SocialScience4U: February 2021

Que) I am a very hardworking student and and could study 8 to 10 hours per day, Still, I couldn't crack many competitive exams, Why??? What are the major differences between rankers and Non-Rankers (Who couldn't crack Major competitive exams ) if both categories do the same work and study the same resources?

Ans) Very interesting question. Most of the students either underestimate or overestimate themselves. They don't know the real difference between academic and competitive exams. Very few only they can assess correctly about themselves and exam .unfortunately we always try to judge /assess /estimate others except ourselves.

Coming to your question - All aspirants are reading the same books and the same materials & more or less the same level of teaching/coaching ( No major difference ), still very few only crack exams.

Let us understand in detail.

With the value of the Internet and Online Study Guidance, almost everyone has the same resources and books. But still only a few successfully clear the exam. This depends totally on the way they study and their mentor.

15 Rules for success is as follows :

(1) Very few students only able to understand the pattern and demand of the examination exactly. This requires a clear understanding of the pattern of questions (Not type of questions ). What exactly the examiner test from a student?

(2) They read newspapers religiously every single day without fail. Usually make their short notes.

They know what to read and what not to read.

(3)Minimum resources and maximum revision is the mantra for success. Even this fact knows most of us, but they pick up more and more books ..they feel they don't want to miss anything.. Unfortunately, students also like imaginary words and fast success formulas A mentor always should be a ranker should know all subjects completely must be highly experienced to handle thousands of students( of course, they should spend time with students..).

(4) They never ignore basic resources such as NCERT books, baic books, self made notes etc. The student who relies on guides and notes made by others - can succeed, but never becomes a ranker

(5) They solve test papers before the actual exam. Be it Prelims or Mains. They do answer writing practice for 6 to 7 months before the exam

Usually, they attempt all questions (even with average answers).

(6)They don’t do Ph.D. on one topic. Serious aspirants try to touch all topics but don't spend excessively on a single topic. More love towards the subject - More research they do the more dangerous it becomes. But very tough to know up to what extent we should go and stop....real challenge

(7)They choose their optional based on their interest and not based on popularity. They avoid herd mentality. A lot of factors need to be considered. Choosing the right option is also a crucial factor

(8) There are innumerable ways to crack ( Not that every successful person fallow the same strategy - But they follow the standard rule of study ) But very close monitoring and quality teaching required to avoid mistakes.

(9) They compete with themselves and not with others. This is their source of motivation.

Self-motivation - Self-comparison - target-based study - performance improvement.

(10) They do better time management. They make a study schedule and stick to it. More consistent The study schedule ensures that they are in the right direction of preparation.

Successful candidates log off from social media, enjoyments, etc. In reality, they avoid all distractions. Of course, Some relaxation and enjoyment are always permitted.

(11) They focus on their work i.e. preparation rather than results, cut-off marks, number of seats, optional removal, and so on.

They keep working on their weak areas and thus keep improving.

Their target is expected cut-off marks. For example if 110 is a high side target - they target min 120 marks in the mock test. They always try to achieve 120 min marks and work accordingly. No matter how many students appearing, how many toppers appearing etc.

Single person - Single job - single preparation - Single mentor - single comparison - single target.....no tension - no hurry - no worry...

(12) They focus more on words rather than sentences while reading books. "How to read a book is an art ". This is crucial. Everybody reads the same book and attends the same teacher class - Still few only crack...

(13) Review mechanism is very important. for each wrong question, students have to review very closely and categorize mistakes and minimize the errors. It is called 'back engineering'. Writing a mock test is only 2 to 3 hours. .to review the same paper may take min 6 to 10 hours ( For real review)..more practice is not required. Effective practice with the review is important.

(14 ) Monitoring the performance is the key factor. Monitoring in every aspect is essential.

(15) They start preparation from the interview - Mains - Prelims.....maximum students do the reverse ( That's why they fail in mains & interview )

Conclusion: Mentor - Revision - Review - Monitoring is very important.

Same resources - Same teaching - Same hard work - But very few only can crack. Requires perfect strategies and mentor support.....

There is a popular saying that NTSE is a mini IAS and the paper of NTSE Stage II 2019-20 held on 14th Feburary 2021 proved it once again. Both MAT as well as SAT papers were Lengthy, Tough and Tricky. Going by the paper, I am very much sure that 30-40% students would not have been able to appropriatly solve & finish 200 questions in the given time (as negative marking is not there, students would have abruptly attempted all questions & those flukes are going to be a big factor while deciding the cut-off)

Two subjects which somewhere mainly decides the result of NTSE are MAT and Social Science and this time both along with other subjects proved to be a difficult one. There will be a few students only who can claim to score more then 80 marks in MAT paper and above 25 marks in Social Science. This time Science and Maths also proved to be a dent in the cut-off. Many students claimed that those who would have attempted all 20 questions of Maths, would have wasted a lot of time which will not yield any fruitful result. Questions from Science section were upto the level of Class XI, those students who would have opted for Arts or Commerce stream after class X would have attempted most of the questions by fluke only

Though it's too early for prediction of cut off, but still the first view, analysis of paper and the reactions of the students recieved so far, clearly indicates that cut-off will be lesser then previous year's cut-off (deciding factor can be the flukes attempted by students)

Last year's cut-off i.e Cut off of NTSE Stage II 2018-19 were

General Category - 134

OBC - 116

SC - 105

ST - 93

Expected cut-off for NTSE Stage II 2019-20

General Category - 120 to 124

OBC - 100 to 105

SC - 90 to 94

ST - 80 to 83

EWS - 98 to 100