NMAT update 31st Oct
NMAT 2013, with its 10-week test window from 11 October 2012 to 19th December 2012, is well underway. While difficulty levels have varied from slot to slot, the overall test experience has remained more orless uniform till date. This makes it possible for you to approach NMAT with a well-formulated strategy aimed at maximizing your score.
Tip 1:Play by your strengths. Choose the order of sections you are most comfortable with. For example, ifyou are not sure about getting a good score in Language Skills in 22 min, leave this section for later. First attempt the section you are best at. This will give you confidence and make you more comfortable with the speed game that is NMAT
Tip 2: Fine-tune your strategy for each section.
Language Skills: 32 questions in 22 minutes. From the start you are on the run. Attempt as manyFIBs (One-blank and two-blank FIBs with moderately difficult words and several FIBs that requiredstudents to fill in appropriate prepositions which were presented in a jumbled format. This last type could be solved quickly by identifying only two correct prepositions.) and Cloze Test questions aspossible, move on quickly to synonyms/antonyms, analogies (some tough words have featured here) and sentence correction. Parajumbles should be your next targetâespecially the four-sentence ones. Once you have a comfortable attempt under your belt, move on to RCs. Thepassages are 300-400 words in length and some are definitely on the tougher side. Most questionsin RC are based on specific details. It might help to read the questions first and look for details to eliminate the options. Also, attempt tone/style questions as these do not take a lot of time. The important thing to remember is not to agonize over questions, trust your instincts, proceed by elimination, and mark the remaining questions at random. 20-23 questions is a good attempt for this section.
Logical Reasoning: 40 questions in 38 minutes. If verbal reasoning is your forte, look out for the 5-8 easy/moderate critical reasoning questions. Some of the questions, especially the inference-based ones are very simple. And just for the record, even if the statement is mentioned in the passage, it is an inference. Also attempt the syllogisms, statement conclusion and strong/weak argument questions. There are 2-3 questions of each of these types and most of them are easy to score in. Mathematical reasoning questions in NMAT are easy except for the series/pattern questions, which are really tough. There are a couple of input /output questions which can be tedious and are best left for later. So you should attempt Data Arrangement, Blood relations questions first and series-based questions later. Analytical Reasoning is easy but since conditions were not given point-wise, you have to read carefully the given information and extract information on your first read.
Quantitative Aptitude: 48 questions in 60 minutes .The ideal strategy would be to avoid speed breakers especially those sets of DI, which are calculation-intensive. As far as breakdown of the section is concerned, this year it has remained similar in all the slots with all the slots having 22questions of Quantitative Aptitude, 6 questions of Data Sufficiency and 20 questions (4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4) of Data Interpretation. Questions in Quantitative Aptitude covered almost all the basic concepts from all the areas. Since most of the questions were based on basics, it would be good ifyou were well versed with the basic fundas and concepts. Questions on Data Sufficiency are easy and can be solved in very little time if you have a good grasp of concepts. Therefore, these questions are a must attempt. Data Interpretation saw some deviation when compared with previous versions of NMAT. This year most of the questions of Data Interpretation have involved extensive calculations and choices that didnât allow for approximation. So it becomes very essential to select the question sets judiciously and then go about solving them. Overall the paperis challenging given the time crunch. Attempt the easy ones first and fight with the difficult ones later. If you are able to solve 12- 15 questions of Quantitative aptitude, 4-6 questions of Data Sufficiency and 8 - 10 questions of Data Interpretation with 25-30 questions overall, you can expect a high score.
Tip 3:
At the end of each section, make sure you mark the remaining questions randomly. This is a must because there is no negative marking in NMAT and you should take full advantage of this fact
An attempt of 75-85 with reasonable accuracy should fetch you a good score.
NMAT update 11th Oct
TThe first day of NMAT 2013 was more or less along expected lines. Overall, the exam was moderately difficult. Speed remains the name of the game in NMAT.
The test provides candidates with a section order choice, which means that candidates can choose which section to attempt first. Each of the three sections has individual section timings and candidates need to answer and review the questions of the particular section within the allotted section time.
Since there is no negative marking in NMAT 2013, you can and should mark all 120 questions. The last 1-2 minutes in each section can be reserved for reviewing theâIncomplete Questionsâ and marking them randomly since when you move out of a section, there is no possibility of returning to that section for attempting or making changes.
In the end, the day belonged to those who could balance maximum attempts with reasonable accuracy while capitalizing on their strong areas in each section.
The basic structure of the paper was as follows:
S. no |
Section |
No. of Questions | Time in Minutes | Difficulty Level Possible |
Attempts |
| 1. | Language Skills | 32 |
22 |
Moderate | 20-23 |
2. |
Quantitative Skills |
48 |
60 |
Moderate |
25-30 |
3. |
Logical Reasoning |
40 |
38 |
Moderate-Difficult |
22-25 |
|
Total |
120 |
120 |
|
67-75 |
There were 5 options per question.
Language Skills
The questions in this section were of moderate difficulty level. There were 32 questions to be done in 22 minutes and therefore speed was the most challenging thing in this section. The 2 RC passages were around 400 words each and the questions were largely inferential in nature. This was easily the most challenging portion of the paper and most students struggled to complete the section. There were a lot offill in the blanks questions of three major types. One-blank and two-blank FIBs with moderately difficultwords and several FIBs that required students to fill in appropriate prepositions which were presented in a jumbled format. Para-jumbles were a mix of 4 and 5-sentence types and were easy. Synonyms and antonyms featured moderately difficult words. Sentence correction questions were easy and mostly revolved around subject verb agreement errors, idiomatic errors, pronoun errors and preposition errors. There was one moderate analogy question in the bag.
Topic |
No. of questions |
Vocabulary |
19 |
Fill in the Blanks |
7 |
Antonyms |
2 |
Synonyms |
3 |
Para-jumbles |
6 |
Analogy |
1 |
Grammar |
5 |
Choose grammatically correct/incorrect sentence |
5 |
Reading Comprehension |
8 ( 2 Passages) |
Total |
32 |
Quantitative Skills |
|
This was a moderate difficult section with the usual mix of easy-moderate questions on Number Systems, Percentage, Ratio/Proportion, Profit and Loss, Average, Time-Speed-Distance, Work/Time, Mixture & Solution/Alligations, Simple/Compound interest, Mensuration, Geometry, Algebra(Linear/Quadratic Equation), Probability, Permutations and Combinations, and Coordinate Geometry.
Data Interpretation questions were especially calculation-intensive and time-consuming and featuredtable-based as well as bar, line graph questions. Some sets had multiple graphs as well. Speed wouldhave been the determining factor for scoring in DI questions. Data Sufficiency questions were on the tougher side.
Topic |
Number of Questions |
Number System |
5 |
BODMAS Simplification |
1 |
Arithmetic |
11 |
Ratio/Proportion/Variation (R/P/V) |
2 |
Percentage |
2 |
Profit/Loss/Discount(PLD) |
1 |
Simple Interest/ Compound Interest (SI/CI) |
1 |
Average/Mixture/Allegation/Replacement |
2 |
Time Speed Distance |
2 |
Time-Work |
1 |
Algebra |
10 |
Polynomials |
2 |
Inequality |
2 |
AP/GP |
2 |
Functions |
1 |
Set Theory |
3 |
Geometry/Mensuration/ModernMaths |
2 |
Permutation/Combination |
1 |
Probability |
1 |
DI/DS |
19 |
Data Sufficiency (Single Questions) |
4 |
DI (Tabular) |
3 |
DI (Bar Graph) |
9 |
DI (Line Graph) |
3 |
Total |
48 |
Logical Reasoning
This was a moderate-difficult section with the usual mix of questions including several questions on Critical Reasoning (including the usual mix of strengthening, weakening, assumption questions), Calenders, Syllogisms, Statement Conclusions, Course of Action, Arrangements, Blood Relations. The caselets in LR were time-consuming.
Topic |
No. of questions |
Vocabulary |
19 |
Fill in the Blanks |
7 |
Antonyms |
2 |
Synonyms |
3 |
Para-jumbles |
6 |
Analogy |
1 |
Grammar |
5 |
Choose grammatically correct/incorrect sentence |
5 |
Reading Comprehension |
8 ( 2 Passages) |
Total |
32 |
Quantitative Skills |
|