NMAT 2015 Analysis

NMAT-2015 is similar to previous year in terms of number of questions, level of difficulty of the questions and allotted time per section. As there are 120 questions to be covered in 120 minutes so, it is of paramount importance that you should have concrete plan to score well in this exam. As the questions are either easy to moderate in terms of difficulty level so one could score well in this exam provided that one is quick in selecting or rejecting the question. Also there is no negative marking in the exam; there is an added incentive for marking all questions in the exam,

‘Quantitative Skills’ in NMAT consists of Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation. This section has 48 questions and the allotted time is 60 minutes for this section. There were questions each from number system, percentage, profit and loss, time and distance, time and work, geometry, coordinate geometry, averages, ratio and proportion etc. The maths section was dominated by arithmetic and number system. There was even one question based on calendar. The Data Interpretation part had 20 questions approximately and 6 questions based on data sufficiency. The data sufficiency questions were based on numbers and A.P and G.P. The questions based on Quantitative Aptitude were simple application based questions and the questions based on Data Interpretation were primarily calculative and were based on percentages and ratios. The section can be termed as easy to moderate and attempting 38 to 42 questions with 90+% accuracy can be termed a good score

The ’Language Skills (Verbal Ability)’ section of NMAT is one where you have to solve 32 questions in 22 minutes, which effectively means you have to be very fast in attempting the doable questions. The verbal section is dominated by vocabulary and grammar based questions followed by sentence completion and parajumble based questions respectively. The section was easy and there were 2 RCs which were direct and easy, just that they were the only ’time consuming’ part of the paper. There were eight questions based on two reading comprehensions. Most of the questions were direct (kind of summary based). There were 10-12 vocabulary based questions, around 7-8 grammar part error based and grammar based fill in the blanks questions. There were around 3-4 question on Parajumbles. In the non-RC part, it was advisable to attempt nearly all the questions as this particular part could be done quickly. It is very important that test taker should not attempt reading comprehension first instead should attempt non-rc portion first. The section can be termed as easy and around 25-27 attempts with 90+% accuracy can be termed as a good score.

The reasoning section in NMAT is a mix of Logical Reasoning, Non-Verbal Reasoning and Verbal Reasoning. The section has a total of 40 questions that have to be solved in 38 minutes. Overall, the level of questions in this section was easy to moderate. There were questions based on every possible type of reasoning - sequences and series, arrangements, puzzles, coding decoding, direction sense, blood relation based questions, weakening, strengthening, assumption based questions - literally everything under the sun. The section was easy but the different types of the questions makes the section moderate and reaching around 30-32 attempts with 90%+ accuracy can fetch you decent score.

Overall, the sectional cutoffs are expected to be around 18 in verbal,around 20 in LR/AR and around 22 in QA+DI with the overall cutoffs being around 75 net correct. An above average CAT aspirant who has gone through the curriculum will find the going easy. This analysis is strictly indicative and does not imply that things will not change in the forthcoming days. This is to help you prepare an agenda for preparation as well as to devise a strategy for this exam.