SNAP Exam & Symbiosis Colleges

As soon as the CAT Exam gets over, candidates start to focus on other OMET’s to secure a management seat. One such OMET is SNAP, which is conducted by the Symbiosis Group of Institutes for admission into one of the 16 Symbiosis Institutes located across the Country. These Institutes have a separate application fee apart from the examination application fee. These Institutes are as follows:

• Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM, Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies & Research (SICSR, Pune)
• Symbiosis Centre for Management & Human Resource Development (SCMHRD, Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of International Business (SIIB, Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of Digital and Telecom Management (SIDTM (Formerly known as SITM), Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS, Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication (SIMC, Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM, Nashik)
• Symbiosis Centre for Information Technology (SCIT, Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences (SIHS, Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Bengaluru (SIBM, Bengaluru)
• Symbiosis School of Media & Communication (SSMC, Bengaluru)
• Symbiosis School of Banking & Finance (SSBF, Pune) (formerly Symbiosis School of Banking Management)
• Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Hyderabad (SIBM, Hyderabad)
• Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences (SSSS, Pune)
• Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Nagpur (SIBM, Nagpur)

The Institutes which stand out are SIBM Pune & SCMHRD Pune with their cutoffs at around 98.7%ile & 96.7%ile respectively in this examination.

When is this examination held & What’s the format of the examination?

This examination is held every year after the CAT examination in the December-January period. Last year, this examination was held once, however, this year they have changed the pattern & the Symbiosis Group of Institutes has decided to conduct this examination on 3 days across December & January for a duration of 1 hour for each of the days, instead of the 2 hours pattern followed in the previous years’ examinations. An advantage, however, is that candidates can appear for this examination twice as compared to just the once in the previous years & the higher score would be considered for %ile calculation. However, it’s essential for every candidate to remember that %ile is not just a function of one’s own performance, it’s a function of other's performance as well. Therefore, it’s within a candidate’s best interest to maximize his/her performance across the two attempts. Now, coming to the format of the examination, there are 3 sections within the examination.

• General English: Reading Comprehension, Verbal Reasoning, Verbal Ability: 15 Q’s-1 Mark each
• Analytical & Logical Reasoning: 25 Q’s- 1 Mark Each
• Quantitative, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency: 20 Q’s- 1 Mark Each

Note: A penalty of -0.25 Marks is awarded for each wrong response. There are 4 options per Q & the duration of the examination is 60 minutes.

How to approach the Examination?

Approaching this examination isn’t very difficult if one has studied for CAT since many Q types are similar to that of CAT examination. If one has studied thoroughly for the CAT Examination, then one can easily find a way past the last 2 sections as both are very similar to the DILR & QA sections in the CAT examination respectively. However, there may be a few differences for instance the former may be a bit more Geometry intensive & the former may have different Q types as compared to the latter in the 2nd Section but overall the essence remains to be the same. Now coming to the 1st Section which in a way slightly different to the CAT examination primarily due to the fact that it is not reading comprehension intensive and is instead intensive on the Grammar & Vocabulary side. This also creates an advantage for the candidates due to the fact that time commitments reduce in a Grammar & Vocabulary intensive paper which may be used elsewhere in other parts of the examination. To practice the same, however, one needs an excellent hold on the English Language & needs to practice his/her vocabulary regularly: a suggested source can be 'Word Power Made Easy book by Norman Lewis'

One can also prepare for the examination by writing mocks & analyzing the same to get his/her best approach in solving the examination. Also, to conclude if one had prepared well for the CAT Examination & continues to put his/her best efforts for this examination, securing a decent %ile in this examination is not a difficult task.

Contribution by Nikhil Jain, MBA student at DFS