SNAP, conducted by Symbiosis International University for admission to its fifteen management institutes (offering 21 programs), is one of the most popular management entrance tests and is taken by over 50,000 students every year due to availability of a wide range of institutes. The level of difficulty of the questions asked in SNAP usually ranges from easy to moderate. A CAT paper would usually be considered more difficult than a normal SNAP paper. However, the limited time available for attempting the paper (120 minutes for 150 questions) makes it a bit challenging for some students.

SNAP – A great opportunity

SNAP becomes an extremely crucial exam for those who don’t feel good about their IIFT and CAT performance as there is no weightage given to the candidates’ academic profile. The interview shortlisting for interviews is now only done on the basis of the SNAP scores. In the final selection, also SNAP scores has a weight of 50% and the balance 50% is for Interview, Group Exercise and Writing Ability Test. Therefore, the students who wish to pursue an MBA this year but have poor academic records must definitely see SNAP as a great opportunity.

Also, since many of the SNAP institutes receive insufficient applications from SC/ST and PWD candidates, they call all such candidates for the interview irrespective of their percentile. Thus, the students belonging to a reserved category should definitely apply to some of the lower end SNAP institutes.

 

SNAP – The Structure

The SNAP paper has been remarkably consistent in terms of structure; except for 2008 when differential marking was present in 3 out of the 4 sections (analytical & logical reasoning did not have differential marking). The level of difficulty of the sections has also been quite consistent (except in 2015, which I’ve discussed below, separately). The SNAP paper comprises 150 questions adding to 150 marks, with 25% negative marking. Students are allotted 2 hours to attempt this paper. There has been a change in the format of SNAP since 2015 and the structure of SNAP 2016 is given below.

S.No.

Section

Questions

Total Marks

1. General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability

40

40

2. Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency

40

40

3. Analytical & Logical Reasoning

40

40

4. Current Affairs (of last 2 years)

30

30

Total

150

150

SNAP does not have sectional time limits and you have complete freedom to decide how to allocate your 120 minutes to the different sections. The students must visit the SNAP Exam Corner to stay updated about the SNAP exam.

 

SNAP 2015 vs. SNAP 2016

To begin with, it is important to address the fact that SNAP 2015, as a paper, was quite an aberration. In terms of the questions asked, it was probably the weirdest SNAP paper in the recent past. The paper was not only unusually difficult than its previous versions but also had some unexpected kind of questions especially in Logical Reasoning where some of the questions seem to have been picked up straight from “Whatsapp” jokes and forwards.

The good thing is that it surely was only an aberration and the craziness is unlikely to continue this year and even if it continues it should not be a problem as in this case the cutoff would be low and one needs to focus only on the accuracy and not worry about high attempts.

As mentioned above, there has been a change in the paper structure this year. The table given below will give you a quick look of the same.

S.No.

Section

SNAP 2015

SNAP 2016

Questions

Total Marks

Questions

Total Marks

1. General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability

40

40

40

40

2. Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency

40

40

40

40

3. Analytical & Logical Reasoning

30

60

40

40

4. General Awareness (now Current Affairs)

40

40

30

30

Total

150

180

150

150

The three major changes in SNAP 2016 since the last year are:

  1. Till 2015, the General Awareness section had questions on both Static GK and Current Affairs, this year it has been clearly specified that it will only be Current Affairs of the last two years.
  2. The number of questions in GK (now Current Affairs) has gone down from 40 to 30.
  3. The structure of the LR section has changed from 30 questions of 2 marks each’ to ‘40 questions of 1 mark each’. This has reduced the importance of the reasoning section in the paper.

While reduction in the number of GK questions and the focus on Current Affairs only will be welcomed by most of the candidates, the reduced weight of Reasoning means that candidates will need to attempt higher number of questions for the same score. In reasoning, till 2015, a score of 45-50 was possible but this year a good reasoning score will be around 35 marks. Hence I expect the scores to fall by 10-12 marks leading to lower cutoff for the top SNAP institutes.

 

Section-wise Analysis

A detailed analysis of the four sections in SNAP is given below.

 

General English: 40 questions for 40 marks

This section is primarily a test of vocabulary and grammar with a couple of short RC passage (less than 200 words) and simple para-jumble questions also thrown in. In the last 3 years, vocabulary has been tested through questions involving synonyms, antonyms, idioms & phrases, fill in the blanks and word usage. In grammar, along with the typical questions involving error spotting, questions based on punctuation, active-passive voice and figure of speech have also appeared. You should target an attempt of 30+ questions in this section in about 25 minutes. If English is your area of strength, you should target attempting all questions in maximum of 30 minutes. Guesswork should be avoided as it can lead to negative marks. This is one area which has been quite consistent in its difficulty level over the years. Even SNAP 2016 had a balanced English section.

 

Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency: 40 questions for 40 marks

Arithmetic and Data Interpretation usually contribute around 25-30 questions to this section. SNAP papers have usually had only 2-3 Data Sufficiency questions but SNAP 2013 paper did not have any DI or DS questions in this section. Four DI questions were however asked in the Reasoning section. The SNAP 2014 paper on the other hand had DI but not DS. Geometry, Algebra, P&C and Number Series have also appeared in SNAP. Almost all the questions in this section are easy to moderate level of difficulty. It is only the errors in a few questions that will stop you from answering all questions of this section. Since your number of attempts in this section is likely to be high, accuracy is of utmost importance. The target attempt for this section should be 30+ questions in 35-40 minutes. The SNAP 2015 paper had about 12-13 questions from Numbers and Modern Math. Thus, SNAP has given a fair distribution of topics over the last few years.

 

Analytical & Logical Reasoning: 40 questions for 40 marks

SNAP has experimented the most with this section and in the last 5 years with questions from areas as diverse as critical reasoning, deductive logic, analogies, mathematical reasoning, P&C, set theory, directions, cubes, coding-decoding, series, visual reasoning, arrangement and puzzles. Most of the questions in this section are easy to moderate in terms of level of difficulty but, at times, become difficult due to errors in the questions themselves. The target attempt for this section should be 30-33 questions in 35-40 minutes. SNAP 2015 through a curve ball in this section. The questions based upon Analogy and Coding Decoding were quite difficult. An attempt of 18-20 and a score of 32-34 in 45-50 minutes is possible in this section. This is about 14 marks lesser than what was possible in previous years.

 

General Awareness: 30 questions for 30 marks

As is the case with most MBA entrance tests, in SNAP too, this is the section that worries students the most. However, dealing with this section this year shouldn’t be that tough. Since it has been clearly specified that only Current Affairs of the last year 2 years will be asked, the students should focus on revising only that much. Do not spend more than 10 minutes. Attempt only those questions that you are sure of. The “when in doubt, leave” philosophy has to be followed in this section strictly. The overall difficulty level of this section was on the higher side in SNAP 2015 as compared to the last year’s paper. An attempt of 10-12 with a score of 6-8 was achievable in 10-12 minutes.

 

How to Prepare?

The best way to prepare for SNAP is to attempt the Mock SNAP and FLTs provided by CL along with the GK Compendium and Quizzes in your SIS. The memory based SNAP 2012 – 15 papers are a must. You must not ignore the SNAP 2015 paper as it will help you understand the highest level of difficulty possible in SNAP. While these papers are available to CL students in their SIS, non-CL students can click here to access the memory based SNAP papers and Mocks. Attempt about 4-6 papers over the next few days and the ones that you cannot , analyze them thoroughly and identify important questions/ topics for revision.

 

Summary
The SNAP scores cut-offs of the institutes have fluctuated with the level of difficulty of the paper. For SIBM Pune, it has varied from 91 for SNAP 2011 to 118 for SNAP 2010. While there aren’t any sectional cut offs, you should allocate a minimum time to each section so that you do not miss out on any easy question in any section. Also in the past the SNAP institutes not having sectional cut-off had apparently rejected candidates who had a zero or negative scores in any section. Keeping the last four SNAPs in mind the table below summarizes how you should handle the paper.

S.No. Section Questions

Time (minutes)

Target attempts

Target score

1. General English

40

25-30

30-35

25-30

2. QA, DI & DS

40

35-40

32- 36

30

3. AR & LR

40

35-40

30-35

32

4. General Awareness

30

10-15

15-20

10

Total

150

120

110

100

This target score is based on SNAP 2012 – 2014 data. I would advise you to reassess the required number of attempts depending on the level of difficulty of the paper this year.

The following table lists the target SNAP percentile score for the top SNAP institutes for different category of students based on the data of last 3 years.

Category-wise Percentile Cut-offs

Institution

General

SC

ST/DA/PWD

SIBM Pune, MBA

97 – 98

70

30

SCMHRD Pune, MBA

96 – 97

65

35

SIBM Bangalore, MBA

85 – 87

25

15

SIIB Pune, IB

88 – 90

25

15

SIOM Nasik, OM

70

15

10

SITM Pune, TM

70

15

10

SIMS Pune, MBA

65*

  1. General category cut off for all other SNAP institutes would be in the 40 – 60%ile range.
  2. The cut off for the DA category is usually the same as that of ST Category students but it is advisable to target the SC category cut offs to ensure a good probability of selection.
  3. Most of the SNAP institutes do not receive sufficient number of applications from SC, ST and DA candidates and hence there is a chance of all reserved category applicants getting an interview call from a few institutes.
  4. The Kashmiri Migrant category students should aim for a minimum of 85%ile to make it to SIBM Pune or SCMHRD.
  5. *SIMS cutoff is for Defence Category General which has 80% seats for dependents of Defence personnel.

The Last Word
In a test as simple as SNAP, where most of the questions can be answered or solved without too much effort, the students who make it to the short list are often those who have committed the minimum number of errors. Accuracy is the key differentiator and with sufficient time available, careless mistakes are not acceptable. Students must visit the SNAP Exam Corner right after exam to check their score using the SNAP Score Calculator

All the best