MBA aspirants often tend to focus more on CAT rather than on the other entrance exams. However, today, a number of MBA entrance exams are there that are at par with CAT. In fact scoring well in the other entrance exams allows the candidate to get admission into well-known B-schools of the country.
Among the various entrance exams, Xavier Aptitude Test or XAT is one of the most popular management entrance tests in India. And scoring well in XAT will allow you get admission in top-notch institutes of the country.
Listed below are the reasons which explain why an MBA aspirant should apply for XAT:
- The number of CAT examinees is almost double than that of XAT. For instance, around 2 Lakh students apply for CAT each year while around 85,000 to 90,000 apply for XAT. Competing with less than one lakh students is of course much easier than competing with close to two lakh candidates.
- XAT can be regarded as the ideal stand-in option for the candidates who are seeking admission at top- notch MBA institutes in India, but have fallen short in CAT. Usually, there is almost 1 month’s gap between CAT and XAT, so an MBA aspirant will get at least 30 days before they appear for XAT and can improve on their weak areas and hone their test-taking tactics. Appearing for both CAT and XAT can offer more chances as one can get more interview calls basis the better score, thus increasing the success rate.
- A lot of candidates wrongly link XAT with XLRI and XLRI with HR specialization. Even though there is no doubt that the HR specialization program at XLRI is the best in the country, its Business Management specialization program is also well known. Now, coming to the institutes apart from XLRI that accept XAT scores for admission to their MBA programs. This list includes a number of reputed colleges like:
- MICA, Ahmedabad
- XIMB, Bhubaneswar
- P. Jain (SPJIMR), Mumbai
- GIM, Panaji
- FORE, Delhi
- IIFM, Bhopal
- The CAT question paper includes three sections namely data interpretation, aptitude and verbal ability and logical reasoning and XAT covers all these sections along with decision making, general knowledge and essay writing. So, a little bit of extra effort will allow you to score well in XAT.
- In case a candidate cannot perform well in CAT, then he or she must be given another opportunity so that the performance can be improved. This way, one can save one complete year. And XAT is one such exam that provides the perfect opportunity to improve on the performance and get into one of the top-notch B-Schools of the country.
Thus, appearing for XAT is quite beneficial as you can get into any of the reputed B-schools of the country.
The XAT application form is expected to be out by the third week of August. The application process is entirely online and applicants have to visit the official website to register. After receiving the registration ID and password, the candidates will have to log in again and complete the procedure by filling up the online application form, and by uploading the signature and photograph and paying the fee by choosing any one of the accepted payment gateways.
XAT 2018 will be conducted on January 7, 2018. This is a paper pencil based exam. Within 3.5 hours’ time, the candidates will need to attempt two papers. Part 1 consists of 78 objective type questions and paper 2 is a mix of subjective and objective type questions having two sections, Essay Writing and General Knowledge.
So, if you are looking forward to appear for XAT 2018, make sure that you fill up the form through their website in a timely manner.