Despite the singular obsession with the Common Admission Test (CAT), aspirants ought to be grounded and practical – things may not always go well if you bet all your money on a single horse. In this article, I explore the NMAT by GMAC (or simply NMAT) – a rather unique type of test which opens plenty of doors.
KNOW THINE ENEMY: GAUGING THE NMAT
The NMAT is a popular management institute entrance test which sees lakhs of aspirants try their hand at taming a very peculiar test with an even more interesting format.
The test is divided into three sections: Language Skills (LS), Quantitative Skills (QS) and Logical Reasoning (LR). Each section has 36 questions, but the sectional time limits differ among sections. Candidates have 28 minutes to get through LS, 40 minutes to tackle LR, and 52 minutes for dealing with QS. Overall then, candidates are expected to answer 108 questions in 120 minutes.
What really sets the NMAT apart though, is that it is adaptive - it adjusts to your difficulty level. The test chooses to display a question from a vast pool of questions. It displays difficult questions if the test taker has gotten the last few questions correct up to that point. Likewise, it reduces the difficulty level of subsequent questions if the candidate gets the previous few questions wrong.
The catch here is that you
cannot skip questions. To proceed to the next question, you must commit to an answer. It is worth noting that candidates cannot go back to the previous questions either. Thus, choosing well (and choosing per se) is imperative.
Running out of time before attempting all the questions in a section also leads to penalisation. However, the exact way this penalty takes effect is not known – GMAC has never revealed the algorithms associated with this.
At the end of the paper, candidates receive an overall scaled score between 36 and 360 (and between 12-120 sectionally). This score is received immediately upon submission of the exam. The scaling of the score depends on the difficulty level of questions that were asked and the number of correct answers. Again, GMAC has never revealed exactly how this scaling takes place. And unfortunately, you cannot review the answers to the questions after the test.
The final scaled score is the sum of the individual sectional scores. In these scores, the penalty for not completing all questions would also factor in.
A final point to note is that unlike CAT, all questions are strictly MCQ’s. There are no TITA questions. Each question is accompanied by 5 options, and of course, only one of these is correct.
Where’s the relief then, you may ask?
- Firstly, candidates are free to choose the sectional order before the test begins. So, you may start with your strongest section and carry the momentum to the other sections.
- Secondly, you can attempt the test a maximum of three times (including your original attempt) if you want to boost your score. Most B-Schools accepting the NMAT score will consider your highest score.
- Thirdly, because the window for the first attempt for NMAT opens well before the date of the CAT exam, it can serve as a great practice session for CAT and indeed other exams.
NAVIGATING THE NMAT
- The NMAT is a formidable test of one’s preparation and time management skills. When it comes to time management, you cannot afford to fixate on a difficult problem for too long; just make an educated guess and move on. Otherwise, it will lead to a domino effect where the lack of time will impair your ability to tackle even those questions that would normally be doable.
- And when it comes to preparation, the NMAT features plenty of problems where the dilemma is binary: you either know the answer in an instant, or you have no clue. Vocabulary based questions tend to be like this. The solution is thorough preparation and smart studying.
- Talk to past test takers. These folks know what is needed to crack the exam – mainly, learn from their mistakes both during the paper and in their preparation. Watch live mock solving sessions from faculty members of various training institutes.
- It is necessary to train yourself in quick mental maths. Knowledge of squares and cubes of numbers up to 100, conversions of common fractions to percentages, multiplication tables up to at least 30 etc. are essential before appearing for not just the NMAT, but all other competitive exams.
- All in all, the preparation course material on the NMAT by GMAC website, supplemented by regular mock test attempts can help you maximise your score.
TARGET SCHOOLS
While the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai, remains the most coveted B-school one can aim for through NMAT, aspirants are spoilt for choice. There are several other prestigious management institutions which also accept NMAT scores. Some of these include:
and many more domestically and abroad.
IMPORTANT DATES
Registration for the NMAT is already underway. Candidates may register themselves until 10
th October, 2022. The exam delivery window starts on the same date (i.e. 10
th October 2022) and the exam delivery window ends on 19
th December, 2022.
ALL THE BEST!
Now that NMAT Exam dates are out, you need to give mock tests and check where exactly you stand. To help aspirants, our experts have created few give-away short tests. Take these tests and check your accuracy levels
(The writer scored 271 in his NMAT attempt and obtained a merit list rank of 4 for NMIMS’ MBA (HR) Programme and a merit list rank of 7 for the MBA (Core) Programme.)