EXAM PATTERN AND PREPATION OF MAT 2013 (SEP)

MAT will examine your general aptitude in various aspects such as Language Comprehension, Mathematical Skills, Data Analysis & Sufficiency, Intelligence & Critical Reasoning, Indian & Global Environment etc.

Pattern of MAT entrance Exam 
Total number of Questions: 200
Total Time allocated: 150 minutes

Marks allocation
Correct attempt: 1 mark
Incorrect attempt: Negative marking not specified

Sections with Questions
MAT entrance exam covers five sections in all. Scores of first four sections compose the final scores. However, institutions might choose to consider the score of the General Awareness section.

Section	No. of Questions
Verbal Ability	40
Quantitative Aptitude	40
Data Interpretation and Data sufficiency	40
Reasoning Ability	40
General Awareness	40
Total Number of Questions	200

The consolidated score is evaluated by taking only four areas into account. General awareness is not added in the total score. Hence, the scoring is done out of a maximum possible score of 160 marks (@1 mark for 160 qs). However, the score card (by AIMA) does not give the net marks. It gives the scaled score and the percentile in each and every section. It also gives the overall composite score and the overall percentile.

Note: The number in the brackets signifies the number of  questions from that topic in  the 2012 dec paper of MAT

Detailed Syllabus
Quantitative Ability for MAT:

Geometry, (Lines, angles, Triangles, Spheres, Rectangles, Cube, Cone etc) Ratios and Proportion,(2) Percentages, In-equations Quadratic and linear equations Algebra, Profit & Loss,?(8) Averages,(8) Partnership (Accounts), Time-Speed-Distance,(4) Work and time,(4) Number system, HCF & LCM, Geometric Progression,

Arithmetic progression, Arithmetic mean, Number Base System, BODMAS, Mensuration(4), Alligation & Mixtures, Work, Pipes and Cisterns, Simple Interest & Compound Interest,(4) Set Theory, Venn diagram,

Installment Payments, Clocks, Probability, Permutations Combinations,(2) Trigonometry, Calendar, Maxima & Minima Progression, Surds & Indices Complex numbers Etc.

Quantitative Ability:
The quantitative ability of MAT checks your basic knowledge of math and that is why MAT exam has relatively easy math sums as compared to CAT or XAT, except probability and permutations which may prove difficult.


DI And Reasoning for MAT:

Data Interpretation based on text, Data Interpretation based on graphs and tables.

Graphs can be

 Column graphs,

 Bar Graphs,(8)

 Line charts, (10)

Pie Chart, Graphs representing Area, (8)

Venn diagram,

Data comparison (5)

 Critical reasoning

 Assumption-Premise-Conclusion,

Assertion and reasons, (4)

Statements and assumptions,(5)

 identifying valid inferences ,

 Statements and conclusions,

 Cause and Effect,(4)

 Identifying Probably true, Probably false, definitely true, definitely false kind of statement,

 Linear arrangements(2)

, Matrix arrangements.(2)

Distributions(15)

Puzzles,

Anology(4)

 Functions,

 Family tree - identifying relationship among group of people, (3)

Symbol Based problems,

Coding and decoding ,

Sequencing ,(5)

 identifying next number in series, etc.

DATA ANALYSIS AND SUFFICIENCY (DI):
The DI section of MAT consists of conventional data interpretation like graphs and charts with questions based on finding percentage increase or decrease. This section, in particular, gives you the opportunity to score as high as you can because if you interpret even one table or graph, you can correctly answer 4 to 5 questions following it.

REASONING:
Practicing from previous question papers of MAT will be the best way to get an idea of this section. Like many other MBA Entrance exams, MAT also follows old GRE books, so, it will be a good idea to get a reference from them.

Verbal Ability for MAT:
Verbal Ability section of MAT is pure comprehension.  like the DI section, will help you score very high. Once you understand one paragraph, you will be able to answer 4 to 5 question based on the same Passage. It not only saves time but also gives you a lot of confidence. Only thing that can help you here is reading a lot and attempting online tests

The topics are”

Comprehension of passage(20) (Poems can also come).

Verbal Reasoning,

Syllogisms ,

Contextual usage,

 Analogies,

Antonyms,(3)

Fill In the Blanks, (2)

Jumbled paragraphs with 4 or 5 sentences, Jumbled paragraphs (6 sentences with first and last fixed), (16)

Sentence Correction,

Sentence completion,

 Sentence correction,

 odd man out,

 idioms,

one word substitution, Different usage of same word etc.


General Awareness for MAT:

Current Affairs,

 Business

 Top officials of big companies,

 Major corporate events

Famous award and prizes

World Records

Books and authors

Science, History, Geography,

International organizations

Social issues,

 Sports,

 Finance,

 Entertainment,

 Politics, etc.

NOTE: This is not  list of syllabus but an indicative list observed over the pattern of MAT entrance exam till date.

Few important reference books are:

R. S. Aggarwal – Math’s - XI & XII

R.S. Agarwal - Reasoning

R.S.Aggarwal – Quantitative Aptitude

R.D Sharma - Quantitative Aptitude

S.L. Loni – Plane Trigonometry (Part I)

S.L. Loni – Co-ordinate Geometry

Arihant Publication books for competitive exams

Practice Book on quicker Maths M. Tyra & K. Kundan

Analytical Reasoning by M. K. Pendy


As above, we tried to list the detailed syllabus for all the sections of MAT entrance exam..



FOR THE PREPARATION OF MAT

It is strictly advisable to follow a step-by-step process:

1. Clear you basic Math’s Concepts.
   The best way shall be to start practicing from the text books of Class 10. Learn as many formulas as possible and try to develop your own shortcuts.

2. Work on you vocabulary.
   Reading a lot and observing how words are used in different contexts will be of great help.

3. Develop the habit of reading.
   Newspapers, Magazines and TV can be a great help here as well. Magazines, not necessarily should be on politics, basically any magazine will help develop reading habit.

4. Reasoning skills can be improved by solving puzzles
   Practice a lot. Solving sets of questions within a time frame with concentration could be miraculous. Devoting equal time on each question and section will be of great help as well.

5. Know your Strength and Weakness
   Once you know your strengths and weaknesses go for some full-length tests.

6.   Revise
            Revise as much as u can.

DURING THE TEST

• Be very sure of your answer before proceeding
• Do not get bogged down with complicated or lengthy calculations
• Use guessing intelligently and deploy the Selection by elimination method
• Learn how to work backwards, i.e., plugging the most attractive option in the question and see if it makes sense
• Convert quantities freely like ¼ is nothing but 25% of any given quantity.
• In questions that ask you to select a valid conclusion, always choose the one conclusion that must definitely follow from the information you are given and vice-versa.
• Pay special attention to words like “all,” “some,” or “none” when you read the factual information each question gives you
• Pay attention to negative prefixes also, such as non-, un-, or dis-
• Pay special attention to negative numbers when they are used in some questions
• Pay close attention to the word “ONLY” and to the phrase “IF AND ONLY IF”
• Don’t stick to one question for too long
• Aim to answer as many questions as you can

Importance of solving Mock Test Papers

Preparation for any entrance examination is incomplete without practicing mock tests. These are usually question papers which are similar to the pattern of the main exams. Management Aptitude Test is the entrance examination conducted by AIMA, which one must clear to gain admission in the participating B-schools of the county
Enlightens you about main exam

Helps in time management

You know where you stand
Mock test is a yardstick of your performance