---------------Select One Exam------------------- AIMS Test for Management Admission Common Admission Test Common Entrance Test (MAH) Faculty of Management Studies Integrated Common Entrance Test Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Institute of Rural Management Anand Joint Management Entrance Test Madhya Pradesh Management Entrance Test Management Aptitude Test Narsee Monjee Aptitude Test Symbiosis National Aptitude Test Tamil Nadu Common Entrnace Test Tata Institute of Social Sciences Xavier's Admission Test

Institute of Rural Management Anand is India's premier institute which offers post graduate programme in Rural Management and that has been set up in 1979.

IRMA is usually conducted on second Sunday of November every year. It is usually the first exam to come up in the season just before the Common Admission Test (CAT).

Application forms for Post Graduation in Rural Management 2010-12 and Fellow Program in Rural Management 2010 will be available during August-September 2009.

IRMA was established in 1979 at Anand, Gujarat with a view that it will help professionalising the management of rural organisations, thus matching the specific but unmet needs of the sector with the formal techniques and skills of management professionals.

India is one of the important agricultural producers in the world. Its developing rural economy calls for professional management. IRMA promotes this professional management of rural organizations through four inter-related activities of education, training, research and consultancy. Hence the core of IRMA’s operation philosophy is to build and sustain a partnership of eco-friendly and equitable socio-economic development between rural people and committed professional managers.

Overview of the IRMA Paper
Time	2 Hr.
Total no. of questions	200.
Negative marking	¼.

IRMA follows an orthodox paper pattern with hardly any variations as has been noticed in the past few years. This year’s paper too showed no extreme fluctuations, so the students were not unduly perturbed.

The IRMA test is designed to fathom the genuineness of a student to pursue Rural Management.

The test had 200 questions and the time allotted was 120 minutes.

Each right answer was assigned 1 mark and carried negative marking of ¼ for a wrong answer. There were four sections. Each question had five answer choices.

The crux of the paper was based on rural development and its management hence it was assumed that most of the questions will be based on similar lines. So, it came as no surprise that the Reading Comprehension passage was a speech on inflation affecting rural economy, by the former RBI Governor Y.V. Reddy. So too, General Awareness focused on schemes and innovations implemented by the government for the farmers as well as small scale industries set up in rural areas.

The four sections in the paper were as follows:
Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation
Analytical Reasoning (Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning)
General Awareness (Issues of social concern)
English Comprehension

Description of sections
S.No.	Sections	Number of Questions	Difficulty Level
1.	Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation	50	Easy
2.	Analytical Reasoning (Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning)	50	Easy to Average
3.	General Awareness	60	Average
4.	English Comprehension	40	Easy to Average
	Total	200

SECTION I: Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation

Optimum speed and clarity of the fundamentals of Mathematics were major requirements for securing a good score in this section.

Sr. No.	Area Tested	No. of Questions	Difficulty Level /remarks
1.	DI: Data Interpretation [4 caselets] (Two tabular forms, one Bar graph, and one Line graph)	20	1. Questions based on tables and bar graphs were easy but those based on line graphs were average. 2. A special feature of the bar graph was that the questions were based on percentages. 3. Questions on table were ratio and counting based.
2.	QA : Arithmetic (CI , SI, percentages, basic numerical calculations)	15	1. All these questions were easier and showed less difficulty in computing. 2. Seven to eight questions were based on the rule of BODMAS which made it easy for the student to solve. 3. The other question types included CI, SI, Profit & Loss, Basic Geometry, Ages & Ratio. Questions based on Time and Work were average.
3.	Series	10	Questions were based on Probability and Permutations and Combinations.
4.	Numbers	5	Basic calculation based questions.

SECTION II: Analytical Reasoning (Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning)

This section comprised questions based on Analytical Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning, Analogies, Coding-Decoding, Implicit statements, Cause and effect. Overall this section seemed deceptively easy to the student but on close inspection the answer options were tricky.

S. No.	Type of questions	No. of Questions	Difficulty Level /remarks
1.	Data Verification	12 (8+4)	Easy
2.	Strengthening & weakening	5	Average
3.	Course of action (Decision making questions)	5	Easy
4.	Matching Caselets (2 caselets)	8	Easy
5.	Odd man out	2	Easy
6.	Analytical reasoning (3 Caselets + 1)	12	Average
7.	Statement Implication	6	Average

SECTION III: General Awareness (Issues of Social Concern)

Though the questions were mainly based on social concerns, they were not factual. A little bit of logic was required to answer these questions correctly. Topics ranged from Rural Planning and Sanitation to current economic concerns like GDP rate.

To confuse the students further, more than one option seemed to be the right answer.

The remaining questions were direct and comparatively easy. Overall, the section was moderately tough.

Some of the questions asked were “Which was the first biologically reproduced crop in India?”

“Who wrote the book 'One week with Gandhi'?”

So a thorough knowledge of even the Arts and Literature was required!

Overall, this section was moderately tough.

SECTION IV: English Comprehension

This section constituted of questions on Reading Comprehension, Fill in the Blanks, Synonyms and Antonyms.

One of the question types was a small passage with 15 questions, 10 of which were multiblanks and 3 were synonyms and 2 were antonyms.

The reading comprehension passage was based on rural conditions influenced by inflation, food prices and climatic changes. The passage was approx. 300 to 350 words. There were 8 questions based on synonyms and antonyms. There were 8 questions based on specific detailed questions, and one question was ‘replacing the introductory line of the passage’. The remaining 8 questions were based on a highlighted portion of the passage.

Most of the questions did not require an in-depth reading of the passage as they could be directly found from the passage. This saved a lot of precious time.

Graduate with a minimum of 15 years (10+2+3) of education having 50% (45% for SC/ST/PWD) aggregate marks or an equivalent GPA from a recognized Indian or Foreign University/Institution are eligible to apply. The percentage of aggregate marks is to be calculated as per the practice followed by the concerned University/Institution. Final year students, who expect to obtain 50% aggregate marks and will complete all the requirements of graduation before June 09, 2008 can also apply. Only Indian nationals are eligible to apply.

No. It is not necessary that students need to be from premier colleges. You get into a B-school on the basis of your performance in the entrance exams conducted by the B-schools themselves.

MBA, being a master's degree, requires the aspirant to be a graduate. That means, you must have a Bachelor's Degree from any university incorporated by an act of the Central or State government of India, any other educational institution established by an act of Parliament or any institution deemed as such under section 3 of the UGC Act 1956. This also includes any equivalent qualification recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India. Your Bachelor's Degree or equivalent qualification must have covered a minimum of three years of education after completing higher secondary schooling, which is a total of 10+2+3 years.

In simple terms, IRMA tests managerial abilities in a candidate through Mathematics and English. This means that you will be required to interlink concepts in order to solve a particular problem. Your ability to apply concepts to practical situations is what will be tested.

Once you start taking section tests and comprehensive tests, it becomes important to analyze each of the tests that you take. This will help identify the areas/topics that you are weak at and still need brushing up before you take the next test.

1. Analyze your area-wise/topic-wise performance to identify potential areas for improvement.

2. Work on the identified areas, through determined practice using

Concept Books
Section Tests and Comprehensive Tests

After you take each test, do analyze it well. Analysis would take a lot of time, do not take this as a waste of time, and instead convert this into a learning process. For all correct answers, compare your method with the Explanatory Answers, check if you can attempt it faster and practice the new method, if any. For all incorrect answers, reattempt the questions with no time limits. You need to understand as to why did you make the mistake was it conceptual/silly mistake/incorrect interpretation. Learn from your mistakes and ensure that you do not commit them in future.

The areas that are tested in English are verbal ability, reading comprehension and composition skills. This means that you need to build an overall aptitude in English. Good command over English language is a must in order to succeed in IRMA. In fact, you will observe that you need good English even to attempt the quantitative and data interpretation sections.

Reading a newspaper like The Times of India / The Hindu, a business daily like The Economic Times / Business Standard and political and business magazines should become a daily habit for all IRMA applicants. Further,

Read any section in the newspaper, especially the editorial one.

Timing yourself while reading is important. You should be able to read 200 to 250 words a minute.

Write a summary (about 100 to 150 words) every day on the topic you have read. It will help in building    your thought process which is crucial in IRMA.

Make a note of the difficult words and look up their meanings from the Oxford English dictionary. Try    and maintain a notebook/prepare flash cards that you can go through in your free time.

Reading would also help you keep updated on the events going around thus building on your general awareness that would be helpful during the group discussion and personal interview rounds.

It is very important to be honest in your application forms. Do not fill any information that is untrue. Certain questions in the forms ask you about Career Goals, Strengths, Weaknesses, etc. They are deliberately there to help the B-school know a little bit more about you and are often referred to during the interview. It is highly recommended to keep a photocopy of every form that you fill so that you can revise what you have written before the interview.

Percentile: Percentile indicates student's relative performance position among the total students who took the exam.

Percentage: The % score represents normalized percentage of scores secured by the candidate. It is a relative method of representing the score. This is not the actual % score.

For example: A 99 percentile means that the student is among the top 1 percent of the population who took the exam.

No. One needs to keep in mind that cut-offs are only one of the many evaluation tools that the B Schools use to shortlist candidates. The other prominent factors are past academic performance, work experience if any, extra curricular activities and achievements, etc.

Work experience is not mandatory criteria for making it to any B-Schools. However, having work experience does add to your profile. None the less, you need to prove your worth at the time of the GD/PI rounds. This implies that the panel needs to be convinced about what you have learnt at the job and contributed positively to the organization. The way you present yourself and your approach towards the questions plays a vital role in the outcome of your interview. Remember, you will be pitched against the best minds during the GD/PI rounds. So you need to be at your best to make sure you get the final call.

The test has 200 questions and the time allotted is 120 minutes.

Cut-off marks for the selection of candidates for attending PI and GD for PRM 2008-10 :

Particulars	IRMA 2006 actual cut-off
	General Category marks (%)	SC/ST & PwD Candidates marks (%)	Sponsored Candidates marks (%)
Analytical Reasoning (Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning)	20 (40%)	18 (36%)	10 (20%)
Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation	20 (40%)	18 (36%)	10 (20%)
English Comprehension	16 (40%)	14 (35%)	08 (20%)
Issue of social concern	15 (25%)	13.2 (22%)	12 (20%)
Overall cut-off	80 (40%)	72 (36%)	40 (20%)
EXPECTED OVERALL CUT-OFFS 2009-11 (Written Test)
With a score of 95+, you can expect a call from IRMA
With a score of 80+, you can expect a call from XIMB (RURAL MGMT.)

Then overall cut-off for all the categories for the year 2009-11 is as below :

Final result for admissions to PRM 2009-11 has been announced. The table below shows cut-off score
Components	Cut-off Score for different categories
	General	SC/ST & PwD	Sponsored
Written Test (50)	-	-	-
Personal Interview (40)	18.00	15.00	15.00
Group Discussion (10)	4.50	3.60	3.20
Total Score (100)	50.00	40.00	40.00

 Placements for 2006-08:

- Minimum salary : NA
- Maximum salary : 10.61 LPA
- Average salary : 6.13 LPA