NDA Exam I 2016: How to Crack in two months
Preparation Strategy for National defence Academy & Naval Academy (NDA & NA) 2016
Exam Date – 17 April’16
One of the most prestigious, glorious and respected careers in our country is to join defence forces. Youngsters can fulfil all their professional expectations by choosing a career of challenges, excitement, and adventure as a ‘Commissioned Officer’ in defence. Armed Forces in our country consist of mainly four professional uniformed services: The Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Indian coast guard. There are various paramilitary inter-service organizations exist in our country as helping hand to the Indian Armed Forces. Indian army is worlds third largest and its soldiers are considered best in high altitude battles. The management of the armed forces (world’s third largest) is under the Ministry of Defence or central government.
Exam Date – 17 April’16
One of the most prestigious, glorious and respected careers in our country is to join defence forces. Youngsters can fulfil all their professional expectations by choosing a career of challenges, excitement, and adventure as a ‘Commissioned Officer’ in defence. Armed Forces in our country consist of mainly four professional uniformed services: The Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Indian Navy, Indian coast guard. There are various paramilitary inter-service organizations exist in our country as helping hand to the Indian Armed Forces. Indian army is worlds third largest and its soldiers are considered best in high altitude battles. The management of the armed forces (world’s third largest) is under the Ministry of Defence or central government.
The National Defence Academy (NDA), which is located at Khadakwasla near Pune, Maharashtra is the first tri-service academy in the world where cadets of three services (Army, Navy and Air Force) get training together before their pre-commissioning training in respective service academies. The recruitment of applicants to the NDA is done by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) by conducting the written exam followed by extensive interviews. After clearing all rounds in the interview, the final merit list is prepared and the selection is done after the medical process and document verification. Applicants to join the Air Force go through a Pilot Aptitude Battery Test.
The focus of the present article is to provide some tips to help candidates to qualify the written examination of NDA which is conducted twice in a year i.e. NDA (I) on 17th April, 2016 and NDA (II) on 18th September 2016. Point wise guidelines/ strategies to prepare for the exam are as follows:
1.Motivation: Keep yourself motivated which is the internal drives to accomplish a goal and it makes people to work. Points which motivate a candidate to join armed forces may be the personal satisfacton and pride, professional advancement, job security and economic stability, postretirement benefits etc.
The focus of the present article is to provide some tips to help candidates to qualify the written examination of NDA which is conducted twice in a year i.e. NDA (I) on 17th April, 2016 and NDA (II) on 18th September 2016. Point wise guidelines/ strategies to prepare for the exam are as follows:
1.Motivation: Keep yourself motivated which is the internal drives to accomplish a goal and it makes people to work. Points which motivate a candidate to join armed forces may be the personal satisfacton and pride, professional advancement, job security and economic stability, postretirement benefits etc.
2.Know your Syllabus: The first point to be followed by knowing the syllabus thoroughly. A glimpse of syllabus is given below:
•Paper I (Mathematics): Trigonometry, Algebra, Integral Calculus, Differential Calculus, Analytical Geometry, Probability, Statistics, Matrices and Vector Algebra.
•Paper II:
Part A (English): Basic knowledge of English, skills in comprehension, mistake spotting, synonyms, antonyms, article writing, grammar related questions etc.
. Part B (General Knowledge): Includes Physics, Chemistry, history, general science, geography, current affairs, social studies etc.
Note: the detailed syllabus can be seen from the official website of UPSC.
•Paper II:
Part A (English): Basic knowledge of English, skills in comprehension, mistake spotting, synonyms, antonyms, article writing, grammar related questions etc.
. Part B (General Knowledge): Includes Physics, Chemistry, history, general science, geography, current affairs, social studies etc.
Note: the detailed syllabus can be seen from the official website of UPSC.
3.Know the pattern of written exam: The knowledge of pattern of any examination is also important to prepare well. The written examination is MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) type. 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 brief pattern of both papers is given below:
Papers I: The mathematics paper is of 300 marks (120 MCQs) of duration 2.5 hr.
Paper II: This paper comprises of two section i.e. Section A and Section B. The section A is of English (200 marks, 50 MCQs) and Section B (400 marks, 100 MCQs) is of general knowledge.
All questions are multiple choice questions type and contain negative marking for the wrong answers.
4.Preparation of notes: Always prepare in advance. After knowing the syllabus, collect books and notes and start preparing. One has to be disciplined and show dedication towards studies in order to pass NDA exams. One can also refer preparation sources like e-books, online preparation, online groups, blogs, social networking (Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp etc) etc. Make your personal point-wise notes which will help you for understanding the subject and these can be referred whenever required. Subject wise preparation tips are follows:
Papers I: The mathematics paper is of 300 marks (120 MCQs) of duration 2.5 hr.
Paper II: This paper comprises of two section i.e. Section A and Section B. The section A is of English (200 marks, 50 MCQs) and Section B (400 marks, 100 MCQs) is of general knowledge.
All questions are multiple choice questions type and contain negative marking for the wrong answers.
4.Preparation of notes: Always prepare in advance. After knowing the syllabus, collect books and notes and start preparing. One has to be disciplined and show dedication towards studies in order to pass NDA exams. One can also refer preparation sources like e-books, online preparation, online groups, blogs, social networking (Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp etc) etc. Make your personal point-wise notes which will help you for understanding the subject and these can be referred whenever required. Subject wise preparation tips are follows:
•Mathematics: The paper of mathematics may be considered as a scoring one where you cannot go with the attitude of last minute reading or glance. Only practice can make candidates competitive here. General topics to be covered in this paper are number system, HCF/LCM, decimal fractions, percentage, average, ratio and proportions, problems on Ages time and distance, Simple and Compound Interest, profit and loss, probability, mensuration, mean, median & mode, algebra, geometry, trigonometry etc. The weightage of Trigonometry and Mensuration is generally more followed by statistics. Learn the shortcuts, when it comes to Mathematics.
•English: In the general pattern of English, there are antonyms/synonyms, comprehensive passages, spotting the errors, jumbled sentences, ordering of sentences, sentence improvement, fill in the blanks with appropriate words. By following a planned approach, one can easily clear the examination. Apart from studying English grammar books, regular reading of English newspapers, watching English news channels helps a lot. Synonyms/antonyms of words must be practices to score marks in English Section. One can use social networking (Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp etc). Extensive reading is the way to score in English section.
•General knowledge: As far as paper of general knowledge is concerned, students of all streams have equal opportunities here. Usually, it consists of science, current affairs, geography, polity, history. Clear your basics of science (Physics, chemistry and biology) by using any basic science books. Thoroughly read the basic books of geography (Physical features of India- Mountains, Rivers, their deltas and estuaries etc.), polity (Indian constitution), economics (5 year plans, economic terms, Census etc.) and history (Ancient, Medieval and Modern) which are very interesting too. For, Current affairs, use all resources like magazines, internet, TV and newspapers and always prepare notes, systematically. One should make point wise notes on major economic/budget news, science & technologies news, inventions and discoveries, who is who, sports, currencies, books and authors, awards and honors, abbreviations, important days, organizations (national and international), government schemes etc.
•English: In the general pattern of English, there are antonyms/synonyms, comprehensive passages, spotting the errors, jumbled sentences, ordering of sentences, sentence improvement, fill in the blanks with appropriate words. By following a planned approach, one can easily clear the examination. Apart from studying English grammar books, regular reading of English newspapers, watching English news channels helps a lot. Synonyms/antonyms of words must be practices to score marks in English Section. One can use social networking (Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp etc). Extensive reading is the way to score in English section.
•General knowledge: As far as paper of general knowledge is concerned, students of all streams have equal opportunities here. Usually, it consists of science, current affairs, geography, polity, history. Clear your basics of science (Physics, chemistry and biology) by using any basic science books. Thoroughly read the basic books of geography (Physical features of India- Mountains, Rivers, their deltas and estuaries etc.), polity (Indian constitution), economics (5 year plans, economic terms, Census etc.) and history (Ancient, Medieval and Modern) which are very interesting too. For, Current affairs, use all resources like magazines, internet, TV and newspapers and always prepare notes, systematically. One should make point wise notes on major economic/budget news, science & technologies news, inventions and discoveries, who is who, sports, currencies, books and authors, awards and honors, abbreviations, important days, organizations (national and international), government schemes etc.
5.Solve previous year’s question papers: Once you feel that you are prepared, refer to previous year’s question papers of NDA exam and find out where you are lacking and again focus on those topics. So, start well in advance, works hard, be determined and dedicated towards studies which will ensure greater success. Solving mock question papers also works.
6.Last minute tips/guidelines: Following tips may help at the last minute:
•Undue stress at the last time can be your biggest enemy which may negatively impact your performance. So, be motivated but stress free and just stay calm.
•It is important to take care of yourself for your brain to function at its best on test day. It is important to be well rested. Make sure to get a good night's sleep before the test to perform at your best.
•Be confident before the exam. If you are well prepared for the exam you will have confidence. It is also related to the stress. Your confidence/good preparations will remove the stress.
•Revision is necessary at the last minute. A wise student will have his own prepared notes on all subjects. Revise you note before the examination. Go through the formulas and tricks again. Revise GK/current affairs notes to just brush up on your points. Remember to take breaks between your revisions to study better and do a lot more revision.
7.Plan your exam day: It is important to plan your day of exam. One can follow following points on the day of exam:
•Get plenty of rest the night before, good sleep is necessary. Eat a healthy and light meal.
•Get to the exam room with time to spare, get settled in and have time to relax before the test starts.
•Time management and planning to solve the question paper is very important to succeed in any exam, so, don’t waste your time on a question which is not known to you; switch to next question and attempt it at last.
•Also, one should read statements of choices carefully before writing the correct option in the box.
•For managing speed, attempt easier questions first and mark the tougher ones for later time.
•If time permits, revise the answers.
Most importantly, be positive, be focused and believe in yourself. Prepare strategically and put in a lot of hard work. You will perform well in the exam and the day will be yours.
6.Last minute tips/guidelines: Following tips may help at the last minute:
•Undue stress at the last time can be your biggest enemy which may negatively impact your performance. So, be motivated but stress free and just stay calm.
•It is important to take care of yourself for your brain to function at its best on test day. It is important to be well rested. Make sure to get a good night's sleep before the test to perform at your best.
•Be confident before the exam. If you are well prepared for the exam you will have confidence. It is also related to the stress. Your confidence/good preparations will remove the stress.
•Revision is necessary at the last minute. A wise student will have his own prepared notes on all subjects. Revise you note before the examination. Go through the formulas and tricks again. Revise GK/current affairs notes to just brush up on your points. Remember to take breaks between your revisions to study better and do a lot more revision.
7.Plan your exam day: It is important to plan your day of exam. One can follow following points on the day of exam:
•Get plenty of rest the night before, good sleep is necessary. Eat a healthy and light meal.
•Get to the exam room with time to spare, get settled in and have time to relax before the test starts.
•Time management and planning to solve the question paper is very important to succeed in any exam, so, don’t waste your time on a question which is not known to you; switch to next question and attempt it at last.
•Also, one should read statements of choices carefully before writing the correct option in the box.
•For managing speed, attempt easier questions first and mark the tougher ones for later time.
•If time permits, revise the answers.
Most importantly, be positive, be focused and believe in yourself. Prepare strategically and put in a lot of hard work. You will perform well in the exam and the day will be yours.
