Crack the MAT exam easily with these key tips

By: Nimisha Sharma

Understand the pattern of the exam to formulate a plan, give equal time to each section and work on enhancing speed and accuracy in the exam to get admission in your dream college.

Management Aptitude Test (MAT) is a national-level exam conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA) for the admissions to more than 500 B-schools across India. MAT follows both pen and computer-based mode of examination which is conducted four times a year (February, May, September, and December). MAT is two hours and thirty minutes long test with 200 questions. The candidate gets 1 mark for every correct answer and 0.25 mark is deducted for every wrong answered marked. MAT has a lower difficulty level than other management exams like CMAT, CAT, XAT, IIFT, and SNAP. Every year more than 3 Lakh candidates appear for MAT for MBA/ MCA/ PGDM/ MMS programs offered by various institutes.

The course outline for MAT is similar to that of other management exams, but it varies in terms of difficulty level and topics covered. The Indian and Global Environment section in MAT exam constitutes of 40 MCQs, which is based on general knowledge, current affairs and trending topics on business and world economy. Intelligence and Critical Reasoning in MAT is similar to Logical Reasoning section in CAT and CMAT, where topics such as blood relations, coding-decoding, syllogisms, graphical representation, puzzles, statement conclusions and linear arrangement are covered.

The candidate could only hold command over this section by practising more sample questions regularly. Data Analysis and Sufficiency and Mathematics section is similar to quantitative aptitude where topics such as profit loss, geometry, mensuration, probability, HCF and LCM, equations, number system and average to name a few are covered. Candidates should develop a habit of solving questions within a minute by doing simple calculations that can only be developed if the candidate practices the concepts daily.

The Language Comprehension section is language and grammar section which constitutes verb, nouns, pronoun, adjectives, reading comprehension, synonyms antonyms, one-word substitution, and vocabulary. The candidate should develop the habit of reading English newspaper, magazines, articles, and novels to grasp a good command on language which in turn will improvise their problem-solving speed.

Some of the best colleges that accept MAT score are:

• Department of Management Studies
• IIT Madras
• T.A. Pai Management Institute
• NITs
• Amity Business School
• Jaipuria Institute of Management
• VIT Business School 

Note: As a candidate can appear for MAT four times a year, here is one advantage for them, i.e. their best score is considered for final admission process. Hence, the candidate can appear for the exam again in the same year if one attempt didn’t work well for them.

About the Author:

Nimisha is a second-year student at IMI, Bhubaneswar. She is currently a member of the Corporate Relations team at IMI Bhubaneswar wherein she deals with campus placements. She has also presented a research paper at an international conference.