Guide
Only major Indian MBA exam with a dedicated Decision Making section; no sectional time limits; sections can be switched; on-screen scientific calculator; GK does not drive overall percentile but matters to XLRI final selection. In XAT, this matters because Only major Indian MBA exam with a dedicated Decision Making section; no sectional time limits; sections can be switched; on-screen scientific calculator; GK does not drive overall percentile but matters to XLRI final selection.
Turn the rule into a mock decision
Do not keep this as a theory note. In your next full mock, define one measurable rule before you start—for example a section time cap, a skip threshold, a target for questions seen, or a maximum number of risky guesses. After the mock, check whether the rule increased net score or merely changed how the paper felt.
What to measure
Track attempts, correct, wrong, unattempted, time lost on abandoned questions and the score contribution of the exam's unique sections. With marking of +1 correct; -0.25 incorrect; after 8 unattempted questions, -0.10 for each additional unattempted question in scored Part 1; GK has no negative marking, risk needs to be deliberate. A strategy that increases attempts while lowering net score is not aggressive; it is simply inefficient.
Use two passes instead of one rigid pace
First collect direct/high-confidence marks. Then return to medium questions where the route to an answer is visible. Reserve the final minutes for the exam-specific end-game: blanks if there is no negative marking, excess skips in XAT, or completion inside fixed NMAT sectional timers.
Lock the strategy only after repetition
A one-off mock can be distorted by difficulty. Test the rule in at least two papers before making it permanent. If it works in one and fails in another, identify the condition—hard LR set, slow verbal, knowledge gap, calculation load—that changed it. The final exam plan should be flexible inside clear boundaries, not improvised from scratch.
Preparing for CAT?
See where you actually stand before changing your shortlist or study plan.
Why On Your Mocks?
A mock score tells you what happened. OYM helps you understand what went wrong and what to work on next.