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 NTSEs 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 years NTSE papers: The
objective is understand the type of questions asked and your current
level. I suggest that you take last years 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.

Finally, you can write to SchoolCountry team for some FREE practice
questions on NTSE and other talent search exams. Hope this has been
useful. I would be happy to personally advice on any aspect, if I can.
- See more at:
http://schoolcountry.com/blog/post/2011/08/17/How-to-prepare-for-NTSE-L
et-an-NTSE-scholar-guide-you.aspx#sthash.Dy6LKrfi.dpuf