SNAP Analysis and cut-off

Most of you knew the pattern of SNAP 2007 beforehand, thanks to the specification in the exam’s e-brochure. Symbiosis lived up to its reputation and came up with an easy paper. Based on these observations, the broad strategies to follow while attempting this paper should have been:

1. The number of attempts should have been 100 or more; if your average accuracy in Mocks (total correct / total attempts) tops 90%+.


2. Attempts of 110 - 120 would have sufficed; if your average accuracy hovers around 80-85%.


3. You should have attempted about 130 or more questions; if your average accuracy is of the order of 70-75%.


4. Since the paper was lengthy, you should have been selective about the questions to attempt, especially in QA and DI.

Since all the sections were easy, it was at your discretion to choose which one to attempt first. However, you should have started with Logical Reasoning, given that the questions were 2-markers. Then, you could have attempted GK, because it does not take up too much time. EU, which was by and large easy, should have been next. Subsequently, you could have attempted QA and DI.

The overall breakup, with detailed sectional analysis, is given below: Overview


Total time = 120 minutes.

Total questions =150. Each question had four choices.

Negative marking = 25% of the maximum marks of the question.

Section	No. of questions	Total Marks	Suggested Time	Possible Attempts	Possible scores
Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency	40	40	35 minutes	20-25	15-16
Logical Reasoning & Analytical Reasoning	30	60	40 minutes	18-20	30-32
General Awareness: General knowledge, Current affairs, Business scenario	40	40	15 minutes	20-25	15-16
General English	40	40	30 minutes	30-35	25-26
Total	150	200	120 minutes	88-105	85-90

Most important thing about SNAP is that all the Symbiosis institutes release the overall cut-off and none of them is reported to consider sectional cut-offs so far. Hence, you should have spent ample time on the area(s) in which you consistently score well.

Topic	Number of Questions	Level of Difficulty
Number System	1	Easy
Arithmetic	7	Easy
Algebra	0	-
Geometry	4	Easy
P&C and probability	3	Moderate
Reasoning and puzzles	3	Moderate
Data Interpretation	20 (TSD, Line Chart, DS, Pie Chart)	Moderate
Data Sufficiency	8	Easy
Total	40	Easy

The Quantitative Ability questions were of easy to moderate difficulty level. Most of them were direct; however, some of them involving a lot of calculations were not that easy. One set in DI with very close options should have been skipped. Also, the DI set on cars/trucks was the easiest one in the lot and should have been attempted. If the test taker had basic conceptual clarity; 20 or more marks could have easily been scored in this section.

Logical Reasoning & Analytical Reasoning

Topic	Number of Questions	Level of Difficulty
Critical reasoning	4	Moderate
Deductive logic & logical consistency	3	Difficult
Logical reasoning	6(3 sets)	Moderate
Visual reasoning	2	Difficult
Cross word	1	Moderate
P&C	2	Moderate
Miscellaneous (Coding, Decoding, Sequence & Series, etc.)	12	Average to Difficult
Total	30

A score of 30-32 could have been notched up in this section.

General Awareness Section:


This year’s GK section had 40 questions, a total of 40 marks in all.

Questions were asked from varied areas, like Static, Current and Business GK. The level of difficulty of the questions was easy to moderate. Barring some, many of the questions were attemptable. A regular reader of Management Compass and Gyan Dhara would have found this section easy. A minimum score of 15 was very much possible and achievable. Some of the memory-based questions were as follows

1. Moonlight Sonata is a famous creation of …


2. Indian Broadcasting Service was renamed in 1936 as…


3. There was some IPO allotment problem; the question was regarding the interim order that was passed in this case by which body?


4. Myanmar Monks were protesting recently against what?


5. Zapak.com is a venture of…


6. What is a blog (this was asked in an indirect manner)?



7. Mittal was tying up with India in which fields?


8. Bollywood was a trademark that was given officially to…


9. How many chromosomes are there in a human cell?


10. Which country is the Largest FDI contributor in India?


11. The largest newspaper in terms of reading as per a recent survey was…


12. When was the Governor General’s rule ended in India?


13. Which of the following is NOT a Constitutional body:


14. Radio signals were maximally influenced in which region?


15. Major oil fields were recently discovered in?



16. Pakistan recently signed a Free Trade Agreement with?


17. There were four deals that were given and one was asked to identify the deal that was NOT worth $ 1 billion


18. Name the US-based Toys Company that recalled its toys from the market after they were found to contain toxic elements


19. Mitsubishi produces vehicles in collaboration with which automobile major in India?


20. Phishing means what?


21. Which of the following is the busiest port in the world?


22. Ruppiah was issued during the period of…


23. Monsoon is caused due to what?


24. Indian Railways earned profit worth …in 2006.

General English Section

Topic	Number of Questions	Level of Difficulty
RC	19 (4 passages)	Easy
Vocabulary-based question (analogy + synonyms +antonyms + multiple usage + spellings)	10	Easy
Para-jumbles	2	Easy
Grammar & usage (parts of speech +idioms + punctuation +passive voice + prepositions + pronouns)	9	Easy
Total	40	Easy

There were 4 short passages, which included 2 excerpts from articles written by David Ewing Duncan and Nelson Vinod Moses. The subjects ranged from Psychology and Science to Politics and Business. Questions on spellings, grammar and word usage were easy. Overall, within a time span of 30 minutes a score of 25 could have been scored easily in this section.

Likely cut-offs for various institutes:

Institute	Cut-off
SIBM	85+
SCMHRD	80+
SIIB, SIOM	72+
SIMC, SCIT, SITM, SIMS	62+

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