A Magnified View of MAH CET 2015 Paper

Directorate of Technical Education (DTE), Maharashtra conducts its Common Entrance Test (MAH-MBA/MMS-CET) for admission to MBA/MMS and PGDBM/PGDM courses offered in various institutes in Maharashtra. About 300 institutes across 11 Universities in Maharashtra accept admission to their MBA/MMS/PGDM programs through CET. This year the CET will be conducted on 14th and 15th March, 2015 in multiple time slots. CET, since 2014, has become a computer-based test but the pattern of the test remains similar to the paper-based test.

The test comprises of 200 questions from three broad sections (Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, and Logical/Abstract Reasoning) and a student needs to attempt them in 150 minutes. There is no demarcation among questions from different sections; one can easily find an RC passage sandwiched between a set on Data Interpretation and Syllogisms. The fact that the test has no negative marking provides much needed respite to the candidates. Given the number of questions, CET is clearly a test of your speed and accuracy.

Given below is a general overview of the exam:

Quantitative Ability

Of around 50 questions from this area, about 20 questions are based on Arithmetic and Geometry (including a few questions each from Probability and Algebra). The questions vary from easy to moderate in terms of difficulty. Data Interpretation forms a major chunk of this area with generally four sets of 5 questions each. About 5 questions each from Data Sufficiency and comparison of quantities are also seen.

* Based on previous years pattern

The best way to tackle a CET quantitative question is to solve them logically than mathematically and by using the method of elimination. Certainly, the students need to have basic fundamentals of mathematics in place to solve any quantitative question using logic.

Data interpretation in CET is calculation intensive based on graphs and tables from which the students need to reap relevant data. Most common mistake the students commit is grabbing the wrong data. Practicing a few approximation techniques is advisable.

While attempting data sufficiency questions students should first memorise the five answer choices and then start doing the questions. It is quite common to make a high number of errors while answering these questions as one of the answer choices is invariably: "The question cannot be answered." Few things that should be kept in mind while answering these questions are: Do not carry over any information from one statement to the other one and take positive as well as negative values while solving inequalities with variable 'x'.

Logical/Abstract Reasoning

With a total of 90 questions, this section constitutes a little less than half of the entire paper. Generally, about 10-15 questions will be quite time consuming and the trick is to identify the easy questions and not waste time on the difficult one. 25-30 questions from Visual Reasoning can prove to be a problem area if the students do not have enough practice in the same. Analytical puzzles based on arrangements and relations generally contribute to about 30 questions, most of which are easy to moderate level difficult. Generally 5 questions each on series and Decision Criteria are also seen. The remaining questions on Series, Input/Output, Blood Relations, Coding/Decoding, Data Sufficiency, and Syllogisms range from easy to moderate in terms of level of difficulty.

Reading the questions carefully is the key to success in Logical reasoning. Analytical reasoning puzzles questions are closely linked with each other. Most of the puzzles can be represented in a tabular/matrix form and once the students get the matrix right, answering the questions become easy. Visual reasoning reflects on a person's ability to visualise elements and structures thus exhibiting students’ ability to comprehend an open-ended thought process. One of the strategies to tackle this area is to mentally formulate the problems on you own. By and large Visual reasoning requires visual grouping of various elements.

Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension questions range from 20 to 30 in number. Generally 2 passages are abstract in nature followed by a few inference based questions. The remaining questions from this area are fairly easy. Spelling/Inappropriate usage, phrase replacement, para jumbles, odd sentence and Synonym/Antonym contribute to about 20-25 questions. 1 to 2 cloze passages with 5 blanks each have also featured and have been reported to be fairly easy. Last year, a new question type based on “Probable starters” could have confused many as the directions provided were not very clear. There are 5 of these, and are easy if the students read the questions carefully. Critical Reasoning comprises the remaining 10 questions which are easy to moderate in level of difficulty.

Verbal ability is largely dependent on vocabulary and grammar. It is advisable to revise the grammar basics and practice questions across various areas of verbal ability. Vocabulary cannot be improved overnight and takes long time to improve upon. However, regular reading across varied subjects will help the students understand the contextual meaning of the words.

Reading comprehension requires students to comprehend a given passage. Written communication lacks gestures, intonations, etc. which often supplement verbal communication. Therefore, interpretation of written material requires attention. In RC, one is expected to grasp the author's thought behind the passage; hence the focus is not on individual words but rather on the inferences that can be made on the basis of ideas presented.

The best way to deal with CET is to remove any apprehensions that one has about the test. Firstly, the students need to remember that the CET is based on fundamentals studied at   8th 9th 10th level examinations across English and Mathematics. It is what they have studied in school. The tricky part is the application of concepts they already know. At this stage, students should not fret about what they don’t know, rather focus on their strengths. As the students will be aware, competition to secure admission in top 5 institutes through CET is immense and every single mark makes a difference. For this, first they have to drop the fear of Math or English and believe in themselves. Secondly, if they have taken mock tests, they should know where they are faltering. Make a note of it and work on it.

Mock test is an extremely important tool in preparing for any competitive exam. Thorough analysis after each Mock test can help a student maximize scores. After each test students should check the mistakes they have committed and rectify them. Analyse each question which they skipped during the test, try to solve it first without assistance and subsequently with assistance. Look for explanatory answers, which come with almost all Mock tests.

Lastly, no negative marking, CET allows intelligence guessing in case of difficult questions. Ideally, one should use the process of elimination in such a manner that the most improbable answers are eliminated to narrow down the option to as few as possible i.e. eliminating 3 out of 5 options. Now, you may go ahead and make an intelligence guess!