Tips to Prepare for MBA Entrance Exams: Exam Pattern, Syllabus, Best Books
All hard work and no smart play does not work when it comes to cracking MBA entrance exams. Check the best preparation tips that will help you get a good score in the MBA entrance exams.
For any candidate aspiring for admission to a Master of Business Administration (MBA) course, it is essential to sit for an entrance exam. However, preparing for an MBA entrance exam poses quite a few challenges, which include but are not limited to the vastness of syllabus, the difficulty level of questions as well as the level of competition.
Instead of chasing the competition, the candidates who opt for a smart preparation strategy ace the competitive exams. Before beginning preparations, it is important to consider each and every aspect of the exam and come up with a study plan to tackle the exam preparation. The plan does not have to be perfect in every sense, it just has to work well enough to help you get into your desired MBA colleges in India.
In this article, we have provided the best study tips and preparation strategies for MBA entrance exams. When going through these tips, look for which of these can you incorporate into your study routine and how you can prepare a smart study plan to prepare for MBA entrance exams and take part in the MBA admission process in India.
Top MBA Entrance Exams
When preparing for MBA or Executive MBA admissions it is very important to choose the correct MBA entrance exams for you. This is a personal decision and can depend on several factors including:
- choice of college
- suitable exam pattern
- familiarity with the syllabus or type of questions
- the difficulty level of exam etc.
Here is a list of some of the most popular MBA entrance exams conducted in India.
Common Admission Test (CAT): National-level entrance exam conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). It is the most widely-accepted exam by MBA colleges but is majorly taken for admission to Tier-1 MBA colleges.
Management Aptitude Test (MAT): MAT is again a national-level exam conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA). It is conducted 4 times every year and is mostly accepted by Tier-2 and Tier-3 MBA colleges.
Common Management Aptitude Test (CMAT): Another national-level entrance exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), CMAT is conducted for admission to AICTE and UGC approved MBA colleges in India.
Maharastra Common Entrance Test (MAH-CET): Also known as MAH MBA CET or MAH MBA/MMS CET, this is a state-level MBA entrance exam conducted by the State Common Entrance Cell of Maharashtra and accepted for admission by the MBA colleges within the state.
Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT): XAT is an MBA entrance exam conducted by the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur. However, the exam is quite popularly accepted by many MBA colleges all around the country.
Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT): GMAT is another popular entrance exam for MBA colleges. It is conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAT). This exam is mostly chosen by candidates as it has a different overall approach to testing. However, it is accepted by a limited number of colleges as compared to many other MBA entrance exams on this list.
These were some of the popular exams for MBA admissions. Many other MBA entrance exams are conducted in India including those conducted by particular institutes for their admission to their courses. Check the schedule of MBA entrance exams and go through our comparison of CAT vs Other MBA Entrance Exams to select the best MBA exam for your requirement.
MBA Entrance Exam Pattern
The exact exam pattern is different for each MBA entrance exam. However, there are a few basic components that are common across every MBA entrance exam in India.
Section | Short Description |
Verbal Ability | This section tests the English language usage and comprehension skills of a candidate. Candidates must develop good grammar habits and reading skills to ace this section. |
Reasoning Ability | In this section, candidates have to use their logical and analytical reasoning skills to solve the questions. The questions test the ability of a candidate to think out of the box and solve complex problems quickly and accurately. |
Quantitative Ability | This section tests the mathematical ability of a candidate. However, it is not about testing whether a candidate knows complex theorems in Mathematics but instead about checking their ease and familiarity with numbers and numerical operations. |
MBA Entrance Exam Syllabus
For the most part, the syllabus of MBA entrance exam is quite common. The table below contains the details of the section-wise syllabus of MBA entrance exams in India.
Section | Topics |
| Verbal Ability | Reading Comprehension English Grammar and Usage Cloze Test Fill in the Blanks Sentence Correction Vocabulary / Synonyms and Antonyms Jumbled Paragraph etc. |
| Reasoning Ability | Blood Relations Seating Arrangement Series Verbal Reasoning Syllogism etc. |
| Quantitative Ability | Data Interpretation Number System HCF and LCM Percentage Ratio and Proportion Profit, Loss and Discount Time, Speed and Distance Time and Work Simple and Compound Interest Probability Mixtures and Alligations Geometry Trigonometry Mensuration etc. |
Candidates must note that this is not the complete syllabus of the MBA entrance exams. Consult the official syllabus issued by the MBA entrance exam you are taking to ensure that you cover all of the topics for the exam.
Preparation Tips for MBA Entrance Exams
Now that we have gone through the exam pattern and syllabus, here are some preparation tips for MBA entrance exams in India.
Preparation Tips for Verbal Ability
Questions in the Verbal Ability section may ask a candidate to find out the error in a certain part of the sentence, ask to fill up a paragraph with the correct parts of grammar, answer questions based on a passage and other tasks.
Here are some of the best tips to prepare for Verbal Ability in MBA Entrance Exams.
Study the rules of grammar from books up to High School level. You should be able to correctly identify the different parts of speech in a sentence and figure out any errors in sentence creation.
Develop a reading habit. The faster and more accurately you are able to read, the quicker you will be able to go through this section.
Identify the types of questions that appear in the exam by using previous year question papers. Often, solving questions helps clear concepts a lot quicker than just studying.
Increase the use of English in your day-to-day usage. Changing small habits such as using correct English in texting, listening to English music and watching English movies helps a lot in understanding the language.
Preparation Tips for Reasoning Ability
The Reasoning Ability section is considered to be the most difficult by a majority of MBA aspirants. This is a section where tricks fail and students have to rely on their skills to solve questions.
Here are some preparation tips for Reasoning Ability in MBA Entrance Exams.
- Practise is the key when it comes to this section. The more questions you solve, the better you become at identifying key information and developing the correct aptitude to solve these questions.
Figure out your own hacks. Many candidates develop their own ways of making diagrams or codes which are effective in solving these questions.
Solve puzzles. Solving puzzles increases your capacity to think out of the box and sharpens your analytical skills. Developing a daily habit of solving puzzles will increase your speed and accuracy in this section.
Skip what needs to be skipped. For each candidate, there is a topic in the Reasoning section which proves to be quite difficult. It is better to skip such questions in the exam and spend the saved time on solving others.
Preparation Tips for Quantitative Ability
The Quantitative Ability questions in MBA entrance exams are based on fundamentals covered till Class 10th. However, the questions are made more difficult by using several tactics that may include adding unnecessary information to questions, providing questions that contain long or difficult numbers etc.
Given below are some tips to help you prepare for the Quantitative Ability section in MBA exams.
Minimize calculations. Questions in this section are often made confusing by adding long or difficult numbers. However, there are many tricks which allow a candidate to solve questions without doing any calculations.
Work on mental maths. There are certain questions where calculations just cannot be avoided. While some exams do offer a basic on-screen calculator, doing mental calculations always proves to be faster.
Do not use traditional methods. The traditional methods taught to solve these questions in school often fail in MBA entrance exams. Instead, use alternative methods that will help you reach the answer faster.
Cover the complete syllabus. Even if you are excellent at a topic, it is easy to tweak questions to stump even the best of the candidates. Hence, it is particularly important to cover all of the topics in the Quantitative Ability section as it increases your choices.
Best Books to Prepare for MBA Entrance Exams
The table below contains some of the best and well-known books you can use to prepare for MBA entrance exams.
| Section | Book | Author | Publisher |
Verbal Ability | Word Power Made Easy | Norman Lewis | Goyal Publisher |
Wiley's ExamXpert Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension | Captain AK Kalia | Wiley | |
How to Prepare for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension | Arun Sharma, Meenakshi Upadhayay | McGraw Hill Education | |
Reasoning Ability | Complete Guide for MAT and Other MBA Entrance Exams | Disha Experts | Disha Publication |
A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning | R S Aggarwal | S Chand Publishing | |
Koncepts of LR - Logical Reasoning for CAT & Other MBA Exams | Gajendra Kumar | Disha Publication | |
Quantitative Ability | Quantitative Aptitude Quantum Cat | Sarvesh K Sharma | Arihant Publications |
How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT | Arun Sharma | McGraw Hill Education | |
Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations | S Chand PublishingR S Aggarwal | S Chand Publishing |
These were some of the best tips you can use in your MBA entrance exam preparation. If you have any doubts, you can contact our experts on the CollegeDekho QnA Zone. Also, check out our other related articles for MBA admissions in India.
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