Having written a ready reckoner with the help of a few FMS Delhi students a few months back, and with about a week to go, we are back with some analysis of the last few years’ FMS papers and the DOs and DON’Ts for the test scheduled on December 5, 2010.

The FMS entrance test has gradually been evolving in the last few years. In 2008, sections were introduced for the first time (before that it was a single section paper), the sectional cut-offs were set at 50 percentile each and the scores were declared. For the FMS entrance test of 2009-10, the number of questions increased to 200. What next? We’ll know only on Sunday.

Based on the previous years, here is a brief preview of each section and the topics they focus on.

Quantitative Aptitude

This section had had mostly easy questions interspersed between a few very difficult ones. Spotting the easier questions in this section and then switching sections to do the sitters in other sections would be a good strategy. As there are more number of questions in the FMS test than in the CAT, one can always find at least some questions from topics they are more comfortable with. Sometimes FMS features higher math questions, so basic conceptual knowledge should be enough to get through such questions.

Some hot topics from past FMS papers are,

1. Percentages, profit and loss

2. Geometry

3. Coordinate geometry and graphs, linear equations

4. Time, speed and distance questions

5. Basic calculus and basic statistics

6. Algebra

7. Permutations and combinations

Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning

The saviour for most FMS test takers, one can always find a few approachable questions in this section. Many use this section to boost their overall score. In FMS 2009-10, the focus wasn’t that much on the data interpretation part (only a set of 6 questions appeared) as it was on puzzle-type questions involving blood relations, alpha-numeric logic and reasoning caselets. A couple of questions required one to arrange jumbled letters and get the synonym or antonym of the formed word. All in all. this is the easier of all sections in FMS. One might want to spend more time with this section provided one feels comfortable with the question types. The DI caselet last year was relatively too time consuming and could have been left in the first round of attempting questions.

Reading Comprehension

One of the highlights of last year’s entrance season was the five-page long reading comprehension passage followed by 24 questions that appeared in the FMS test. The section had four passages and there was a good mix of factual and inferential questions. Those in the habit of reading a passage before attempting the questions would have been stumped by the sheer length of the passages. Thankfully, the questions were in the order in which their answers appeared in the passage. So, those who were comfortable reading the questions first and then searching for the answers in the passage would have found life easier. There were no surprise questions. Many questions were based on choosing the correct or incorrect statements from the passage. There were a few inferential questions which asked for a suitable title for the passage and the stance that the author had taken in the passage.

But, if we observe FMS 2000-09 RC section, the passages weren’t easy at all to read and comprehend and tougher than 2009-10. The relatively difficult questions made matters worse and so one had to find the relatively simpler questions and solve them accurately. Also, the fact that there were more number of questions in the RC section, that the level of the section was easy-to-moderate, plus some of the passages being directly lifted from previous year FMS papers resulted in increased sectional cut-off of this section.

Verbal Ability

This section is arguably paid the most attention when preparing for the FMS test. Indeed, it is the most unpredictable section in the entire paper. The general perception of people is to study vocabulary, mug up all the words and phrases humanly possible and finish off the section in 10-15 minutes. But although vocabulary is important, it isn’t and shouldn’t be the sole focus of preparing for this section. The composition of last year’s Verbal ability section was,

Synonyms – 10 questions

Antonyms -10 questions

Verbal General Knowledge (origins of words, forms of art, gender based, etc.) – 8 questions

Words/proverbs/metaphors related questions/syllogisms – 10 questions

“Fill in the blanks” – 2 questions

Sentence correction – 10 questions

Now, learning words will help if the words appearing in the paper were also present in your wordlists, which you cannot guarantee. The section is known to ask questions on some very novel and uncommon words. The verbal general knowledge questions are as unpredictable as they can get.

The point I’m making is, that one can focus on the non-vocabulary elements of this section and still get a good score. Often, some of the vocabulary-based questions can be solved easily even without any significant preparation (say, by eliminating options) and if one is not comfortable in this section, one can concentrate on the other sections to maximize their scores.

Does the hare always win and the tortoise always lose?

They say that speed is the key in FMS-type tests. But is that all? I disagree to an extent. Usually hailed as a speed-based test, there is more to the FMS test than just racing with the questions. Along with maintaining competitive speed, one should also be constantly vigilant to spot the ‘weak links’ in the paper and use them to their advantage. For example, last year had an easier Reading Comprehension section compared to the years before. So, all those who had originally planned to apportion less time for it and just clear the cut-off, would have gained by changing their strategy to spend more time on it and earn extra marks.

Yes, speed freaks do have an advantage at the FMS Entrance Test, but one can also clear the cut-off by focusing on the accuracy. Last year’s overall cut-off was 331 for MBA and 343 for MBA-MS which totals to around 85 absolutely correct answers which is manageable given the easy-to-moderate nature of the paper.

Also, remember that you do not have to clear the last year’s cut-offs. The cut-offs are something which should not be thought of beforehand. No one knows what it is going to be like. So, if one puts his/her head down and attempts the paper to the best of one’s ability, one will definitely do well.