DETAILED ANALYSIS AND STRATEGY FOR SNAP

BASIC STATISTICS
SNAP is the entrance test for admission to all the institutes under Symbiosis Group for their
Professional PG programs. There are 14 institutes accepting SNAP scores. The number of seats
in each institute varies between 120 to 250.The best institutes are SIBM (Pune), SCMHRD
(Pune) and SIIB (Pune). SNAP 2009 was not much different in many respects from previous
year papers. The change in pattern from 2008 is given below


The total number of questions increased from 135 to 150.


The 2 marks questions were only in Analytical Reasoning/Logical Reasoning section
unlike last year where the first 5 questions in each section had 2 marks while the rest of
the questions had 1 mark. The negative marking remained constant at 25% of the
maximum marks which was the same as last year. The total time remained at 120
minutes.
The broad section-wise breakup is given below.
SECTION
General English)

No. of
questions
40

Marks per
question
1

40
40

1
1

40
40

30

60

150

150

180

Quant, DI and DS
General Awareness
Analytical and Logical
Reasoning
TOTAL

Total
40

SECTIONAL ANALYSIS
GENERAL ENGLISH
The breakup is given below

Area

Topic

Number
of
questions

Total
number of
questions

Reading
Comprehension

Passage on Child
Emotions

Verbal Ability

Fill in the Blanks

37

Grammar

Analogies

Parts of speech

General Usage

Vocabulary

Idioms and Phrases

2+2=4

Parajumbles
Spellings and
Punctuation
Total

1
5
40

40

The difficulty level of this section ranged from easy to moderate. There were lots of Grammar
questions which were asked. The grammar questions would have taken some time to answer
because the errors were difficult to spot. Those preparing for CAT would have done these
questions easily. The questions on Fill in the blanks, Spellings and Punctuation and
General Usage were very easy. A good time allocation strategy for this section would be
around 30-35 minutes. Attempts in the range of 26-28 can be termed as good.
QUANTITATIVE ABILITY, DATA INTERPRETATION AND DATA SUFFICIENCY
The breakup of the number of questions according to topics is as given below
Area

Arithmetic

Algebra

Geometry and
Mensuration
Miscellaneous
Data
Interpretation
Statistics
TOTAL

Topic
Ratio and Proportion
Percentage
Number system
Alligation
Work
SI/CI
Time, Speed and Distance
Algebraic Equation
Inequality
P&C
Set theory & Probability
Progressions
Mensuration
Geometry
Visual reasoning
Tables
Pie Chart
Table + Venn diagram
Standard Deviation
Mean and Variance

Number of
questions
1
6
2
1
2
1
1
3
1
3
1+2=3
1
2
0
1
3
4
3
1
1
40

Total number of
questions

14

11

2
1
10

2
40

This section was of moderate difficulty level. Almost all the questions in this section were
solvable in comparatively less time and were direct questions based on concepts and requiring
hardly any application. There were two questions which did not have the correct options. The
questions on Arithmetic were very easy, while the questions on Algebra were of medium
difficulty level. The questions on Statistics were easy with straight forward application of

formulae. The sets on Tables and the Combined Chart should have been attempted. The
question on Visual Reasoning should be left. In all, a good time allocation for this section should
have been 35 minutes and one could attempt around 28-30 questions with a possible score of
25+.
GENERAL AWARENESS
There was a mix of questions on Definitions, Economy, Acronyms, History, Sport, Science &
Technology and Current Affairs. The current affairs and business terms were given more
weightage. The section looked easy at first glance, but on careful analysis the options were
close. Hence those reading the current affairs regularly should have an edge. In general, a good
time allocation for this section should have been 15 minutes and one could attempt around 2426 questions with a possible score of 19+.

ANALYTICAL AND LOGICAL REASONING

The breakup of the number of questions according to topics is as given below
Area

Topic
Calendar

Mathematical
Reasoning

Logical Reasoning

Critical Reasoning
TOTAL

Series(Number and letter)

Flow Chart
Bar graph
Pie chart
Miscellaneous
Arrangement(2 sets)
Coding
Non Verbal
Miscellaneous
Verbal analogies
Critical Inferences

Number
questions
1
2+2=4
3
2
2
1
4+2=6
1
1
1
4
4
30

of

Total number
questions

of

13

8
30

The section had the highest weightage in terms of marks. DI was a part of this section too and
again the questions were not calculation-intensive but required basic understanding and some
logic. Some of the questions were easily doable with the help of options and required very less
time to solve. Questions based on critical reasoning were time-consuming. Visual Reasoning
questions were easy. There were 2 questions on groups and conditionality, which again were
very easy. There were 5 single-question sets on Strong/Weak Arguments, which were slightly
on the tougher side requiring some analysis compared to the rest of the section.
A good strategy for any student would have been to spend a good amount of time in this
section on account of the higher marks per question which implies a higher return for time
spent. Overall, a good time allocation for this section should have been 45 minutes and one
could attempt around 22-25 questions with a possible score of 40+

OVERALL ANALYSIS
An analysis of all the sections with the number of doable questions is given below for ready
reference
Finer Details of SNAP 2009
Topics

Total
Questions

Difficulty
Level

Time
Allocation
(minutes)

Doable
questions

Maximum
wrong
questions
acceptable

Possible
score

37

Easy to
Moderate

25

28

25.5

Moderate

30

29

26.5

12

5.5

12

5.5

35

27

22

15

25

20

15

25

20

20

10

20

15

11.5

10

9.5

45
120

23
104

2
12

41
109.5

General English
Verbal ability
Reading
Comprehension
TOTAL

40

QA, DI and DS
Arithmetic

14

Algebra

11

Geometry and
Mensuration
Higher Math

2
2

Data Interpretation

10

Miscellaneous

TOTAL

40

General Awareness

40

TOTAL

40

Analytical and
Logical Reasoning
Mathematical
Reasoning

Easy to
Moderate
Easy to
Moderate
Easy to
Moderate
Easy
Easy to
Moderate
Difficult

Moderate to
Difficult

Easy
13

Logical Reasoning

Critical Reasoning

TOTAL
Grand Total

30
150

Varying
Moderate to
Difficult
Easy to
Moderate

The estimated cut-offs of 2009 for some of the leading institutes are as shown below.
Institute
SIBM (Pune)
SCM-HRD
SIIB

Estimated Cut-Off
108-114
102-107
98-104

SITM
SCIT
SIBM Bangalore
SIOM
SIMS
SICSR

88-96
82+
92+
62+
62+

SIMC
SIG
SIHS

58+

STRATEGY FOR SNAP 2010

ANALYTICAL AND LOGICAL REASONING: Practice questions on topics like Blood

Relations, Series, Coding- Decoding. This will help in this section as well as the
Quantitative Ability section. Logical caselets are easy, hence it is very important to crack
those first. Some questions require basic common sense as well as a little bit of basic
scientific knowledge.(e.g Hot air rises and cool air comes in to fill its place..).
QA, DI AND DS: The focus should be on basic concepts of Arithmetic and Algebra which
has around 60-65% weightage. Some Data Interpretation questions require intelligent
guesswork, hence the approximation concepts have to be revised.
GENERAL AWARENESS: At the cost of being repetitive, the focus should be on Current
Affairs with specific focus on Business and Economics.
GENERAL ENGLISH: Grammar and Grammar related topics have to be given ultimate
priority. The questions on general usage are easy but the options are very close. Hence
the focus should be on accuracy.
As a Manager, keep your eyes & ears open and collect data about previous year tests,
areas tested, institutes, competition, important dates etc. The dates keep changing;
hence it is very important to keep track of the developments happening around.

Disclaimer: The above cutoffs are only suggestive in nature and may differ from the actual
cutoffs. Roots Education cannot be held responsible for any decision taken by the candidate on
the basis of the above information.