How to Prepare for XAT 2023: Preparation Tips and Tricks

XAT Preparation 2023

As the XAT( Xavier Aptitude Test) is coming up, it’s time to start the last part of your study. Since XAT is one of the hardest MBA entrance exams, candidates should make the most of their last few weeks of studying. The XAT 2023 test will be given on January 8, so people who want to take it should speed up their preparations now.

The XAT test is used to get into XLRI Jamshedpur, XLRI Delhi, and more than a thousand other B-schools in India. It is done once a year with a computer-based test. To do well on the XAT, candidates must be good at Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation, Logical Reasoning, Verbal and Logical Ability, General Knowledge, and Decision Making. Those who go to a coaching centre to prepare for the XAT get all the help they need, but those who study on their own have to put in a lot of time and work hard.

How to Study for the XAT in 2023?

Preparing for the XAT(Xavier Aptitude Test) takes a lot of hard work and commitment. First, people who want to take the XAT in 2023 need to decide when they want to start getting ready. Six to nine months should be enough time to study for the XAT, but the most important thing is how many hours a day you can spend studying. Every day, you must work for at least six to eight hours. People who want to take the XAT exam and start studying for it in May or before are most likely to be well-prepared, having covered the whole curriculum and memorising the concepts and formulas. But people who start studying for the XAT exam in October or November need to go all out. Candidates must come up with a good plan, focus on the most important things, and build on their strengths. Start by studying for the XAT in the areas you’re good at, then move on to the ones you’re not as good at.

Here are some tips on how to make a plan to study for the XAT

• Set up a daily schedule and study for six to eight hours each day. Get the XAT syllabus in PDF format and make a list of your strengths and weaknesses for each topic.
• Learn the XAT exam pattern and how the test is set up so you can make a timed plan for studying. Depending on how much time you have to study for the XAT 2023, you should pay more attention to the topics from which most questions are asked.
• Join online study groups and look for a mentor to help you prepare. You can also join a school that helps people prepare for the MBA exam.
• You can study on the go by downloading online study guides, apps for preparing for the MBA exam, and videos for preparing for different parts of the exam. Remember that every second is important.
• Set a time limit for each part and keep track of it. Don’t go over the allotted time.
• Use the last month to take mock XAT tests and evaluate your progress. Practice is the key to passing any test, so take as many practice tests as you can.

Section-wise XAT Prep Plan for 2023: Decision Making

The XAT is the only test that has a section called “Decision Making,” and the only way to do well on it is to practise with XAT question papers from years past. There are business situations in this section, and candidates have to choose the most logical answer. Aditya Ganesh, who got a 99.4% on the 2018 XAT, says, “The best way to solve a decision-making question is to think of answers that are both practical and moral.”

The part of the XAT test called “Decision Making” is unique. This part is not on any other MBA entrance exam in India, so there is nothing to compare it to. The study materials for the XAT Decision-Making section are also not easy to find. So, it makes sense that candidates find it hard to prepare for it. This section may sound hard, but you can do it if you understand how the questions are put together. This article is about how to get ready for the XAT Decision-Making section.

Let’s start by finding out how important Decision Making is on the XAT( Xavier Aptitude Test). With 21 questions, the Decision Making section takes up almost a quarter of the XAT question paper. Before 2012, the section on making decisions was part of the section on analytical reasoning, and there were no more than 8–10 questions. In 2013, the format of the XAT exam changed, and a new section called “Decision Making” was added.

The Decision Making section of the XAT is very important for scoring because, other than General Knowledge, it is the only section with only one question. Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation are put together, and Logical Reasoning and Verbal Ability are put together. So, you can’t be unprepared for the Decision Making section of the XAT 2023 exam.

What is Decision Making on the XAT?

The Reading Comprehension part of the XAT is similar to the Decision Making part. Often, questions are based on long passages about business and making moral decisions. One must read and understand the passages and answer questions, which may include figuring out how the arguments, events, and information presented make sense and/or putting them in a different order.

The Decision Making questions on the XAT test how well you can understand and think about a given business problem.

Types of Questions in Decision Making

On the XAT, there are mostly two kinds of questions that ask you to make a choice.

These are:

• Mathematical questions
• Questions about behaviour and management
• Data Interpretation or Logical Reasoning sets are often used as the basis for math questions.

People can use DILR techniques to solve these kinds of questions in the XAT Decision-Making section, but they should keep in mind that these questions require a lot of data, so they may take more time. So, candidates should only try to answer these kinds of questions if they are sure they can do it correctly in the time allotted.

Questions about behaviour and management are often based on a situation with more than one problem that needs to be solved. The candidate has to decide what the best thing to do is. These kinds of questions are really a test of how well you can understand what is being said. Most of the passages are about moral, management, or human dilemmas. To do well in this section, you need to understand English well and be able to think critically.

How to Do Well on the XAT Decision Making: Hints and Tips

To do well on the Decision Making section of the XAT, it is now clear that you need to work on your logic, critical thinking, and reading skills.

• Use the XAT question papers from the past 10 years to practise making decisions.
• When answering questions about making decisions, look for more than one stakeholder and look at the situation from their point of view.
• Don’t use the elimination method in this part. Think about the questions and answers as a whole.
• In many Decision Making questions, there is no right answer. Instead, you need to choose the closest answer that will be good for everyone involved in the situation. So, remember this.
• Don’t let your own opinion change how you choose the right answer. Also, many questions present opinions as if they were facts. Don’t be swayed by the way words are used to make you feel something. Don’t forget to think critically.
• All of the questions on the Decision Making test are about situations. So, practise a wide range of sample questions to learn how to answer any kind of question.

Verbal and Logical Ability 

For this part of the XAT, you’ll need to pay attention to English Grammar, Verbal Ability, and Reading Comprehension (VARC). Start reading online every day. Read books and newspapers on the web. Most of the XAT RC passages are about literature or things that are hard to understand. You don’t have time to read every word of the passage, so you need to get the main idea. When practising RCs in XAT mock tests, pay attention to keywords and think about how they relate to each other. This will help you choose the right answer.

XAT Preparation 2023

The Verbal Ability Section’s Highlights

In this part of the XAT, there are 26 questions to answer.

Over the years, the Verbal Ability section of the XAT has always been very hard.

Questions from Reading Comprehension, Fill in the Blanks, Critical Reasoning, Poem, Analogy, Antonym, and Para jumbles are on the XAT VA section.

In the RC section of the XAT, there are four passages that are each more than 500 words long and have three questions.

There is also a poem with two questions in the RC part. The poem is not too hard or too easy.

The way the Verbal Ability section of the XAT is set up makes it clear that Reading Comprehension is worth almost half of the whole section. Let’s look at some other things to think about:

• The VARC part is a mix of grammar, critical thinking, and understanding what you read.
• It checks how well the candidate can read and think.
• The Reading Comprehension part is hard and needs a lot of careful reading.
• To do well on this part, you need to study Reading Comprehension carefully.

How to Pass the XAT Verbal Ability Test: Tips for Getting Ready

In order to prepare for the XAT, candidates must do a lot of reading. It will help them not only with reading comprehension, but also with questions about vocabulary, grammar, and reasoning.

Read about many different things. Most XAT passages are about art, history, philosophy, psychology, or culture. They are based on making guesses. So, you need to have read enough of these kinds of passages to be good at it.

Don’t try to read quickly on the XAT. Remember that the XAT passages are not just lists of facts that you can use to guess the right answer. Read the whole passage slowly and calmly to get a good understanding of the main points it makes.

Some students are used to reading the question first and then the passage. This trick won’t work on the XAT either. You won’t want to go back and forth between the questions and the passage. In XAT, time is important, so save it.

If you take too long on a question on the XAT, you will lose points. If it takes too long or you can’t figure out a part of the passage, you can skip it.

Aim to finish the XAT VA section in 50 minutes. The XAT’s sectional cut-off is important, so do your best in each section.

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation: 

To do well on this part of the XAT, you need to know the concepts and theorems inside and out. So, do your best. Solve the same section of the Quantitative Ability test at least three times to understand how the idea is used. After you’ve answered each question, compare your answer to the answer given and think about why that answer makes sense. Once you understand the idea and how to use it, all you need to do to get faster is practise. To get good at data interpretation, you need to practise with a wide range of sample questions.

XAT Highlights for Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation

About 28 questions will be on this part of the XAT in 2023.

Both QA and DI have different numbers of questions.

About 20 questions come from the QA section, but only 8 questions came from the DI section.

Usually, Geometry and Arithmetic are the most important parts of Quantitative Ability.

XAT DI questions are simple but calculation-intensive.

How to Do Well in the XAT Section on Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

• There is no easy way to prepare for the XAT. Each part of the test should be given enough time. Both QA and DI require focus and hard work.
• Algebra and Functions, Geometry, Co-ordinate Geometry, Arithmetic Sequences, Number System, Probability, Mixtures, Tables Charts, Multiple Graphs, Percentages, Profit and Loss, Interest, Averages, and Logarithms, etc. are all things to study for the Quantitative Ability section of the XAT.
• The XAT QA-DI questions aren’t too hard or too easy. Since the questions are about math calculations, you need to know all the formulas and theorems well.
• Aspirants should start taking full-length and sectional XAT mock tests in the last one and a half months before the exam to see how well they are prepared. If they still can’t answer questions about certain subjects, they need to work on those.
• To get a good handle on the QA topics, they should start answering sample question sets from easiest to hardest. Start by practising easy questions, then move on to questions that are a little harder, and finally, practise the hardest ones. This will help you not only understand the topics and figure out how to answer questions, but it will also boost your confidence.
• Spend one to two hours every other day until the day of the exam going over the Quantitative Ability formulas.
• In Data Interpretation, there are no formulas or theorems to learn, so all you can do is practise different types of sample questions.
• For XAT Data Interpretation, practise enough sample questions on Set Theory, Tables, and Bar Graphs.
• Use the same method you used to prepare for the QA section: start with easy DI questions, then move on to ones that are a little harder, and then tackle the tough ones.
• Remember the negative marking factor when you take the XAT in 2023. Don’t answer any questions you aren’t sure about. The good thing about the XAT is that this section doesn’t have a time limit, so you can take your time to answer the questions.
• Mental math is the key to getting through the XAT QA section. So, as you prepare for the XAT, work on being able to do math in your head. Learn tables up to the number 20 and square roots up to the number 100. The exam, it will save a lot of time.

General Knowledge: 

This part of the test is the easiest to study for. So, you can start studying for it after you finish the Decision Making, Verbal and Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation courses.

Read the Manorama Year Book if you want to study static GK. For current events, you should read newspapers and watch informational and entertainment programs on TV. There’s a good chance that the GK questions will be hard, but since there are no wrong answers in this section, you don’t have to worry.

XAT 2023

Plan for the First Six Months

• Make monthly, weekly, and daily study schedules and follow them.
• Start with the things you’re not very good at. Quant is a good place to start.
• Start reading newspaper and magazine editorials to improve your reading comprehension.
• Start by going over the ideas and formulas you learned in 9th and 10th grade.
• You can use your travel time to study for the MBA exam if you put apps to help you study on your smartphone.
• Join online study groups to get books, sample tests, tutorials, and advice from experts and other students on how to prepare for the XAT.

How to get ready for the XAT in 3 months

• First, look at the XAT course outline. Choose the parts that you think are your strengths. Next, look at the XAT test format. Now, look at how much weight the XAT question paper has given to your strengths over the years. This will help you figure out which parts are most important.
• Make a plan for the test. Watch videos or read interviews with last year’s top XAT scorers to get ideas for a three-month plan. Spend more than six hours a day getting ready for the XAT. Join online study groups to clear up your questions and get help from a teacher.
• Use three months to finish the course material, practise for mock tests, and review. Start working on the syllabus on October 1 and give yourself 45 days to finish it. Use the next 30 days to study XAT question papers, sample papers, and mock tests from past years. The last 15 days should be used to go over important topics, ideas, formulas, and theorems again.
• The XAT test is all about being right. If you do that, you’ll be fine. But how do you get there? Mock Test Series is the correct answer. The more you do mock tests and XAT sample papers, the more you’ll understand the types of questions, the different kinds of questions, and the shortcuts and tricks you can use to solve them. This will make you faster and more accurate. But remember that it’s not enough to just do mocks. At each step, look at how you did and work on the areas where you fell short. Try at least 25–30 different types of XAT mock tests.
• Decision Making a section of the XAT test is unusual, but not unheard of. Most of the questions in this section will ask you to use your critical thinking skills. So, work on your critical thinking skills and use old XAT question papers and mock tests from this section to build your confidence.
• To do well on the General Knowledge part of the XAT exam, you should read newspapers and keep up with current events. Use the Manorama Year Book and the Competition Success Review to study static GK.

Last Month, Preparation for the XAT 2023

The month before the XAT is a very important time. When the last month comes, many students are either tired of studying or feel like they’ve done enough studying so far that they tend to lose steam. Now is the time to get ready for the XAT quickly. Now is the time to put the theories you’ve learned into practice. 

Here are some tips for getting ready for the XAT last month:

Usually, it’s easy to get to the 90th percentile, but it’s hard to get from the 90th to the 98th. You can cover this distance in the last month before XAT.

• Start taking the XAT practice tests. After you finish each practice test, look at how long it took and how many times you got it right.
• When you take the next practice test, try to do it faster and better than you did the last one.
• Set aside an hour or two to think about the problems you had with the mocks. For example, which types of questions took longer, which topics had questions that you couldn’t solve, which questions looked easy but your answer was wrong, etc. This activity will help you figure out where you need to work harder and where you are weak.
• Use the last month to review concepts and theorems, as well as take mock tests and sample papers. Make short notes to help you review for the XAT at the last minute.
• Focus on learning new words and what they mean. Don’t worry if you haven’t worked on these in the past few months. This part of VARC can also be covered in the last month.
• Since the XAT’s General Knowledge section is the easiest, you can study for it in the last month. The questions in the GK section are all about what you remember, so all you have to do is remember important events and things that have happened.

Last Week: How to Prepare for the XAT

In the last seven days of studying for the XAT, spend most of your time reviewing and planning for test day. You must remember that the XAT is based on speed, and you must meet the sectional cut-off. 

Here are five things you should do in the days before the XAT 2023 exam:

• Perfect any shortcuts and tricks you’ve learned while taking XAT practice tests.
• Don’t start a new paragraph or idea. You should get better at what you’ve learned so far.
• Watch and read interviews with people who did well on the XAT in the past to learn how to answer the questions.
• Learn how the XAT is scored, find out what the expected cut-off score is, and train yourself to answer only the questions that will help you get the score you need.
• Practice Making a Make questions and review your general knowledge. Be sure you know all the math formulas, theorems, and ideas.

XAT Exam Day Tips

Don’t worry about the test on the day of it. Get up early and get to the test site on time. Keep the following in mind during the XAT 2023:

• In the Decision Making, Verbal and Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation sections of the XAT, wrong answers count against you, so choose your questions carefully. Choose only the ones you know you can answer correctly 100% of the time.
• The XAT test lasts 190 minutes, and you have to answer 100 questions in that time. Set aside 15–20 minutes for the general knowledge section and divide the rest of the time so that you can spend at least 1 minute on each question.
• If you can’t solve a section all at once, put it aside and move on to the next one. Be aware of the time limit for each section.
• Make sure you know how to convert all the questions you know. To get a good overall percentile on the XAT, you should try to get the sectional percentile in each section.
• Do not panic. Don’t lose your cool during the XAT 2023 test. Pay attention to what you know, not what you don’t.

Read More

• XAT Exam Date
• XAT Eligibility Criteria
• XAT Application Form
• XAT Admit card
• XAT Exam Centres
• XAT Exam Pattern
• XAT Syllabus
• XAT Cutoff
• XAT Counselling
• XAT Books
• XAT Answer Key
• XAT Paper Analysis
• XAT Preparation
• XAT Mock Test
• XAT Result
• XAT Previous Year Questions

Frequently Asked Questions About XAT 2023 Preparation:

Q. When should I start getting ready for the XAT?

Ans. Candidates must start getting ready for the XAT starting in May. To do well on the XAT, you need about six to nine months to study. Candidates can also choose to take coaching classes if that works better for them.

Q. How many hours should I study for the XAT to do well?

Ans. To do well on the XAT test, candidates need to study for about six to eight hours a day. But every student is different, so they must figure out how many hours to study based on what they can handle.

Q. Is it necessary to join a coaching institute to prepare for the XAT?

Ans. It’s not necessary to join a coaching institute to prepare for the XAT, but it’s a good idea because students get all kinds of help there, from study materials to personal guidance. The aspirants are also kept motivated by the fact that a classroom is a competitive place.

Q. Where can I look online for XAT study materials?

Ans. People who want to take the XAT can find study materials for it in online study groups. Students share study materials with each other in groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. You can also download apps that help you study for the MBA exam.

Q. How many questions will be on the XAT question paper for the year 2023?

Ans. There will be 100 questions on the XAT in 2023. There will be 21 questions on “Decision Making,” 26 questions on “Verbal and Logical Ability,” 28 questions on “Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation,” and 25 questions on “General Knowledge.”

Q. Which part of the XAT exam has the most weight?

Ans. The most important part of the XAT question paper is the Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section. It has 28 questions, and each correct answer is worth one point.

Q. Is the XAT harder than the CAT?

Ans. No, both the XAT and the CAT are about the same level of difficulty. But a candidate may find that one test is harder than another because of the way it is set up and how it is graded.

Q. How many mock XAT tests should I take?

Ans. During the whole time of preparation, a candidate should take at least 25–30 XAT practice tests. In the two weeks before the XAT, candidates must take at least five practice tests and look at how they did.

Q. Is the XAT hard for people who don’t have a background in engineering?

Ans. Yes, the XAT is a little harder for people who don’t have a background in engineering because the QA section is harder. But they can do it if they put in extra time to study and prepare well.

Q. Does the XAT have time limits for different parts?

Ans. No, there is no time limit for each section of the XAT. However, candidates are advised to keep track of their time so they can finish all four sections on time.

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