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The overall structure of the SNAP exam remained the same as that of the previous years’. The exam cons isted of 3 sections having 40 questions of 1 mark each (Quantitative Ability, General English and General Awareness) and one section having 30 questions of 2 marks each (Analytical and Logical Reasoning). The overall difficulty level of the exam did not vary much from that of the previous SNAP exams’ but the English section was perceptibly more challenging than before. A majority of the questions varied between an easy to moderate level of difficulty. The best way to maximize one’s score would have been to select questions judiciously and read quickly.
| Section | Subject Area | Number of Questions | Marks per question | Total marks |
| Section I | Quantitative Ability | 40 | 1 | 40 |
| Section II | General English | 40 | 1 | 40 |
| Section III | Analytical and Logical Reasoning | 30 | 2 | 60 |
| Section IV | General Awareness | 40 | 1 | 40 |
| Total | 150 | 180 |
The analysis of each of the sections is as given below.
This section was dominated by arithmetic and modern mathematics. There was one DI set with five questions, based on a pie chart. Additionally, there were two questions on sequences (odd-man-out and complete-the-series). There was no question on data sufficiency. A majority of the questions in this section were of an easy to moderate level of difficulty. However, a few questions on modern mathematics, especially those on logarithms and probability, were somewhat tricky. Therefore judicious selection of questions was of utmost importance.
It has been observed that over the last two years, the level of difficulty of the Quantitative Ability section in SNAP has gone up.
| Topics | No. of questions | Level of difficulty |
| Arithmetic | ||
| Time-Speed-Distance | 4 | Easy-Moderate |
| Percentages | 3 | Easy |
| Partnership | 1 | Easy – Moderate |
| Ratio-Proportion | 1 | Easy-Moderate |
| Profit and Loss | 1 | Easy-Moderate |
| Averages | 1 | Easy |
| Work, Pipe and Cisterns | 1 | Easy-Moderate |
| Simple & Compound Interest | 1 | Easy |
| Total | 13 | |
| Modern Mathematics | ||
| Probability | 3 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Logarithms | 2 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Permutation & Combination | 1 | Moderate |
| Functions | 1 | Moderate |
| Total | 7 | |
| Geometry | ||
| Mensuration | 2 | Easy |
| Trigonometry | 1 | Difficult |
| Co-ordinate Geometry | 1 | Moderate |
| Circles | 1 | Easy |
| Quadrilateral | 1 | Easy |
| Total | 6 | |
| Numbers | ||
| Divisibility | 2 | Easy |
| Properties of Numbers | 2 | Easy |
| Total | 4 | |
| Algebra | ||
| Factorization | 1 | Easy |
| Linear Equations | 1 | Easy |
| Quadratic Equations | 1 | Moderate |
| Total | 3 | |
| Data Interpretation | ||
| Pie chart | 5 | 3 questions were easy, 2 were difficult |
| Others | ||
| Sequences-Complete the sequence | 1 | Easy |
| Sequences-Odd man out | 1 | Easy |
A good strategy would be to attempt about 26-28 questions in 30-35 minutes with 85% accuracy.
This section was more challenging than the previous years’ SNAP English sections. There were about 14 pure vocabulary questions (we are including vocabulary questions requiring knowledge of grammar under ‘grammar’), 16 grammar questions, 9 RC questions and 1 verbal reasoning question. About 18 questions were very easy, about 11 were of a moderate level and about 11 were quite challenging (either due to difficult words or due to difficult-to-eliminate options) It was very important not to keep pondering over questions that were confusing and instead be decisive. Though students prefer to avoid RC, this time the RC questions were much simpler than many non-RC ones. So, students should have attempted them. For the longer passage, reading one paragraph at a time and solving one question alongside helped as the questions were in the same order as their answers were in the passage and one could save spending time on scanning. In 25-30 minutes, one could go through all the questions and attempt about 30 questions with 80% accuracy.
| Topic | Description | Qns. | Level |
| VOCABULARY | |||
| Antonyms | Native, Attenuate, Cajole | 3 | e/m/e |
| Synonym | Consanguinity | 1 | E |
| Spellings | Demurrage, Pernicious | 2 | d/m |
| Single FIB | Shut/Lock, Polemical/Commercial, Likewise/Furthermore, Giving free rein/Airing/Venting, Thumbnail/Thumbprint | 5 | d/d/d/m/d |
| Double FIB | Temerity…Courteous, Forehandedness…Stinginess, Incongruous… A contestant | 3 | m/m/e |
| GRAMMAR | |||
| Idiom based FIB | Flies to honey, Turn tail, Broke new ground, With bated breath, Selling family silver, End of tether | 6 |
e/d/e/e/d/d |
| Phrasal verb based FIB | Cast off | 1 | m |
| Proverb meaning | Half a loaf is better…. | 1 | e |
| Preposition based FIB | Travel by/in… | 1 | E |
| Tenses based FIB | Enter…would be | 1 | M |
| Choose grammatically correct sentence | More nearly square than…., Stuck in a jam | 2 | m/m |
| Determiner based FIB | Fewer/less | 1 | E |
| Contextual idiom meaning | Knock the bottom out means… | 1 | d |
| Word type | Which is not a compound word? | 1 | E |
| Grammar FIB | Such as...but...like | 1 | D |
| READING COMPREHENSION | |||
| Passage 1 – about 500 words on “what to keep in mind while establishing an export business” | All questions were direct and specific | 6 | e/m/e/e/e/m |
| Passage 2 – about 190 words on “Francis Bacon’s | One vocabulary question (meaning of confute) and | ||
| views on reading” | two direct questions | 3 | e/e/d |
| VERBAL REASONING | |||
| A sentence with its parts arranged in 4 ways | 1 | E | |
Note: E= easy, M = medium, D = difficult
Overall, the level of difficulty of the logical reasoning questions could be termed as moderate, not easy, mainly because of one set on circular arrangement (of 6 Germans and 6 Americans, which had an additional condition of sequencing of communication between people on both the tables). This set was best left out. All other questions were solvable and very much like the SNAP questions of previous years. There were 5 single questions and 17 questions in sets. The single questions and the question set based on Venn diagrams (students passing in English, GK and Mathematics) were the easiest of the lot. Using options to your advantage in the single question on matrix arrangements (5 persons – 5 professions) and family tree (6 people A, B, C, R, S, T) would have saved you time. Also, the single question on clocks could have been answered by a lot of you just by looking at the options.
The Verbal Reasoning questions (8 in number) were welcome as they required hardly a minute per question and were quite simple.
The overall break-up of the questions was as follows:
| Topic | Description | Qns. | Level |
| Symbol based family tree | X+Y -X is mother of Y…. | 1 | Easy |
| Clocks | No. of times 2 hands meet in 24 hours | 1 | Easy |
| Matrix Arrangements | 5 people A, B, C... And 5 professions Pharma, Bank… | 1 | Easy |
| Family Tree | Family of 6 A, B, C are males & R, S, T are females | 1 | Moderate |
| Series (Completion) | N2WF, LT3G… | 1 | Easy |
| Matrix Arrangements (set) | 6 girls Shobha, Sayali, Rupa…6 institutes… | 4 | Easy-Moderate |
| Set Theory (set based) | No. of people passing in English, GK and Math | 4 | Easy |
| True/False statement (set) | NICE, MICE, RICE belonging to JIM, SIM & LIM | 2 | Easy-Moderate |
| Circular Arrangement | 6 Germans and 6 Americans on 2 different tables | 5 | Moderate-Difficult |
| Linear Arrangement | 3 females A,B,E and 4 males C,D,F,G in a line | 2 | Easy-Moderate |
| VERBAL REASONING | No. of people passing in English, GK and Math | 4 | Easy |
| Analogies | Vertex: pyramid, Piety: Pilgrim | 2 | d/m |
| Critical Reasoning | What is the conclusion/supporting statement | 2 | e/e |
| 3 statements & 4 conclusions (Venn diagram based) | Which conclusion follows? | 1 | e |
| Statement and 3 assumptions | Which assumptions are implicit? | 2 | m/m |
| Statement and 2 conclusions | Which conclusion follows? | 1 | e |
Ideally, one should have allotted 45 minutes to this section and solved about 22-24 questions with about 85% accuracy.
This section contained a healthy mix of questions from various areas (politics, government, awards and personalities, sports, literature, etc…) There were about 31 questions based on static GK and 9 based on current affairs. Most questions (25) were based on world affairs, while 15 had to do with national affairs/events. About 12 questions would have been very simple for someone who had prepared for SNAP GK, 13 would have been moderately challenging and about 15 would have been tough. So, in 10-15 minutes, students should have been able to attempt 18-20 questions with about 70% accuracy.
We expect the cut-offs for SIBM to be about 105 marks and for SCMHRD to be about 95 marks.