XAT 2003 analysis

Analysis of XAT-2003

Shock, anger, surprise were some of the words used by the students coming out of the Examination centre after taking XAT 2003. "Shock" was used to explain the incredibly simple English questions and also for the untouchable Maths ones. The GK section was surprisingly easy and the most unpopular cum mind-boggling Maths questions threw students totally off their balance. They found themselves in a totally hapless condition as they could solve very few Maths questions despite being given "ample" time for the section. It was a three-section paper just like last year with sectional timings. The English and GK sections were a walkover as compared to last year but the Maths section gave students an unforgettable jolt. The optimum number of attempts was in the range of 120 to 130.

As far as the individual sections are concerned English was the one which would fetch the maximum score followed by GK.

Sectional Breakup:

Section	No. Of Questions	Difficulty Level
1. English	80	Average
2. Reasoning & Quantitative Ability		Difficult
3. General Awareness 60		Average

English Section:

Area Tested	No. Of Questions	Difficulty Level
RC ( 1 Passage)	10	Easy
Analogies	20	Average
Fill in the Blanks	20	Average
Synonyms	10	Average
Antonyms	20	Average

A total of 80 questions were to be solved in 40 minutes. Here the ideal number of attempts would be 70+ and the cutoff would be 50+.

Section 2: Maths

A total of 6 Caselets with 10 questions each to be solved in 50 minutes, which were extremely difficult. A total of 12 to 16 attempts would be considered ideal. The cut off for this section would be 8+ if there is any.

Section 3: GK

A total of 60 questions to be solved in 30 minutes

The ideal number of attempts would be 40+ and the cut off would be in the range of 25+.

Essay:

To give real service, one needs to add something, which cannot be bought or measured, like sincerity and integrity.

Total cut-off safely pegged at 85+ by CF

XAT 2004 analysis

Analysis of XAT-2004

The paper was perceived more or less as a pushover. Due to the jolt given by the Math section last year, most of the test-takers were bracing themselves for staggering questions. There were a sizeable number of single questions unlike caselets that were predominant last year. The English section as usual gave some reasons to relax. The change was brought in by the poetry, which hobbled the performance added by deceptively close options in analogies. The GK section had a mix of questions based on science, management, famous quotes, et al.

It was a three-section paper just like last year with sectional timings and had a total of 200 questions to be attempted in two hours followed by a 20-minute essay.

The optimum number of attempts was in the range of 120 to 130 (for XLRI).

As far as the individual sections are concerned, English was the one, which would fetch the maximum score, followed by Maths.

Sectional Breakup

Section	No. Of Questions	Time Limit	Difficulty Level
English (Verbal Ability + Reading Comprehension)	80	40	Average
Reasoning & Quantitative Ability	60	40	Average
General Awareness	60	40	Tough

Section 1: English

Verbal Ability

Area Tested	No. Of Questions	Difficulty Level	Comments
Analogies	20	Average	Tricky
Fill in the Blanks	10	Average
Synonyms	20	Average
Total	50	Average

Reading Comprehension

Passage No Of Questions Type Comments

King Henry IV's speech 7 Avg Poem

Hamlet 6 Avg Poem

Indians Building American

Economy 7 Easy Conventional

Painter 10 Easy Antonyms Based

Total 30 Questions : Overall Average

Total of 80 questions were to be solved in 40 minutes. Here the ideal number of attempts would be 60+ and the cutoff would be 45+(for XLRI)

Section 2 : Reasoning & Quantitative Ability

Total of 60 questions to be solved in 40 minutes. Compared to last year, Quantitative ability questions were easier.

TYPE - # Of Ques - Difficulty

Functions 10 Avg
Probability 10 Avg
Spring Balance
(Reasoning) 6 Tricky
Number Series 8 Tough
Pie Chart (DI) 5 Easy
Table (DI) 6 Average
Others 15 Very Easy
Total 60 Average

Ideal attempts would be 40+ and cutoff would be30+(for XLRI).

Section 3: General

A total of 60 questions to be solved in 40 minutes. The ideal number of attempts would be 35+and the cut off would be in the range of 20+(for XLRI).

Essay:

When asked which of his works was a masterpiece, the 83-year-old architect Frank Llyod Wright replied" my next one."

Total cut-off could be safely pegged at 95+ for XLRI as per CF.

XAT 2005 analysis

XLRI Admission Test January 09, 2005

Bird's eye view

Total Number of Questions

Total Time

The Marking Scheme

Number of options Sectional Break-up

175 Objective type questions + 1 Essay type question 120 minutes + 20 minutes for essay question

The marks for each question were same but the weightage of marks was not declared.

Negative marking was 33% of the weightage of each question

FOUR

There were no SECTIONAL TIME LIMITS as in last year's XAT.

Sections	Topic	No. Of Questions
A B C	Quantitative and Analytical Ability General Awareness Verbal and Logical Ability	75 35 65
Total		175 Question

Quantitative and Analytical Ability In this section there were 29 questions on Arithmetic, 17 on Higher Maths, 5 questions on 4 option (twister) type DS and 24 questions were on DI. In DI there were three tables, one line graph, one pie chart and one radar graph and in all 24 questions were asked.

Topics	No. Of Questions	Topics	No. Of Questions
Arithmetic		Higher Maths
Numbers	10	Co-ordinate Geometry	1
Two Dimensions Geometry	5	Differentiation	4
Mensuration - 3D	1	Binomial Theorem	1
Inequalities	5	Vector	1
Quadratic Equations	2	Set Theory	6
Probability	2	Progression	4
Profit and Loss	1	Integration	1
Averages	1	Data Sufficiency
Miscellaneous	3	4 Options (twister)	3
Data Interpretation
Table (3)		9
Line Graph (1)		6
Pie Charts (1)		5
Radar (1)		4

Ideally a student must have spent approx. 55-60 minutes on this section.

General Knowledge

There were 35 questions of easy to moderate level of difficulty in this section. There was shift from last year's module the section had a mixture of questions from current and business GK, Economics and Traditional GK. The topic wise break up of GK part is as follows:

Topic	No. Of Questions
History	5
Geography	4
Science	6
Business Awareness	17
Traditional GK	3

Ideally a student must have spent approx. 15-20 minutes on this section.

Verbal and Logical Ability

There were 12 questions on Logical Ability, 32 questions on Reading Comprehension and 21 questions on English usage in this section.

The detailed break- up of this section is as follows

Topics		No. Of Questions
Logical Reasoning		12
Synonyms and Antonyms		12
Para Jumbles		4
Critical Reasoning		5
Reading Comprehension
Passage	Topic	No. Of Questions
I	Need of leisure in civilization for creative thoughts	6
II	Inter-relational between patrons and creators	7
III	Human Ecology	4
IV	Learn ability in child and adult	4
V	Phrenology	7
VI	Taxonomy	4

Ideally a student must have spent approx. 35-40 minutes on this section.

Essay topic: More than one billion Indians: A gigantic problem or a sea of opportunities

Cut-offs

As the scores of this test are used a lot of institutes thus an exact cut-off cannot be provided.

The following can be the approx. expected cut-offs for the following institutes as per PT:

XLRI -	82+
XIM -	75+
SIBM-	72+
GIM -	65+