how to prepare for XAT? HOW is it different from CAT?

hi, i am giving my CAT this year but my quant score is very very low and the overall percentile is going down with 20 days to exam, on the other hand my verbal is very strong and i felt it easy while giving XAT mock, should i concentrate on XAT now as the verbal and decision making is around 45 questions and low cut offs will also help me. i would like to know whether i am underestimating XAT as all say it is really tough and is it worth to concentrate for xat now and aim for it or wait for next year since i am sure my CAT will go bad and it is hard for me to restart Quant basics in really short time.

XAT comprises of decision making and essay writing and GK which is not present in CAT. Hence you also need to focus on GK with reading of curent affairs from newspapers like ET, Business standard, etc and websites like Jagranjosh can be helpful . But the main difference lies in negative marking of the wrong answers. Negative marking in XAT is less than that of CAT. XAT penalises by one fourth mark whereas CAT penalises by one third. For example - if one mark is awarded for every correct answer, 1/3 and 1/4 will be deducted by CAT and XAT for every wrong answer, respectively. So , for both you require ample of practice by mock exams, focussing on repetitive mistakes and transformation of those weaknesses to strenths.

The differentiating factors in XAT and CAT are Decision Making and Essay Writing sections apart from the GK section which Akshay has already mentioned in his answer. Decision Making section is in fact exclusive for XAT. This section carries objective type multiple choice set based questions. Last year, this section had 21 questions out of total 72 questions. Know how to crack this section below: https://www.careers360.com/mba/xat-tips-how-prepare-for-decision-making-section As far as Essay Writing is concerned, you will get one topic and 20 minutes to write the essay. Though XAT will be held in computer based mode, you will get pen and paper to write the essay. The topics are generally abstract in nature, which you have to contextualise and connect with a relevant event or current affair. Get essay writing strategy here: https://www.careers360.com/mba/articles/xat-essay-writing-tips-and-strategy

For both CAT and XAT' s preparations right now you need to brush up with your basics and start giving lots of online mock test and analyse them which will help you in overcoming your mistakes and come up with a strategy to attempt your paper which will definitely help you in improving your marks and percentile in both the exams.

In case of XAT there is one more section of G.K. So in order to get a clear cut off in that section you should keep yourself updated with all the latest news, regularly go through news channels, news paper, you can download an Economic times app which will keep you updated with all the news. You can also check out some basic general knowledge things in each sector like politics, sports, media, business etc. Which happened recently.

Make sure you give lots of online mock test for both the exams which will fairly give you an idea about the final exam.

All the best for your preparations and exams!!