SNAPSHOT- MAT SEP 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 September 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 SEP2013 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 62 marks (excluding the score in GK) will fetch an overall percentile of more than 95. Any net score of more than 82 marks(excluding the score in GK) is considered outstanding and is equivalent to an overall percentile of more than 99.

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.

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 september 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 19 in the time limit of 30-35 min.

AREA	DESCRIPTION	MARKS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL	ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Vocabulary	To find the antonyms of the words given in jumbled form	3	Easy	7
	Odd Man out (Each of the words given in jumbled form)	3	Easy
	Fill in the blanks (2 blanks)	3	Moderate-Difficult
English Usage and Grammar	Most appropriate restatement	3	Easy
	Para-Jumbles	4	Moderate
	Best essence of the given paragraph	4	Moderate
Reading Comprehension	Passage on “India's South China Sea Gambit”	4	Easy	12
	Passage on “Designs by Nokia pertaining to Indian Market”	4
	Passage on Extravagant Indian Weddings	4
	Passage on Cyber Warriors, the need of the hour in India	4
	Passage on “India-Japan Political Ties”	4
Overall		40	Moderate	19

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 of 24 marks will give a sectional percentile of at least 90.

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 17 (for at least 90 percentile from this section alone).

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 16(for at least 90 percentile from this section alone).

AREA	DESCRIPTION	MARKS	DIFFICULTY LEVEL	ESTIMATED GOOD MARKS
Arithmetic	Time & Work, Pipes and Cisterns	8	Moderate-Difficult	14
	Time & Distance, Boats and Streams	4
	Averages, Mixtures & Alligations	3
	Numbers, Equations, Ratio, Proportion & Variation	5
	Percentages, Profit, Loss, Partnership	6
	Geometry & Mensuration	4
	Simple Interest, Compound Interest	4
Higher Math	Trigometry, Heights and Distance	0	Difficult	2
	Permutation and Combinations	3
	Probability	3
	Overall	40	Moderate-Difficult	16

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 8 marks.