We all want to build good and successful careers, don’t we? A career in Armed Forces of India is one such glorious, much respected and much sought after career in India. Especially the post of a ‘Commissioned Officer’ is being dreamt of by many Indian youngsters! But getting this dream job is not that easy. First of all, the sheer number of aspirants is too high! Add to that the limited number of seats across various Defence related Academies in India like- NDA (National Defence Academy), IMA (Indian Military Academy), NA (Naval Academy) and AFA (Air Force Academy), you have cut throat competition for seats as a result! Like any other premier academic seat in India, to get into the above mentioned ones and to become an Officer, a candidate has to clear competitive exams! Here, I will share some tips that’ll help you clear the written examination part associated with NDA and CDS (Combined Defence Services) entrance tests.
BLUEPRINT OF THE WRITTEN EXAMINATION
The written examination is MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) styled. Candidates have to use OMR sheets to record their answers. One has to select the right answer from a set of options given with each question.
The examination can be said to be consisting of broadly 3 main parts- Mathematics, English and General Knowledge. Let us see some important facts about these main sections-
MATHEMATICS SECTION-
Includes topics that you’ve faced in 12th standard like- Algebra, Trigonometry, Probability, Permutations and Combinations, Analytical question, Percentage, Profit and Loss, Ratio and proportion etc.
ENGLISH SECTION-
This section is all about testing your English language skills. Expect questions related to mistake spotting, synonyms, antonyms, article writing, grammar related questions, comprehension etc.
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE SECTION-
Covers variety of topics ranging from science to current affairs! Some of the topics are- Indian history, World History and events, Physics, Chemistry, Biology etc.
Now that we have gone through the blueprint and the various different sections of the examination, let us focus on the tips and tricks that will help you score the maximum marks.
USEFUL NDA WRITTEN EXAM TIPS TO HELP YOU CLEAR THE EXAMINATION
#1 Solving previous years’ question papers will help much
If you are really serious about passing the written exam and scoring well in it, consider solving as many question papers that you can lay your hands upon. The trend so far has been that the blueprint of the written examination has not changed significantly over all these years.
The figures in different years’ question papers may be different, but the style of the questions asked each year are the same! Upon solving previous years’ question papers, you’ll come across the ‘style of the questions’. Since the same styled questions are asked in the exam, you won’t have much trouble solving them! This is also a good way to get the necessary ‘exam practice’!
#2 Buy NDA written exam guides
I said before that solving question papers helps. But how would you learn stuff that you come across on the question papers that you don’t know? In such circumstances, guide books, tailor made for NDA aspirants, comes handy!
One of the best guide book is the one published by Arihant Publication house. It usually covers each and every topic associated with the written examination. Also, as an added bonus, it also contains question papers from previous years and the solutions to those papers too in it!
#3 Learn the shortcuts, when it comes to Mathematics
The mathematics part of the exam is a bit tricky. The questions asked in it are analytical and needs to be worked upon to find the solution. As long as you don’t know the shortcut method, it will for sure take much time and efforts to find the right answer. This often results in waste of time and marks!
Learning the shortcut methods using the guide book will help you save time. This will eventually help you attend all the questions asked in the paper.
#4 Time management is of key importance
It is all about managing the time that has been allotted in a good manner. Try mastering the shortcut methods and save time. Don’t waste time solving a question that you don’t have any idea about. Instead of that, move on to the next question. Always keep an eye on your wrist watch.
#5 Beware of negative marking
Like almost all the MCQ styled entrance tests, this examination also has the ‘negative marks’ system. As per this system, each wrong question attempted by the candidate will result in 0.25 marks being deducted from the grand total!
This means that 4 wrong answers can get 1 mark deducted from your score! Thus, keeping this negative marking system in mind, never go for wild guesses while answering the question paper.