XAT 2008 Analysis by Time
| No. of Questions | 120 |
| Total Marks | 120 |
| Marking Scheme | 1* |
| Negative marking | ¼ for first 6 wrongs & ½ thereafter* |
| Number of Sections | 3 |
| Number of Choices | 5 |
| Duration | 120 Min + 20 Min for Essay |
*The marks per question was not specified. An assumption of 1 mark per question has been made here.
Snapshot of the XAT 2008 paper
The break up of the XAT 2008 paper and an optimum time allocation strategy are given in the table below.
| Section | No. of Questions | Difficulty level | Optimum Time Allocation |
| Verbal & Logical Ability | 38 | Difficult | 40 |
| Analytical Reasoning & Decision Making | 38 | Moderate | 40 |
| Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability | 44 | Difficult | 40 |
Verbal & Logical Ability
The expected score for this section should be around 8-10 in about 40 min. A score of 16+ should be considered excellent. The cutoff is expected to be around 9-10 for xat 2008 test.
Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability
The expected score for this section should be around 7-9 in about 40 min. A score of 14-15 should be considered excellent. The cutoff is expected to be around 8-9 for xat 2008 test.
Analytical Reasoning & Decision Making
The expected score for this section should be around 9-11 in about 40 min. A score of 15-16 should be considered excellent. The cutoff is expected to be around 10-1 for xat 2008 test.
Estimated Cutoffs for Sections for xat 2008 test
Verbal & Logical Ability - 9-10
Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability - 8-9
Analytical Reasoning & Decision Making - 10-11
Expected Overall Cutoff for xat 2008 test
| Top Institutes | Expected Cutoff in Xat 2008 | Overall Cutoff in 2007 (Percentile) |
| XLRI - BM | 36+ | 97+ |
| XLRI - PMIR | 33+ | 97+ |
| XIM-B | 31+ | 93.12 (88.4 for Orissa Quota) |
| SPJain | 28+ | 85+ |
| GIM | 27+ | 90.10 |
| LIBA | 27+ | 91.5 |
| KIAMS | 25+ | NA |
