All exams have different myths surrounding them. In the case of the XAT exam there is a very popular one that it is a tougher exam than CAT.! Let us analyse some of these myths!
1. XAT is tougher than CAT: Like CAT , XAT also matches the performance of a student against the performance of all other students and presents the result in percentiles. So the difficulty level of the.exam itself is irrelevant. The aspirant must outperform his/her peers
2. XAT VA is very tough : Another common demotivating factor for students is that XAT requires a high degree of Verbal Ability. While it is true to some extent that the XAT requires an excellent vocabulary – we must keep in mind that in recent years – just like the CAT – the XAT has started clubbing VA with LR. So students can hedge their shortcomings in VA by an excellent performance in the LR questions. In fact, sometimes even the RC questions in XAT are LR questions.
3. XAT QA is too complicated: It has happened in certain years that the XAT QA has been a little above average (notably in XAT 2011) .Do keep in mind that it is a scaled exam and it is equally tough for everybody and by identifying 6-8 easy questions you can easily clear the cut off of QA !
4. Decision Making section does not need extra focus:This is is one of the biggest mistakes that any XAT aspirant can make . This section is made up of different case studies – current affairs and business related which require the aspirant to take acall on how he would handle the situation as a manager. No Black and White answers. Choose from Shades of Gray!
5. XLRI is only for those who want to take up HR: Without doubt – PMIR – is the flagship course of XLRI . However XLRI also has other excellent courses such as Business Management (BM) and a General Management Program ( GMP) (for those aspirants with five plus years of experience).
6. Only people with excellent academics can get a call from XLRI : While it is more than obvious that somebody with a superior academic track record enjoys an edge over other candidates – in terms of issuing calls – XLRI has a very transparent policy with the XAT cut offs of BM and PMIR courses displayed on the website after the results’ declaration.
7. You cannot clear XAT if your GK is weak: GK may not even be considered while issuing calls . The role of GK may come in play once the candidate is to get final calls .XAT GK questions are focussed on Business and Current Affairs and a serious aspirant would be conversant with some of the topics quizzed.
All the Best for XAT 2014!
The author is an MBA Entrance Expert associated with T.I.M.E. For all queries relating to XAT 2014 preparation, please reach out on tanveer.iqbal.ahmed@gmail.com