All India Management Association (AIMA) has been providing the
service of aptitude testing since 1988 under the scheme of All India
Management Aptitude Testing Service (AIMATS). Several lakhs of
candidates and over 300 institutions have derived benefit under this
testing facility. This, as such, is the testimony as to the validity,
reliability and usability of aptitude testing of AIMA. Management
Aptitude Test (MAT) is being conducted four times a year. The test
consists of five sections viz.
- Language Comprehension
- Mathematical Skills
- Data Analysis & Sufficiency
- Intelligence & Critical Reasoning
- Indian & Global Environment
Each section consists of 40 questions. The total of
200 questions is to be attempted within 150 minutes. It is an objective
type test with multiple choice answers.
In order to attempt the Language Comprehension
section, some candidates prefer to read the passage, then switch to
attempting the questions while others prefer reading the questions prior
to the passage reading the questions prior to the passage so that they
know the answers they need to look for. Either of these strategies or
the combination of both is fine. Use them depending on the difficulty of
the passage.
Mathematical Skill and Data Analysis &
Interpretation sections provide a good opportunity to score well and
save time. As the D-day approaches, continue practicing these questions
regularly and building speed. Basic arithmetic calculations and formulae
should be on your fingertips. It would be worth making flip cards at
the last stage of examination of some key formulae and short-cut methods
that you would have learnt in the preparatory stage. It is very helpful
to review these formulae at the stage of examination.
Questions in the Intelligence & Critical
Reasoning section tilt more towards reasoning. Candidates are required
to practice these types of questions extensively, as there is no
formulae for such questions never pays. Practice as many formats of
questions as you can. It is very useful in confidence building.
General and business awareness under Indian &
Global Environment section is a key component in the entrance procedure
to a management institute. Keeping abreast of happenings around is
definitely an onerous task. Unlike preparing for the other sections like
Mathematical Skills and Data Analysis & Sufficiency, general and
business awareness requires keeping abreast of happenings.
MAT as in any other MBA entrance test carries
negative marks for wrong answers. Hence it is never a good strategy to
answer all questions. As you work through a section, skip those
questions that you are not sure of. Time permitting, you can always
revisit and try to answer them. Coming back with a fresh approach to
questions that could not be attempted earlier means that these questions
can be tackled successfully quickly. Resorting to guess work through
the entire question paper is not a good policy. Never base a strategy on
guesswork. It should be your last resort and never an alternative
strategy.
It can be said that last minute preparation in a
competitive test is a very important part of entire preparation.
Moreover this part relates to the candidates' ability to properly manage
the emotions, nervousness, etc, a systematic planning and strategy will
definitely help the candidates to take the competitive advantage over
others.
Since selection for a management course is largely a
process of aptitude testing, the most knowledgeable need not necessarily
succeed. Time is at a premium in the examination. As in MAT 200
questions are to be answered in 150 minutes. Performance is relative.
Therefore, considering that variable that governs success in the
examination, it is important to build a test taking strategy as the test
approaches to tackle it successfully. Towards the last days of test,
developing proper test taking strategy is an approach that a candidate
has to develop in order to ensure that he is able to leverage his
strengths while attempting the tests. Any strategy that you intend to
follow necessarily needs to revolve around the time saving measures to
answer the maximum number of questions in the allotted time.
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