The Xavier School of Management (XLRI) conducted the XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test) 2024 examination yesterday, showcasing a remarkable surge in participation with 1.35 lakh candidates across 80+ cities in India. This reflects an impressive increase of 39.9% in registrations compared to the previous year, highlighting the growing interest and importance of the XAT exam in the academic landscape.
XAT 2024 examination featured a total of 101 questions, including 100 multiple-choice questions spanning four sections and one essay question. Initial exam analysis suggests that candidates generally found the difficulty level to be moderate.
Student reaction
Muskan V, a XAT candidate from Ranchi, shared her insights into the exam experience, emphasizing the perennial challenge of the paper's length.
Muskan stated, "The paper has always been a lengthy one. So it becomes very challenging to attend the later half of the questions with accurate efficiency." When asked about the difficulty levels in specific sections, Muskan pointed out, "The maths section was quite doable. The decision-making section was quite challenging." She also shared her essay strategy, revealing, "For the essay section, we got 3 topics out of which we had to attempt only one. I decided to write on whether we should have more stringent rules and regulations for fake news on social media."
Parshva Shah from Mumbai provided detailed insights into his experience, particularly noting the length and question types in the VALR (Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning) and DM (Decision Making) sections. Parshva observed changes in the VALR section with an increase in the number of RCs (Reading Comprehensions) and discussed the challenges posed by parajumbles and grammar questions.
Regarding the most challenging and easy sections, Parshva explained, "I had expected VALR and DM section to be lengthy but, to my utter surprise, the Quant section was also very lengthy." He emphasized that the challenging questions are those that require deeper thinking or consume more time.
Another candidate, Himanshu Pandey from Lucknow expressed his satisfaction with the overall experience, highlighting the novelty of his first attempt. He found the Quantitative Aptitude section challenging due to insufficient practice but managed well in the VARC (Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension) section. Himanshu acknowledged the subjective nature of the Decision-Making section, stating, "Decision making section depends on how you'll see the situation and make decisions to tackle it so that's it."
Saurav Borker from Goa shared his unique perspective as a first-time MBA entrance test-taker, highlighting the difficulty in the Quant section, a decent experience in verbal ability, and confidence in decision-making. Saurav managed to tackle the lengthy paper, with the General Knowledge section proving to be relatively easy due to his awareness of current affairs.
As the XAT 2024 exam concludes, the record-breaking participation and diverse experiences among candidates mark this year's edition as a significant chapter in the history of MBA entrance examinations in India.
