Students’ Speak: Practicing mock tests can help you sail through XAT 2020

By: Athira Anand

First, make a plan or timetable with achievable goals so as make sure that you are always on track. If you're weak in a particular portion then work harder on it and excel in it, rather than studying more of what you already know.

XLRI Institute conducts XAT entrance exam every year for MBA/PGDM admissions. They also take students based on their CAT scores apart from their common tests.

There are a few colleges that accept XAT scores. It is important to note that separate exams for institutes are as tough as national exams. So in order to crack them, we ought to try out mock tests and also solve previous years’ papers before writing our own exam.

I would suggest that you attempt an ample number of mocks and most importantly, there is no specific limit to it because the more you solve, the much better the result would be. There are four sections in XAT exam, and above 60 percent right answers will fetch you a decent score to get into good colleges. However, 60 percent in each section is necessary, otherwise, you will be waitlisted and the chances of getting rejected will be high.

Questions will be tough but practice will help you through it. Some common mistakes to watch for include, reading questions in a hurry, spending more time onto a single question, lack in accuracy and calculation mistakes.

Reading questions in hurry will not help you in understanding the question right. Spending more time on one question will eat your time to attempt questions that you are sure of. Again, calculation mistakes are a part of reading questions faster, which in turn will lead to lesser accuracy. In order to tackle these mistakes, one should do a lot of practice and learn time control management.

XAT also has negative marking and it is important to analyse and mark only the correct answers. Steps to score better marks include:

1.More practice

2.Time management

3.Better speed

First, make a plan or timetable with achievable goals so as make sure that you are always on track. If you're weak in a particular portion then work harder on it and excel in it, rather than studying more of what you already know. Also, glancing at all the questions at the beginning of the exam can help you gauge how much you know and for what all the questions you need more time.

Try the elimination method, wherein you can eliminate the least likely option, trust me it works at times. Also, shortcuts and tricks to solve the problems can save you time. There are so many videos and tutorials available on YouTube and other websites where you can learn basics from scratch. Instead of revising just before the exam, it will be better to just sit and relax.

Most important of all is to not be tensed and pressurized because it might slow down your brain functions. I also believe that if everything goes well then luck will also be with you and you might land in your dream college, be it XLRI or any other college that accepts XAT. 

About the Author:

Athira Anand is a student of Adani Institute of Infrastructure Management and is currently pursuing PGDM in Infrastructure Management. She is a civil engineer forged by learnings in infrastructure and is keen to build a career in the consulting domain. She is very passionate about exploring more in Techno-Commercial sector.