XAT 2025: Pro tips to score above 95 percentile by Previous years' XAT Toppers
Xavier Aptitude Test 2025 ( XAT )
Good performance in XAT 2025 exam will majorly depend on how you prepare, strategise and utilize the time given in solving the questions. It is all about the balance between theory and practice. Here are some pro tips to score above 95 percentile in XAT 2025 by previous years' XAT toppers.
XAT topper tips to score above 95 percentile
XAT 2025 exam will be moderate to high in terms of difficulty level, but that doesn’t mean it is impossible to score high. Most of the candidates feel that XAT is a tough nut to crack because of Decision Making and Essay Writing. It is not true. If you have your basics in place and you’ve done enough practice, scoring above 95 percentile is not difficult in XAT. The best part about XAT is that XLRI cut offs usually hover between 94-95 percentile. Thus, there is no pressure of 100 or 99.99 percentile to make it to this top tier B-school.
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There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.In XAT, both Quantitative Aptitude as well as Data Interpretation questions are slightly tougher as compared to that of CAT questions. So, make sure you have clear understanding of basics. You should pay special attention to Decision Making. In XAT 2025, there is no pressure of Essay Writing as it has been removed from the test. It will be conducted along with XLRI PI. English and Verbal Ability will have typical questions including a poem. XAT 2025 preparation should have a good scope of practice, XAT mock tests and self analysis, apart from covering the syllabus.
Q: Which MBA colleges are available with XAT cut offs of 85 percentile and above?
Q: What is sectional cut off for XAT?
Sectional cut off for XAT refers to the minimum percentile fixed for each section of the exam that candidates have to meet. For example, if the Quantitative Aptitude cut off is 85 percentile for XAT, that means a candidate must have scored 85 percentile or more in the section of XAT to be eligible for group discussion and personal interview shortlisting. Check the below tables for PGDM BM and PGDM HRM for XAT 2023.
XAT Sectional cut offs for PGDM BM
General Engineers | VA | DM | QA | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Males | 75 | 75 | 85 | 95 |
Females | 75 | 75 | 80 | 92 |
General Non-Engineers | VA | DM | QA | Overall |
Males | 75 | 75 | 85 | 95 |
Females | 75 | 75 | 80 | 92 |
XAT Sectional cut offs for PGDM HRM
General Engineers | VA | DM | QA | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Males | 90 | 75 | 85 | 93 |
Females | 90 | 75 | 65 | 91 |
General Non-Engineers | VA | DM | QA | Overall |
Males | 90 | 75 | 70 | 90 |
Females | 75 | 75 | 60 | 88 |
Q: What is the cutoff for XAT 2024?
XAT 2024 cut-offs are listed below, course-wise:
XLRI XAT cut off: Human Resource Management
Category | Overall XAT percentile | QA percentile | VALR percentile | DM percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Engineer Male | 95 | 80 | 90 | 85 |
Engineer Female | 90 | 73 | 85 | 78 |
Non-engineer Male | 93 | 75 | 90 | 85 |
Non-engineer Female | 88 | 68 | 85 | 78 |
XLRI XAT cut-off 2024: Business Management
Category | Overall XAT percentile | QA percentile | VALR percentile | DM percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Engineer Male | 96 | 86 | 83 | 85 |
Engineer Female | 91 | 81 | 80 | 80 |
Non-engineer Male | 95 | 85 | 83 | 86 |
Non-engineer Female | 90 | 80 | 80 | 81 |
In the XAT 2025 exam, time your attempts well. There is sectional time limit in XAT, so you need to be mindful of completing a certain number of questions in every section in the given time limit. The first section of the XAT question paper is of 170 minutes in which one has to attempt Decision Making, Verbal Ability and Quants questions. Time yourself well. It shouldn’t happen that all a major part of the time is consumed in one section and you’re left with less than desired time for other sections. Sectional cut offs are very important in XAT.
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Pro Tips to Score Above 95 Percentile by Previous years' XAT Toppers
With XAT 2025 date being January 5, 2025, aspirants must have started practicing mock tests, revising important topics and learning tricks and shortcuts to solve questions quickly. As the exam gets closer, you will need to work on the exam day plan to be able to optimise your score. Check below some pro tips to score above 95 percentile in XAT by previous years’ toppers:
Siddharth Lilani, XAT 2023, 99.64 percentile
“I believe that every candidate is different and there is no formula to crack any exam or interview. Working hard is definitely essential and so is consistency. But in the end, results matter and how they come becomes less relevant (unless they come from unfair means). So, every candidate must work on developing a process that works well for them - physically, psychologically, and intellectually.” Read full interview
Q: Can I get into XLRI with 90 percentile?
Xavier School of Management cut off for XAT has been released as a selection criteria to appear for the PI round. As per the official cutoff data released by XLRI, the overall sectional XAT cut off 2024 for Male engineers is 96 percentile for Business Management (BM) programme and 95 percentile for Human Resource Management (HRM) programme. The XAT 2024 cut offs for Female engineers is 91 percentile for BM programme and 90 percentile for HRM programme.
So basis the recently released sectional XAT cutoff 2024, it is difficult to get into XLRI with 90 percentile for General AI category students.
Q: How important is XAT cut off for selection to XLRI's PI round?
XAT cut off is the most important factor in selection of candidates for XLRI Jamshedpur’s Personal Interview or PI round. Those who do not meet the cut off are not even taken into consideration for PI shortlisting. The two main parameters upon which candidates are short listed for the PI round are academic scores (class 10,12 and graduation) and XAT cut off.
Aspirants must note that they need to score as much or above the XAT cut off and should have a consistent academic record of high score to have greater chances of getting selected. It is not necessary that they will be called for the PI round if their XAT score matches the cut off. If any candidate with the same score has a better academic record, he/she will be selected over the other.
Q: When are XAT cut offs released?
XLRI Jamshedpur releases the XAT cut offs every year in the month of February after the result announcement. The XAT exam is held on the first Sunday of January and the result is announced in the last week of January. And within a week of result announcement, the XAT cut offs are released.
The XAT cut offs are released at the official website of XLRI Jamshedpur and are available for download without login. The XAT cut offs are released for PGDM-HRM and PGDM-BM gender and academic stream wise. The document contains sectional and overall cut off percentiles for male, female, male non engineering and female non-engineering categories. Selection of candidates for the Personal Interview and Group Discussion round of XLRI admission is done on the basis of these category wise cut offs.
Q: What is the lowest percentile to get into XLRI?
XLRI admission 2025 to PGDM in Business Management is based on XAT scores, followed by a PI round. XLRI Jamshedpur cutoff 2025 is yet to be released for admission to its BM and HRM courses. Aspirants seeking admission to XLRI have to meet both the overall and sectional cutoffs. During the XLRI cutoff 2024, the XAT cutoff percetile was 93 and 95 for the HRM and BM courses, respectively. So considering the preious years' cutoff, the lowest percetile to get into XLRI for BM and HRM courses ranges between 93 and 95 percetile for the students belonging to the General AI quota.
Q: What is the XAT cutoff percentile for Manipal University?
For the General AI category students, the Manipal University XAT cutoff 2023 was 85 percentile for admission to the MBA in Banking and Financial Services, MBA in Human Resources Management, MBA in Marketing, and MBA in International Business courses. For Master of Business Administration (MBA), the XAT cutoff percentile was 80. The University offers MBA admission via its affiliated college called TA Pai Management Institute.
Lavisha Taneja, XAT 2023, 98.66 percentile
“To prepare for the exam, I had taken regular mock tests and analysed them thoroughly, even though it was demotivating to see my scores not improving initially. However, I learned to trust the process and be patient. I experimented with different methods and found what worked best for me. Therefore, I suggest MBA aspirants do not avoid taking mocks regularly and analyse them in-depth. Remember, it's not just about taking the tests, but also about learning from them and adapting your strategies accordingly.” Read full interview
Farzan Shaikh, XAT 2021, 99.94 percentile
“I Actively read and summarised articles, books and essays from Aeon, The Economist, WSJ etc. in my own language to improve my reading comprehension. Basic preparation of Quantitative Aptitude was being covered by my coaching material and randomised practice and revision by solving doubts for others. Mock analysis and all the practice helped my scores and percentiles go up as my rank went down, started being in top 200 consistently with 98.5+ percentile in most of my mocks.” Read full interview
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 21 hours ago
PGPM admissions at IBS Mumbai are entrance-based. For admission, the institute accepts various national-level tests, including XAT. It is one of the prestigious national-level MBA entrance examinations conducted by the distinguished Xavier Labour Relations Institute. This exam is generally conducted
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered Yesterday
With a percentile range of 65-70 in the XAT exam, you have several good options for pursuing an MBA. Here are some colleges that typically accept candidates within this percentile range:
Top Colleges
1. Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (XIME), Bangalore: Known for its comprehensive
A
Contributor-Level 9
Answered 5 days ago
Surely! Several MBA colleges in India take XAT scores and charge minimal fee structures. Here are some you might want to look into:
Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Technology and Management Offers MBA and PGDM courses with a total fee between INR 1,10,000 and INR 1,80,000.
Abasaheb Garware Institute
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Contributor-Level 9
Answered a week ago
Yes, XAT is required for MBA at Shanti Business School.
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Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
Yes, XAT is among teh emultiple national-level entrance exams accepted for admission to the PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Management) courses at Shanti Business School. In addition to XAT, the school also accepts other entrance exams such as CAT, MAT, CXAT, and ATMA for admission to its PGDM progra
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Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
With a percentile score of 65.5 in the XAT, you have several good options for pursuing an MBA. Here are some top colleges that typically accept candidates within this percentile range:
1. Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB): Known for its excellent faculty and strong industry connecti
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Contributor-Level 9
Answered 2 weeks ago
Jiwaji University PGDM admissions are granted based on various national-level exam scores, including XAT. As per the institute's cutoff data for 2023, the XAT cutoff percentile for General All India category students stood at 50.
Students must note that this cutoff can vary depending upon the diffic
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
XAT 2025 exam had only 2 sections in the question paper, Part 1 had Quantitative Aptitude, Decision Making and Verbal Ability. Part 2 consisted of General Knowledge section. Essay Writing has been removed from the entrance test. It is a part of XLRI PI selection process. The total time duration of X
P
Beginner-Level 3
Answered 2 weeks ago
XAT 2025 exam was of moderate difficulty level. The students who had appeared for the exam last year, said the XAT 2025 question paper was not much different. Section wise, Quantitative Aptitude questions were on the tougher side, Verbal Ability and Decision Making were easy to moderate and GK was e
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Beginner-Level 3
Answered 3 weeks ago
A XAT percentile of 7.2471 is approximately equivalent to a score of 17-18 out of 100. This score is below the typical cutoff for most top MBA colleges that accept XAT scores. For instance, institutions like XLRI Jamshedpur and MICA Ahmedabad generally require a minimum percentile of 85-90 for cons
A
Contributor-Level 9
If you score above 85 percentile in XAT you may get selected for admission to top tier 1 and tier 2 MBA colleges such as XIMB-Bhubaneswar, SPJIMR-Mumbai, IMT-Ghaziabad, GIM-Goa, TAPMI-Manipal, IRMA-Anand, MICA-Ahmedabad, Great Lakes Institute of Management, LIBA-Chennai, KJ Somaiya-Mumbai, Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad, Institute of Finance and International Management, Bangalore, Xavier Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship, Amity Business School, Noida, Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad, Xavier Institute of Social Services, Ranchi.
The XAT cut offs of the abovementioned colleges fall in the range of 85 to 95 percentile. However, in different admission years, the cut offs could be different. You should check the XAT cut offs for these colleges individually to have a better understanding of admission process for that year.