NMAT- Wondering if you should consider a retake?

As NMAT Slot 1 results are out, everyone is probably curious to know if it’s worth spending 1700+taxes on a retake.

Before we talk about consideration of retake, let’s look at some past year’s scores and cutoff’s.

Section	Score Range	2016 cutoff’s	2015 cutoffs	2014 cutoff
Quantitative Skills	0-144	74	65	70
Language Skills	0-96	55	50	55
Logical reasoning skills	0-120	61	55	61
Total/overall cutoff	0-360	208	208	209

P.S – Correct me if I have got any of them wrong

 Usually, NMAT overall cutoff ranges between 208 and 210.

·          Quantitative skills cutoff ranges between 63 and 76.

·           Language Skills cutoff ranges between 50 and 56.

·           Logical reasoning cutoff ranges between 58 and 64.

With an overall score and sectionals as below you can safely assume that you would get a GD/PI call.

Quantitative Skills	77
Language Skills	60
Logical reasoning skills	68
Overall cutoff	215

Now, the most important question is, who should consider a retake?

·       Anyone who have an overall score of 215+ but less than the above mentioned sectionals.

·       Anyone who have more than above sectional scores but an overall score of less than 210.

·       People who have above sectionals and overall score (yes, you read it right).Let me explain you why

Considering that in the final result, 70% of the weightage is given to the score, if you have a score of 220+ (of course considering sectional cutoffs) your chances are much higher for final call conversion. If NMAT is on your priority list and you are not considering another year for MBA exams then I think it’s alright to spend another 1700 just to be sure that you have tried your best. In this case, consider only one retake.

If you have done well in other exams and NMAT is not really your priority then, if you clear above sectionals and over all, just skip the retake (Yay!)

Students who have scored between 208 and 215, with QI <74, Language skills <55 and Logical reasoning <61 should consider 1 retake definitely.

No of Retakes: I would suggest two retakes for anyone who has scores ranging between 195 and 210 if money is not a concern. But you have to be very cautious about analyzing your test strategy. Consider pondering over questions like

·       Which sections were easy but you didn’t spend enough time?

·       Which sections were difficult and you have wasted time?

·       Which order of sections works best for you? (Try this out in mocks and find out the one that suits you best).

·       Under time pressure, which section is easy to tackle for you? (This will help you choose order of sections).

Only if you understand where you have gone wrong, you will be able to score higher in retakes. Otherwise it would be futile to spend money on retakes.

For NMAT 2018 (I know it’s too far), here’s a little advice.

Please try to book your first take of exam in first slot (first 14 days) so that you can decide about your retake after the first slot scores are out (About 4 weeks after 14^th day). Otherwise you will end up doing retakes without having any idea about your first slot scores.

Hope this helps! If you have any other questions please do comment on my blog and I would get back to you.

Good luck guys J