When did you start preparing? Yajur: I started preparing 8 months before the exam. Swastik: I started preparing for the exam 10 months prior to it.
Did coaching play an important role in your preparation? Yajur: Coaching material, faculty guidance, and the tricks and shortcuts shared by faculty helped me have an edge. Swastik: Coaching played a very important role in my preparation. Mock tests, study material, and mentoring provided by the coaching helped me a lot.
How did you handle your college studies and XAT preparation? Yajur: I tried giving equal time to both. Swastik: By prioritizing both the things.
What is your take on XAT's pattern? Yajur: XAT is different from other MBA exams as it has an additional section of decision making and essay writing. That was the crucial section for me, but I fared pretty well. Swastik: XAT exam is a paper based exam. I was comfortable with this format. XAT has a different pattern so taking mocks helped me adjust with it. This year, XAT had an additional feature of negative marking for the un-attempted questions as well. So, that was to be taken care of.
How did online material help you prepare? Yajur: The material available online was an additional help. Watching videos of various topics helped me to improve my preparation and make strategies accordingly. Swastik: The sectional tests, videos, articles available online were very informative and of great help.
When did you start taking mock tests? Yajur: I started with tests 3 months before the exam. Swastik: I started with tests 5 months before the exam.
How did you analyze those tests? Yajur: According to me, analyzing the tests was really important. I never took another mock before analyzing the previous mock. It is through analysis that I improved my score by a large margin. Swastik: Analysis of the mocks helped me make a strategy which helped me get an edge over the others. During analysis, I solved the questions without time pressure and marked all important questions separately in a separate notebook. I revised those questions on regular basis.
What timetable did you follow? Yajur: I took one mock a week. Apart from that I used to study for 2-3 hours a day. Swastik: I devoted 3-4 hours a day and did one topic at a time. Apart from that I took sectional tests every alternate day.
What was your preparation strategy? Yajur: My strategy was to cover every topic and solve as many questions as possible. I took a lot of mocks and did their proper analysis. Swastik: I followed a simple approach of first understanding the concept then practicing questions and taking area tests. Taking tests helped me improve my score a lot.
How was your experience on the exam day? Yajur: It was just like taking another mock. Swastik: The experience was good. I struggled a bit in essay writing. The paper was manageable. The LOD was moderate.
According to you, what are the most important topics for XATprep? Yajur: According to me, GK, decision making and essay writing were important. Swastik: DI section is important and the most scoring.
Your advice to future XAT takers? Yajur: Throughout your preparation, don’t lose focus and be consistent. Take atleast 10-15 mocks. Swastik: I would advice not to leave any topic untouched and work on shortcuts. They will help you save a lot of time during exam.
How did you de-stress yourself? Yajur: I used to go out for walks and workout. That helped me distress myself. Swastik: Watching TV series and movies helped me distress myself.
What did you do to overcome your weaknesses? Yajur: I worked on my basics and solved a lot of questions. Swastik: I took the help of my faculty, practiced questions and watched online videos of those topics to get hold of them.
How did you balance all the sections? Yajur: The additional section of Decision Making required extra time. I practiced a lot of questions from this particular area. Swastik: By giving extra time to the topics in which I was weak and giving equal time to all the sections.
How many mock tests did you take per week? Yajur: I took approximately 1-2 mocks per week. Swastik: I took around 2 mocks in a week.
