Preparing for XAT- 2016 Examination

XAT that stands for Xavier Aptitude Test (conducted annually by the XLRI or Xavier Labor Relations Institute) is counted as the most sought after examinations in management. XAT stands to be second only to the Common Admission Test (CAT), conducted by the Indian Institutions of Management (IIMs). Here are few tips for the students preparing to crack XAT 1) Start Your Preparation as per the Section: There are many aspirants who err by giving more time while answering some particular section(s) and forget that all sections are important and they carry equal marks. One must recall that this examination is a competitive one and all the sections are to be allotted equal time while solving. 2) Have a Solid Verbal Ability as well as General Awareness: Make it a point to regularly go through books, magazines, and the daily newspapers for strengthening your vocabulary and Grammar. This can be done by participating in random group discussions. You can keep yourself updated by watching the daily news and browsing the web to polish your current affairs. 3) Brush Your Quantitative Aptitude Since ‘Practice makes a man perfect’, the same applies here too. You must regularly keep practicing the quantitative part of this examination. So much so that at a later stage, you will develop many important shortcuts, while solving the mathematical problems. 4) Go in for a Crash Course You won’t make a mistake if you go for a crash course because it will only enable you to get a brush-up over the current format carried by this examination. To top it all, the continuous mock tests will provide immense assistance while you build up the speed. 5) Practice on Skills like Decision Making Here again, the need of the hour is a lot of practice added to quick thinking, leading to the accurate decision making. Owing to the newness carried by this particular topic, you will need to solve the sample question papers published in the previous year. 6) Keep Your Calm Elements carrying anxiety, and obviously, the resultant stress should best be avoided. Reach the venue of examination earlier, and be comfortable. Be patient, calm and avoid unnecessary tension. Have the confidence that come what may, you will make it through to the end. 7) Carry on Solving the Questions related to Quantitative Aptitude The format of the questions of CAT is similar to XAT, regarding the sections on Data Interpretation, Quantitative Ability, as well as Verbal & Logical Ability. In fact, there are many websites that carry practice tests on these topics and there is an extensive quantity of these question banks. 8) Be Composed There is nothing worse than stress at such a crucial period of your career. Just try to be composed and what is most important is that you carry the confidence within you. Only nervousness and anxiety play the role of spoilsport, and make your preparation get drained away. 9) Avoid Negative Marking Do not go in for guesswork at too many places because it is negative marking that also decides which rank you end up achieving. In case of a dire situation, you can however apply the elimination process while eliminating the choices which carry lesser probability of being correct. 10) Managing Time This examination is quite lengthy so it will be better to first have a quick glance over the question paper, and quickly solve the easier ones. After this, go in for the typical, and tricky questions, and you will improve your overall score and rank, while boosting confidence. 11) Carefully Examine the Paper The pushy attitude shown by many overconfident aspirants only leads to misinterpretation, and wrong answering. Obviously, loss of vital marks is the ultimate result. There are confusing questions framed and only by putting in some effort, the aspirant understands and solves it. varun.acharya@girnarsoft.com