MICAT 2021 Exam Pattern & Analysis

MICAT 2021 Paper Analysis

The overall difficulty of the MICAT- I was moderate, but difficult as compared to that of the previous year. The General Awareness and Quantitative Analysis sections are found to be most difficult of all.

Several changes have been introduced in the MICAT 2021 exam. Firstly, the Psychometric Test section used to be the last one in the exam. Then 25 questions will be asked from the General Awareness section, compared to 22 questions in the previous year. Check MICAT Syllabus

No negative marking was there for Section 1 and Section 3. In case a candidate has attempted an incorrect answer in Section 2, 0.25 marks would be deducted. Candidates are required to complete sections in a sequential manner. So before moving to the next section, they are required to complete the current section. It means that switching between the sections was not allowed. All of these three sections collectively contained 140 questions. 

Section-wise MICAT Analysis 2021

Section A

Section B in MICAT is the Descriptive Test that evaluates the analytical and creative writing skills of the candidates. This section contained only four questions, and the first three questions are linked with each other.

• The section was based on the topic – ‘Has education shifted from a learning perspective to one focusing on earning’. The first two questions of Section I instructed candidates to write three points each to support and counter the topic.
• Each of these two questions carrying 10 marks. For the third question, candidates are required to draft a write-up of around 300 words about integral education. This question carried 20 marks.
• In the last and fourth questions of this section, candidates are provided with four pictures. They are required to draw one combinational picture from the four pictures and narrate a supporting story.
• The four pictures in this question are related to a scene of a rabbit in a gift box, a globe with pins stuck all over it, a man kayaking in a beautiful lake surrounded by trees, and a photo of people cycling.

Section B

Section B contained 105 questions to be attempted by the candidates in 105 minutes. Following is its detailed paper analysis based on its four subsections - Logical Reasoning, General Awareness, Verbal Ability and Quantitative Ability.

Logical Reasoning

• The Logical Reasoning section contained 30 questions to be attempted in 30 minutes.
• Questions were based on word association, statement assumption, data sufficiency and visual reasoning. 
• In general, students could have answered at least 19-20 questions with 80-85% accuracy. 
• Following are the details of the analysis of this section:

General Awareness

• This section contained 25 questions, which are 3 questions more than that in the previous year. Out of these 25 questions, 16 are based on national issues and the remaining 9 on international affairs.
• Total 19 questions are of a static type and the remaining 6 are on current affairs. The overall difficulty level of this section is moderate to difficult than the previous year’s exam.
• It is predicted that the candidates with good general knowledge would have attempted at least 10-11 questions with 80% accuracy in 10 minutes.

Verbal Ability

• This section contained the questions based on jumbled paragraphs, double blanks, synonyms, sentence errors, idiom-based questions, paragraph completion and a Reading Comprehension passage.
•  In general, candidates will have attempted at least 19-20 questions with 80% accuracy in about 25 minutes. 
• Following is the detailed breakup:

Quantitative Ability

• This section contained 25 questions. 
• 19 were completely based on quantitative ability, and the remaining 6 are based on data interpretation.
• Most of these questions were more difficult than that of the previous year's exam.
•  It is expected that candidates would have answered at least 15-16 questions with 85% accuracy in around 40 minutes. Following is the detailed breakup.

MICAT Psychometric Test Paper Analysis

• It contained 36 questions to be attempted by the candidates in 25 minutes. 
• Based on the instructions issued by MICAT, candidates are mandatorily required to attempt all the questions in this section.
• Failing this, the candidates are liable to disqualification. 
• There are no right or wrong answers in this section. The section contained three sets.
• There are 10 questions with three probable answers in the first set. The questions in this set are based on a particular personality trait.
• The second set contained 16 questions with two probable answers related to the candidate’s own personality traits. 
• The third set contained 10 questions, where candidates are required to descend 6 responses for each question in the order of decreasing importance.
• The overall section is simple and less time-consuming for those the candidates who have practised on psychometric tests before taking the exam. 
• With the limited timeframe and the condition of attempting all the questions, candidates are forced to be honest while attempting all the questions.

To conclude, MICA shortlists candidates based on the section-wise scaled scores. The institute does not release any cut off for admission to the PGDM-C program. It is expected that those candidates who clear the psychometric test and descriptive section and secure 45-47 marks in total, would be called for the GD-PI round. All the best!