TIPS TO PREPARE FOR MA ECONOMICS ENTRANCE

 

A lot of people ask me similar questions regarding preparation for entrance exams for MA/MSc Economics in India. In this article, ISI MA Economics entrance coaching by Deep School of Economics is sharing with you some pieces of advice for MA economics entrance aspirants as follows:-

1.             Do Less:

You don’t have to do more in order to clear this entrance. More means, you don’t have to do every book you get your hands on, you can’t.

2.             Do Less But Be Consistent:

How much less, is less? 5 questions per day. Can’t  you solve 5 questions per day of each subject? How difficult is that? Ask yourself this question. It is not difficult  today, but it will become difficult , few weeks later, become very difficult, few months later and become impossible, oneor two months before the exam. Always remember, consistency is the key.

3.             Twist the Questions yourself :

How do you think examiners make questions ? They also pick up questions from books or huge online resources but they tweak them, twist them. You can also do that. You have done 5 questions today, now twist them, change some variable, some constant, some assumption and look, can you answer your own questions. If you do this step  properly, then you are on the way to success.

4.             Do Not Compare yourself With Anyone:

You see your friend solving and doing questions faster, and then you get in the deadly trap of judging and condemning yourself, for not being faster and smarter, like him or her. May be you have no idea how much he or she is studying at home, in my experience, I have seen very few students , with such a raw intelligence , that they can successfully get through without studying harder.There can be those souls , but leave them alone.You do, what you have to do. Put this thing in your head , clear and straight, there is no one like you, no one, in this entire world.

5.             Have All Basic Books With you:

You have joined a coaching institute or not, whether they say, their material is sufficient or not, you have to have the basic books with you. If you truly do, all of these books, you can clear this exam. Refer books to follow for Micro, Macro, Maths and Stats.

 

6.             Coaching or non-coaching?

The first question that comes to mind is whether to take coaching for entrance preparation. I would say it totally depends on your aptitude and level of motivation. If you believe you are self-motivated and can maintain the discipline, then by all means go ahead with self-preparation. One test that you could apply is to look through the past years’ entrance papers and see if you can solve at least 5-7 questions without any preparation, using intuition and prior knowledge.

That being said, there are benefits to coaching: one, it helps you maintain a regular study schedule; two, the tips and tricks as well as the test series provided by coaching institutes are quite helpful.

7.             When to start preparing and how much time it takes?

I started taking coaching at the beginning of my third year of undergrad. However, there is no set time to start, and it all depends on your aptitude and your learning curve. You may as well start in your last semester if you believe you need less time to prepare. However, in your second year (assuming a three-year undergrad course), please keep your focus on maintaining a good grade (this is true especially if you are pursuing undergrad from Delhi University; the second year is the heaviest).

Further, if you feel like you cannot prepare along with your degree, and need to take a gap year for preparation, by all means, do so. But keep your focus in that year on preparation and try not to get distracted from your goal.

8.     Ask Doubts :

 If you do not have any doubts, then either of the two possibilities exist, one, you are way too intelligent, whose probability is very low or two, you are not working, whose probabilities very high. If you are seriously working, then you will have doubts, and you should ask your teacher, friend or coach or whosoever, who can solve them.

9.             Have Love For The Subject :

You can’t clear at least this entrance, if you don’t immerse yourself into it, dig deep into it, live it, breathe it and do it. For example , if you see an question anywhere and you think, it is of the level of an entrance exam, you should try to solve it, don’t shirk from your work, don’t be lazy in solving questions, be inquisitive about what will be the answer, be curious to derive mathematical formulas and theorems and you will be on the way of succeeding through this exam.

10.          Do Maths:

If you think you are weak in maths, then be strong , how, by solving and practicing more questions. If you keep on thinking that you are weak in mathematics and don’t do anything about it, what will be the result, you will remain weak.  What  is the solution?  Pick up some basic level maths book and start solving it and keep at it, till you ave solved it completely. If you are planning to give this exam, then believe me, you can’t escape maths. Face it and crush it.

11.          Do More:

 Do less everyday with consistent practice, but cumulatively over the entire course of your preparation , you should have solved several thousand questions. If you think just solving past year papers, will sail you through this exam, then you should start re-examining your assumptions. Your success would be, if you can recognize the pattern of the question in the real exam and that you can do, only if you have practiced enough.

 

12.          Do Past Years Papers:

You cant escape this. You can download past years papers of Delhi School of Economics, Indian Statistical Institute, Jawaharlal Nehru University (SSS) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (SIS) and start solving them.

General Tips

While preparing, don’t get dejected if you are not able to immediately solve all questions on a particular topic. That will come with practice. Focus on conceptual clarity.

It is very important to pick sample question papers and old papers and practice them by timing yourself. Don’t get stuck on one question and waste half an hour in the paper trying to work through that. No one can solve all the questions, the goal is to solve correctly, as many as you can.

Also, make intelligent guesses your forte. It will help a lot!