How to crack XAT Decision Making – Part III
This piece on Decision Making has really expanded and I hope as I begin to write this post that this will be the closing piece that concludes this and this.
This piece on Decision Making has really expanded and I hope as I begin to write this post that this will be the closing piece that concludes this and this.
In the previous post we discussed how Decision Making can be the undoing of XAT aspirants and tried to understand the nature of questions that come up on the section. We took up two sets from the Decision Making section of the last year’s XAT and discussed a structure to answer DM questions. In this post, we shall look at the remaining questions from last year’s paper.
One of the most tedious and inscrutable sections that you will find across all management entrance tests, Decision Making has been the nemesis of many a XAT-aspirant. A lot of factors contribute towards DM possibly being the biggest stumbling block on the XAT. But none is bigger than the fact the amount of time any test-taker would have spent preparing for DM when compared to any other section is minuscule. This coupled with the dislike and unease most aspirants have towards reading and the extremely subjective nature of questions ensures that DM ends up becoming the deal-breaker as far as the XAT is concerned.
As a test, XAT is possibly as tough, if not tougher, than the CAT with a unique section and many unique question-types. This post lays out a prep strategy for the XAT.
By now all of you would have taken one major MBA entrance test at the least. This means that you are familiar with the biggest challenge of all — uncertainty on test day IIFT turning out to be easier than usual CAT throwing up a tough DI-LR SNAP coming up with the GK section that made every one question the meaning of the word “general” For most aspirants (apart form those pursuing an education in HR at TISS) this is the last big attempt to get into a b-school this year. So here is the last to-do list, on which ticking all boxes will ensure that you achieve your dream — an MBA from a premier institution, a launching pad for a great career.
This piece on Decision Making has really expanded and I hope as I begin to write this post that this will be the closing piece that concludes this and this.
In the previous post we discussed how Decision Making can be the undoing of XAT aspirants and tried to understand the nature of questions that come up on the section. We took up two sets from the Decision Making section of the last year’s XAT and discussed a structure to answer DM questions. In this post, we shall look at the remaining questions from last year’s paper.
One of the most tedious and inscrutable sections that you will find across all management entrance tests, Decision Making has been the nemesis of many a XAT-aspirant. A lot of factors contribute towards DM possibly being the biggest stumbling block on the XAT. But none is bigger than the fact the amount of time any test-taker would have spent preparing for DM when compared to any other section is minuscule. This coupled with the dislike and unease most aspirants have towards reading and the extremely subjective nature of questions ensures that DM ends up becoming the deal-breaker as far as the XAT is concerned.
As a test, XAT is possibly as tough, if not tougher, than the CAT with a unique section and many unique question-types. This post lays out a prep strategy for the XAT.
It is a different world altogether when one moves from a CBT with sectional time-limits such as the CAT to a PBT with no sectional time-limits such as the XAT. While on the face of it both with test concepts (not necessarily the same) at a fundamental level they end up testing something very different. A test of competence versus a test of strategy A test with sectional time-limits is primarily a test of competence — how many questions can you answer in 60 minutes? It does not matter if can you solve the section under the given time-limit or if given 10 minutes more you can clear the cut-offs. The moment it becomes a PBT test-takers have to perform more like managers — maximise the return they get from their resources. Many test-takers prefer sectional time-limits since they feel the stress of time and resource management goes out of the window. But the really good ones would know that a PBT with no sectional time-limits gives them more control of the test. For example, …