Technology is all around us and it has had a great impact on the education and competitive exam industry. One huge change that took place in the MBA test prep industry was in 2009, when the first online CAT was conducted. Since then, through the technical glitches, confusion and various teething troubles, the test taking experience has come a long way.
And now in 2017, through the recent notifications for SNAP and XAT, we come to know that from this year both these exams are set to go online from the previously prevailing pen and paper mode. And the questions that you must be pondering upon as someone who wants to do well in XAT and SNAP are: How does this impact your preparation? What effect will it have on your test taking strategies? What are the things you must do to do well in these online tests? Well, we will answer all of these questions in this article, so read on!
The fact that XAT and SNAP are now going to be online is actually a good thing. Especially if you are also preparing for CAT as it is an online exam and the zillion mock tests you take online will add to this practice. But, the downside is that we are actually more comfortable solving pen and paper tests and that’s why an online test can become an added challenge. Here are certain tips and pointers for your help:
1. Fighting Fatigue and Building Stamina
The timings for XAT will be from 10 am to 1:35 pm which is a good three and half hours you need to spend with the computer at a stretch during the time of the online test. And SNAP will be held from 14.00 hrs. – 16.00 hrs. i.e 2 pm to 4 pm the sweet post lunch siesta time. It is important that you make it a point to study online or solve questions or read articles for 2-3 hours at a stretch to build your stamina. 2-3 hours just fly by while binge watching ‘House of Cards’ or ‘Game of Thrones’ or -‘insert name of your favourite show here’– but trust me this is a very tough task when it comes to studying!
2. Navigation and Question Selection
The biggest advantage of having a physical question paper is that you can quickly get a glimpse of the exam and select questions, RCs, DI LR sets you have to attempt easily and without wasting much time. Here, in an online exam, you need to take a question by question approach and quickly decide which question to leave and which to attempt.
3. Challenge in DI/LR Section
Solving a DI or LR set in an online exam becomes really tough as you have to copy facts, numbers and do calculations on the rough sheet. Be very very careful while copying data from screen to rough sheet. One small mistake and it will cost you the whole set and a lot of crucial time. Solution to this, ditch the textbooks to solve practice questions and do additional practice of DI/LR questions online.
4. Reading Speed and Comprehension
Research shows that your reading speed decreases by as much as 20% when you read on a computer screen. Also, while reading on the screen you can’t mark or underline important sections or lines in the RCs so yes that definitely impacts comprehension. As a result, reading is another section which is massively impacted by the shifting of the exam into online mode. Solution: Read articles, blogs, newspapers and magazines online. Spend at least 30 to 40 minutes every day in reading online. And mind you, this does not include reading Facebook updates or tweets on twitter.
5. Time Management and Test Taking Strategy
The way you manage your time in each section/question becomes all the more crucial now. Take mock tests online based on the latest XAT and SNAP exam pattern and perfect a test taking strategy. Also, you have to be really quick in deciding whether to mark the answer to a question or skip it or come back to it, you can ponder over this only for a few seconds.
In a nutshell, take this change in a positive spirit and the answer to nail this change is practice, practice and some more practice. Solve online mock tests at the same time slot as the exam and give extra time to practice of RCs and DI Sets online. Also, remember the basic concepts of all the topics, the way you apply these concepts and the way you approach a question will remain the same. It’s the time to put our computer and internet addiction to the right use!
Happy Learning..:)
All the best!
