SNAPSHOT- DEC 2013 EXAM ANALYSIS

Number of Questions	200
Marking Scheme	1 mark per question
Negative Marking	0.25 marks per question
Number of Sections	5
Number of Choices	4(1.2,3,4)
Duration	150 minutes

This MAT exam, conducted on 1st December 2013, had 200 questions to be attempted in 150 minutes. These 200 questions were from five test areas viz. Indian and Global Environment, Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning with exactly 40 questions in each. Each question had equal marking and one-fourth mark was deducted for every wrong answer. For the sake of convenience, 1 mark has been taken for every correct answer.

OVERALL SUMMARY(ESTIMATED FOR DEC2013 MAT EXAM)

The consolidated score is evaluated by taking only four areas into account. Indian and Global Environment (GK) is not the part of the consolidated score. Hence, the scoring is done out of a maximum possible score of 160 marks(@1 mark for 160 qs). However, the score card(by AIMA) doesnot give the net marks. It gives the scaled score and the percentile in each and every section. It also gives the overall composite score and the overall percentile. It is estimated that a net score of 65 marks (excluding the score in GK) will fetch an overall percentile of more than 95. Any net score of more than 80 marks(excluding the score in GK) is considered outstanding and is equivalent to an overall percentile of more than 99. A net score in excess of 90 marks (excluding the score in GK) is adequate to get to an overall percentile of more than 99.9

Let us analyze the different types of questions from each of the test area along with the overall difficulty level of each of the test area.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

The paper predominantly had questions from the Arithmetic areas like (Percentages, Profit and Loss, Time and Work, Geometry, Time and Distance, Averages, Mixtures and Alligations). The questions involved only the basics and those who would have done adequate practice would have found those questions quite easy. The success in this particular test area depended on one's basic conceptual skills, and calculation skills. Overall, the test area can be classified as MODERATE- DIFFICULT. A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 35-40 min for a good net score of 13(for at least 90 percentile from this section alone).

AREA	DESCRIPTION	MARKS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL	ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Arithmetic	Time & Work, Pipes and Cisterns	5	Moderate-Difficult	11
	Time & Distance, Boats and Streams	7
	Averages, Mixtures & Alligations	4
	LCM, HCF	1
	Equations, Ratio, Proportion & Variation	4
	Percentages, Profit, Loss, Partnership	6
	Geometry & Mensuration	4
	Simple Interest, Compound Interest	2
Higher Math	Trigometry, Heights and Distance	3	Difficult	2
	Permutation and Combinations	0
	Probability	4
	Overall	40	Moderate-Difficult	13

DATA ANALYSIS AND SUFFICIENCY

As shown in the table below, this test area comprises DI, DS and Data Comparison, with DI accounting for 30 out of 40 questions while DS and Data Comparison put together accounting for the remaining 10 questions. The questions in DI involved were of standard model -based on observation, calculations like comparison of fractions, computing the average, percentage based calculations etc. Overall, this test area can be considered to be Moderate. A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 35-40 min for a good net score of 16 (for at least 90 percentile from this section alone).

AREA	DESCRIPTION	MARKS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL	ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Data Interpretation	There were two pie charts given. The first pie chart gave the break-up of the contribution of each of the six districts(A, B, C, D, E, F) in wheat production(total being 17 lakh tonnes). The second pie chart gave the break-up of cost in any district.	5	Very difficult	10
	The questions were based on the combination of two charts- one bar chart and one pie chart. The pie chart gave the break-up of the people working in six different industries(Sales, Banking, Medical, IT, Gaming, Call Centre) working in night shifts(Total being 40,250 people). The bar chart gave the percentage of women for each industry among people working in night shift.	5	Moderate
	The set was based on the data given in the tabular format. This had data in the format of six zones and five years. The data was pertaining to the students who appeared and passed in these zones.	5	Moderate
	The line graph gave the data regarding the interest rates offered by three banks P, Q, R across 2007-2012	5	Moderate
	The bar graph gave the production of three types of Icecream-X, Y, Z over 6 years	5	Easy
	The questions were given in the form of a caselet. It gave the data regarding the number of people using six different modes of transport-A, B, C, D, E &F.	5	Moderate
Data Sufficiency & Data Comparison	Each question followed by two statements, A and B.	5	Easy	6
	Data Comparison	5
Overall		40	Moderate	16

LANGUAGE COMPREHENSION

This test area had a good mix of 20 questions from Reading Comprehension and 20 questions from Verbals. A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 30-35 min. The questions in Reading Comprehension(4 qs from each of the five passages) were straightforward. Most of the questions were direct in nature, where one has to scan through the passages and obtain the answer. The questions in Verbal require good knowledge about English usage & functional grammar. The type of the questions asked for this December 2013 MAT, yet again, were very similar to the ones asked in the earlier exams. This time, also, AIMA gave six questions which were in jumbled format. In three out of these six questions, the antonym of the word was to be found out. In the remaining three, the words were in jumbled format and the odd one out was to be found out. Those who have been regularly solving the questions from All India MOCK MATs by T.I.M.E would not have found this as the surprise element. Overall, the test area can be classified as MODERATE. A good score is estimated to be 18 in the time limit of 30-35 min.

INTELLIGENCE AND CRITICAL REASONING

This test area is a mix of Analytical reasoning (30 questions) and Critical reasoning (10 questions). A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 30-35 min. Overall, the questions on Analytical Reasoning were of easy to moderate difficulty level and a good student would have found this area manageable. Overall this test area can be classified as MODERATE. A net score of18 marks will give a sectional percentile of at least 90.

AREA	DESCRIPTION	MARKS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL	ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Analytical Reasoning	Distribution Qs (Foour students studying four different subjects and studying in different standards)	3	Moderate	14
	Distribution Qs (A group of six students belonging to two different Palaces. Some are wearing Jeans while others are wearing caps)	3
	Distribution Qs (Six employees appearing for a competitive exam- three from Dehradun while the remaining three from Mangalore. Three of them are males while the remaining three are femaes)	3
	Distribution Qs (Six books/volumes labelled as L, M, N, O, P, Q. Three are new volumes while the remaining three are old volumes. Three are law books while the remaining are engineering books)	3
	Distribution Qs( Five persons considered for four awards – Sincerity, bravery, Truthfulness, Courteous)	3
	Completing the letter series by replacing the “?” mark	5
	Blood Relations (Individual question)	3
	Sequencing (Five persons living in five different flats located in five different floors)	1
	Verbal Analogies	4
	Calendar	2
Critical Reasoning	Assertion and Reasons	4	Easy-Moderate	4
	Statement & Conclusions (A statement followed by 2 conclusions)	3
	Cause & Effect	3
	Overall	40	Moderate	18

INDIAN AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT

The questions in this test area were, predominantly, from business, current affairs, Person and their associated fields, etc. Those who read newspapers on a regular basis will find this area comfortable. Overall this test area can be classified as Moderately Difficult. A good time allocation strategy would be to spend around 5 minutes for a good net score of 7 marks.