“All you have to do, is to take your everyday pencil, and fill up the correct circle. Repeat. 120 times.”
That’s what I was told, a little over a year back, when I went to a counsellor regarding my preparation for SSCBS.
In my school life, I’ve never been at the sharp end of academics, with it culminating with a score of 94.4% in my boards. Yet, the transparent, objective pattern of the DU-JAT entrance examination offered me, and now to you, the perfect chance to shine and show your mettle.
Here you’re not asked to vomit words out, or follow a particular method to solve an integral. Instead it’s just you, your preparation, your strategy, against the clock.
(Oh, and 30,000 other aspirants. No biggie).
But anyway, it’s the easiest entrance you’ll ever give in your life. Neither is the course too extensive, nor is the competition too high, or at least the serious kind. And the rewards are fabulous. Three years in one of the most coveted colleges of India, offering two of the most exclusive and applicable courses. CBS will help you unlock your growth potential, and hold your hand as you find your footing in the upcoming turbulent times.
Reasoning and Analytical Ability is all about speed and accuracy. Your pattern detection powers are built up over the years, and all you need to focus on is to understand how different questions are solved, and practice. The snowball effect is at work here, the more you practice, the higher your accuracy will be, and the quicker you’ll get.
Data Interpretation focuses on your comfort with numbers, hence it’s helpful to know multiplication and division table by heart.
Quantitative Aptitude is divided into the easier elementary portion, and the higher maths portion. For a commerce grad, it’s all about clearing your concepts with the elementary part, taking care with the tougher chapters like Trigonometry and Mensuration, while the Higher Maths portion is all a function of how much you’re in touch with your mathematics a few months after your boards.
Verbal Ability is the dark horse at play. It’s an easy section, but a big differentiator in your marks. You need to revise your grammar concepts (adverbs, prepositions, tenses and such) for which a few hours with a Wren & Martin would suffice. For the Reading Comprehensions, some mock passages are great practice. An accuracy of 80% should be the target. Finally, there are a number of tools available to improve your vocabulary- Word Power, Magoosh app, Flash Cards, and it’s highly recommended to stick to one. I personally found flash cards the most helpful. While extensive reading can help you ingrain new words fully, unlike its counterparts, it’s not effective, especially given the limited timeframe available to you.
General Awareness
The most hyped up section! This is the part where your prior knowledge can make it or break it for you. Focus should rest on Business Awareness portion. Other than the news you should be familiar with names of founders, CEOs, slogans, etc. It never hurts to read up a manorama of the past year, either.
Udit Miglani
Life @ CBS 