Find out how to crack XAT 2014 from a 99.87 percentiler

Anjul RajoriyAHRM (2013-2015)XLRI Jamshedpur

Xavier’s Aptitude test (XAT) has carved a niche for itself among the various management exams that take place in India. The reason behind this being that XAT lies second only to CAT (of the IIMs) in terms of the institutes which accept its scores for admitting deserving candidates.

With XAT 2014 on its way, we bring you an exclusive with IIT Kanpur’s Anjul Rajoriya who scored 99.87 percentile in XAT 2013. This Biosciences and Bioengineering graduate has worked with Global Analytics for three years.  Currently pursuing a degree in Human Resource Management (HRM), Anjul wants to share his XAT prep strategy and experience so that this year’s aspirants can have a competitive edge among their peers.

Over the years XAT has developed a name for itself in terms of the surprises it unfolds before students and we believe that 2014 is going to be no different. So, let’s hear it from Anjul who has been there and done that successfully to find out how he made it to XLRI.

I started my preparation in January 2012 by joining T.I.M.E. classes. My strategy was to complete the course by April-May, so that I could thereafter focus on mock tests and improve on my test taking ability.

I gave CAT.

Not much, except for one section and mock test taking practice.

I was working and that is why I started early in January. I used to go for the morning 6 am to 8 am classes in weekdays and then used to revise and practice over weekends.  Once my basic concepts were done, I started focusing on test series. Minimum time depends on the potential of the aspirant, but it generally takes 6-7 months.

I believe it is good to have training, though not essential. Nevertheless, in a competitive world, it is best to leave no stone unturned and having a formal coaching. It also depends from one aspirant to another. For all aspirants, I would suggest if not classroom coaching then do join a test series, at least, as it is always important to see where you stand in the competition.

The initial strategy was to identify my strength and weakness. My strength was Quant section and weakness was Verbal. So the formula was simply to maximize my strength and work on my weakness.

For Quant, there were certain chapters which were easy to crack like Time & Work, Series, Equations. Then there was Number system and geometry which needed a lot of practice to get a good grip of. I used to scan the questions in initial 2 minutes and then start attempting them so that I don't leave any easy one un-attempted.

In Verbal, I used to attempt grammar first as it took lesser time and then would try to add to my score by attempting only those RCs in which I was sure of the answers. 

For Reading Comprehension, I used to read the paragraphs with intent to understand the context, the idea behind the topic then used to start attempting the questions.

For essay writing I wrote the keywords that came to my mind after seeing the topic. I took 5 minutes to organize my thoughts and then started writing.

My approach was to convey my idea with reasoning, supporting examples in few lines and within 20 minutes of scheduled time.

My weakness was accuracy in RC and my reading speed was slow. I used to re-read multiple times before I attempted a question and then make another mistake of re-reading options and getting confused in the process. To improve on this I attempted lot of past MBA exams RC and tried to attempt options at my first instinct and avoided re-visiting. This helped me lot in improving my accuracy, speed and confidence to attempt RC in future.

While giving Mock exams I used to revisit the troublesome areas or particularly difficult to understand concepts. Revision helps in improving on speed and accuracy.

I divided the time according to my strengths. I started with Verbal Ability questions and then moved to Decision making. So for 30 questions I gave around 40 minutes. Then I attempted DI for 20 minutes and Quant for the next 30 minutes. Next was the Analytical Reasoning section which took about 20 minutes. I utilized the remaining time in going back to the section I was confident in and where I had left a few questions unanswered. I tried not to leave RC or DI sets for last 30 minutes.

I attended about five group discussions. Most of them had about 12-15 people in a group. The topics given were very generic and our opinion and participation was evaluated. Most of them were of 15-20 minutes. Usually only one or two out of each GD group makes it to the final list. I had realized that in a GD, three attempts were enough to make your presence felt and that it was important to remain calm and look for an opportunity to enter the discussion and that is exactly what I did in all my GDs. Making multiple attempts and if your weak points are highlighted then it will not be of much help. For PI, usually interviewers ask three kinds of questions based on your profile. If you are a fresher then graduation academics, if you have work experience then questions are regarding your work and industry and lastly they ask variety of questions related to General Awareness, anything interesting (or not so interesting) on your application form and behavioral questions.

I followed TIME study material. But a lot of content is nowadays available online on various website and it is not a bad idea to go through them.

My preparation for MBA entrance exams including XAT was based on my weaknesses and strength. My shortcoming being Verbal, I use to spend extra time doing that. Most of my weekends were scheduled for verbal practice (RC, FIB etc). Many experts say that focus on general reading to improve your verbal ability but given the time constraints and exam pattern I used to focus more on problem solving(RC/verbal questions from past exams) rather than on newspapers or novels.

As per me, my early start, my awareness of my strength and weak areas and focused preparation, special preparation for the extra section (Decision Making) of XAT, exam taking ability and time management during exams were the things that really helped me in cracking XAT.

Through XAT, I applied for only two colleges SP Jain and XLRI and I got into both. However, I chose to join XLRI because it is the best.

I decided to go for MBA for two broad reasons. Firstly, I believe MBA offers a lot of opportunities and options in terms of career. I wanted to explore these opportunities and find what I would like to do. In this ever changing job market, I believe it is good to have such flexibility especially if you have long term perspective in mind. Secondly, while working I realized that I have an inclination towards business as I am able to understand business situation, identify problems and solve them through common sense. However, a formal degree in business would certainly enhance my capabilities. So after working for two years I decided to go for an MBA.

After completing my MBA, I intend to work in corporate houses to get the feel of how business is done in India.

Do work and practice on the extra section of Decision Making in XAT. It is very scoring if you have some idea about it. Most aspirants usually miss out practicing this and directly attempt it in the final exam. So, give it a thought. Start your preparation early and practice as much as you can. Discuss in groups so that you can share and work on your problem solving approaches. For example, I used to do a particular type of question in methodical way in two minutes while my friend used to solve the same orally in 30 seconds. Sharing your strategies with each other can only add to improving each other’s overall performance.

With this we wish all the XAT 2014 the very best and hope that they make through this prestigious exam.