DETAILED ANALYSIS AND STRATEGY FOR SNAP

BASIC STATISTICS SNAP is the entrance test for admission to all the institutes under Symbiosis Group for their Professional PG programs. There are 14 institutes accepting SNAP scores. The number of seats in each institute varies between 120 to 250.The best institutes are SIBM (Pune), SCMHRD (Pune) and SIIB (Pune). SNAP 2009 was not much different in many respects from previous year papers. The change in pattern from 2008 is given below The total number of questions increased from 135 to 150. The 2 marks questions were only in Analytical Reasoning/Logical Reasoning section unlike last year where the first 5 questions in each section had 2 marks while the rest of the questions had 1 mark. The negative marking remained constant at 25% of the maximum marks which was the same as last year. The total time remained at 120 minutes. The broad section-wise breakup is given below. SECTION General English) Quant, DI and DS General Awareness Analytical and Logical Reasoning TOTAL No. of questions 40 40 40 30 150 Marks per question 1 1 1 2 150 Total 40 40 40 60 180

SECTIONAL ANALYSIS GENERAL ENGLISH The breakup is given below Number of questions 3 5 6 4 4 3 5 2+2=4 Total number of questions 3 37

Area Reading Comprehension Verbal Ability

Topic Passage on Child Emotions Fill in the Blanks Grammar Analogies Parts of speech General Usage Vocabulary Idioms and Phrases

Parajumbles Spellings and Punctuation Total

1 5 40 40

The difficulty level of this section ranged from easy to moderate. There were lots of Grammar questions which were asked. The grammar questions would have taken some time to answer because the errors were difficult to spot. Those preparing for CAT would have done these questions easily. The questions on Fill in the blanks, Spellings and Punctuation and General Usage were very easy. A good time allocation strategy for this section would be around 30-35 minutes. Attempts in the range of 26-28 can be termed as good. QUANTITATIVE ABILITY, DATA INTERPRETATION AND DATA SUFFICIENCY The breakup of the number of questions according to topics is as given below Area Topic Ratio and Proportion Percentage Number system Alligation Work SI/CI Time, Speed and Distance Algebraic Equation Inequality P&C Set theory & Probability Progressions Mensuration Geometry Visual reasoning Tables Pie Chart Table + Venn diagram Standard Deviation Mean and Variance Number of questions 1 6 2 1 2 1 1 3 1 3 1+2=3 1 2 0 1 3 4 3 1 1 40 Total number of questions

Arithmetic

14

Algebra

11

Geometry and Mensuration Miscellaneous Data Interpretation Statistics TOTAL

2 1 10

2 40

This section was of moderate difficulty level. Almost all the questions in this section were solvable in comparatively less time and were direct questions based on concepts and requiring hardly any application. There were two questions which did not have the correct options. The questions on Arithmetic were very easy, while the questions on Algebra were of medium difficulty level. The questions on Statistics were easy with straight forward application of

formulae. The sets on Tables and the Combined Chart should have been attempted. The question on Visual Reasoning should be left. In all, a good time allocation for this section should have been 35 minutes and one could attempt around 28-30 questions with a possible score of 25+. GENERAL AWARENESS There was a mix of questions on Definitions, Economy, Acronyms, History, Sport, Science & Technology and Current Affairs. The current affairs and business terms were given more weightage. The section looked easy at first glance, but on careful analysis the options were close. Hence those reading the current affairs regularly should have an edge. In general, a good time allocation for this section should have been 15 minutes and one could attempt around 2426 questions with a possible score of 19+.

ANALYTICAL AND LOGICAL REASONING The breakup of the number of questions according to topics is as given below Area Topic Calendar Mathematical Reasoning Series(Number and letter) Flow Chart Bar graph Pie chart Miscellaneous Arrangement(2 sets) Coding Non Verbal Miscellaneous Verbal analogies Critical Inferences Number questions 1 2+2=4 3 2 2 1 4+2=6 1 1 1 4 4 30 of Total number questions of

13

Logical Reasoning

Critical Reasoning TOTAL

8 30

The section had the highest weightage in terms of marks. DI was a part of this section too and again the questions were not calculation-intensive but required basic understanding and some logic. Some of the questions were easily doable with the help of options and required very less time to solve. Questions based on critical reasoning were time-consuming. Visual Reasoning questions were easy. There were 2 questions on groups and conditionality, which again were very easy. There were 5 single-question sets on Strong/Weak Arguments, which were slightly on the tougher side requiring some analysis compared to the rest of the section. A good strategy for any student would have been to spend a good amount of time in this section on account of the higher marks per question which implies a higher return for time spent. Overall, a good time allocation for this section should have been 45 minutes and one could attempt around 22-25 questions with a possible score of 40+

OVERALL ANALYSIS An analysis of all the sections with the number of doable questions is given below for ready reference Finer Details of SNAP 2009 Topics General English Verbal ability Reading Comprehension TOTAL QA, DI and DS Arithmetic Algebra Geometry and Mensuration Higher Math Data Interpretation Miscellaneous TOTAL 14 11 2 2 10 1 40 Moderate to Difficult Easy to Moderate Easy to Moderate Easy to Moderate Easy Easy to Moderate Difficult 12 12 1 2 8 0 35 8 8 1 2 8 0 27 2 2 0 0 0 0 4 22 5.5 5.5 1 2 8 37 3 40 Easy to Moderate Moderate 25 5 30 28 1 29 2 0 2 25.5 1 26.5 Total Questions Difficulty Level Time Allocation (minutes) Doable questions Maximum wrong questions acceptable Possible score

General Awareness TOTAL Analytical and Logical Reasoning Mathematical Reasoning Logical Reasoning Critical Reasoning TOTAL Grand Total

40 40

15 15

25 25

4 4

20 20

Easy 13 9 8 30 150 Varying Moderate to Difficult Easy to Moderate 20 15 10 45 120 10 7 6 23 104 0 1 1 2 12 20 11.5 9.5 41 109.5

The estimated cut-offs of 2009 for some of the leading institutes are as shown below. Institute SIBM (Pune) SCM-HRD SIIB SITM SCIT SIBM Bangalore SIOM SIMS SICSR SIMC SIG SIHS Estimated Cut-Off 108-114 102-107 98-104 88-96 82+ 92+ 62+ 62+

58+

STRATEGY FOR SNAP 2010 ANALYTICAL AND LOGICAL REASONING: Practice questions on topics like Blood Relations, Series, Coding- Decoding. This will help in this section as well as the Quantitative Ability section. Logical caselets are easy, hence it is very important to crack those first. Some questions require basic common sense as well as a little bit of basic scientific knowledge.(e.g Hot air rises and cool air comes in to fill its place..). QA, DI AND DS: The focus should be on basic concepts of Arithmetic and Algebra which has around 60-65% weightage. Some Data Interpretation questions require intelligent guesswork, hence the approximation concepts have to be revised. GENERAL AWARENESS: At the cost of being repetitive, the focus should be on Current Affairs with specific focus on Business and Economics. GENERAL ENGLISH: Grammar and Grammar related topics have to be given ultimate priority. The questions on general usage are easy but the options are very close. Hence the focus should be on accuracy. As a Manager, keep your eyes & ears open and collect data about previous year tests, areas tested, institutes, competition, important dates etc. The dates keep changing; hence it is very important to keep track of the developments happening around. Disclaimer: The above cutoffs are only suggestive in nature and may differ from the actual cutoffs. Roots Education cannot be held responsible for any decision taken by the candidate on the basis of the above information.