Students’ Speak: Keep these tips in mind when appearing for XAT 2020

Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is the preliminary step towards applying to XLRI and XAT Associate Institutes. The exam, from this year onwards, will be conducted in online mode, similar to that of CAT.

Though the exam is similar to CAT, it has 2 major differences. The decision-making section, which is unique to XAT and the essay & GK section. Historically, XAT has always been considered a tougher exam than CAT. The decision-making section especially makes the exam a difficult one to crack. Though this is the case for most years, each year is different and hence we should not make up our minds before reaching the exam centre. Having said that, you should remember if you are finding the paper difficult, the chances are it is difficult.

Coming to the basic preparation tips. As we all know XAT is usually more difficult than CAT. The first difficulty is the fact than XAT multiple-choice questions (MCQ) have five options instead of the usual four in CAT. In case people see five options for the first time during the exam, they get confused or worried. The first tip will be to prepare yourself for what is about to come. The official website of XAT has all previous year papers. Make sure to check out at least 1 previous paper if not more with solutions. 

The second thing which makes XAT difficult is that there is no separate time for each section. A lot of students find it difficult to understand in which section they should spend the maximum time. While there is no rule here, the examinee should have some clarity on how to segregate their time during the exam. Each section in XAT has a separate cutoff, which means you cannot neglect any section. At the same time, you have to maximise your score. For my preparation, solving a lot of mock XAT pattern papers helped me immensely. I understood how much time I would have to spend in each section with a certain percentage of the variation in mind. Also, exceptionally the decision making was my strongest section so I was clear I will be very patient in that section. So, the second tip is to be conscious and specific in your time spent in each section. 

The third thing which you might have heard before is that in exams like CAT or XAT, it is more important to know what questions to leave. While this is the right statement, it's very difficult to execute during the exam. With 1,000 things going in your mind at all times, it's not easy to make the decision on which questions to leave. If you see a question and you know how to solve it, you would want to solve it, even if it takes five minutes of your time. Just to give you some perspective, a lot of students if given ample time and solitary can solve almost 90 percent of the paper. The difference is the time pressure and the fact you are giving the paper with more than 1 Lakh other students. That is where the skill of leaving the right question comes in real handy is. If you know if might take you more than 3 minutes to solve the question, just leave it. No matter how hard it seems at that moment, just leave it. You can mark a circle and come back later to the question if time permits, but the 3-4 minutes you saved might get you three questions more. So, the third and final tip is to be prepared to take hard decisions during the exam and once you have taken them just concentrate on the next question. 

About the Author:

Sanchit Agarwal is working as a Product Manager at OYO. He is an alumnus of XLRI and has studied MBA in Human Resource Management.