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9/26/13 Mrunal [Strategy] The Art of Preparing for Aptitude Exams Print

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[Strategy] The Art of Preparing for Aptitude Exams

TheArt of Preparing Aptitude CSAT paper II

1. Rule #1: Maintain a Diary of Mistakes

2. Rule #2: Get your hands DIRTY

3. Rule #3: Know when to give up the fight.

4. The Mock-test SERIES for CSAT

5. Previous Articles on Aptitude

Rule #1: Maintain a Diary of MistakesConsider this equation

x-33=(17/2)

=>2x -33 =17

=>2x=17+33

=>2x=50 hence x=25.

Wrong! The Correct answer is 41.5.

What was the mistake? We multiplied 2 with x, but forgot to multiply 2 with 33.

This is a frequent calculation mistake made by many candidates, But in

CSAT/CAT/IBPS, theyll also give25 as one of the four answers, so people happily

tick 25, come out of the exam hall and boast about how excellently they performed

(mera paper toh bahot acchaa gayaa!).

Then waste 3 months in doingnothing but cut-off

and result date speculation. Come August, enter

your roll number in UPSC website and it says

Sorry! your name doesnt figure in the list of

successful candidates!

Dream is shattered, become Devdas for a few

months, then again gather up courage to re-appear

in the next prelims.

And this Cycle continues because you did not take
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follow the first rule of aptitude preparation, called

Maintaining The Diary of Mistakes

Whatever mistakes you make or tricks that you

discover, while solving the sums at home, do note

them down in your diary. Keep a track of your

progress. Go through this diary before going in the

exam hall.

You dont need to write a lengthy formal note, justa crude line in your own mother-tongue, e.g. for

above mistake:

bracket mein multiplication jaroori

(necessary to multiply in bracket)

In the same way, also check explanations given in

the book and see if your method was faster and

more convenient. Also note down such

discoveries.

Here are few points from myDiary of Mistakes

In Data interpretation, do see its unit: lakhs and crores before ticking answer.

To type 1 to 300 on keyboard: 100-300 got 201 numbers and to type every

number, need 3x keystrokes.

5/4 speed = 4/5 time. So 1-4/5= 1/5 of original minutes are saved.

20% discount on stock, getting 15% on face value, yield always remains the

same. 15/80=18.75, irrespective of investment.

Join midpts of rectangle= rhombus

^these may not make any sense to you, because this is my personal diary out of my

field-adventures. Youve to set out on your own adventurous journey and maintain a

diary like this.

.

Rule #2: Get your hands DIRTY

To actually write a diary, youve to walk on a lengthy field trip. If you just read

the solved-sums in the book, it is not going to help you.

Reading the sums will only help you memorize the formula and the procedure

involved in solving the sum. It will by no means, save you from making silly

mistakes in the actual exam.

You cannot know what type of silly mistakes youll make in the exam, unless you

make them at home.

So, When you make mistake at home, dont feel sad or guilty about it, take it in a
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positive sense:

Now Im less likely to make that mistake in the exam! So by making the mistake, Ive

increased y winning chances.

Aptitude cannot be learned by reading the books, youve to get your hands dirty

by calculating the sums on your own.

Rule #3: Know when to give up the fight

Youre doing a sum on permutations, you do

calculations, but your answer doesnt match

any of the 4 given options.

You recheck the multiplications, still no help.

Then you start from scratch again, trying adifferent approach and logic to the same

question.

In this process 7-10 minutes are wasted and

you dont even realize it.

People get stuck in a sum, they dont leave it,

they keep fighting and calculating again and

again with different angles.

Always keep a wrist watch ready, because they

dont allow mobile phones in the exam hall,

and youve to keep track of time!

If youre not getting the answer, Just leave it

for the end, keep moving forward.

The arrangement questions are very

notorious for this e.g. A is father of B and an

engineer, B is mother of C who is a teacher

and..

Such questions may eat up 10-12-15 minutes

if youre not very careful, because everytime

you dont get the answer, youve to read theentire paragraph one more time.

And there is greed involved, since youre unable to solve previous 20

mathematical sums in the exam, youre under stress. You think you can solve this

sum, so out of the greed, you dont give up and in the process you end up

wasting precious time.

All this happens because you did not follow the two principles: you didnot

maintain a diary and you didnot get your hands dirty.
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Practice is essential.

The Mock-test SERIES for CSAT

March-April is Diwali-season for Delhis coaching classes.

It is their final chance to rob the aspirants, before preliminary exam.

People live in some myth that : One must join a Mock Test Series during thistime.

They join the regular or postal test-series after paying Rs.1500 to 7000

depending on the reputation of the class.

Some request their Delhi-friends to get fax the photocopies.

Some of them so nave they think theyll actually get questions from this in the

UPSC exam.

So if Va*****s test-series asked about the number of countries sharing border

with Burkina Faso, these people will actually mug up the answer, thinking that

itll come in UPSC.

You should keep in mind that UPSC also keeps a track of such test-series andmakes sure that no question comes out of this. Beside the level and style of

UPSC question is just unique in its own way. It is beyond the aukaat of anybody

to actually replicate the toughness and variety of questions of real-CSAT exam.

Besides UPSC has taken only one CSAT, so we dont have enough authentic

questions to build and speculate mock aptitude-questions. What these test-

series peolpe are doing? Just lifting and rephrasing the aptitude questions from

earlier Bank PO, CDS/NDA exams, set up a mock-test and rob 2000-5000

rupees.

Ofcourse such simulated mock tests have their benefits, they gear you up for theexam, they give you practice, you can know about your weak areas. But I dont

really see the logic in demanding 5000 rupees for such mock-tests, this is as

absurd as Kalmadis overcharged sports equipments in CAG.

And I can cite a dozen+ names who cleared prelims earlier without even touching

such series.

Anyways in any case, what is the right time to appear for mock test? Only after

youve completed the topic or the syllabus. Otherwise you wont be able to solve

many questions and itll only add to frustration. And there are enough mock-

questions given at the end of your aptitude books: Arun Sharma, RS Agarwal,

Pearson or any book youre using- Youve truckload of questions in them forpracticing @home.

So get your hands dirty, maintain a diary and get crack the CSAT exam

Previous Articles on Aptitude

all of them can be found at mrunal.org/aptitude
http://mrunal.org/aptitude


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