MBA Entrance Exams - The need for variety in your preparation to get success. - PRAQTISE - India's most fun, adaptive and personalized online preparation platform for MBA entrance tests like CAT, XAT, SNAP, NMAT, IIFT, etc.

Let’s take a look at what students think is the best way to tackle MBA entrance exams.

“Guys, I think constant preparation for 6 hours a day, 2 hours for each section for a year will take me to the desired percentile,” Ashish said.

“True, but I think only practice would not be enough. We have to add variety in our preparation such as different approaches to paper solving, balancing between speed and accuracy, etc.” Bhaskar replied.

“According to me, we have to plan our preparation for each section, but if we can maximise our score in our focus area, we can expect the desired result. We should try to identify our strengths and weaknesses and allocate weight accordingly.” Chandresh remarked.

From the above conversation, we can make out that no particular strategy suits all the students for every MBA Exam.

PRAQTISE Fact File:

Exam	General Awareness Weightage
IIFT	23%
SNAP	29%
CMAT	25%
MAT	25%

Preparation for CAT

CAT is one of the most significant MBA exams. You have to plan very systematically for CAT. You have to identify the strongest and the weakest section as difficulty levels may vary from section to section. It may happen that your most substantial section may be the toughest one and the most vulnerable may be the easiest. So, there is a constant need to add variety to your preparation style for success. We have provided a few examples below to add variety to your training.

First, you may fix a weekly schedule. You may provide a fixed number of hours to each section. On the last day of the week, you can revise the topics you prepared throughout the week.

Second, you can prepare one section for a week and another section in the next week. You should not study only one section for a long duration. CAT tests your ability to apply knowledge. The syllabus has interlinked concepts across sections. Something you learn in DI may help you in solving a QA based question. Hence, one should try to have a balanced preparation plan.

You can prepare a chapter or a few number of chapters at a time and take a sectional test to scale your progress. It is necessary to revisit the test once it is over and reattempt the questions that you did not solve.

Third, you can prepare all the topics from all the three sections. Once you have covered the entire CAT syllabus, you can start taking mock tests. You can use various approaches such starting off with a different part of the paper (QA/VA/DI) each time. Please keep in mind that in CAT 2016 you will get only 60 minutes for each section.

Preparation for non-CAT MBA entrance exams

There are many MBA entrance exams other than CAT. These tests differ from CAT in many ways. So, you need to change your preparation style if you are targeting b-schools other than IIMs. Here also, variety in training plays a vital role in success.

First, many MBA entrance exams such as IIFT, MICAT, SNAP, MAT, CMAT have an additional section for General Awareness. It has an average weight of 1/4^th of the total marks which cannot be ignored. G.A. cannot be learned overnight so you have to read every day to be comfortable with it. Hence, you can study the other three subjects, but you must cultivate the habit of reading a daily or a magazine every day. You can take regular sectional tests when you start reading static and business G.A.

Second, as these MBA entrance exams have a different exam pattern, you can take a few mock SNAP, mock MAT, mock IIFT, mock MICAT, etc. Few of these are still pen and paper format tests and so taking such mock tests every month will be helpful.

Third, the difficulty level of the questions of these MBA entrance exams may also vary from CAT. Hence, you can solve the questions from other competitive exams such as IBPS, RRB, RBI, SBI, UPSC, etc. to become comfortable with more diverse types of questions.

Fourth, there are few exams which have specific requirements. For example, XAT has essay writing so students can practice writing an essay every week. Social issues, political issues and any current affairs are ideal points to start practice.

A PRAQTICAL Look: How reading can transform your life?

MBA entrance exams are a great opportunity for one to get into the habit of reading. One does not have to read things from the syllabus, rather it is necessary to relax and do some casual reading.

Reading newspapers, magazines and books enriches your thought process. It is the best way to develop a seasoned and matured perspective. Reading not only enhances your vocabulary but also magnifies your chances of sailing through the RC section.

The only challenge here is to read the right things. While popular novels and mainstream newspapers seem to be an obvious choice, the true objective is to go beyond your comfort zone. Pick out publications that use sophisticated English and provide dense amounts of information. Read novels that talk about serious or abstract topics, subjects that you would generally not read about. Treat it as an opportunity to enhance your understanding of the world.

Have you included reading and general awareness in your preparation plan? Do you think that it helps improve the overall performance? Please let us know in the comments.

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