Performance matters

Updated on: Monday, December 27, 2010

XLRI Jamshedpur’s popular test, XAT is considered to be an exam that invites high competition and stringent cut offs. Today, apart from XLRI, many other institutes also accept a XAT score for their selection processes. Prominent among them are the SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai (SPJIMR), the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar [XIM(B)], The Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR), Chennai, Goa Institute of Management (GIM), Welingkar, The Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) etc.

The three main courses that are offered by XLRI are: Personnel Management and Industrial Relations (PM and IR), Business Management (BM) and a General Management Programme (GMP).

Like most management entrance exams, the pattern of XAT has remained unpredictable through the past years. It broadly tests students’ aptitude in Basic Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation, Verbal and Logical Ability and Analytical Ability and Decision Making Skills. Unlike other entrance exams a XAT aspirant also has to write an essay on a topic given to him after the aptitude test is over.

For the section on Analytical Reasoning and Decision Making, it would be advisable for you to revise concepts pertaining to puzzles and decision-making questions. Focus on practicing the distribution based puzzles questions. These are important.

For the section on Verbal and Logical Ability, do revise the concepts pertaining to RC, sentence correction, vocabulary based questions (words confused), paragraph formation, logical reasoning questions (especially on FIJ’s and inference based questions). You should also focus on Figures of Speech as there have been questions on identifying the metaphor, personification, oxymorons, etc in the previous years papers.

The RC passages in XAT are usually based on off-beat topics (one of the passages last year was in the form of a conversation from the film - Matrix). The logical ability part in the section deals with the applications of deductive reasoning, syllogisms and connectives.

For the section on Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation, a good preparation for CAT should be more than sufficient. Though it must be added that some of the questions in XAT tend to be pretty tricky and thus you should be very careful while attempting them. Brush up on your speed maths concepts as some of the questions in DI tend to be calculation intensive.

The final selection in XLRI depends on both the written test and the GD/Interview process for shortlisted candidates. Both the process have equal weightage in the selection.

Performance matters

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