How to prepare for the Bocconi Test?
Thursday, November 7th, 2019
SDA Bocconi Asia Center, formerly MISB Bocconi, is the pan-Asian hub of SDA Bocconi School of management, Italy. Founded in 2012, SDA Bocconi Asia Center offers the International Master in Business (IMB). It is a specialized Master program fully equivalent to a postgraduate program that brings to India the expertise and the international standing of SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy.
Key features of the program are as follows:
- Faculty and Curriculum by SDA Bocconi School of Management, Italy
- Two 11-Month modules including a 4-Month Specialization Semester in Milan, Italy
- Ideal for freshers & Young Professionals up to 5 Years of Work Experience
- Tuition waivers and Scholarships on Merits only
Now, I will come to the main reason behind writing this post. While there are a lot of MBA entrance exams like CAT / XAT / SNAP that you can attempt to get into good MBA colleges, there are lesser known options which the students can search and explore.
One of those not so popular options is the Post Graduate Diploma in Business Analytics course offered by IIM-C / IIT-KGP / ISI. They conduct their own test for the same.
SDA Bocconi Asia Center also has its own test to select candidates for its flagship program. They accept students based on the scores of any of the following exams (For 2019 Intake):
- CAT scores – 2018/2019
- NMAT By GMAC 2018/2019
- GMAT & GRE taken after Jan 1, 2017
If you have taken any one of the above exams, you are not required to attempt the Bocconi Test. However, you can only improve your chances of admission by attempting the test.
If you have a good score you can opt to submit your application according to the below deadlines:
R1 – November 20th, 2019
R2 – January 20th, 2020
R3 – March 20th, 2020
R4 – May 20th, 2020
Structure of the Bocconi Test
The Bocconi Test may be a different kind of exam than what you’ve experienced in the past. The test is computer adaptive, features a constantly updated question bank and has no negative markings. You can take the test from your own computer at home. However, you have to share your web-camera & screen to be supervised by the admissions team.
The fees for Bocconi Test are included in the application fees itself. You don’t have to pay an additional amount for the test.
It is a 70-minute test which is divided into three sections:
- Verbal Reasoning
- Numerical Reasoning
- Inductive Reasoning
Let’s talk about the sections in a bit more detail.
Verbal Reasoning in Bocconi Test
This is the first section in the exam. It is of 20 minutes and you are supposed to attempt 20 questions.
In a verbal reasoning test, you are usually provided with a passage of text followed by one or more statements. In the example below, determine whether each statement is true or false, or whether you cannot say, given the information in the passage:
A – True (the statement follows logically from the information or opinions contained in the passage)
B – False (the statement is logically false from the information or opinions contained in the passage)
C – Cannot say (cannot determine whether the statement is true or false without further information)
Solved Example:
“Many organisations find it beneficial to employ students over the summer. Permanent staff often wish to take their own holidays over this period. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for companies to experience peak workloads in the summer and so require extra staff. Summer employment also attracts students who may return as well-qualified recruits to an organisation when they have completed their education. Ensuring that the students learn as much as possible about the organisation encourages interest in working on a permanent basis. Organisations pay students on a fixed rate without the usual entitlement to paid holidays or bonus schemes.”
Statement 1: It is possible that permanent staff who are on holiday can have their work carried out by students.
A – True B – False C – Cannot Say
Statement 2: Students in summer employment are given the same paid holiday benefit as permanent staff.
A – True B – False C – Cannot Say
Statement 3: Students are subject to the organisation’s standard disciplinary and grievance procedures.
A – True B – False C – Cannot Say
Statement 4: Some companies have more work to do in the summer when students are available for vacation work.
A – True B – False C – Cannot Say
The correct answers to the above questions are:
1 – A, 2 – B, 3 – C, 4 – A
Numerical Reasoning in the Bocconi Test
This is the second section of the Bocconi Test. It is of 25 minutes and you are supposed to attempt 25 questions in it.
In a numerical reasoning test, you are required to answer questions using facts and figures presented in statistical tables. In each question you are usually given a number of options to choose from and you have to pick the right one. These questions are pretty much like the Data Interpretation questions you have attempted in various exams. The key to solving these questions is estimation, approximation, and calculation. While they do require thinking and a basic application of reasoning but these sets are typically heavy on data and that’s what they tend to focus on.
Let us look at an example on the same.
The table given below shows the ‘Amount Spent on Computer Imports’
Question 1: In Year 3, how much more than Italy did Germany spend on computer imports?
- 650 million
- 700 million
- 750 million
- 800 million
- 850 million
Question 2: If the amount spent on computer imports into the United Kingdom in Year 5 was 20% lower than in Year 4, what was spent in Year 5?
- 1,080 million
- 1,120 million
- 1,160 million
- 1,220 million
- 1,300 million
Answers for the above questions are:
Answer 1 – To answer this question, you need to look at the figures from Germany and Italy for Year 3 in the ‘Amount Spent on Computer Imports’ graph. Germany spent 1,400 million Euros and Italy spent 700 million Euros. To work out how much more Germany spent than Italy, simply calculate the difference (1,400 million – 700 million), which leaves 700 million euros.
Therefore, the answer is b.
Answer 2 – To answer this question, you need to look at the figures from the UK in Year 4 from the ‘Amount Spent on Computer Imports’ graph. From here, we can see that 1,400 million euros was spent in Year 4. To calculate the amount spent on computer imports in Year 5, we need to calculate 20% of 1,400 million:
1,400 (million) x 0.20 = 280 million (this is 20% of 1,400 million)
1,400 million – 280 million = 1,120 million
Therefore, the answer is b.
Inductive Reasoning in the Bocconi Test
This is the third and the final section in the exam. It is of 25 minutes and you are supposed to attempt 25 questions in it.
Given below are some sample questions that can help you understand this section a bit better.
The answers for these questions are:
1 – E
In this example, there are two rules to follow. The first is that the centre of the circle follows the pattern that alternate circles have a dot in the centre. Following this rule, the next diagram in the sequence does not have a dot in the centre. Therefore, the correct answer must be C or E. The second rule is that the arrows change the direction that they point from up to down to back up again. Following this, the next diagram in the sequence must contain an arrow that points down.
2 – D
In this example, there are two rules to follow. The first is that the semi-circle and semi-rectangle swap positions. Following this rule, the next diagram in this sequence will contain a semi-rectangle on the left side of the pattern and a semi-circle on the right side of the pattern. Therefore, the correct answer is C, D or E. The second rule is that small black square rotates clockwise. Following this pattern, the next diagram will contain a small back square at the bottom of the box.
3 – C
In this example, there are two rules to follow. The first is that the circle rotates around the inside of the hexagon in an anti-clockwise direction. Following this rule, the next diagram will have a circle in the top corner of the hexagon. Therefore, the answer must be D. This can be confirmed by following the second rule that the black triangle alternates position from the bottom left of the hexagon to the top right and back to the bottom left again. Following this pattern, the next diagram must contain a black triangle in the top right corner of the hexagon.
I hope you find this post helpful and share with your friends. Do let us know if you have any follow up questions about Bocconi Test. Also, you can watch this video which will help you to prepare you better for the Bocconi Test.
Regards,
Ravi Handa,
Founder, www.handakafunda.com
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