Management Aptitude Test better known as MAT is one of the national level competitive examination for candidates seeking admissions to MBA/PGDM programs at various management institutes. MAT is one of the toughest management exams in India. Cracking MAT is a tough job but once you have cleared MAT, you can easily get admission in various top-notch management institutes.
Management Aptitude Test is conducted by All India Management Association(AIMA) four times a year, MAT is conducted in both online and offline modes in the months of February, May, September, and December.
MAT is very famous among graduate seeking admissions into MBA/PGDM programs. Every year lakhs of aspirants appear for this examination.
Through this post, candidates who want to appear in the exam will be able to get all the information related to MAT Exam Pattern and tricks to prepare for it.
1) MAT Syllabus and Exam Pattern
MAT syllabus includes questions in Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Language Comprehension, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Mathematical Skills and Indian & Global Environment.
The level of questions is a bit high in Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Language Comprehension, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, but relatively easy for Mathematical Skills and Indian & Global Environment.
MAT will be conducted in both offline and online modes, and a candidate can select any of the modes while filling the form. MAT Exam Pattern will have 200 objective type questions equally divided into five sections. The duration of the MAT exam is 150 minutes. Candidates can check the detailed exam pattern of MAT in the table given below:
|S. No.||Section||No. of Questions||Time (in minutes)|
|1||Data Analysis and Sufficiency||40||35|
|3||Intelligence and Critical Reasoning||40||30|
|5||Indian and Global Environment||40||15|
Distribution of minutes in MAT:
A total of 200 Multiple choice questions (MCQs) is asked, 150 minutes will be allotted to complete the test.
1 marks for every correct answer shall be awarded and 0.25 marks shall be deducted for every wrong answer. No marks shall be allotted for questions unanswered.
2) MAT Exam Preparation Tips:
Candidates appearing for MAT have to be aware of the complete MAT Exam Pattern so as to prepare well and get higher rankings. Focusing on the topics and preparing well keeping the exam pattern as the base would help the candidate save time as well as has his/her attention on the important topics.
MAT will test an aspirant in five major areas: Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Language Comprehension, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning, Mathematical Skills and Indian & Global Environment.
One of the important steps toward a preparation is to identify the subjects of your interests and weaknesses and make an individual strategy for them.
Here are few basic MAT exam pattern preparation tips which may be helpful for candidate appearing for the aptitude test:-
3) Guidance and Mentorship
As Candidates are required to give your best in the limited time. They may face problems while going through different subject areas. A coaching institute, an experienced guide or a mentor will help a candidate a lot of the preparation.
Coaching institutes provide aspirants with study materials, preparation tests and doubt analysis for strong and weak areas of the candidate, which will help the candidate in deciding their approach towards each section of the subject.
4) Time Management and Practice for MAT Exam
A total of 200 questions has to be attempted in 150 minutes. Each section has its own allocated time. It is advisable to candidates to take topic-wise sectional tests and practice several mock papers and actual previous year papers, in order to get familiar with the pattern that is followed for MAT.
Division of Time is essential in order to make sure that you attempt all the five sections of the entire paper properly. After the allocated time period, you must move on to the next section.
Data Analysis and Sufficiency and Language comprehension questions are time-consuming, therefore, it is advisable to plan accordingly. Managing time during preparation and during exam plays a very crucial role.
Do not waste time on questions you don’t understand, move on to next question. Practising as much the candidate can from the past year question booklets and sample papers available on the internet and bookstores can help a lot in understanding the format and get along with the questions of MAT.
5) Self Study
Self-study is also very important during the preparation of the examination. Candidates should try to reserve most of their precious time for self-study rather than engaging in tuitions and coaching. It helps you to score good marks.
Revision is very necessary before taking any examination or test, candidates should try to complete his/her syllabus 2 or 3 days before of the examination. Assign your last 2 or 3 days only for revision, it will definitely help candidates to obtain good marks.
7) Study Material
MAT doesn’t have a well-structured syllabus, therefore, study material candidate use for preparation has to be perfect and should meet all the requirements. To prepare for an exam, books are the best source as they enhance knowledge and provide insights about a topic but, a candidate often faces plenty of problems to choose the right book.
To lighten candidates’ burden, all the books mentioned below are chosen after careful research. These books are the best for section wise as well as overall MAT Preparation.