Detailed Analysis of TISS 2009

JMET 2007 - An Overview

The management entrance test to TISS, held on 14th December 2008, was easier compared to TISS 2008. The shock value was not there this time because students were prepared and the overall level of difficulty of the test was quite low. The test was divided into 2 parts the first part was of 45 minutes duration and the second of 1 hour. The second part of the test was specialization specific, i.e., it varied according to the specialization one had chosen. The instruction page clearly stated that there is no negative marking, no sectional cut-offs and no sectional time limits. Structure of the Test PART I
Total Duration of the exam Number of Questions Number of Sections Number of choices per question Sectional timing Marks per question Negative Marking Mode of marking the ovals 45 minutes Part I- 50 3 4 No sectional timing 1 Mark NO HB pencil

TISS 2008 had 50 questions in the first part. The questions were divided into 3 sections Analytical Reasoning, Data Interpretation and Quantitative Ability (15 questions), Verbal and Logical Ability (20 questions) and General Awareness (15 questions).
Section Analytical Reasoning, Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability Verbal and Logical Ability General Awareness No. of Questions 15 20 15

i ii iii

Section I - Analytical Reasoning, Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability In this section, there were only 2 Visual Reasoning questions, 4 were based on Linear Arrangement and the remaining 9 were Quantitative Ability questions. All the questions were easy to solve. Amongst these, one question was based on Clock. The problem based on the ages of various family members can be regarded as only problem from Algebra. One problem was based on calculations regarding Simple Interest. Two problems were from Geometry and the remaining four were from Ratio, Proportion and Averages. Overall level of difficulty was easy. A good attempt in this section would be 11 to 12 questions and good score would be 9 to 11. Section II Verbal and Logical Ability There were 14 questions on verbal ability and one reading comprehension passage with 6 questions. The questions were quite easy and could be easily solved. Reading Comprehension There were 6 questions based on one reading comprehension passage. The passage was a short one and comprehending the same was not a constraint. The questions following the passage were a mix of inferential and direct ones (2 inferential, 3 direct and 1 word based). The passage was about a mural artist Pema and his craft.

Verbal Ability In the verbal ability section, there were questions on: Fill in the Blanks There were 5 single blank questions and 1 question with double blanks. The question with 2 blanks was allotted 2 marks. All the questions in this set tested ones knowledge of grammar and usage. One of the questions required the test taker to select the option that would not fit in the sentence. Overall, the set was tricky and required one to read the instructions properly. Sentences Conveying the Same Idea There were 2 questions in this set. Both of them were very easy to comprehend. In the first question, one statement was given followed by four options and one had to decide which of them conveyed similar idea. In the second question, a set of three statements was given and one had to choose the statements that conveyed similar idea. Identifying the Right Question In this set, there was 1 statement given followed by probable questions that could lead to the statement, which was actually the answer. The level of difficulty was not very high but one had to read the questions and the statement carefully. Word Meaning There were 2 questions in this set. The first question asked which one of the options could replace the underlined word in the given statement. The second question asked which of the options conveyed similar idea as given in the statement. A decent attempt in this section would have been 15 questions with a possible score of 10+. Section III General Awareness.There were 15 questions focusing on current affairs and a well-read person could have easily attempted the questions. There were two questions on recent awards like the Ramon Magsaysay Award and Man Booker prize of this year. Then there was a question on SEZ and one about Indias first satelite and one on political party. Overall this section could be solved. A decent attempt in this section would have been 8 questions with a possible score of 6. Part II Part II was the programme specific test. For students who have opted for Human Resources Management & Labour Relations the test was option-based and the details are given below:
Total Duration of the exam Number of Questions Number of Sections Number of choices per question Sectional timing Marks per question Negative Marking Mode of marking the ovals 60 minutes 75 6 4 or 5 No sectional timing 1 Mark NO HB pencil

Some of the questions had 4 options while some had 5 options. Data Interpretation: This section was similar to the DI section in Part 1 of the test. Tabular-format ruled and one could easily pick out the answers from the tables itself. Data Sufficiency: Most of the questions were simple with 5 options. There were some questions that required a basic knowledge of mathematics, especially of numbers and basic geometry principles.

Reading Comprehension: There were 2 RCs. The first one was based on economics and was about unemployment policies in the USA. It was slightly difficult to comprehend for someone with limited knowledge of economics, since there were many technical terms. Some questions were inferential and some were content-based.The second RC was about North Korea, its government and the mounting unrest there. It was much simpler than the first RC. It also had inferential as well as direct questions.Overall the RC section was of moderate difficulty. The RC on North Korea was a must attempt. Probability: Probability questions were based on basic concepts of probability. There was one tabular question, one was a combination of Logical Reasoning and Probability and one was based on a snippet. This was an easy section. Business Knowledge: This was the first general awareness section in this part, which consisted of questions relating to common business taglines, terms, acquisitions etc. Social, Economic and Management Fundamentals: This was the second general awareness section in Part 2. It was more specialized in character in the sense that one needed to possess knowledge of several management and economic theories and concepts. This was a section on the tougher side. Overall, in Part 2, the Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency sections, as well as the Probability and Business Knowledge sections, were easy. These should have been attempted first. The RC on North Korea should have been attempted. The section on Social, Management and Economic Fundamentals was on the tougher side. However with no negative marking or sectional cut-off, one could have attempted the two general awareness sections after attempting the other four. This part was slightly more time consuming and tougher than Part 1. A good attempt in this part would be 50+ with a possible score of 40+. Students who had opted for Media and Cultural Studies course, had to write one essay on one of the 4 topics given. There was also a story writing exercise where the introductory sentences of four stories were given and one had to elaborate on one of them. Each set was of 25 marks. The essay topics were 1] Reality TV shows are exploitative 2] Media Censorship is desirable 3] Feminism is irrelevant in this age 4] Over-population is one of the main reasons for poverty For students who had opted for Counselling as the specialization, the first section comprised an essay-writing exercise (again three choices were given) with a word limit 1000 words. The essay topics were as follows: 1] Foeticide is one way of enhancing the status of women. 2] With respect to religion, is India becoming progressively more unilateral? 3] Modern education produces blinkered youth. In the section B, three topics were given and the students were expected to write their views/comments/reactions on any one. One of the topics was related to Social Movement, one was related to a famous saying, the third on Emotional Intelligence and the last was about Motivation where the students were also asked to write about their motivators also.