in less than 2 mins and should have been attempted. Similarly the questions on 'Odd One Out' were quite straight forward and involved simple logic and would have helped students attain the cut-off score. The Critical Reasoning Qs comprised of 'Course of Action', 'Inferences', 'Cause & Effect' and 'Statement & Assumption'. Of these the ones on Course of action were easy and should have been attempted. A good time allocation for this section would be around 35-40 min and attempts in the range of 30-35 with an accuracy of around 80% would be considered good. Overall this was a section on par with the one in 2008 and the cut-offs are expected to be slightly higher than the 20 marks of 2008.

The cut-off score for this section should be around 20-24. A score of around 32-34 should be considered to be very good.

Area Description Marks Difficulty level Expected Score Good Score
Reasoning Miscellaneous (Odd man Out, Analogies etc.) 10 Easy 3-4 7
Critical Reasoning Courses of Action 5 Moderate 2 3-4
Critical Reasoning Cause & Effect 5 Moderate-Difficult 1 3
Critical Reasoning Statements & Assumptions 5 Moderate 2 3
Critical Reasoning Definitely True-Definitely False 5 Moderate-Difficult 1 3
Data Sufficiency Reasoning based 5 Easy 2 3
Decision Making Selection Criteria 10 Easy-Moderate 4 7-8
Analytical Reasoning Puzzle on Seating Arrangement 5 Easy 2 3
Overall   50 Moderate 17-18 32-34

Issues of Social Concern

No. of Questions: 60

This section always is the key to determining whether one gets a call from IRMA or not. This year it wasn't any different! The Qs in this section can be described as being quite tough with a focus on 'schemes' of the Government and trivia relating to them. This section can be classified as the toughest amongst the 4 sections of IRMA. Students would have had the feeling that even with a lot of reading this section would have been a difficult nut to crack. The questions were very descriptive and required a lot more reading than a typical General Awareness question. This was further complicated by the very tricky and difficult answer choices given. Most questions pertained to Government schemes, definitions of terms, economics, agriculture and poverty. A good time allocation for this section would be around 15 min.

The cut-off score would stay around that of last year at about 13-17. A score of around 20+ should be considered to be very good.

Section Actual Cut-Off

in 2008 - IRMA

 Actual Cut-Off

in 2006 - XIMB -RM

 Expected Cut-Off

in 2009 for IRMA

 Expected Cut-Off

in 2009 for XIMB - RM

English Comprehension 1 14 20-24 16-18
Quantitative Ability 19 15 22-26 16-18
Analytical Reasoning 19 11 20-24 15-16
Issues of Social Concern 15 13 13-17 13-17
Overall Cut-off 80 74 86-90 74-78

IRMA Fact file

Number of Seats Approximately 120
Reservation Status NO (Cut-offs are lower for SC/ST and OBC but no seats are reserved for them)
Cut-offs (Last Year) 80 marks (overall)
Expected Cut-off (This Year) 86-90 marks (overall)
Fees 3 lacs
Average Salary 6.13 lacs
Flagship Program PRM - Rural Management

** The cut-off for XIMB (RM) program is expected to be around 76-80