How I Cracked My NDA Exam (Preparation Tips)

They always said, “No paper is easy or hard; it is the preparation that decides it.” Hi, there!! I hope that you all are well. As we know that the NDA written exam is scheduled for April 18th 2021, and you all are preparing for it with hard work and enthusiasm. Today, being qualifying for the NDA written exam two times, I would like to share some of my tips and experience with you, which might help you in one way or another.

First of all, I want to say that not only for the preparation of the NDA exam but also for any other exam, we should know three things related to paper. First is the exam syllabus for what we have to prepare for as unless and until you will not research proper syllabus, studying hard might also not put you in the right direction.

Second, With appropriate knowledge of the syllabus, one should have a good study material through which he can study and practice. Third and the last is the blueprint of paper which is also vital to decide the time management.

I researched all of this with the help of the Internet and my elder brother. I used NDA book to study for NDA as it contains an overall package of study material from all subjects with sample papers too.

Been from a mathematics background and a JEE student, I didn’t had to put much effort into Maths. I used to do mostly practice questions from NCERT of 11 & 12 class and the books. I had practiced almost all the chapters from the books, including memorizing all the formulas.

I mostly focused on algebra, calculus, and probability questions with more practice as the chances of coming questions from these chapters have always been high in NDA exams. With this preparation, I was able to attempt 110 questions out of 120 in Maths with excellent precision of almost 97 correct among them.

If you want to score well in mathematics, then your basic concepts must be cleared as most of the questions are asked from the formula. You also need to practice a good number of questions because, in maths paper, there is very little time compared to the provided question, so a good practice is necessary. With a good number of questions practiced, the chances of getting questions wrong during paper minimizes.

As far as the General Ability Test is concerned. Been from an English medium school, I didn’t had to put many struggles with the passages and fill in the blanks questions, but there were difficulties while solving errors, antonyms, synonyms, and idioms. I regularly practiced different types of finding error questions from the book so that I could have a good grip over it.

For the synonym, antonym, and idioms, I used to read the common ones, so if something appeared in the paper, I would not leave it. In the paper, I usually did fewer antonyms & synonyms but mainly scored in finding errors, paragraphs, and fill in the blanks. My main aim for English always remained to give quality instead of quantity to avoid negative marking.

I was not good in Social Studies but liked to read and explore history so much. I studied the history from the NDA prep book. Mainly I used to focus on modern history as the chances always remained high for the question to come from that part. I used to read it much time so that I can easily memorize the leader’s movements and the dates. Apart from history, my main focus always remained on geography and less on politics and economics. I used to memorize and read it for 4 to 5 times to settle in my mind, and I would not have much problem during the paper.

I was happy with physics and chemistry because I was a science student, and I didn’t have to hustle much for them, but for biology, one should take help from NCERT of 9th and 10th class and practice a large number of questions from the NDA prep book. These were the strategies that one could follow while studying. Apart from studying, there are also individual factors that one should focus on because there is always a difference between hard work and smart work.

There should be a proper schedule of time-table as it gives adequate knowledge of study and keeps us up to date about the completion of the syllabus. I have also practiced the previous year’s paper as it gives you a sharp insight into the type of question that will come in the paper and the real-time experience. Revision is a must when you study as we cannot rely upon that just if we read it, we will remember it.

It would help if you revised it several times to make it till paper inside your mind. You can make short notes of the formula, dates, and other events so that you can see them during the last time, or when you need to do a small revision as it is always helpful to keep such notes.

During the mathematics paper, there should be proper time management strategy in your mind, and you have to avoid sticking on the same question for a long time and try to solve most of them as possible. Last and the important thing is that avoid making guesses in between the paper as it is dangerous.

That was my insight into the paper. I wish it was helpful for you.

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