How to prepare for NTSE: Let an NTSE scholar guide you

NTSE preparation is bound to get you confused. What to read and what to leave? How to practice for NTSE? How much to practice? Should we also do class-9 course material? If I am from a state board, do I need to prepare differently for NTSE? SchoolCountry brings to you the definitive guide to NTSE preparation directly from an NTSE Scholar. 

NTSE or National Talent Search Examination is a 2 stage examination. This article will focus on preparation for NTSE’s stage-1 written exam that is conducted at the state level every year in 3rd week of November. You can download the application forms for NTSE 2013 from here.

 

What is NTSE stage-1 exam

Stage 1 exam is a written exam conducted at the state level. It has 2 papers, namely MAT and SAT

• MAT or Mental Aptitude Test is a written test where in you need to answer 100 questions of mental ability in a span of 90 minutes. Maximum marks is 100 i.e. each question of 1 mark and qualifying mark is 40 for general category students while 32 for reserved category students. 
• SAT or Scholastic Aptitude Test is a written exam again of 90 minutes duration with 100 question to be answered. Of these 100 questions, 40 are on Science, 40 are on Social Science and remaining 20 are on Maths. Each question is a multiple choice question where you need to identify 1 correct answer out of 4 options. Again the max marks is 100 and qualifying marks are 40 and 32 for general and reserved category students respectively.

What is the course for NTSE

Although there is no set syllabus for NTSE, the SAT usually follows your school curriculum. From 2013, NTSE will conducted for class 10 students. Hence the syllabus for SAT would include maths, physics, chemistry, biology, history, civics, geography and general awareness topics. The topics are those that you would have covered till class 9 and partially in class 10. 

How should you prepare for NTSE

MAT and SAT carry equal weight in NTSE exam. There it is critical to give due time to both the papers while preparing. Some of us tend to overdo preparation of 3 subjects but in the process tend to ignore MAT. However it is important to realize that MAT carries more weight than any of the subjects. Here is my advice based on how I prepared for NTSE

• Start your preperation with last year’s NTSE papers: The objective is understand the type of questions asked and your current level. I suggest that you take last year’s paper or good NTSE sample questions and just write the exam once with all seriousness. Does not matter if you have not prepared or never heard of it before. Just sit down and write the test. This will help you gain a knowledge of NTSE and also give you a fair idea of your standing
• Analyze your performance: Make sure to minutely assess what you could do and what you had a hard time with. Is it the knowledge of subject matter that you lacked? Or did you miss out because you made some silly mistakes? Or is it that mental ability questions took a long time for you to crack? Whatever it is, just analyze your performance very minutely and critically
• Make a plan: Once you know your weak points, make a plan. You will definitely need to study and revise the subject matter. That is required not just for NTSE but also for your school. So there is no letting up on that front. You will also need to practice more mental ability questions. But the allocation of time will depend upon your analysis of how weak or strong you are in that particular aspect
• Practice, practice and practice: These are the only 3 steps that can lead to success. Get exposed to more questions of mental ability so that you are not shocked on the exam day, solve more papers and then analyze each one in detail. Take the help of your school seniors. As you practice, you can also get confident of your speed, subject knowledge and accuracy.

You can find detailed NTSE sample questions on all subjects. For more, write to SchoolCountry team for some FREE NTSE papers or practice questions. 

How much time should you devote to prepare for NTSE

This is a very personal aspect. If you ask me, I did not devote much time, ,may be 2-3 hours per week.  But this is personal choice. You can devote more or you can devote less time. Just make sure to be very critical of your performance and minutely assess your progress.

When should I start to prepare for NTSE

Again a very personal aspect but I started preparing around in the month of June i.e. when my summer holidays for class-8 were going on. I got in touch with my seniors who gave some of the above mentioned advice to me. 

I would suggest that the first step in preparation is to get to know all there is to know about NTSE. Also keep in mind about other national level talent search exams like NCO, NSO, KVPY, SSTSE etc that are conducted annually. Since the course content and exam structure is similar, it might be useful to appear in those too. 

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