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If persistence is your middle name and you’re ready to work hard, fret not — you’ll crack the CA exams, says Smitha Verma :-

…….…..

It is a tough nut to crack, by all accounts. If you think becoming a chartered accountant (CA) is all about earning big bucks in quick time, think again. On the other hand, if persistence is your middle name and you don’t shy away from hard work, cracking the CA exams may just be up your street. To qualify as a CA, a student has to clear three stages of examinations conducted by the Delhi-based Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), the statutory body for the regulation of the profession in India. ICAI imparts education to CA students in the distance mode. The institute also provides comprehensive study material for all subjects along with contact classes and coaching facilities in its regional offices, branches and accredited institutions.

“It is true that the CA syllabus is vast and the examinations are quite tough. But a focused approach will help a student to clear the CA exams,” says Ved Kumar Jain, president, ICAI. “A student should lay emphasis on application-oriented problems and case studies,” he adds.

This year 25 per cent of the students cleared the CA finals compared to 21 per cent last year. But the good news is that you can take your time over the course and the examinations. You can sit for the papers over and over again till you clear them. So don’t let the pass figures dishearten you.

The first stage is to enrol in ICAI so that you can clear the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) which gives you admission to the CA course. You can join the institute after Class X, but you can sit for CPT only after you’ve cleared the Class XII board exams.

Once you have joined ICAI, it will provide the course material to enable you to clear the CPT. So if you are intent on becoming a CA, you can join the institute as a Class XI student, and prepare for the CPT while you pursue Plus Two.

The CPT is a four-hour test with two sessions of two hours each. It carries 200 marks and comprises objective-type questions with negative marking for wrong answers. The exam is designed on the pattern of an entry-level test for any professional course, though the focus is on commerce and related subjects.

“It is a test of four subjects — accounting, mercantile laws, general economics and quantitative aptitude,” says Nehal Sequiera, career counsellor, YoungBuzz, a career advisory centre in Mumbai. “Study regularly, both in a qualitative and quantitative manner,” he says. It is important to make a comprehensive and detailed study plan.

Once a student clears the CPT, he or she has to enrol in the Professional Competence Course (PCC) which has to be complemented by three and a half years of practical training (articleship, with a firm of CAs) and 100 hours of information technology (IT) training. Networking, flow charts and the Internet are important topics in the IT exam. The final online examination has 200 objective questions for 300 marks.

The PCC has two sets of examination with three subjects each. A student can study and appear in the examination groupwise or, if he or she is really well prepared, appear for both the groups together.

While preparing for the PCC examination, a student should pay attention to key areas such as business ethics, business laws, auditing, business strategies, corporate governance, cost accounting, financial management, service tax, VAT and e-governance. Update yourself on the Finance Act and income tax laws. Topics such as liquidation of companies, partnership accounts and company accounts are important.

The study material provided by ICAI is your Bible. You have to also be updated on all subjects, including amendments to different laws, capital markets and taxes. Students can also buy textbooks on various subjects for further reference and guidance.

The last leg of the CA course is the final exam, which is held twice a year, in May and November. The CA final examination will test your knowledge of financial reporting, auditing and professional ethics, taxation, corporate laws, systems control, strategic finance and advanced management accountancy.

Subjects such as law may require thorough revisions to help you memorise different sections and provisions. A combination of study material, reference books and individual notes is beneficial, especially in subjects such as auditing.

“Look at your study strategy. Wrong planning can be disastrous,” says Sequiera. For instance, don’t leave out any subjects — in CA, the subjects are all interlinked.

The ICAI helps you along the way, providing you with test papers, special Sunday tests and by sending material through the post to help you hone your skills. Students are also provided with revision test papers. “Practising the study material provided by the institute benefits students. Don’t skip any topic as the pattern of examination keeps changing,” warns Amit Khandelwal, a qualified CA in Delhi.

Follow a disciplined approach to studying. Use a marker to highlight important topics as and when you study them for the first time. That way, when you read your text for the second time, you can concentrate only on the highlighted part.

“Group study can be helpful too. Form a group of five or six people. Thus six friends can cover six subjects. Rotate them amongst yourselves,” says Sequiera. Engage in group discussions. Subjects like tax and law can be tackled better this way.

Students often get nervous before the exams. If a candidate is well prepared, those last minute blues can be avoided. Destress yourself by incorporating activities that will refresh your mind. A crossword puzzle or sudoku can help you relax during stressful periods.

Students can also take guidance from the ICAI’s Board of Studies by sending an email to guidance@icai.org. The board provides a CD containing study material on various subjects. Joining accredited coaching centres can be of help too.

“The low pass percentage of CA students is because of the rigorous standards expected by the institute. So a student should not look for any short cuts,” says Khandelwal. Make sure you finish the entire course and then appear for the examinations, he suggests.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Two IIM, Lucknow, students share their experience of taking the exam
CAT is an exam that requires you to optimise and not maximise returns. I can’t be sure that after reading the above line you’ll treat the exam differently, but I can promise that unless you start thinking of it as a fundamentally different exam, it would be hard to crack CAT.

Having understood that the exam is different, there are three steps I’d like to suggest to help you prepare for it.

Know thyself. Throughout your preparation keep in mind that you are different. You’ll hear a lot of advice from teachers, seniors and friends about test-taking strategy. Listen to all of that, but do what works best for you. The only advice I can think of is to take a series of mock tests at any of the coaching institutes. This not only brings a structure and discipline to the whole preparation, but also tells you where you stand in the competition.

After every test you take (and take at least one a week, starting today) analyse the mistakes you made, the sections that didn’t go well and, most importantly, the concepts you muddled up. In the next week just concentrate on thoroughly preparing these subject areas. Try to get to the root of the problem. You might think your problem in reading comprehension (RC) lies in slow reading, when actually you are not scoring well because you are not being able to understand the questions. Once you know exactly where your problem lies, it will become much easier to address it.

Know thy enemy. There is no official course material for CAT, no fixed format and no syllabus. The exam tries to test you in a new environment each time. So it is important to stay adaptable and let the format of the test decide how you answer it. The most difficult question of optimisation in CAT is to decide which section to attempt first and how much time to give it.

Another problem is when not to answer a question that you “think” you know. I’d say practise all possible strategies during preparation. Change the order of sections, time per section and choice of questions. When you change strategy make sure that it is to perfect the learning cycle, not because you have been advised to do so. And throughout the exam, remember, you have to maximise your score in minimum time. This should be the only objective. So, whether you solve the question from the choices, from a formula you know or from sheer hunch makes absolutely no difference. Make sure you have this maximisation intent running through your blood when you sit down to take the test.

Know thy battleground. The day of the exam will be a lot different from those when you had taken the mock tests. I was never a consistent performer in the mock tests. I would always perform poorly in either quant or verbal. Of the 12-odd mock exams I took as part of my preparation, I crossed 99 percentile only once. So did I get lucky on the day of the exam? I, of course, would like to think otherwise. On that day everything comes down to a test of nerves. As you might realise while solving last year’s paper sitting at home, the exam is not really that tough. Yet, every serious aspirant will underperform in it just because of nerves.

I cannot overemphasise the importance of a positive frame of mind. Do anything that works for you but make sure that you feel confident on D-Day. Treat it like any other test that you have taken. Past performance, incomplete syllabus, fear of a particular section — all should be replaced by one encompassing belief — today is my day. That will make a lot of difference.

Just keep faith and you’ll do great. All the best.

Ashish Dua,
IIM-L, batch of 2008-10

My strategy to crack CAT was based on two things: preparation and performance

To prepare for data interpretation (DI) and quantitative ability (quant), you need to practise a lot from previous question papers. You will not be able to pick up the required speed without adequate practice.

Analyse the questions and check as to which type of problem takes the maximum time to solve. Time yourself for each sub-section. This will help you know in which section you have to improve your performance.

For the verbal section, you have to get your grammar correct. Check how long you take to read a 1,000-word passage from a newspaper and jot down all the important points. Initially it will take you 15-20 minutes. But with practice it will come down to less than 10 minutes.

The total time given was 150 minutes. I decided to spend 45 minutes on each section. I planned to attempt verbals first because it is easy to score in grammar in the minimum possible time. I would spend 15-18 minutes for grammar and 25-27 minutes for RC. Then I would attempt quant, as it was my strongest point and would spend 2.5-3 minutes per question. Next was DI. I planned to keep 15 minutes aside to return to quant and / or DI, whichever section would not have gone well.

During the exam I finished grammar in 10 minutes but RC was tough so I attempted only the direct questions. I answered 17 questions in verbals in 30 minutes. I finished 13 questions in quant within 45 minutes. In DI, I finished 14 questions in the allotted time.

I still had 30 minutes in hand. I gave 20 minutes to quant and completed seven more questions. In the last 10 minutes I solved one more set of questions in DI. This strategy helped me clock the following percentiles:

Verbal — 95

DI — 96

Quant — 99.98

Overall — 99.89

Nilangshu Nandi,
IIM-L , batch of 2008-10

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

According to him, since MAT tests the balanced approach of a student to the different sections of the question paper, a high score is not enough to secure admission to a good business management school. A student has to clear the respective cutoffs in each section, besides getting a high overall percentile.

“A student appearing for MAT has to answer 200 questions within 150 minutes. Therefore, he should not spend more than 25 to 30 minutes on the language comprehension section, 35 to 40 minutes on mathematical skills, 35 to 40 minutes on data interpretation analysis, 35 to 40 minutes on logical reasoning and 15 to 20 minutes on India and the global environment. Though the marks on general awareness are not taken into consideration while calculating the percentile, students should not ignore it as some institutes do consider the marks scored in that paper,” Banerjee says.

R.P. Banerjee of the Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (EIILM) feels a candidate should concentrate on the first four sections as the composite score is arrived at by using these sections only. Also, as equal weightage is given to the four sections, a candidate should allocate time to all the sections and solve the easy questions first before tackling the difficult ones. “As MAT gives percentile scores, the difficulty of the paper should not matter at all. What matters is your individual score in respect to others,” he says.

“You should start with a section you are good at. A bad start lowers morale and affects your performance. You may experiment with various combinations before deciding on what works best for you,” he adds.

Here’s how you can tackle the individual sections:

English comprehension: In MAT, the passages in this section may be selected from topics such as psychology, philosophy, medicine, economics, sociology, art, the environment, literature, culture and politics and other general topics. To do well it is important to achieve both reading speed and comprehension ability. Hence candidates should read at least 10 articles from each of these areas, says Sajal Mitra of Triumphant Institute of Management Education Pvt. Ltd (T.I.M.E.) which coaches students for various management exams. One should also have a thorough knowledge of grammar and the use of adjectives, adverbs, preposition and tense. A candidate should pay attention to improving vocabulary (for solving questions on analogies), the basics of usage (for correcting sentences) and also comprehension skills (for answering a question on a passage). For answering questions in this section, reading any good book on grammar will suffice.

Mathematical skills: To do well in this section, candidates should give importance to numbers, number theory, geometry and mensuration. One should know every formula, the concepts in quantitative aptitude as well as the steps involved in solving the questions. “It is important to increase calculation speed by using short-cut techniques while solving problems in maths. Memorising tables, square roots and squares of numbers helps in solving questions quickly,” says Debansu Ray of the Institute of Business Management, Jadavpur University. One should solve questions on time and work, mensuration, time and distance, ratio and proportion, averages, permutation and combination and probability. The focus should be on getting to know the variety of questions and developing the ability to solve them.

Data analysis and sufficiency: In this section, questions are asked on bar graph, pie charts, 3D graph and line graph. Most of the questions are based on data interpretation. One should have a thorough knowledge of charts and bar graphs. Also, one should try and improve on one’s calculation speed. Otherwise it will be difficult to complete the paper.

Logical reasoning: This section has mixed questions based on analytical reasoning, critical reasoning and individual questions on various topics like clocks and calendars. Focus on verbal and non-verbal reasoning as well as assumptions and the conclusion. It is important to develop good logical skills to do well in this paper.

General awareness: Though the marks scored in this section are not added to the total score, candidates should take care to do well in this section as it is left to individual colleges to consider the marks.

One should attempt as many questions as possible to get a decent score. Questions asked generally pertain to the economy, government policies and recent schemes. One should also bone up on facts pertaining to Indian companies and multinationals and on mergers and acquisitions.

4 Fundas :

1. As soon as you receive the question paper, check the structure of the questions, the number of sections and sub-sections as well as the questions in each section / sub-section.

2. Divide the available time among all the sections. Do not spend more than 40 minutes on any section.

3. Start with a section you are good at. A bad start lowers morale and affects your performance.

4. Do not worry about how many answers you have got right. Since MAT gives percentile results, it all depends on how much you have scored in respect to others.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

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Sunil Verma heaves a sigh of relief. So do countless others. They have good reason to. Students vying for admission to a National Law University will no longer have to appear for multiple entrance examinations, the ones that used to be organised by law schools. From now on, aspiring lawyers will have to take a common admission test just like their peers seeking admission to the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

It all started when Varun Bhagat, an aspirant, filed a case against multiple law entrance examinations in 2006. The case was pending in the Supreme Court, till the apex court directed the seven law universities in 2007 to hold a common admission test. Consequently, the universities agreed to a proposal of the Union human resource development ministry to conduct a common law admission test and a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed.

The law universities that are signatories to the MoU are the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore; the NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad; the National Law Institute University, Bhopal; the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Calcutta; the National Law University, Jodhpur; the Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur; and the Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar.

The first ever Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), scheduled to be held on May 11, will be conducted at the seven law universities in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calcutta, Raipur, Bhopal, Gandhinagar and Jodhpur, besides Delhi, Chennai, Cochin, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Shillong, Jammu, Guwahati, Patna and Jaipur. Around 10,000 applicants will be vying for 700 seats, indicating tough competition for those aspiring to study LLB programmes run by the seven national law universities.

The two-hour CLAT will be in the objective format, comprising five sections: English (40 marks), general knowledge (50 marks), basic mathematics (20 marks), legal aptitude (40 marks) and logical reasoning (50 marks). There will be no negative marking. With CLAT being held for the first time, legal aspirants are in the dark regarding the preparation required for the test. Experts are of the opinion that the test will be a simple one based on the format previously used by the various national law schools.

“It’s a bit premature to ask for ways to go about preparing for the test as the modalities of the question paper are yet to be decided. Students will definitely be supplied with guidelines along with their application kit,” says V. Keshava Rao, registrar of the Chanakya National Law University, Patna — one of the national law universities that will use CLAT scores as a criterion for admission in the academic year 2008-2009.

“There are law entrance exam tutorials across India where students often enrol to get an idea about what the papers will be like. But I presume they don’t need to be great intellectuals to crack the test,” he says.

V. Vijaya Kumar, registrar of NILSU and convenor for the implementation of CLAT, clears the cloud shrouding it. He says, “The best thing for students appearing for CLAT is to get hold of the old question papers of some national law universities as the pattern of questions will be similar to those. The applicants just need to crack the test for admission. We won’t have personal interviews or group discussions.”

One can easily get hold of old question papers by making a payment (generally between Rs 50 and Rs 100) to the universities either by a demand draft or cash. They can also log on to www. lawentrance.com where questions related to all four sections of the paper are discussed on a daily basis. The format is almost similar to that of any managerial aptitude test.

“The question paper will be entirely objective in nature. Keeping the factor of marks distribution in mind, a student should focus more on general knowledge, English, legal aptitude and logical reasoning,” says Sudip Saha, academic anchor of the Law School Tutorial, Calcutta. According to Saha, a student preparing for the test needs to have basic knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Knowledge of synonyms, antonyms, similar sounding words and the meaning of certain words will come handy as well.

“Maths phobia is the biggest obstacle for law aspirants. First, it is imperative to get rid of all fears. Half-an-hour of practice is all that one needs. Focus on basic mathematics. A little knowledge of permutation and combination definitely helps,” says Saha.

As for logical reasoning, students need to get hold of any logical reasoning book meant for MAT aspirants. “However, look for simpler problems,” advises Saha. For general knowledge, one needs to be aware of current affairs. Reading newspapers is useful. Examinees should also make a list of all the major happenings of 2007 like the Ram Setu controversy, the sudden stock market crash and the boom in October 2007. Experts also feel that familiarity with terms like mutual funds, FDI (foreign direct investment), GDP (gross domestic product), the BSE Sensex, shares and FII (foreign institutional investors) is necessary.

As for the legal aptitude part, students need not panic. One doesn’t need to be a lawyer to crack this section. “Familiarise yourself with the existent laws like the law of torts, contractual and constitutional laws. For this you can buy books or even find details on the Internet. Don’t forget to brush up on your school-level civics. Giving full attention to your political science paper also helps,” advises Rishad Medora, who passed out of NLSIU. He says, “For students not being able to enrol in tutorials, the best way is to get hold of the various law school question papers. It will help them get an idea of what to study and what to omit.”

Now that you are aware of the basic format, don’t wait till the last moment. Get the application kit right away and start preparing for the entrance test along with your higher secondary examinations.

Sources: The Telegraph (Kolkata, India)

An MBA is among the most coveted professional qualifications today, in India and the world. It translates into varied employment opportunities, scope for advancement to the top positions in industry, lucrative salaries (when the MBA is from a premier business school), and allows flexibility for changing tracks, either when one is tired of being in one industry or organisation or when economic upheavals lead to growth in another sector or organisation.

Admission into an MBA is a competitive process, involving a written test, group discussion and a personal interview. Most MBA programmes are open to all graduates and the written test tends to focus on assessment of skills important for studying management, but not giving much of an edge to graduates of any one discipline.

The Common Admission Test is one of the most prominent national-level management entrance tests and CAT scores are used by about a hundred odd B-schools to shortlist candidates for group discussion and personal interview for finalising selection of students for their MBA or equivalent programmes. Many states, like Maharashtra, also conduct a Common Entrance Test (CET) for shortlisting candidates for the state-level B-schools.

The question that arises in the minds of many management aspirants is whether there is any scope for doing an MBA without appearing for the CAT or CET. There are, in fact, quite a lot of choices for students who have not or are planning to not appear for the CAT or CET. Among the prominent choices are XAT, ATMA, MAT, SNAP and JMET, which are used for admission to various B-schools for an MBA or equivalent.

In addition, there is NMAT for admission to full-time MBA at SVKM’s NMIMS University, School of Business Management, Mumbai , the IIFT written test for an MBA (international business) at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi and Kolkata campuses , the FMS admission test for admission to a two- year MBA (full-time) at North Campus and two-year full-time MBA (management of services) at South Campus of Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi, KITEE Management for admission to MBA and MBA (rural management) at KIIT School of Management and KIIT School of Rural Management, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, written test for a two-year postgraduate programme in rural management (PRM) at the Institute of Rural Management Anand, also used for admission to a PGD in rural management at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar and the OPENMAT by Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi for admission to Ignou’s MBA, PG diploma in management (PGDIM), PGDHRM, PGD in financial management (PGDFM), PG diploma in operations management (PGDOM), PGD in marketing management (PGDMM) and diploma in management (DIM).

A typical test :-

Management entrance tests are multiple-choice objective type written tests in English, usually of two hours’ (at times, two and a half hours’) duration. Most of them will cover English comprehension, logical reasoning and quantitative analysis and data interpretation. Some of them, like the written test for IIFT and SNAP include general knowledge and awareness, while MAT has a section on Indian and global environment. In most cases, there is negative marking for wrong answers.

Bird’s Eye View :-

XAT is used by more than 40 B-schools, including XLRI Jamshedpur and XIM Bhubaneswar, for admission to their postgraduate programmes in management. XAT consists of a two-hour multiple choice type test followed by an essay test of 20 minutes’ duration.

ATMA is the AIMS Test for Management Admissions for admission to postgraduate management programmes at eighty odd B-schools.

The test contains 170 questions spread over six sections. Each section is timed separately and the total time of the test is three hours.

Section I on analytical reasoning skills has 30 questions to be completed in 30 minutes; section II on verbal skills has 25 questions - 30 minutes; section III on quantitative skills has 30 questions - 30 minutes; section IV on verbal skills has 25 questions - 30 minutes; section V on analytical reasoning has 30 questions - 30 minutes; and section VI on quantitative skills has 30 questions - 30 minutes.

MAT is usually conducted four times each year — in February, May, September and December — and is used for admission to MBA/allied courses in a large number of B- schools across the country. MAT is an objective type test with multiple-choice answers. There will be 200 questions to be answered in 150 minutes.

There are five sections comprising language comprehension (40 questions - 30 minutes), mathematical skills (40 questions - 40 minutes), data analysis and sufficiency (40 questions - 35 minutes), intelligence and critical reasoning (40 questions - 30 minutes) and Indian and global environment (40 questions - 15 minutes).

NMAT is an objective- type test with three sections with a total of 150 questions to be attempted in 120 minutes. Section to test language skills has 40 questions (suggested time - 30 minutes), quantitative skills, data analysis and sufficiency section has 60 questions (suggested time - 55 minutes) and section on intelligence and logical reasoning has 50 questions (suggested time - 35 minutes).

Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET) is used for admission to two-year full-time postgraduate programmes in management at IIT-Bombay (MMgt), IIT-Delhi (MBA with focus on management systems and MBA with focus on telecommunication systems management), IIT-Kanpur (MBA), IIT-Kharagpur (MBA), IIT-Madras (MBA), IIT-Roorkee (MBA) and Indian Institute of Science (MBA) ( gate.iitkgp.ac.in/jmet ).

It is open to Bachelor’s in engineering/ technology or equivalent or Master’s in any discipline. JMET will be of two hours duration with 150 (objective type/ multiple choice) questions with sections on verbal communication, logical reasoning, quantitative ability and data interpretation. There is negative marking for wrong answers (25% of the allotted marks are deducted for a wrong answer).

Symbiosis National Aptitude Test (SNAP) is the single entrance test for candidates seeking admission to postgraduate institutes of Symbiosis International University–Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM),Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research (SICSR), Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC), Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB), Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management (SITM), Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology (SCIT), Symbiosis Institute of Geo-informatics (SIG), Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM) and Symbiosis Institute of Health Science (SIHS). SNAP is an objective test of two hours duration and has 150 questions with a total of 180 marks.

The test has four sections: General English section on reading comprehension, verbal reasoning, verbal ability has 40 questions (40 marks), quantitative, data interpretation and data sufficiency section has 40 questions (40 marks), general awareness (GK, current affairs and business scenario) has 40 questions (40 marks) while the analytical and logical reasoning section with 30 questions carries 60 marks.

Sources: The Times Of India

Category 1: I stand a very good chance to make it to IIMs. (Test-takers consistently getting over 99 percentiles in their tests)

Category 2: I am around there but everything depends on the day. (Test-takers consistently getting in the range of 90 percentile plus )

Category 3: Looks like I am not making it into the IIMs this year. (Test-takers consistently getting less than 90 percentile). Their thought process as October passes is either resignation to the thought: “The IIMs are too high for me,” or “I need to look beyond this year.”

The common concern for the students of the above categories (especially category 3) at this time is: “Can I improve my test scores at this stage of time?”

The answer to this question is a resounding yes!

In order to do so you now need to concentrate on two broad lines of work- Test-Taking Behavioural Improvement and Belief Improvement.

We will first concentrate on test-taking behaviour improvement strategies:

Ask yourself the following questions:

When you finish a test:

a) Do you find questions which you had read during the test and were unable to solve? However, the moment you reflected on the question once the test got over, the answer immediately struck you (We will call such questions ‘knew but did not strike’).

b) When you analyse your answers, do you find yourself cringing at the silly errors that you have made.

How many are they? While identifying errors you have committed look out for these types of errors:

i) Errors of calculations (An IITian I once trained committed the error of 3×3= 6 ).

ii) Process-based silly errors (A single step error in solving a question).

iii) Over reading errors (You get questions incorrect because you have not read them properly).

c) Do you end up finding questions which you think you could have solved easily had you seen them during the test? Let’s call such questions ‘knew but did not see during the test’.

At the same time, do you regularly have time zones inside the test paper where you get no return/negative return from the time invested in solving a question? (Typically, this occurs when you have spent a substantial amount of time in the exam without having got an answer or having got a wrong answer)

These three categories of errors (ie ‘did not strike’, ‘silly errors’ and “knew but did not see during the test’) give you your score improvement potential. Obviously, your concentration should be on at least minimising (if not eliminating) these error categories. Even if there are only 10 questions coming under these error categories there is a score improvement potential of about 50 marks (Under the +4, -1 marking pattern of CAT 2006). On average, there will be a score improvement potential of about 75+ marks even at this late stage. A look at the CAT 2006 score percentile correlations will give you a clear idea of what is possible at this stage.

A student who scored 70 marks in CAT 2006 would have ended up with a percentile of about 60-70 percentile. At the same time, the percentile score at 110 marks was 99 percentile. With the +4, -1 marking pattern, 40 marks could have meant just about 8 errors.

Ask anybody who got 60 percentile in the CAT last year as to how many questions fell into each of the above categories of errors, and you will find most of them coming up with aggregates of 15-20 questions, which would mean Score Improvement Potential of 70-90 marks; and that too with their existing knowledge levels.

Yet, in spite of this logic most people who end up getting scores of 60 percentile tend to think that the CAT was never meant for them.

The message for those is then loud and clear: Whatever tests you are taking, after every test find out your score improvement potential by analysing how many questions fell into each of the three categories mentioned. In the subsequent tests that you take, desist from repeating the same error types.

(The writer is a CAT trainer and the author of bestselling books on ‘How to prepare for the CAT’ published by
McGraw- Hill Education India)

Source: The Times Of India

In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis that is placed upon GRE scores varies widely between schools and even departments within schools. The importance of a GRE score can range from being the most important selection factor to being a mere admission formality.

Critics of the GRE have argued that the exam format is so rigid that it effectively tests only how well a student can conform to a standardized test taking procedure. ETS responded by announcing plans in 2006 to radically redesign the test structure starting in the fall of 2007, however the company has since announced, “Plans for launching an entirely new test all at once were dropped, and ETS decided to introduce new question types and improvements gradually over time.” The new questions will begin to be introduced in November of 2007

Exam Structure:
The following section refers to the typical computer-based test. The structure of a paper-based test or a test with special accommodations will differ. See www.gre.org for details.

The exam consists of three graded sections, plus a required experimental section that is not included in the reported score. The three graded sections are analytic writing, verbal, and quantitative. The analytic writing section will always appear first, while the verbal, quantitative, and experimental sections may appear in any order on the test. An additional non-scored and clearly-marked optional research section may also appear at end of the test. The entire test procedure takes about 3 hours

Analytic Writing Section:
The analytic writing section consists of two different essays, an “issue task” and an “argument task”. The writing section is graded on a scale of 0-6, in half-point increments. The essays are written on a computer using a word processing program specifically designed by ETS. The program allows only basic computer functions and does not contain a spell-checker or other advanced features. Each essay is scored by at least two readers on a six-point holistic scale. If the two scores are within one point, the average of the scores is taken. If the two scores differ by more than a point, a third reader examines the response

Issue Task:
The test taker will be able to choose between two topics upon which to write an essay. The time alloted for this essay is 45 minutes.

Argument Task:
The test taker will be given an “argument” and the test taker will be asked to write an essay that explains why one “side” of the argument is superior. The time alloted for this essay is 30 minutes

Verbal Section:
One graded multiple-choice section is always a verbal section, consisting of analogies, antonyms, sentence completion, and reading comprehension passages. Multiple-choice response sections are graded on a scale of 200-800, in 10 point increments. This section primarily tests vocabulary, and average scores in this section are substantially lower than those in the quantitative section. This section consists of 30 questions and 30 minutes are alloted to complete the section

Quantitative Section:
The quantitative section, the other multiple-choice section, consists of problem solving and quantitative comparison questions that test high-school level math. Multiple-choice response sections are graded on a scale of 200-800, in 10 point increments. This section consists of 28 questions, and test takers are given 45 minutes to complete the section

Experimental Section:
The experimental section will be either a verbal or a quantitative section that contains new questions that ETS is considering for future test editions. This section will not count towards the test-taker’s score, however the section will appear identical to either the “actual” verbal or quantitative section and will likewise be a multiple-choice test with the same amount of questions and the same time allotment as the “real” verbal or quantitative section. The test taker will have no way of knowing which section is experimental, so the test taker is forced to complete this section

Research Section:
An additional research section may appear at the end of the test. Unlike the experimental section, this section will be clearly marked and will be completely optional. The test taker’s participation or refusal to participate will not affect the reported score in any way.

Computer-Adaptive Scoring:
The multiple-choice portions of the exam currently use computer-adaptive scoring methods that automatically change the difficulty of questions as the test taker proceeds with the exam, depending on the number of correct or incorrect answers that are given. The test taker is not allowed to go back and change the answers to previous questions, and some type of answer must be given before the next question is presented.

The first question that is given in a multiple-choice section is considered to be an “average level” question that half of the GRE test takers will answer correctly. If the question is answered correctly, then subsequent questions become more difficult. If the the question is answered incorrectly, then subsequent questions become easier, until a question is answered correctly.

ETS claims that this method can effectively pinpoint a test taker’s true score by offering questions that are just above and below the test taker’s ability.

However, the score for getting each question correct is weighted by its level of difficulty, and the first five or so questions of the exam will determine the general range of the test taker’s ability, while the subsequent questions will pinpoint that range in more exact terms. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the test taker to not only answer every question as correctly as possible, but to pay extra attention to the first 5 or so questions, as they will determine the general range of the final score.

ETS has announced that they intend to move away from computer-adaptive scoring, however plans for a brand new testing method have been postponed.

Scoring Percentiles:
The percentiles of the current test are as follows:

Comparisons for “Intended Graduate Major” are “limited to those who earned their college degrees up to two years prior to the test date.” ETS provides no score data for “non-traditional” students who have been out of school more than two years, although their own report “RR-99-16″ indicated that 22% of all test takers in 1996 were over the age of 30.

Use in admissions:
Many graduate schools in English-speaking countries (especially in the United States) require GRE test results as part of the admission procedure. The GRE test is a standardized test intended to measure the abilities of all graduates in tasks of general academic nature, regardless of their fields of specialization. The GRE is supposed to measure the extent to which undergraduate education has developed an individual’s verbal and quantitative skills in abstract thinking.

Unlike other standardized admissions tests (such as the SAT, LSAT, and MCAT), the use and weight of GRE scores varies considerably not only from school to school, but from department to department, and from program to program too. Programs in liberal arts topics may only consider the applicant’s verbal score to be of interest, while math and science programs may only consider quantitative ability; however, since most applicants to math, science, or engineering graduate programs all have high quantitative scores, the verbal score can become a deciding factor even in these programs. Some schools use the GRE in admissions decisions, but not in funding decisions; others use the GRE for the selection of scholarship and fellowship candidates, but not for admissions. In some cases, the GRE may be a general requirement for graduate admissions imposed by the university, while particular departments may not consider the scores at all. Graduate schools will provide information about how the GRE is considered in admissions and funding decisions, and the average scores of previously admitted students. The best way to find out how a particular school or program evaluates a GRE score in the admissions process is to contact the person in charge of graduate admissions for the specific program in question (and not the graduate school in general).

Programs that involve significant expository writing require the submission of a prepared writing sample that is considered more useful in determining writing ability than the analytical writing section; however, the writing scores of foreign students are sometimes given more scrutiny and are used as an indicator of overall comfort with and mastery of conversational English.

GRE Subject Tests:
In addition to the General Test, there are also eight GRE Subject Tests testing knowledge in the specific areas of Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Literature in English, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology. In the past, subject tests were also offered in the areas of Economics, Revised Education, Engineering, Geology, History, Music, Political Science, and Sociology. In April 1998, the Revised Education and Political Science exams were discontinued. In April 2000, the History and Sociology exams were discontinued, and the other four were discontinued in April 2001. Subject tests typically have 70-200 multiple-choice questions that must be answered in 170 minutes. When an applicable subject test exists for an area of study, scores for that particular test are typically given greater weight than those for the General Test. However, the departments at some universities may not require applicants to take their field’s subject test. For example, the English test primarily includes questions regarding canonical British and American literature; as English studies have expanded to include more study of female and minority writers, some departments have deemed that the subject test is outdated and not an efficient predictor of graduate success, and therefore do not require it of applicants. In other fields, however, this is not the case, as the tests might represent things that a superlative graduate should know.

Preparation:
A variety of resources are available for those wishing to prepare for the GRE. Upon registration, ETS provides preparation software called PowerPrep, which contains two practice tests of retired questions, as well as further practice questions and review material. Since the software replicates both the test format and the questions used, it can be useful to predict the actual GRE scores. ETS does not license their past questions to any other company, making them the only source for official retired material. ETS used to publish the “BIG BOOK” which contained a number of actual GRE questions, however this publishing was abandoned. Several companies provide courses, books and other unofficial preparation materials.

ETS has claimed that content of the GRE is “un-coachable”, however many test preparation companies claim that the test format is so rigid that familiarizing oneself with the test’s organization, timing, specific focuses, and the use of process of elimination is the best way to increase a GRE score

Testing locations:
While the general and subject tests are held at many undergraduate institutions, the computer-based general test is only held at test centers with appropriate technological accommodations. Students in major cities in the US, or those attending large US universities, will usually find a nearby test center, while those in more isolated areas may have to travel a few hours to an urban location. Many industrialized countries also have test centers, but at times test-takers must cross country borders (see GRE website for details).

Plans for the Revised GRE:
In 2006, ETS announced plans to enact significant changes in the format of the GRE. Planned changes for the revised GRE included a longer testing time, a departure from computer adaptive testing, a new grading scale, and an enhanced focus on reasoning skills and critical thinking for both the quantitative and qualitative sections.

On April 2, 2007, ETS announced the decision to cancel plans for revising the GRE. The announcement cited concerns over the ability to provide clear and equal access to the new test after the planned change as an explanation for the cancellation. They did state, however, that they do plan “to implement many of the planned test content improvements in the future”, although exact details regarding those changes have not yet been announced.

Changes to the GRE will begin to take affect on November 1, 2007, as ETS will start to include new types of questions in the exam. The changes mostly center around “fill in the blank” type answers for both the math and vocabulary sections that require the test-taker to fill in the blank directly, without being able to choose from a multiple choice list of answers. ETS currently plans to introduce two of these new types of questions in each qualitative or vocabulary section, while the majority of questions will presented in the regular format.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_Record_Examination

The Test
The GMAT exam measures basic verbal, mathematical and analytical writing skills that the examinee has developed over a long period of time in his education and work. It does not measure specific knowledge of business, job skills, or subjective qualities such as motivation, creativity, and interpersonal skills. If a test taker’s first language is not English, he or she may still perform well on the exam; however, the GMAT exam may not accurately reflect the abilities of someone who is not proficient in English.

Scores are valid for five years (at most institutions) from the date the test taker sits for the exam until the date of matriculation (not until the date of application). The Stanford University Graduate School of Business website offers a “test results calculator” [1] useful for determining the expiration date of test scores.

Verbal Section:
The verbal section consists of 41 multiple choice questions, which must be answered within 75 minutes. There are three types of questions: sentence correction, critical reasoning and reading comprehension. The verbal section is scored from 0 to 60 points with a current mean of 27.3/60.

Sentence Correction :
This tests grammar and expression. Sentence correction items consist of a sentence, all or part of which has been underlined, with five associated answer choices. The test taker must choose the best way of rendering the underlined part. This question type tests the ability to recognize standard Written English. The task is to evaluate the grammar, logic, and effectiveness of a given sentence and to choose the best of several suggested revisions. Choice (A) repeats the original; the other answer choices vary. It tests the ability to recognize correct and effective expression. It follows the requirements of Standard Written English: grammar, word choice and sentence construction. The goal is to choose the answer that results in the clearest, most exact sentence and does not change the meaning of the original sentence.

Critical Reasoning :
This tests logical thinking. Critical thinking items present an argument that the test taker is asked to analyze. Questions may require to draw a conclusion, to identify assumptions, or to recognize strengths or weaknesses in the argument. It presents brief statements or arguments and ask to evaluate the form or content of the statement or argument. Questions of this type ask the examinee to analyze and evaluate the reasoning in short paragraphs or passages. For some questions, all of the answer choices may conceivably be answers to the question asked. The examinee should select the best answer to the question, that is, an answer that does not require to make assumptions that violate common sense standards by being implausible, redundant, irrelevant, or inconsistent.

Reading Comprehension:
This tests the ability to read critically. Reading comprehension questions relate to a passage that is provided for the examinee to read. The passage can be about almost anything, and the questions about it test how well the examinee understands the passage and the information in it. As the name implies, it test the examinee ability to understand the substance and logical structure of a written selection. The GMAT uses reading passages of approximately 200 to 350 words. Each passage has three or more questions based on its content. The questions ask about the main point of the passage, about what the author specifically states, about what can be logically inferred from the passage, and about the author’s attitude or tone.

Quantitative Section:
The quantitative section consists of 37 multiple choice questions, which must be answered within 75 minutes. There are two types of questions: problem solving and data sufficiency. The quantitative section is scored from 0 to 60 points and the current mean score is 35.0/60.

Problem Solving :
This tests the quantitative reasoning ability. Problem-solving questions present multiple-choice problems in arithmetic, basic algebra, and elementary geometry. The task is to solve the problems and choose the correct answer from among five answer choices. Some problems will be plain mathematical calculations; the rest will be presented as real life word problems that will require mathematical solutions.

Numbers: All numbers used are real numbers.
Figures: The diagrams and figures that accompany these questions are for the purpose of providing useful information in answering the questions. Unless it is stated that a specific figure is not drawn to scale, the diagrams and figures are drawn as accurately as possible. All figures are in a plane unless otherwise indicated.
Data Sufficiency
This tests the quantitative reasoning ability using an unusual set of directions. The examinee is given a question with two associated statements that provide information that might be useful in answering the question. The examinee then have to determine whether either statement alone is sufficient to answer the question; whether both are needed to answer the question; or whether there is not enough information given to answer the question.

Data sufficiency is a unique type of math question created especially for the GMAT. Each item consists of the questions itself followed by two numbered statements. The examinee must decide whether the statements — either individually or in combination — provide enough information to answer the question.

(A) If statement 1 alone is sufficient to answer the question, but statement 2 alone is not sufficient.
(B) If statement 2 alone is sufficient to answer the question, but statement 1 alone is not sufficient.
(C) If both statements together are needed to answer the question, but neither statement alone is sufficient.
(D) If either statement by itself is sufficient to answer the question.
(E) If not enough facts are given to answer the question.

Analytical Writing Assessment:
The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) section of the test consists of two essays. In the first, the student must analyze an argument and in the second the student must analyze an issue. Each essay must be written within 30 minutes and is scored on a scale of 0-6. The essay is read by two readers who each mark the essay with a grade from 0-6, in 0.5 point increments with a mean score of 4.1. If the two scores are within one point of each other, they are averaged. If there is more than one point difference, the essays are read by a third reader.

The first reader is Intellimetric, a proprietary computer program developed by Vantage Learning, which analyzes creative writing and syntax of more than 50 linguistic and structural features.[3] The second and third readers are humans, who evaluate the quality of the examinee’s ideas and his or her ability to organize, develop and express ideas with relevant support. While mastery of the conventions of written English factor into scoring, minor errors are expected, and evaluators are trained to be sensitive to examinees whose first language is not English.

As it was said before, each of the two essays in the Analytical Writing Part of the test is graded on a scale of 0 (the minimum) to 6 (the maximum):

0 An essay that is totally illegible or obviously not written on the assigned topic.
1 An essay that is fundamentally deficient.
2 An essay that is seriously flawed.
3 An essay that is seriously limited.
4 An essay that is merely adequate.
5 An essay that is strong.
6 An essay that is outstanding.

Total Score:
The “Total Score”, comprised of the quantitative and verbal sections, is exclusive of the analytical writing assessment (AWA), and ranges from 200 to 800. About two-thirds of test takers score between 400 and 600. The score distribution resembles a bell curve with a standard deviation of approximately 100 points, meaning that the test is designed for 68% of examinees to score between 400 and 600, while the median score was originally designed to be near 500. The 2005/2006 mean score was 533.

The quantitative and verbal sections comprise a computer-adaptive test. The first question may be difficult. The next few questions in each section may be around the 500 level. If the examinee answers correctly, the next questions are harder. If the examinee answers incorrectly, the next questions are easier. The questions are pulled from a large pool of questions and delivered depending on the student’s running score. These questions are regularly updated to prevent them from being compromised by students recording questions.

The final score is not based solely on the last question that the examinee answers. The algorithm used to build a score is more complicated than that. This means that the examinee can make a silly mistake and answer incorrectly and that the computer will recognize that item as an anomaly. In other words, if the examinee misses the first question, his score will fall somewhere in the bottom half of the range. However, the first 5 questions are important as a whole because they go a long way to determining the score potential.

Also, questions left blank (that is, those not reached) hurt the examinee more than questions answered incorrectly. This is a major contrast to the SAT, which has a wrong-answer penalty. Each test section also includes several experimental questions, which do not count toward the examinee’s score, but are included to judge the appropriateness of the item for future administrations.

Verbal and Quantitative Sections:
They range from 0 to 60. Verbal scores below 9 and above 44 and Quantitative scores below 7 and above 50 are rare. Verbal and Quantitative scores measure different skills and cannot be compared with one another.

Analytical Writing Assessment:
They range from 0 to 6 and represent the average of the ratings from the two GMAT essays. Because the essays are scored so differently from the verbal and Quantitative sections, essay scores are not included in the total score.

Required Scores:
Most schools do not publish a minimum acceptable score or detailed statistics about the scores achieved by applicants. However, schools do generally publish the average and median score of their latest intake, which can be used as a guide.

At nearly all of the top business schools that are commonly listed in popular magazines and ranking services, the scores will average in the upper 600s or low 700s. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, commonly regarded as one of the top business schools in the US,reports an average score of 713; INSEAD, Europe’s leading business school with a highly international student body, reports a 2005 average of 705.

It may be possible to overcome a low test score with impressive real world accomplishments, good undergraduate performance, outstanding references, or particularly strong application essays.

History of the Graduate Management Admission Test:
In 1953, the organization now called the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) began as an association of nine business schools, whose goal was to develop a standardized test to help business schools select qualified applicants. In the first year it was offered, the assessment (now known as the Graduate Management Admission Test), was taken just over 2,000 times; in recent years, it has been taken more than 200,000 times annually. Initially used in admissions by 54 schools, the test is now used by more than 1,500 schools and 1,800 programs worldwide.

Until the end of 2005, Educational Testing Service (ETS) developed and administered the exam. On January 1, 2006, GMAC transitioned vendors to a combination of ACT Inc, which develops the test questions and CAT software, and Pearson Vue, which delivers the exam at testing centers worldwide.
Registration:
The test taker can register in either of the following two ways:

Online at Test Registration if he/she has Visa, MasterCard, or American Express Card.
By calling one of the hundreds of test centers listed on
To schedule a test, he must contact one of the designated test centers and make an appointment. While it is possible to make the appointment even just a few days before you would like to take the test, it is better to schedule a few weeks in advance to ensure an appointment that is convenient for the student.

Preparing for the GMAT
Because of the importance of an admissions test like the GMAT, the preparation process can be laborious; oftentimes, people spend months preparing for the exam. Preparation depends on the type of score that a student is looking for and the work ethic of the test-taker. Preparation options include:

1.Self study using GMAT books

2.In class GMAT preparation courses (Kaplan Inc., Princeton Review, Veritas Prep, Manhattan GMAT)

3.”Live” online classrooms (Virtual Veritas, Princeton Review LiveOnline)

4.Online GMAT Preparation Courses (GMAT Premium Online Course from Kaplan, Veritas

5.On Demand, Princeton Review Online)

6.Private Tutoring through one of the many test prep schools or local tutors

GMAT Preparation

On line GMAT Preparation Course

GMAT Secrets Study Guide

GMAT Study Guide

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMAT

The current SAT Reasoning Test is administered in about 3 hours and 45 minutes and costs $43 ($68 International), excluding late fees. After SAT’s introduction in 1901 , its name and scoring has changed several times. In 2005, the test was renamed as “SAT Reasoning Test” with possible scores from 600 to 2400 combining test results from three 800-point sections (math, critical reading, and writing), along with other subsections scored separately (see details below).

Function

The College Board states that the SAT measures critical thinking skills that are needed for academic success in college. It is claimed that the SAT assesses how well the test takers analyze and solve problems—skills they learned in school that they will need in college. The SAT is typically taken by high school juniors and seniors. Specifically, the College Board states that use of the SAT in combination with high school grade point average (GPA) provides a better indicator of success in college than high school grades alone, as measured by college freshman GPA. Various studies conducted over the lifetime of the SAT show a statistically significant increase in correlation of high school grades and freshman grades when the SAT is factored in.

There are substantial differences in funding, curricula, grading, and difficulty among U.S. secondary schools due to American federalism , local control, and the prevalence of private, distance, and home school students. ACT/SAT scores are intended to supplement the secondary school record and help admission officers put local data—such as course work, grades, and class rank—in a national perspective.

Historically, the SAT has been more popular among colleges in the coasts and the ACT more popular in the Midwest and South. There are some colleges that require the ACT to be taken for college course placement, and a few schools that do not accept the SAT at all.

Structure

SAT consists of three major sections:Mathematics , CriticalReading , and Writing . Each section receives a score on the scale of 200–800. All scores are multiples of 10. Total scores are calculated by adding up scores of the three sections. Each major section is divided into three parts. There are 10 sub-sections, including an additional 25-minute experimental or “equating” section that may be in any of the three major sections. The experimental section is used to normalize questions for future administrations of the SAT and does not count toward the final score. The test contains 3 hours and 45 minutes of actual timed sections, although most administrations, including orientation, distribution of materials, and completion of the biographical sections, run about 4 hours (10–25 minutes per sub-section) long.

Critical Reading
The Critical Reading, formerly verbal, section of the SAT is made up of three scored sections, two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section, with varying types of questions, including sentence completions and questions about short and long reading passages. Critical Reading sections normally begin with 5 to 8 sentence completion questions; the remainder of the questions are focused on the reading passages. Sentence completions generally test the student’s vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure and organization by requiring the student to select one or two words that best complete a given sentence. The bulk of the Critical Reading questions is made up of questions regarding reading passages, in which students read short excerpts on social sciences, humanities, physical sciences, or personal narratives and answer questions based on the passage. Certain sections contain passages asking the student to compare two related passages; generally, these consist of short reading passages as well as longer passages. Since this is a timed test, the number of questions about each passage is proportional to the length of the passage.

Mathematics

The Mathematics sections of the SAT consists of three scored sections. There are two 25-minute sections and one 20-minute section, as follows:

• One of the 25-minute sections is entirely multiple choice, with 20 questions.
• The other 25-minute section contains eight multiple choice questions and 10 grid-in questions.
• The shorter section is all multiple choice, with only 16 questions.

Notably, the SAT has done away with question comparison questions on the math section, leaving only questions with straightforward symbolic or numerical answers. Since the quantitative comparison questions were well-known for their deceptive nature—often turning on the student’s recognition of a single exception to a rule or pattern—this choice has been equated to a philosophical shift away from “trickery” and toward “straight math” on the SAT. Also, many test experts have attributed this change, like the addition of the new writing section, to an attempt to make the SAT more like the ACT. Indeed, there is a correlation between ACT scores and SAT scores.

Writing

The writing section of the SAT, based on but not directly comparable to the old SAT II subject test in writing, includes multiple choice questions and a brief essay. The multiple choice questions include error identification questions, sentence improvement questions, and paragraph improvement questions. Error identification and sentence improvement questions test the student’s knowledge of grammar, presenting an awkward or grammatically incorrect sentence; in the error identification section, the student must locate the word producing the source of the error or indicate that the sentence has no error, while the sentence improvement section requires the student to select an acceptable fix to the awkward sentence. The paragraph improvement questions test the student’s understanding of logical organization of ideas, presenting a poorly written student essay and asking a series of questions as to what changes might be made to best improve it.

The essay section, which is always administered as the first section of the test, is 25 minutes long. All essays must be in response to a given prompt. The prompts are broad and often philosophical and are designed to be accessible to students regardless of their educational and social backgrounds. For instance, test takers may be asked to expound on such ideas as their opinion on the value of work in human life or whether technological change also carries negative consequences to those who benefit from it. No particular essay structure is required, and the College Board accepts examples “taken from [the student's] reading, studies, experience, or observations.” Two trained readers assign each essay a score between 1 and 6, where a score of 0 is reserved for essays that are blank, off-topic, non-English, not written with no. 2 pencil, or considered illegible after several attempts at reading. The scores are summed to produce a final score from 2 to 12 (or 0). If the two readers’ scores differ by more than one point, then a senior third reader decides. The essay score accounts for roughly 30% of the writing score; the multiple choice component accounts for roughly 70%.

Questions

Most of the questions on the SAT are multiple choice; all multiple-choice questions have five answer choices, one of which is correct. The questions of each section of the same type are generally ordered by difficulty. However, an important exception exists: Questions that follow the long and short reading passages are organized chronologically, rather than by difficulty. Ten of the questions in one of the math sub-sections are not multiple choice. They instead require the test taker to bubble in a number in a four-column grid.

The questions are weighted equally. For each correct answer, one raw point is added. For each incorrect answer one-fourth of a point is deducted. No points are deducted for incorrect math grid-in questions. This ensures that a student’s mathematically expected gain from guessing is zero. The final score is derived from the raw score; the precise conversion chart varies between test administrations.

The SAT therefore recommends only making educated guesses, that is, when the test taker can eliminate at least one answer he or she thinks is wrong. Without eliminating any answers one’s probability of answering correctly is 20%. Eliminating one wrong answer increases this probability to 25%; two, a 33.3% probability; three, a 50% probability of choosing the correct answer and thus earning the full point for the question.

History of the structure of the test

In the early 1990s, the SAT consisted of six sections: Two math sections (scored together on a 200–800 scale), two verbal sections (scored together on a 200–800 scale), the Test of Standard Written English (scored on a 20–60+ scale), and an equating section. In 1994, the exam was modified, removing antonym questions, adding math questions that were not multiple choice, and allowing the use of a calculator for the first time. The average score on the 1994 modification of the SAT I was usually around 1000 (500 on the verbal, 500 on the math). The most selective schools in the United States (for example, those in the Ivy League) typically had SAT averages exceeding 1400 on the old test.

Beginning with the March 12, 2005 administration of the exam, the SAT Reasoning Test was modified and lengthened. Changes included the removal of analogy questions from the Critical Reading (formerly Verbal) section and quantitative comparisons from the Math section, and the inclusion of a writing section (with an essay) based on the former SAT II Writing Subject Test. The Mathematics section was expanded to cover three years of high school mathematics.

Taking the test

The SAT is offered seven times a year in USA, in October, November, December, January, March (or April, alternating), May, and June. The test is typically offered on the first Saturday of the month for the November, December, May, and June administrations. In other countries, the SAT is offered on the same dates as in US except for the first spring test date (i.e., March or April), which is not offered. In 2006, the test was taken 1,465,744 times.

Candidates may either take the SAT Reasoning Test or up to three SAT Subject Tests on any given test date, except the first spring test date, when only the SAT Reasoning Test is offered. Candidates wishing to take the test may register online at the College Board’s website, by mail, or by telephone, at least three weeks before the test date.

The SAT Subject Tests are all given in one large book on test day. Therefore, it is actually immaterial which tests, and how many, the student signs up for; with the possible exception of the language tests with listening, the student may change his or her mind and take any tests, regardless of his or her initial sign-ups.

The SAT Reasoning Test costs $43 ($68 International). For the Subject tests, students pay a $20 Basic Registration Fee and $8 per test (except for language tests with listening, which cost $20 each).The College Board makes fee waivers available for low income students. Additional fees apply for late registration, standby testing, registration changes, scores by telephone, and extra score reports (beyond the four provided for free).

Candidates whose religious beliefs prevent them from taking the test on a Saturday may request to take the test on the following Sunday, except for the October test date in which the Sunday test date is eight days after the main test offering. Such requests must be made at the time of registration and are subject to denial.

Students with verifiable disabilities, including physical and learning disabilities, are eligible to take the SAT with accommodations. The standard time increase for students requiring additional time due to learning disabilities is 50%.

Raw scores, scaled scores, and percentiles

Students receive their online score report approximately three weeks after administration of the test (six weeks for mailed, paper scores), with each section graded on a scale of 200–800 and two sub scores for the writing section: the essay score and the multiple choice sub score. In addition to their score, students receive their percentile (the percentage of other test takers with lower scores). The raw score, or the number of points gained from correct answers and lost from incorrect answers (ranges from just under 50 to just under 60, depending upon the test), is also included. Students may also receive, for an additional fee, the Question and Answer Service, which provides the student’s answer, the correct answer to each question, and online resources explaining each question.

The corresponding percentile of each scaled score varies from test to test—for example, in 2003, a scaled score of 800 in both sections of the SAT Reasoning Test corresponded to a percentile of 99.9, while a scaled score of 800 in the SAT Physics Test corresponded to the 94th percentile. The differences in what scores mean with regard to percentiles are because of the content of the exam and the caliber of students choosing to take each exam. Subject Tests are subject to intensive study (often in the form of an AP, which is relatively more difficult), and only those who know they will perform well tend to take these tests, creating a skewed or non-linear distribution of scores.

The percentiles that various SAT scores for college-bound seniors correspond to are summarized in the following chart:

The older SAT (before 1995) had a very high ceiling. In any given year, only seven of the million test-takers scored above 1580. A score above 1580 was equivalent to the 99.9995 percentile.

SAT Test Preparation - Practice Tests & SAT Prep Problems

Sample SAT test paper

College & University search

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/

The Test of English as a Foreign Language - TOEFL measures the ability of nonnative speakers of English to use and understand English as it is spoken, written, and heard in college and university settings.

The Internet-based TOEFL Test

The TOEFL Internet-based test all four language skills that are important for effective communication: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The test helps students demonstrate that they have the English skills needed for success. TOEFL also emphasizes integrated skills and provides better information to institutions about students’ ability to communicate in an academic setting and their readiness for academic coursework.

.
TOEFEL is conducted by:
The Test of English as a Foreign Language - TOEFL measures the ability of nonnative speakers of English to use and understand English as it is spoken, written, and heard in college and university settings.

The Internet-based TOEFL Test

The TOEFL Internet-based test all four language skills that are important for effective communication: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. The test helps students demonstrate that they have the English skills needed for success. TOEFL also emphasizes integrated skills and provides better information to institutions about students’ ability to communicate in an academic setting and their readiness for academic coursework.
TOEFEL is conducted by:

The Educational Testing Service (ETS) conduct the test. In India the test is administered by

Prometric Testing (P) Ltd.
Senior Plaza 160-A, Gautam Nagar
Yusuf Sarai, Behind Indian Oil Building
New Delhi 110 049.
TEL : 011- 26512114/26531442
Fax: 26522974

The Computer-based TOEFL Test

The computer-based TOEFL test measures English language proficiency in the following areas:
• Listening
• Structure
• Reading
• Writing.

Test structure:

Sections Computer Adaptive No of questions Time Time Given to attempt the questions
Listening Yes 30 to 50
15 to 25 min (does not include listening time)
Structure Yes 20 to 25
15 to 20 min
Mandatory break 5 mins
Reading No 44 to 55 70 to 90 min (includes time spent on reading the passage)
Writing No One Essay 30 min

All questions are multiple choice having four answer options, you are required to choose the correct option. In case of essay, the topic will be randomly assigned from a large pool of topics. It can be any topic.

Test Scores:

The score for Structure and Writing is combined. On the test day you will get a score range since the essay would not have been rated.

Listening Structure + Writing Reading Total
0 to 30 0 to 30 0 to 30 0 to 300

The Essay Score: The scores of the structure section are combined with the essay ratings. The ratings of the essay will be 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.5, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0,2.5, 2.0, 1.5 and 1.0.

Egibility:

Nonnative English speakers at the 11th-grade level or above should take the TOEFL test to provide evidence of their English proficiency before beginning academic work. The test content is considered too difficult for students below 11th grade.

Many institutions report that they frequently do not require TOEFL test scores of certain kinds of international applicants. These include:
• Nonnative speakers who hold degrees or diplomas from postsecondary institutions in English-speaking countries (e.g., the United States, Canada, England, Ireland, Austral…

The TOEFL Test,

Click to Practice TOEFL EXAM ……………(A) , (B) , (C) ….(D)

TOEFL Writing Topics

Online Reference Shelf–Test Preparation ,

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