With NMAT declaring the scores of Window 1 & 2 the obvious question in the minds of the NMAT takers are:

  1. Should I go for a retake?
  2. Which institute/program can I get an interview call from?

Obviously the answer to these questions is in trying to predict the cutoff that NMIMS would have for its various programs. So let us first have a look at the NMAT cutoffs of the last few papers.

NMAT Cut-offs

Section

NMIMS Mumbai FTMBA/HR

NMIMS PGDM Blr /Hyd

NMIMS Mumbai MBA Pharma

2014

2015

2016

2016

2016 (Est)

Quantitative Skills

72

70

65

60

50

Language Skills

55

55

50

50

50

Logical Reasoning

61

61

55

50

50

Overall

209

209

207

196

165

NMAT 2016 refers to the NMAT conducted during Oct-Dec 2015 for admission to 2016-18 batch

What about NMAT 2017?
This NMAT 2017 cut off will obviously be impacted by the paper structure, difficulty level, the number of seats in each program, the number of applicants and also the seats to interview calls ratio. The structure of NMAT 2017 has not changed and the overall difficulty level of NMAT has also remained the same despite marginal changes in difficulty level across sections. Hence I would assume that the cut offs this year will not be very different from last year but due to slightly easier

Based on the sectional and the overall scores I have created five different score levels as given below:

Section

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

QS

≥ 70

65 – 70

60 – 65

50 – 60

< 50

LS

≥ 55

50 – 55

50 – 55

45 – 50

< 45

LR

≥ 60

55 – 60

50 – 55

45 – 50

<45

Overall

≥ 210

205 – 209

200 – 205

175 – 200

< 175

 

 

Institute/Program

To retake or not to retake?

NM Mumbai FTMBA/HR

No

Your choice

Yes

Yes

Yes

XIMB – HR

No

No

Your choice

Yes

Yes

NM Bangalore/Hyderabad – PGDM

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

 

Level 1: If all your scores correspond to this level then you are likely to get interview calls from all programs that accept NMAT scores hence you should focus on the other MBA entrance tests and start your PDP classes immediately after CAT.

Level 2: If any of your sectional scores or overall score are in this level then you cannot be certain of getting a call from NMIMS Mumbai MBA/HR programs and hence should consider a retake. You will however get calls from all other NMAT institutes/programs.

Level 3: With sectional and/or overall scores in this level, most probably you will not be shortlisted by NMIMS Mumbai for MBA/HR programs and XIMB HR is also not confirmed. So if you are targeting NMIMS Mumbai or XIMB HR then you should go for a retake. However, if you are satisfied with NMIMS Bangalore or Hyderabad then a retake is not required. For a retake you should be confident of increasing sectional/overall scores corresponding to at least Level 2.

Level 4: In this scenario a retake is definitely required, however, before deciding on the retake, please evaluate your total & sectional scores critically to decide if you will be able to reach Level 3. If you think Level 3 scores are out of reach then do not go for a retake and instead focus on SNAP and other MBA entrances.

Level 5: Howsoever cruel it might sound, if your scores are in this level, I feel compelled to say that a retake may not be useful because the gap which you need to cover is huge and it is unlikely that you will be able to increase your sectional and the overall scores in the next 2-4 weeks. You would be better off focusing on other MBA entrances. The only reason to go for a retake would be if you messed up your test strategy and are confident that it will not be repeated.

Remember that this is just a guideline and you have to take your individual calls based on your ability to increase your scores, expected performance in IIFT/CAT/SNAP/XAT. Give it a careful thought before deciding either way.

All the Best!

GP