May 2008 MAT Analysis
Overview:
MAT does it once again, a jumbled MAT paper 3rd time in
row and this also had some challenges to offer.
In this paper, Quantitative Ability, Verbal
Ability, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation sections were all
of average difficulty level, having quite a few questions in each section that
could be easily managed.
Executive Summary:
The basic sequence of section with possible attempts
was as follows:
|
Section |
No. of Questions |
Possible Attempts |
Time Required |
Expected Score |
|
Reasoning |
40 |
19 |
35 |
15 + |
|
QA |
40 |
21 |
35 |
17 + |
|
DI and DS |
40 |
22 |
35 |
18 + |
|
G.A. |
40 |
8 |
10 |
6 + |
|
Language |
40 |
20 |
35 |
15 + |
|
Total |
200 |
90 |
150 |
65 + (excluding
GK) |
*Note: The number of
attempts and the score has been worked out on the basis of the experts’ insight
on how the students would have taken the test and what score normally has been
achieved by the students in past years in this level of paper.
SECTION I: LOGICAL
REASONING
This has been the scoring area for many students in
the recent MAT papers. This time there was a marginal jump in language based
reasoning questions and hence bit more complicated but still was easy. The
questions can be broadly classified as:
|
Analytical Reasoning |
These were mixed bag questions
with broad breakup as under:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
Verbal Reasoning |
The broader breakup of this
section was as follows:
|
Hence, about 19 questions
from this section could have been attempted.
Assuming 75%+
accuracy, a score of 15+ was
easily possible in 35 minutes.
SECTION II:
QUANTITATIVE ABILITY
This
section was good for students to enhance there scores. All time favorite arithmetic
was very prominent. The topic wise break up of the questions was as follows:
|
Topic |
No. of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
|
Percentages |
3 |
Easy-Average |
|
Ratio n proportion |
9 |
Easy |
|
Averages |
3 |
Easy |
|
Time Speed Distance |
5 |
Easy-Average |
|
Time n Work |
3 |
Easy-Average |
|
Geometry |
1 |
|
|
Mensuration |
4 |
Easy |
|
Trigonometry |
2 |
Easy |
|
Clocks Calenders |
4 |
Easy |
|
Permutations and
Probability |
4 |
Average |
|
Number System and
Misc |
2 |
Average |
Assuming an accuracy of 80% and
attempt of 21 questions, a score of 17+ is possible with a time spend of about
35minutes.
SECTION III: DATA
INTERPRETATION
This was a easier section
as compared to last 2 MAT’s. The sets were either lengthy or difficult to
interpret. The easy part was DS and Quantitative Comparison questions. The
summary was as under:
|
Type |
No. of Quest |
Difficulty Level |
|
Tables based set |
4 (1 set) |
Average |
|
Traingular graph |
4 (1 set) |
Easy |
|
Bar graph |
8(2 sets) |
Average-Difficult |
|
Pie chart |
4 (1 set) |
Average-Difficult |
|
Multiple Line graph |
3 ( 1 set) |
Average-Difficult |
|
Caselet |
5 ( 1 set) |
Average |
|
Data Sufficiency |
6 |
Easy |
|
Quantitative
Comparison |
6 |
Easy |
So
the total attempt in this section could be about 22 questions and with about
80% accuracy one can score 18+ comfortably in this section.
SECTION IV: READING COMPREHENSION AND ENGLISH USAGE
This was again a section of moderate difficulty level. Let us take a closer look at this section!
Total no. of Questions:
40
No. of RC passages: 5
Questions from RC
passages: 20
Questions from EU: 20
Analysis
of English Usage:
|
Types of Qs |
No. of Qs |
Difficulty level |
|
|
4 |
Average |
|
Ward Analogies |
4 |
Average |
|
Sentence Corrections |
4 |
Difficult |
|
Idioms and phrases |
4 |
Average |
|
Fill in the blanks |
4 |
Average |
RC Passages &
Questions
|
Passages |
No. of Qs |
Difficulty level |
|
Financial
Inclusions and Banking systems |
4 |
Difficult |
|
Water
Crisis and Remedies |
4 |
Average |
|
Air traffic control |
5 |
Average |
|
Resource
utilizations in organization |
3 |
Difficult |
|
Organization
and learning |
4 |
Difficult |
Once again RC could have
given a decent score. Also vocabulary questions were very good. So both these
together would fetch you a great score.
An
attempt of 20 questions with 75 % accuracy could have yielded a possible score
of 15+ in 35 minutes.
SECTION V: General
Awareness section
In jumbled paper
appears these questions appear as breather in between and could be attempted in
passing looks with out putting in serious effort.
So we can sum this analysis as:
|
Expected Score (excluding GK) |
Expected percentile |
|
80 + |
99 percentile |
|
75-80 |
95 percentile |
|
68-75 |
90 percentile |
All the best!!
Career Launcher Team