Preparing For XAT

The Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is a premier MBA entrance exam, conducted by the Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jamshedpur. Generally held at the beginning of the month of January every year, XAT has so far managed to continue this tradition and therefore, XAT 2018 is probably lined up for the first week of January 2018 as well.

XAT is a written, pen and paper-based test and is often counted among the tough to crack exams, mostly because of the intense competition that takes place during the exam and at the time of admission. In order to perform well in this entrance exam, it is important for the students and aspirants to develop a clear understanding of the XAT syllabus.

Here is the Syllabus Division:

The first of the two parts of a XAT exam is objective type, containing questions from Verbal & Logical Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation.

1. Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation

The XAT syllabus typically has three sets of Data Interpretation (DI) questions, while Quantitative Aptitude (QA) has sections similar to a CAT exam. Frequently regarded to have one of the toughest QAs in any management entrance exam, XAT requires the candidate to be familiar with these kinds of questions. The margin for errors is little and you have to pick your questions wisely and attempt the question paper as efficiently as possible. Following are some of the main topics of Quantitative Aptitude covered in the exam –

2. English Language & Logical Reasoning

The biggest reason that makes XAT so feared is the fact that there are more questions to attend, while the time is limited, not to mention the slogged difficulty levels. For both of these, it is very important that you rigorously solve previous years’ XAT papers, to get a proper analysis of the type of questions and their pattern. Topics in this section include:

3. Decision Making

A way to ensure that you score well in your XAT exam is to lay stress on the decision-making section. It carries a sectional cut-off and can very be useful in improving your overall score. Besides looking up questions in the previous years’ XAT papers, you can study with the Harvard Business Review website and read sample cases. This will help enhance your knowledge and facilitate better reasoning. Topics in this section include:

The second paper consists of General Knowledge and Essay Writing sections. This is a section you can score more with; therefore, you must prepare well to attempt the maximum possible questions from this section.

4. General Knowledge

The General Knowledge section is dominated by current affairs with approximately seven questions related to on-going international issues and happenings in the business world. Keeping up-to-date with the latest happenings will help your chances of scoring big in this section. Broadly, the XAT syllabus consists of the following GK topics:

5. Essay Writing

The essay section usually has no fixed subjects and can vary between anything from general affairs to abstract topics. Practicing essay writing is crucial to doing well in this section. You need to write coherent, crisp essays in about 20-30 minutes, which by no means is a cakewalk. You are evaluated not only for language skills, but also for the spectrum of ideas, the thought process involved, and your knowledge.

These were some important XAT syllabus details based on the last year’s XAT exam pattern, as the examiners haven’t given any official syllabus as of now. Hope these help you study better.