NMAT 2007 Analysis
Exam Snapshot
| No. of Questions
|
150
|
| Total Marks
|
150* |
| Marking Scheme
|
1* |
| Negative marking
|
1/4* |
| Number of Sections
|
3 |
| Number of Choices
|
5 |
| Duration
|
120 Min |
*The marks per question was not specified. An assumption of 1 mark per question
has been made here.
NMAT proved to be the feel good paper of 2007. The pattern along with the
marking scheme was disclosed along with the bulletin and therefore there were
no surprises. The absence of General Awareness would have warmed the hearts of
many who find reading up on trivia very laborious. However as it happens with
all so called ‘easy’ papers – the cutoffs (this time NMIMS has clearly
specified sectional cutoffs) would be on the higher side and many would be left
ruing the fact that they were not able to maximize their score!
Those who had attended the classes for NMAT would have found that the extra
practice that they got in solving the questions based on Speed math,
Input-Output and Deductions was very helpful. As many as 32 questions were from
the above mentioned areas and this would certainly result in higher scores.
NMAT2007 had a reduced number of questions and a reduced amount of time as
opposed to last year. However being an easier paper than that of 2006, the
cutoffs would be slightly higher than that of last year.
Snapshot of the paper
The break up of the NMAT paper and an optimum time allocation strategy are
given in the table below.
| Section
|
No. of Questions
|
Difficulty level
|
Optimum Time Allocation
|
| Language Skills
|
40
|
Easy
|
25-30
|
| Quantitative Skills, Data Analysis & Sufficiency
|
60
|
Easy-Moderate
|
50-55
|
| Intelligence & Logical Reasoning
|
50
|
Moderate
|
35-40
|
Language Skills
No. of Questions : 40
This section had questions from the Reading Comprehension and Verbal areas. The
passages were of the easy to moderate difficulty level and had questions on
Antonyms and Synonyms. The passage pertaining to “Kindness & Cruelty of
mankind” and the one pertaining to “International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women” had a total of 20 Qs with around 7 Qs from vocabulary.
A score of 8-9 was possible in around 15-20 minutes in the RC area. Grammar and
Cloze test based questions constituted the bulk of the questions in the Verbal
area. These questions were of the ‘easy-moderate’ difficulty level and a score
of at least 9-10 marks was possible in about 10-12 minutes. The expected
score for this section should be around 17-19 in about 25-30 min. A score of
26+ should be considered excellent. The cutoff is expected to be around 17+.
| Area
|
Description
|
Marks
|
Difficulty level
|
Expected Score
|
Good Score
|
|
Grammar
|
Correction of sentences
|
10
|
Moderate
|
4
|
6
|
| FIB
|
Cloze test
|
10
|
Easy
|
5-6
|
8
|
| RC
|
Passages
|
2 passages
|
20
|
Easy-Moderate
|
8-9
|
12
|
| Overall
|
|
40
|
Easy
|
17-19
|
26
|
Quantitative Skills, Data Analysis & Sufficiency
No. of Questions : 60
This section turned out to be a mixed bag for the test takers and could be
termed as being ‘calculation intensive’. Those whose forte is speed math would
have reveled here, having had 22Qs based on ‘Approximations’. However those who
are not quite adept at these kinds of calculations would have found the going
tough. The DI sets were of the easy to moderate level of difficulty and would
have resulted in a higher number of attempts. The Arithmetic questions were
predominantly from the Percentages and Equations, Ratio Proportion areas and
were quite easy as compared to that of any other exam. The expected score
for this section should be around 21-23 in about 50-55 min. A score of 36+
should be considered excellent. The cutoff is expected to be around 21+.
| Area
|
Description |
Marks |
level |
Expected Score |
Good Score |
| QA
|
Approximations/ Calculations
|
Speed Math based |
22 |
Moderate |
8-9 |
12-13 |
| Arithmetic
|
Percentages, ERPV etc. |
8 |
Easy |
3 |
5 |
| Number Series
|
Wrong number in Series |
5 |
Difficult |
1 |
2-3 |
| DI
|
Caselet
|
Games played by Employees |
5 |
Moderate |
7-8 |
12 |
| Table
|
Passed & Failed |
5 |
Easy |
| Line Graph
|
MAT exam takers |
5 |
Easy |
| Table
|
Engineering Streams |
5 |
Difficult |
| DS
|
Arithmetic topics |
|
5 |
Moderate |
2 |
3 |
| Overall |
|
60 |
Moderate |
21-23 |
34-36 |
Intelligence & Logical Reasoning
No. of Questions : 50
This section proved to be a surprise bag and was the toughest of the three
sections in this paper. This section had questions on Analytical reasoning,
Critical reasoning and Quant based reasoning. The Input-Output and Coding
Decoding questions were quite easy and a score of around 6 was possible in
around 7-10 minutes. The 2 puzzles were of the moderate difficulty level as
were the questions pertaining to ‘Cause-Effect’ and ‘Inferences’. The expected
score for this section should be around 18-19 in about 35-40 min. A score of
29+ should be considered excellent. The cutoff is expected to be around 18+.
|
|
Area
|
Description |
Marks |
level |
Expected Score |
Good Score |
| Reasoning
|
Input Output
|
Easy
|
5
|
Easy
|
3
| 4
|
| Symbol based |
Comparisons
|
5
|
Moderate-Difficult |
1
| 3
|
| Coding Decoding
|
Reasoning
|
5
|
Easy
|
3
| 4 |
| Mathematical operations |
Even, Odd & Prime numbers
|
5
|
Difficult
|
1
|
2 |
| Puzzles
|
2 Sets
|
10
|
Moderate |
4 |
6 |
| Miscellaneous
|
All varieties
|
5
|
Moderate
|
2
|
3 |
| Deductions |
4 Statements & 3 Conclusions
|
5
|
Moderate-Difficult
|
1
|
2 |
| Cause & Effect
|
|
5 |
Moderate |
3-4 |
5 |
| Inferences
|
|
5
|
Moderate |
| Overall |
|
50
|
Moderate
|
18-19
|
29 |
Estimated Cutoffs for Sections
Language
Skills
- 17+
Quantitative Skills, Data Analysis & Sufficiency
- 21+
Intelligence & Logical Reasoning
- 18+
Expected Overall Cutoff
| Institute
|
Expected Cutoff
|
| NMIMS (FT-umbai)
|
76+
|
|
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