Hi! I hope you’re doing well and getting ready for the test season ahead. The first test of the season, NMAT, has just started and I was able to take it on day 1 of the delivery window. Here is my detailed review of NMAT 2021.
Some background for those of you who haven’t followed my tryst with NMAT: I had scored a 270 and 291 in the last two years. Last year was special because I had actually taken a few mocks. The detailed coverage of my 291 score is available here. Have a look at it before you read the post.
When NMAT was announced, I immediately registered and booked a slot for the first day itself as that’s how I can contribute the most to the student community. Taking it randomly in between or towards the end will not help as I will not be able to share any insights with students. Last year, I had taken it from my home and though the experience was smooth, I wasn’t keen on experiencing the constant concern regarding internet connection. I was quite happy that I found a test venue slot for day 1 and booked it without any hesitation.
I was quite occupied with work over the last few days and didn’t get any time to take mocks. I somehow managed to take the official mock though on the 13th and the score wasn’t too bad (283) and it gave me some confidence that I wouldn’t completely bomb my actual test.
The sectional breakup of this mock performance:
Quantitative Skills: Algebra & Probability 6/6, Arithmetic 7/8, Data Sufficiency 3/5, DI Caselets & Tables 4/4, DI Graphs & Charts 4/8 (I misread a set completely), Number Properties 3/4
Logical Reasoning: Analytical Puzzles 9/12, Critical Reasoning 7/9, Deductions 6/7, Other Reasoning 6/8
Language Skills: Analogies 3/5, Error Identification 4/6, Para Forming 3/4, Prepositions 4/4, Reading Comprehension 11/12, Sentence Completion 4/5.
Test Experience:
Let’s talk about the actual test now. I reached the test venue at about 2 pm for my 3 pm slot. I wasn’t expecting many students at the test venue as generally people wait to read the reviews before they face the test themselves. I got to know that the centre had only 2 students in the slot before ours and my slot had only 3 people (including me)! Also, I had stayed away from reading any reviews as it would have prejudiced me and was going to take it as objectively as possible!
At 2:45 pm, they started the pre-test formalities (COVID declaration, ID proof checking, photograph, etc.) and the test started at 3 pm. As usual, I retained my QA-LR-LS order. It’s not something that I recommend to students unless you’re good at QA. It’s a good idea to figure out what works the best for you by experimenting in mocks.
Quantitative Skills:
The best thing about NMAT is that they don’t deviate from the set number of questions within topics. As covered in the analysis video, there weren’t any surprises in terms of number of questions or topics. Quant didn’t offer any surprises (no Geometry, no Mensuration, no Time Speed Distance) and it was heavily dominated by questions on problem solving and within problem solving, most questions were from Arithmetic. What stumped me was a question from Logarithms, a case intensive question on number formation, and a DI set which had a combination of bar chart and pie chart with close to 25-30 data points. Rest was quite manageable and I felt pretty confident about my attempt. I made a few errors for sure in between because I was going fast to ensure that I cover all the questions and ended up finishing all the questions with about 2 minutes to go.
Logical Reasoning:
LR: With nearly 50-50 split between verbal and non-verbal reasoning, LR is a challenging section and requires a good amount of CR practice to crack. I went faster than what was required in this section and ended up scoring the lest – a mistake that I regret. Rather than going fast, I should have spent some more time on CR questions and given all the options due consideration. I had a single set of input output which wasn’t difficult (classic NMAT type) and logical puzzles were straightforward too. There wasn’t any question where I had an Aha! moment (the way I had in the year 2019 for this question: If LAL is coded as 19, RED is coded as 122, BLUE will be coded as what?)
My recommendation to students is to study CR extensively because traditional logic you might still be able to crack, but low performance on CR will bring your score down for sure, the way it happened for me. I felt in control of the paper but I was making mistakes while achieving that objective. Even though I completed the section before time (had about 4 minutes left) my score made me realize the importance of pacing yourself well.
Language Skill:
I don’t know how but VA always seems to work for me better than LR on the NMAT which is opposite to the trend that I have on the other tests. Grammar and fill in the blanks were easy but the RCs were painful. Two of them were lengthy and hard to read and the third one was moderate. I might have got difficult RCs because I was doing well but I had to re-read some parts of the RC to get the answers right. Vocabulary and Analogy based questions would not have been ultra-difficult for a well-prepared candidate. There were some words that I had never seen earlier but I guessed them in any case (as if I had a choice!) and moved on. Some of the parajumbles had 4 sentences and some had 5 sentences. I was able to complete the section before time but had moments of absolute panic because of those lengthy difficult RCs.
Throughout the test, I had a massive headache because of constant drilling and hammering sound from the repair work that the college had conveniently decided to do. Honestly, my score doesn’t matter but the other students deserved a peaceful attempt. I wonder how test centres are selected and whether they are given any instructions with respect to the basic necessities. So, after two hours of enduring that noise and 4 rough sheets (what was I doing!?), I saw my score.
Definitely not what I wanted to see but I wasn’t too disappointed either. You can’t expect a great score if you don’t put in the required effort.
सच है के दिल तो दुखा है, हमने मगर सोचा है
दिल को है गम क्यों, आँख है नम क्यों
होना ही था जो हुआ है – Javed Akhtar, Kal Ho Naa Ho
Overall Verdict:
I found the test to be similar in overall composition and difficulty when compared with NMAT 2020. I think the QA scaling is slightly different compared to what it was last time but that could just be a conjecture. I expect the cutoffs to remain more or less the same but I will reserve that judgment for a while and wait for more data points. I will try to update this post after a few weeks to incorporate scores of aspirants.
Mocks are extremely crucial for NMAT and I recommend solving the IMS test series before you take your NMAT. If you stick to the questions that are asked on the NMAT and do those types thoroughly, you should be fine!
I hope this post has given you a take on the NMAT that you typically don’t see. Please share with your friends and co-aspirants and feel free to comment your feedback or questions! Don’t forget to subscribe to our dedicated YouTube channel. Till we meet again, goodbye and all the best! 🙂
Cracking MBA CET 
Hello Sir,
I’ve been hearing that the official mocks are on the easier side than the actual exam but most of the candidates are scoring in the same range in actual as well as the official mock exam.
I’ve seen last year’s blog too and this has happened with you twice, so how would you rate the difficulty of the official mocks? Also, is it a good way to predict performance on the main exam and reschedule accordingly?
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When we classify the official mock as easy, we are ‘comparing’ it with IMS mock where the questions are more difficult and time consuming. That doesn’t mean it’s completely easy. Last year, in the free official I had a 317 and then a 280 something on its retake. The paid ones however were remarkably close. Again, no major difference in my mock and actual score this time. So, the official one is a great exercise to undertake but the lower bound that IMS gives is a good baseline according to me.
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Mind is crystal clear now,
Thank you for your guidance Sir!!
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Hi Sir, Could you please give an insight as to what is required for the Covid 19 declaration?
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hello sir, i am scoring less than 200 in nmat mocks around 178 something. what should I do and my attempt is in dec. would i be able to make it?
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Hello sir,
My score in IMS mocks are stagnant between 200-215.
Can you please guide how should I improve this? And is this IMS mocks score good compared to the official exam??
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Hello Sir,
I took NMAT today and scored 247 (QA – 75, LR – 83, LS – 89). I’m just worried about my quant score and also surprised since I felt that my attempt in this section was better than the other two. I even scored 84 in QS just yesterday in the 2nd attempt of the official mock.
Do you think there are any chances of cutoffs going a little bit lower this time for the Mumbai campus considering only 1st attempt score will be accepted or maybe because of any other reason ?
Thank you
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Hello sir!
Thank you for this post.
Also, sir could you tell whether the ‘self-declaration for Covid’ be available at the centre that will be needed to fill there, or we need to manage it from somewhere on our own & how?
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Hi Aashray. The self-declaration was a simple form with fields such as your travel over the last two weeks, vaccination status, whether you were in close contact with COVID positive person, etc. It didn’t require any documents but it’s always a good idea to carry your vaccination certificate (soft copy/hard copy) with you.
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Thank you sir!
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Hello sir,
I gave my NMAT exam today and i got a disastrous score of 219. I scored 248 in my official NMAT mock and i was consistently scoring above 210 in IMS mocks for last 3-4 mocks that i gave. This was the one exam i was pretty confident about and now i have no idea where to go from here. I thought that once i get a good enough score in this, it will help me calm my nerved regarding CAT and I’ll do even better there. I needed your advice on whether i should reappear for NMAT or not. This is my drop year, i completed my graduation last year in October and i need to get a good college this year itself. So please let me know if i should reappear.
Also, i know this is out of the scope of this blog, but i wanted to know if i should appear for IIFT because my 10th, 12th and grad grades are 6/7/7.
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Hello Prasad Sir,
You mentioned that there was disturbance at your test centre due to some construction work. I guess you took the test in Mumbai only right? Would you please let me know which of the 3 centres it was?
(Just asking…so that I can avoid booking my test at that centre. I don’t want my only attempt to go in vain due to such issues with only 1st attempt being considered this time for NMIMS😥)
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Hi. It was Shailendra – Borivali. I don’t know if the work is still on though. If someone stays nearby, can actually try visiting it once.
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Oh thank god I asked you this question because I was going to book my test at Shailendra only because it’s just at a distance of 5mins from my place!
Yes, I’ll go there and check once if it’s still going on, else I’ll book the slot at RR infotech as that is also nearby (~15mins distance).
Thanks for the info sir!
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Hello sir,
I gave my NMAT exam today and i got a disastrous score of 219. I scored 248 in my official NMAT mock and i was consistently scoring above 210 in IMS mocks for last 3-4 mocks that i gave. This was the one exam i was pretty confident about and now i have no idea where to go from here. I thought that once i get a good enough score in this, it will help me calm my nerved regarding CAT and I’ll do even better there. I needed your advice on whether i should reappear for NMAT or not. This is my drop year, i completed my graduation last year in October and i need to get a good college this year itself. So please let me know if i should reappear.
Also, i know this is out of the scope of this blog, but i wanted to know if i should appear for IIFT because my 10th, 12th and grad grades are 6/7/7.
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Hello sir, I have booked my nmat slot on 8th December .I gave 2 ims adaptive mocks and scored 204 and 207 in them whereas in official free mock provided by nmat I scored 245(80/83/82) and in second attempt of the free mock I scored 233(76/76/81).
I am currently not scoring well in simcats (around 40-50 score) the problem I am facing is of testing . I was thinking to reschedule my nmat before CAT so that I could get a head start what should I do?
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Good afternoon sir,
I just wanted to ask regarding possibility of getting into top Nmat campus except main one if possible with a score of 194 Qs 53 / Ls 78 / Lr 63. Even with a lower score can something else if can compensate then please let me know that as well.
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At 194, most of the good campuses are out. It depends on this year’s cutoff (which should be slightly lower than last year cutoffs) but the top ones are out.
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Hello sir can we expect qaunt cut off to be lower than last year?
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Yes. The scaling is pretty harsh this time so I am expecting the QA and overall cutoff to drop a bit.
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Hi! I’ve gotten an overall score of 245. Verbal – 97, Quant – 71, and LR – 77. I’m a little worried about quant being on the lower side. What are the chances for NMIMS Mumbai Core MBA Program?
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It all depends on the QA cutoff. Looking at the last year data, 70 is borderline so not sure. The other two are fine.
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