NMAT 2017 (Day 1, Slot 1: 5th Oct, 9 a.m.) spun no real surprise as far as the difficulty level was concerned. The paper stuck to a predictable pattern question wise. There were three sections with no negative marking. A student had the choice of deciding the sequence of sections. There were no technical glitches and the experience was quite pleasant. Compared to last year, the paper became slightly tougher as far as the Language Skills section was concerned. However, the Logical Reasoning section became easier. The Quantitative Skills section was of a similar level of difficulty as that of last year.
As we had to take the first slot, we didn't go with any preconceived expectation. Based on our experience, one should have solved close to 85-94 questions (across the sections) in 120 minutes. The remaining questions should have been calculated attempts (educated guess) because of the marking scheme. An educated guess basically means that one must follow a fixed pattern of selecting an option in case if one is unable to read or solve the question due to lack of time. Just like last year, the question break-up of different sections varied for different candidates within the same slot. However, the difficulty level didn't vary drastically. Anyone with a weak reading speed would have faced a tough challenge due to the strict sectional time constraint. A solid strategy was the need of the hour.
If this paper is taken as a good indicator of this year's NMAT exam, the cut-off will likely remain in the same range (208-210 for Mumbai Campus) as that of last year. An advice for students would be to start with the Quantitative skills section and end with the Logical Reasoning section.
The pattern of the paper was as follows:
S. no |
Section |
No. of Questions |
Time (in Minutes) |
Difficulty Level |
Possible |
1 |
Language Skills |
32 |
22 |
Moderate |
24-27 |
2 |
Quantitative Skills |
48 |
60 |
Moderate-Difficult |
32-36 |
3 |
Logical Reasoning |
40 |
38 |
Easy |
29-32 |
|
Total |
120 |
120 |
Easy-Moderate |
85-95 |
The Logical Reasoning section was easy.
The Analytical Reasoning questions were from predictable areas. The questions were either very easy or calculation intensive. Some questions didn’t have the exact answer as an option. The two LR sets were easy though the one with arrangement and ranking was time consuming. The singlets were pretty easy except for find the missing number in the diagrams. One should not have attempted the input-output questions as they were very tricky. One should have just guessed these. The direction and blood relation questions were very easy.
There were 13 questions from the area of Verbal Logic. The five Critical Reasoning questions were of moderate level of difficulty. One of those questions (find the conclusion) was pretty vague. The options were very close and a student would have needed a thorough understanding of the concepts of Critical Reasoning to attempt these correctly. The three course of action questions were structured like decision making questions, which are common to XAT. These were mostly ethic based and the answers could be found by using one’s common sense. There were two syllogism based questions and these were very easy. The remaining questions in verbal logic ranged from easy to moderate level of difficulty.
Overall, as compared to last year, this section was easy. An attempt of 29-32 with 90% accuracy was achievable.
Topic |
No. of Questions |
Coding |
3 |
Blood Relation |
2 |
Critical Reasoning |
5 |
Statement-Argument |
1 |
Statement Conclusion |
1 |
Course of Action / Decision making |
3 |
Statement-Assumption |
1 |
Syllogism |
2 |
Logical Reasoning(arrangement and ranking) |
8 (2 sets, 4 questions each) |
Input/output |
4 |
Diagram Based (Find the missing number) |
2 |
Mathematical Puzzles & Direction |
3 |
Singlets (Contained Visual Reasoning and Set theory based diagram) |
5 |
Total |
40 |
The Quantitative Aptitude section was of moderate-difficult level. Number System dominated the section. Arithmetic, too, made its presence felt. The Data Sufficiency questions were from diverse topics such as Numbers, Geometry, and Algebra. These questions were difficult as they were very lengthy. However, one could have solved these by just using the basic concepts. The questions from Higher Maths (P&C, Probability, and Set Theory) were very easy and anyone, even without any Maths background, could have solved these. The TSD questions were time consuming. The Time and Work questions were easy.
There were 4 DI sets which included pie-chart, tables, bar graph, and a graph (Parabola). Two of these sets were calculation intensive. The remaining 2 were easy. However, some candidates reported 5 DI sets where 4 sets were based on charts and one was based on a case study based arrangement. A well prepared student would not have had much difficulty in going through this section. 32 - 36 proper attempts were certainly possible.
Topic |
No. of Questions |
Profit & Loss |
1 |
Percentages |
2 |
Ratio & Mixture, Proportion |
3 |
SI & CI |
2 |
Time, Speed & Distance |
1 |
Work & Time |
2 |
Number System |
6 |
Progression |
2 |
Logarithm |
1 |
Polygon |
1 |
Geometry |
1 |
Mensuration |
1 |
P & C / Probability |
2 |
Data Sufficiency |
5 |
Set Theory |
2 |
DI |
16 (4 sets, 4 questions each) |
Total |
48 |
The Reading Comprehension passages made all the difference in this section. Unlike last year, 7 out of 8 questions in RC were idea based. The passages were from familiar areas of Science & Technology and Business & Economics. Some other candidates reported passages from Archaeology and Environmental Science too. Though the passages were easy to read, the options were really tricky. Overall, RC was really time-consuming. The five vocabulary questions were very easy. The Cloze Test, Fill in the blank, and Para Jumble questions were fairly easy and predictable. The options were, as usual, very close in the Para Jumble questions. The spot the error questions in Grammar covered mostly Tenses and Parallelism. There were the three usual FIB with prepositions questions.
The pattern of this section remained on predictable lines. Overall, the section was of moderate level of difficulty keeping in mind the time constraint. An overall attempt of 24-27 with 95% accuracy is realistic. The other questions could have been educated guesswork.
Topic |
No. of Questions |
Reading Comprehension Passages |
8 (2 passages of 4 questions each) |
Para Jumble |
4( 3 – 4 sentence, 1 – 5 sentence) |
Error Spotting |
3 |
FIBs (Prepositions) |
3 (3 blanks each) |
FIBs (Vocabulary) |
3 (2 blanks each) |
Synonyms |
3 |
Antonym |
3 |
Analogy |
1 |
Cloze Test |
4 |
Total |
32 |