Analysis of NMAT 2016-17: Window 3 - Day 1

Endeavor Careers Posted on March 8, 2017

Analysis of NMAT 2016-17: Window 3 – Day 1

A 2 hours exam that feels like 20 minutes…..

It’s fast, easy and witty. That’s what NMAT is…

NMAT with its standardized format continues the similar types of question in window 3 as well. Though there are small twists like DI is not that difficult and Quant is not that easy.

Overall difficulty level is more or less the same.

The detailed section wise analysis is as follows:

Verbal Ability(32 Questions, 22 minutes):

Good Vocabulary is key to NMAT verbal section. This window is no different. The section was dominated by Vocabulary or Vocabulary based questions. There were 4 Questions of Synonyms/Antonyms, wherein along with knowing the words in the options was equally important as knowing the word in question. 6 Fill-in-the-blanks questions with 2 blanks in a statement required good elimination techniques and 2 Analogy questions again required knowledge of not so common words.

Year on year, NMAT likes to test students on preposition in its own way. 6 Preposition based Fill-in-the-blanks with three statements each were found. 4 Questions of Para jumbles, 2 Questions of Spotting the errors, and 2 Reading Comprehension of 4 Questions each created rest of the section. RC’s were lengthy, thus time consuming, but if read carefully were easy enough to get through the questions.

Overall, the section can be termed as moderate and around 24-25 attempts with 80+% accuracy should be sufficient to achieve a Good Score.

Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (48 Questions, 60 minutes):

There were 16 questions of Data Interpretation in form of 4 sets. Two sets lengthy and time consuming, one of them was moderate and one set was easy. There was a minor reduction in the difficulty level of DI in comparison to last year. However, considering the fact that composition of questions varies within a slot and from slot to slot, this should not affect the strategy of finishing Quant part of the section first.

Remaining 32 questions were from Quant area of aptitude with 26 independent questions and 6 questions of Data Sufficiency. Numbers and Arithmetic were prominently found in the paper. Surprisingly, geometry found very less relevance in this window with just 2 questions. Up to 4 questions (including one in Data Sufficiency) were from Percentage related chapters (% changes, Profit and Loss, Interest). Ratio based chapters (Time and Work, Time Speed Distance, Partnership, Proportionality) were used in 6 questions, some of which were time consuming but manageable. There were 1-1 question each from Linear Equation, Permutation Combination, Probability and 2 Questions from Progression with no presence of Functions, Inequalities and Quadratic Equation.

Overall, the section can be termed as moderate and required good question selection ability as there were some tough questions coming up at regular intervals. A 36-38 genuine attempts with 90+ % accuracy should lead to a Good Score.

Reasoning (40 Questions, 38 Minutes):

Reasoning section was pretty standard and as per expectations it had 12 Questions from Verbal Based Reasoning and 28 Questions from Logical Reasoning.

Verbal Reasoning comprised of Syllogism, Assumption, Conclusion, Strengthen and Weaken questions. All 12 Questions were easily manageable. An aspirant with good practice of such variety should get 8-9 Questions correct.

There were 4 sets of 4 questions each based on arrangement & puzzles out of which 2 sets were easy while other two were time consuming and a smart student had to use options to crack them quickly. There was a set of Data Structure (Input-Output) with 4 questions which was a hard nut to crack and could have been better left as there were lot of other easy questions in the section. Out of the 12 independent questions, 4 were of Coding- Decoding and 2 Questions each of Series, Visual Reasoning, Blood relationship, Mathematical symbol based questions. All of them were really easy and time saving. Overall, other than the Input-Output set, nothing was very difficult. But considering that the verbal reasoning questions and some more from Logical Reasoning part were time consuming, approximately 28-30 genuine attempts with a 90+% accuracy should be sufficient for a Good Score.

As far as the conduction is concerned, students were asked to read through the instructions on the Pearson made pamphlet. No pen, pencil, wallet, watch or keys were allowed. Strictness in terms of frisking students was evident. Intermittent noise from the employees at the test center was evident and was distracting enough.

Overall,

Test takers should be mentally ready for Marathon run in a quickly paced test. While you may find most of the questions doable, remember the mantra “Speed is the key for NMAT”

All the Best!