MAT – Management Aptitude Test
.
Summary
MAT is a national-level management entrance examination. The test scores are used for admission to various MBA, PGDM and allied management programmes. The exam is conducted by All India Management Association (AIMA). More than 600 B-Schools accept MAT exam scores. MAT is held four times in a year: February, May, September and December.
Current Affairs:
Eligibility
Here’s the eligibility criteria for the MAT :
- Graduates in any discipline can take the exam.
- Final year graduation students can also apply.
- There’s no age limit for MAT exam.
Process
Step 1: Fill in the Application form
Candidates need to first fill in the application form. Registration for MAT can be done by logging on to the official website at https://www.aima.in
MAT application fees is Rs 1550. Candidates can apply through any one of three following modes:
1.Online Payment
2.Demand Draft
3.Cash
Candidates who have opted for computer-based test can choose the date and time slot of their choice, subject to availability. While filling up admission forms, candidates need to fill in details of five management institutes during registration. MAT scores will be sent directly to these institutes.
The candidates are also required to select five B-Schools they want their MAT scores to be sent to for admissions. Those who want their scores to be sent to more than 5 institutes will have to fill up a seperate form available on MAT website. They will have to pay Rs 75 per institute before the test date and Rs 100 after the test date.
Step 2: Download MAT Admit Card
Candidates who register successfully for MAT will have access to their respective admit cards. The admit card can be downloaded from the official website using registered email ID and Date of Birth. Every admit card will consist of a registration number that will be unique for every aspirant. Candidates must note that hard copies of the admit card will not be sent to the aspirants.
Step 3: Appear for MAT
MAT is a Paper-based test & Computer-based test will be conducted on two different dates. The sections included in the MAT exam paper include – Indian & Global Environment Section, Data Analysis and Sufficiency/ Mathematical Skills, Language Comprehension, and Intelligence and Critical Reasoning.
Step 4: Check MAT Result
Aspirants can check their MAT results on the official website after it has been officially announced. To check the result, the candidates need to enter their Roll Number, Form Number and month of exam.
The scores of the exam can also be checked via SMS. For the same, candidates need to type MATS FORMNO DOB (in dd/mm/yy format) and send it to 54242.
Syllabus
MAT exam syllabus has five sections: Indian and Global Environment, Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning. Aspirants need a thorough grip on logical and analytic reasoning, verbal ability, data interpretation, quant, mathematics and social awareness.
Here’s a detailed view of all topics covered in MAT syllabus:
Indian & Global Environment Section
This section is unique to MAT exam. It’s mostly about current affairs and latest new:
Current affairs
Business
World Records
Top officials of big companies
Famous awards and Prizes
Books and Authors
History
International Organisation
Important Quotations
Social issues
Geography
Sports
Finance
Major Corporate news
Automobiles
Entertainment
Politics
Science
Data Analysis and Sufficiency / Mathematical Skills
Core topics in DA are:
Geometry, (Lines, angles, Triangles, Spheres, Rectangles, Cube, Cone etc)
Ratios and Proportion
Number system
Work and time
HCF & LCM
Algebra
Profit & Loss
In-equations Quadratic and linear equations
Geometric Progression
Percentages
Averages
Partnership (Accounts)
Time-Speed-Distance
Language Comprehension
Verbal ability is an important part of every MBA exam. Here are the core topics for MAT verbal section:
Verbal Reasoning
Syllogisms
Fill In the Blanks
Contextual usage
Analogies
Different usage of same word
Antonyms
Sentence completion
Jumbled paragraphs
Foreign language words used in English
Sentence correction
Idioms
One word substitution
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
Prepare the following subjects under CR:
Family tree
Strong Arguments and Weak Arguments
Multi-dimensional arrangements
Course of Action
Puzzles
Visual reasoning
Arrangement
Series
Numeric grid
Pie Chart
Blood Relations
Critical Reasoning
Calendars
Coding & Decoding
Syllogisms
Statement Conclusions
Column graphs
Graphs representing Area
Must do Social GK:
Exam Centers
AIMA can change the venue of a test centre/test mode or cancel a test centre/test mode or introduce new centres. Please visit the official website for latest information.
Exam Pattern
MAT exam is held for almost two-and-a-half hours. The test covers two hundred (200) questions in 150 minutes. The aspirant is tested in the following five areas: Indian and Global Environment, Language Comprehension, Data Analysis and Sufficiency, Mathematical Skills, Intelligence and Critical Reasoning. There are 40 questions in each section. Each question carries one mark, whereas, one/fourth mark is deducted for every wrong answer.
1.Practice reading ‘Reading Comprehension’ passages for at least two to three months, about four to five per day.
2.Go through all the rules of grammar and make an effort to understand the contextual usage of words and phrases in English.
3.For Quant, practice about 20-25 questions every day. Lay particular emphasis on Arithmetic and Algebra-based questions – these are quite common in MAT exam pattern.
4.Make an effort to improve on GK, by reading a newspaper every day and a good weekly or monthly magazine. That should help you get a good score in MAT.
Exam Analysis
MAT is conducted 4 times in a year. MAT exam paper is divided into 5 sections, each comprising 40 questions. The difficulty level of the exam is usually easy to moderate.
Test-takers can have a look at the MAT February exam analysis to get an idea about the exam pattern.
Intelligence and Critical Reasoning
This section covered almost all the topics of Reasoning like – Linear/Circular Arrangements, Number/Alphabetical series, Blood Relations, Puzzles etc. Verbal Reasoning comprised questions on Analogy, Cause and Effect, Assertion and Reason and Statement Conclusion. The overall difficulty level of this section was easy to moderate.
Mathematical Skills
This section included questions from Arithmetic, Number System, Geometry and Mensuration, Probability and Set Theory with maximum number of questions appearing from Arithmetic. Some questions in this section were ambiguous and left many students confused . Overall, it was of Easy to moderate level of difficulty.
Data Analysis and Sufficiency
This section consisted of 30 questions from Data Interpretation based of Line Graphs, Bar Graphs and Pie Charts. Remaining 10 questions were from Data Sufficiency, Data Comparison etc. I feel this section was relatively difficult compared to the other sections.
Indian and Global Environment
The section was dominated by questions from Current Affairs. The level of the questions was easy to moderate. The questions were from areas like Business Awareness, Politics, Sports, Books and Authors etc.
Overall, the paper was moderately difficult and an attempt of 130 to 140 questions can be considered a good attempt.
Application Form
Candidates planning to appear in MAT May exam need to register for it. Candidates can choose to submit the application form online or can do so in person. Candidates must note that the application form needs to be filled in carefully and correctly. Incomplete/forms having incorrect details will be rejected by the authorities. Candidates are advised to check the form details carefully before submitting.
A valid e-mail ID
A scanned copy of latest photograph (preferably on a white background). The maximum size of the photograph should be 50KB
Scanned copy of candidate’s signature. The maximum size of the signature should be 30KB
The format of the photograph and signature should be jpg/ jpeg
How to fill application form:
Candidates can fill in the application form online or offline.
Offline:
Visit AIMA office in New Delhi and ask for a hardcopy of the application form
Candidate needs to pay Rs 1550 (for one paper) & Rs 2650 (for both CBT & PBT)
Once the application form is obtained, the same needs to be filled
Paste a recent colored passport sized photograph on the form
Submit the form at AIMA office
Online:
Visit the official website
Click on online registration by candidates for May tab
The candidate will be redirected to a page where candidate can apply through the link of fresh candidate or already logged in candidate
Already logged in candidates need to enter their email ID, Date of Birth and enter submit
Fresh candidates need to create log in to apply online
Candidates need to fill in their personal details and academic qualifications
Next, candidates need to pay the fee online using the following:
a) Online Payment: By registering online via Credit Card/Debit Card (ATM Card) payment. Detailed procedure is given on the MAT website link
b) Demand Draft:Obtain crossed Demand Draft (DD) of Rs 1550 (for one paper) & Rs 2650 (for both CBT & PBT) in favour of ‘All India Management Association’ payable at Delhi from any bank. Then register online along with the DD details
c) Cash:Obtain form with MAT Bulletin/CD against a cash payment of Rs 1550 from listed Nodal Centres of AIMA OR from AIMA, New Delhi.
Candidates can choose to or not to upload their photograph and signature at this time
Candidates paying the application fee through Demand Draft need to draw the DD in favour of “All India Management Association”, payable at New Delhi
Candidates not uploading their photograph and signature need to take a print out of the application form, paste their photograph on it and sign in the space provided on the application form. Next, the form needs to be sent to AIMA, New Delhi.
Admit Card
Candidates appearing for MAT exam can download their hall tickets from the official website of AIMA MAT when available.
To download the admit card, the below mentioned steps need to be followed:
1.Visit the official website
2.Click on admit card tab
3.Enter application number, date of birth and email ID
4.The admit card will appear on screen
5.Take a printout of the admit card
1.Candidate’s name
2.Date of Birth
3.Registration number
4.Exam date
5.Exam time
6.Exam venue
7.Contact details of the candidate
8.Instructions related to the exam
In case there is any discrepancy in the above details, the same must be reported immediately to the officials. In case a candidate is unable to download the MAT September admit card, they must contact the exam authorities and request for issue of duplicate admit card.
Candidates must make sure that they carry their respective admit cards to the exam hall. The same needs to be presented when asked by the invigilator. Also, it is advisable to carry a photo ID proof along with the admit card. The copy of the admit card must be kept until the entire admission process is over.
