SNAP 2011 was a very sensible paper and brought a welcome change. Though the test was a mixture of easy, moderate and tough sections, it was slightly different from expectations and general perceptions. This would have surprised a lot of aspirants. Let us try to evaluate each section on its merit and estimate the probable scores.

Section: General Awareness: 40 questions 1 mark each

The biggest surprise of all was General Awareness section. Scoring was not easy from this section as most of the aspirants would have perceived. Most of the test takers start with this section as it is considered to be black & white. But the smart test takers would have realised that it isnt wise to continue in this section, atleast in the initial round of attempts. The questions ranged from International affairs to politics to economics to constitution and even to Bollywood. Proportion of questions on Business and corporate whos who was relatively smaller. This would have compelled an aspirant to reduce attempts drastically. There were a lot of questions based on recent developments in socio-economic affairs of India and the countries around. So an avid follower of news would have managed to attempt more than 16 questions. Others will have to be happy at 12+ attempts out of 40. A tough section and hence overall 12 14attempts can be considered as good,provided one manages to get them in 15 to 18 minutes. Good score for this section can be 7+.

Section: Analytical and Logical Reasoning: 30 questions 2 mark each

This section was versatile and very much SNAP style. A good blend of language and logic kept the aspirants alert and active throughout this section. It had sufficient meat to score marks e.g. Questions on Cube colouring (tricky but simple to calculate), Blood relations, Algorithm (X, Y) Arrangement (7 students) and Direction sense were easy. Questions on Critical reasoning, being not very lengthy, would have attracted most of the aspirants, but at the same time it wouldnt have given them the benefit they sought in terms of saving time. Due to this,the overall attempts from this section may reduce as compared to what they were last year (There was only one CR question last year).The question on analogy was a pleasant surprise. Overall the section was moderate hence 24 25 can be considered as good attempts. Good score for this section should be 38+. Ideal time however would be more than last year i.e it should have been close to 42 – 43 minutes.

Section : Quantitative Aptitude, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency: 40 questions 1 mark each

Finally a breather for all, this section was really a stress buster. It would have been a wise decision to start with this section. I am sure lot of aspirants would have realised it after scanning the paper or atleast after looking at General Awareness section. A good proportion of questions were based on standard concepts of Time & Work and Time, Speed & Distance. Most of the questions were easy and could have been solved in less than a minute on an average. The only set back of this section was typing errors (I hope the authorities would take appropriate action on the same). But ignoring such typographical errorsis always advisable during any test as it would have helped in maintaining energy and motivation throughout the test. Overall it was the easiest section of all and hence ideal attempts could be 33+ in approximately 35 minutes (excluding errors). Good score in this section will be 28+.

Section: General English: 40 questions 1 mark each

The section stood by its name. SNAP maintained its tradition by giving negligible weightage to RC. But grammar was a surprise entry. There was good weightage to grammar and its application this year. Though it was relatively easy, scoring full in grammar is always difficult. Focus on Vocabulary and usage based questions was maintained as per the tradition. Questions on odd one out and double blanks were bit tricky because the options were close. As attempts are never a problem in Verbal section, a well prepared aspirant would have touched 35+ attempts in this section. But good score will be close to 29+.

Overall SNAP2011 can be rated as moderate paper. Ideal attempts can touch 107 and a net score of 100+ can be considered as really good. However the cutoffs for SIBM can be around 95 and SCMHRD can be around 90. Apart from the level of difficulty, there will be other parameters like number of applications, last date of closure etc affecting the cut-offs this year.

Probable Cut-offs

SIBM Pune 95+

SCMHRD 90+

SIIB 85+

SIBM Bglore 85+

SIOM 80+

SITM 76+

SCIT** 70+

SSBM 65+

SIMS 62+

SIMC*** 58+

SICSR 55+

SIHS 60+

SIG NA

Hitesh Devalia is the Director and CMO of Endeavor Careers, a leading test preparation institute in Ahmedabad and also the driving force behind www.catgurus.com, an online test preparation website.