Highlights of SNAP 2016
- The SNAP 2016 paper had 150 questions and 150 marks. With the number of questions in GK section getting reduced to 30 (from 40 as the authorities would have realized that it is futile to check the non-existent GK aptitude of students!)
- The no of questions in LA section increased to 40 (from 30), but the marks allotted came down. The SNAP paper had 2 marks for each LA question till last year.
- As is its wont, SNAP test had emphasis on Arithmetic in the QA section. In the Verbal Section and the QA section, it was a bit of a surprise to get two sets each of RC and DI respectively.
- The overall paper was similar in difficulty to that of the previous year. However, since the total marks in the overall paper have reduced, the overall cutoff will also go down proportionately.
SNAP 2016 Paper Pattern
| Duration of the paper | 120 min |
| No of Questions | 150 |
| No of Sections | 4 |
| Marking pattern | + 1 |
| Negative marking | 1/4th of the allotted mark |
| Total Marks allotted | 150 |
| S.no | Sections | Total Marks | No of Questions |
| 1 | General English | 40 | 40 |
| 2 | Quantitative Ability | 40 | 40 |
| 3 | General Awareness: General Knowledge, Current Affairs, Business Scenario | 30 | 30 |
| 4 | Analytical & Logical Reasoning | 40 | 40 |
| Total | 150 | 150 |
SNAP 2016 Analysis & Cutoffs
SNAP is an exam that requires the student to keep moving on and not waste time on any question that he/she is not able to answer. Solving 150 questions in 120 minutes requires presence of mind and tremendous speed! That is less than a minute per question. Considering that there are 30 questions of General Knowledge, it is still required a different mindset and speed (a la T20 match in Cricket) to be able to ace the SNAP exam.
The ideal time break-up should have been as below with the number of attempts that a good student should have made to ensure a call from the top Symbiosis Institutes
| S.no | Sections | Expected time for the section in minutes | Expected number of attempts | Expected Marks |
| 1 | General English | 30 | 30 - 34 | 22 – 24 |
| 2 | Quantitative Ability | 40 | 20 - 22 | 16 – 18 |
| 3 | General Awareness: | 8 -10 | 8 - 10 | 3 - 4 |
| 4 | Analytical & Logical Reasoning | 40 | 16 - 18 | 13 – 15 |
| Total | 120 | 74 – 84 | 57 – 64 |
General English
The English section had no surprises except that there were TWO passages of Reading Comprehension for a total of 11 marks. The two RCs, though long, had very simple and easy questions. Any student who had given time to attempt the RC passages would have got full marks in the same.
There were almost 10 Fill-in-the-blank (FIB) questions with various types. Four of which were of single blank and single word, two of them with a similar word meaning words to be selected for a single blank and 4 others which required one to understand the usage of homonyms (similar sounding words but with different meanings) to answer the FIBs.
The English section had liberal dose of Vocabulary with Synonyms, Antonyms, Analogies and Idioms and Phrases accounting for 14 marks.
There were THREE Para-jumble questions (not very difficult) and TWO Critical Reasoning questions, which were easily doable.
Overall the paper was doable and a student who gives about 30 minutes in this section would have easily attempted close to 30/32 questions (or even more) and a get a comfortable score of 20+
| Sub Area | # Of Questions | Difficulty Level |
| Fill-in-the-Blanks (Single Blank) | 4 | Easy |
| Fill-in the-Blanks (Single blank, with same meaning) | 2 | Easy |
| Fill-in-the-Blanks (Homonyms) | 4 | Easy to Moderate |
| Vocab | 3 | Moderate |
| Synonyms | 3 | Difficult |
| Antonyms | 3 | Difficulty |
| Idioms and Phrases | 2 | Easy |
| Analogies | 3 | Moderate |
| Para Jumbles | 3 | Easy to Moderate |
| Critical Reasoning | 2 | Easy to Moderate |
| READING COMPREHENSION | 11 | Easy |
| TOTAL | 40 | Easy to Moderate |
Quantitative Aptitude
The Quant section was very much on the lines of the previous SNAP papers. There was a heavy tilt towards Arithmetic with about 9 questions in the same. Algebra (if we include Numbers in this) would be the highest weightage area in the SNAP paper as there were 12 questions in this (of which 6 questions were from Numbers area itself).
The surprise, however, was that there were 7 questions in Geometry and Mensuration.
A good student should have spent about 40 minutes in this section and he/she could have identified at least 22 to 25 questions that were easy.
However, having said the above, it is normal that most students always find the Quant area either tough or lengthy! Hence, a good score in this section would be any thing more than 18!
| Area | Topic | No of Questions |
| Arithmetic | 9 | |
| Algebra | 6 | |
| Numbers | Number Theory | 6 |
| Pure Math | 4 | |
| Geometry | 7 | |
| Miscellaeneous | Venn Diagram and Others | 2 |
| DATA Interpretation | Tables (3) + PIE Charts (3) | 6 |
Analytical and Logical Reasoning (LR)
This section was a nightmare for a lot of students. The fact that they have increased the number of questions and reduced the marks (instead of 2 marks per questions, in SNAP 2016, each logic had only 1 mark for the correct answer) made it difficult for students to score more in this section.
Except for a few questions on Series and Input/Output type, most of the questions in LR were either difficult or time consuming.
There were questions on Clocks, Calendars, Blood Relations, Coding-Decoding type among others. Some of the questions resembled the question types that come in MENSA puzzles!
Overall this section was difficult. Ideally, the student should have spent about 30 odd minutes and attempted around 15 to 20 questions.
The extra time (that could have been allotted to this section) should have been allotted to either English or the QA area to maximize scores.
A good score in this section would be 14+
General Awareness
The SNAP people were true to their word. The questions were from the current affairs and general knowledge areas and that too from the past two years!
A student who follows news would have found this section actually easy (for a change!). A good attempt in this section would be around 10+ questions and getting a positive score of 4 or more!
| Institute | Expected cutoff mark |
| SIBM Pune | 60 – 62 |
| SCMHRD | 58 – 60 |
| SIIB | 52 – 53 |
| SIBM Bangalore | 50 – 52 |
| SIMS | 44 - 45 |
| SITM/SIOM | 40 - 42 |
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