We are aware that most students find it a little difficult to manage Quant in the exams. Quant being the most time consuming and difficult for the non maths lovers. The truth is that proper mindset and a bit of hard work can help an aspirant achieve a great score in the section irrespective of his or her past academic background. So we urge all future exam aspirants to get rid of the unnecessary fear and start preparing in a meticulous and confident manner
Many aspirants have missed their dream banking job because they were; somehow, unable to clear sectional cut offs, primarily in quant
So, We bring for you few guidelines and tips to improve your quant and as to how to manage to clear the basic cut off in the exams.
Before we proceed further, lets have a look at the expected Sylabus for the bank exams:
Topics covered in exams:
1) DI- At least 2, 10 marks( Chances of 1 being from missing DI and the others from either line,bar, pie or table)
2) Time and work
3) Time and distance
4) Percentages
5) Profit and loss
6) Averages
7) Ages
8) Ratio and proportion
9) Partnership
10) Mixtures and allegation
11) Mensuration
12) Number series
13) Simplification and Approximation
14) Quadratic Equaions
15) Probability
16) Permutation and Combination
17) Pipes And Cistern
How to Prepare For Quant:
1) Books To Refer To:Believe it or not, if ignoring the printing mistakes and clichés, all the books are just the same. All the same X and Y and all the same calculations. Follow book of Sarvesh K Verma, or Arun Sharma, or of M Tyra, or be it Kiran’s Fast Maths every book will tell you much the same thing!!
You could refer to M tyra and RS Aggarwal to begin with, as you get better you could proceed to Quantam CAT books..
But if you really want to feel mathematics in your veins, learn the basics first. If you know one minutes has 60 seconds, you can simply calculate the number of seconds in 27 minutes is this and if the speed is doubled, you can perform this work in this time. And one more thing, don’t just to short tricks given in books , invent new tricks of your own too! The more you practice, sharper your mind will become. The examiner really isn’t looking for how many tricks you know. He’s looking at how fast you are in arriving at the proper method while solving the question!
2) So Daily 2 hrs of Quant (going up to 3 hrs for weak students) will go a long way in improving your speed. During this time brush up chapter wise concepts along with a lot of practice questions .
Note:
a) Keep a notebook with yourself where you write important points, formulas, short-cuts or important questions that you come across and need to memorize so that you can go through them regularly. This will assist you revisiting the most vital points and formulas on your exam day.
Please be careful while using short cuts in exam, do not use or learn the wrong tricks. If at all you forget them in the exam, then best to do without the trick.
Please be careful while using short cuts in exam, do not use or learn the wrong tricks. If at all you forget them in the exam, then best to do without the trick.
b)Learn tables from 1-30, squares upto 50 and cubes upto as this will help in increasing speed during exam.
3) DI usually dominates the quant section in the exam. So it clearly suggests that you should improve your Calculating speed. Mostly the topics covered in DI are Simplification, Percentages, Profit And Loss, Ratio’s, Averages. So have these topics atleast on your tips, so that you can manage to get straight 10-15 marks based on DI. Make sure you practice 2-3 DI daily without fail.
4) Also you all are aware, Quant is a subject which is very time consuming and best if left for the end and given the lions share of the total time.
5) Speed plays a major role in these competitive exams. You are required to do calculations at lightning speed. It also is a major differentiator between a successful and an unsuccessful candidate. For this learn the tips and tricks of faster calculations from anyVedic mathematics book. You can get hold of the Trachtenberg book for speed mathematics
6) Speed is not build over night, you need to work on it on a daily basis, so try to time yourself even during practice. Give as many mocks as you can. When your are left with handful of days to go, nothing will help you more than writing and analyzing Mock Tests. These tests will provide you with insights, such as Time Management, Selection of Questions and Topics, formulation of an effective strategy to nail the test etc.
7) You must learn to answer questions in less than a minute. In no case should you spend more than 40-45 minutes on this section during the exam. You have other sections to handle too. So, keep a track of the time and stick to the sectional time limit while giving mock tests or solving previous year papers.
8) Patience, confidence, calmness and hard work are traits that will differentiate a successful candidate from an unsuccessful one. These traits can be developed by almost anyone. All you need is the will to practice.
Use the last few days to make a strategy for your self to stick to during the exam, this will give you confidence.
Strategy That One Can Follow In Exam
1) Go for Simplification followed by Approximation first ( 6-8 can be done easily)
These questions are the easiest of all the Quant section. If a student get a good grip on such questions, then he or she can easily do it within 3-4 minutes. If you are taking longer than this, then friends, start practising because these few minutes can save you from a lot of trouble.
2) Then go to the DI”s, they can be your saving glory in exams, but be aware, the moment you encounter a question that requires very lengthy questions, leave them. They are usually trap questions in teh exam, placed to waste your time.
3) If time permits, go for Series or Probability or Miscellaneous
Series and Probability are one of the part of this section which can be done in less time and believe me friends, the time is the real deal in the exam. To surpass others in the exam, you should know what to leave and what to attempt. Out of 10 questions in Series and Probability, 6-7 can be done easily. Again, the time will be the factor in the exam and your attempts will depend on the difficulty as well.
4) Remember this exam is not just a test of your knowledge but rather a test of your managerial skills, i.e. how well you manage your time and use your presence of mind during the exams.
Since time is short therefore do not get attached to any question at any moment in the 1 hour duration, look for questions that click at one go, and come back to the left questions if you are left with time at the end of the section.
5) Don’t give more than 40-45 minutes(includes time taken to scan/mark questions) do the Quant section no matter what. U need to give adequate time to other sections to achieve sectional cutoffs too.
6) Don’t get tensed during the exam. If the questions are difficult/lengthy, they are so for every other candidate. So stay calm at all times, and see how best you can get out of the situation. Do not go with any king of expectations about the number of questions that you need to do, that will only create pressure for you. Just go with a flow, have a strategy at the back of your mind.
7)Don’t be under the impression that you need to do all the questions in the section without sticking to the time-limit. Just stick to the time-limit and maximize the number of attempts within the limit.
” PREPARE FOR THE WORST AND HOPE FOR THE BEST”
Is it possible to do well in a difficult paper?
Absolutely! If not do well but definitely clear the cutoff comfortable, provided you allocate your time smartly and follow the tips given above.
How does an average student appear for such a paper?
An average student should start by doing the topics that he or she is comfortable in first and aim to clear the cut off . Do only those questions in which you are 100% sure in, no guess work at all. Then move to the other types of questions.
How best to deal with a difficult paper?
Well if the level of the paper is difficult, then best to become a scavenger hunting for the easiest possible question and getting over with it first, and then peacefully working out the difficult questions. But make sure that you can differentiate between the difficult that are doable and the one which are not, so use your time judicially and do not exceed the time that you have stipulated for each section.
Good luck!
