36th BCS Preliminary Examination Preparation Strategy: General Science & Technology + Mathematical Reasoning & Mental Ability (Prothom Alo)

With ’emotional intelligence’—that is, by adding a touch of wisdom to your overwhelming desire and passion to join the civil service—make the most of the days ahead. Sitting in front of the public library from morning to evening, feeling pleased that you’ve read so much, but not reading what you actually need—it’s far better to study properly at home for 12 hours and rest during the remaining time. I believe success is a selfish game! ‘Together we will build our dreams’—this doesn’t apply to every aspect of life.

On General Science and Technology:

Keep in mind that your basic foundation in science won’t give you much of an advantage.

The more questions you study, the better.

Go through all the questions in at least three guidebooks or digests.

It’s actually better not to read reference books at this time.

There’s nothing here that requires deep understanding—just read repeatedly. Each additional revision of a topic means at least five extra marks.

Keep an eye on the computer and technology sections in newspapers regularly.

On Mathematics:

When practicing, don’t use extra paper—solve problems in the small spaces next to questions in your guidebooks.

For some questions, instead of doing the full calculation, eliminate two of the four given options and think through the remaining two—you can solve them much faster this way.

To remember shortcut formulas, practice lots of similar math problems.

Practice math continuously. The more you follow the principle of ‘in your head, not on paper,’ the better!

Decide beforehand how much time you’ll spend on each section in the preliminary exam. During model tests, check your watch and see how quickly you can solve all the math problems. Gradually reduce this time.

Don’t use textbooks—instead, solve all the math problems from at least two good guidebooks using shortcuts.

On Mental Ability:

Leave one or two confusing questions unanswered.

Marks in this section depend not on preparation, but on keeping your head cool and your ability to think quickly.

Go through four sets of guidebooks, and if possible, solve the analytical section questions from Dhaka University’s evening MBA entrance exams.

Take model tests every day—from guidebooks, and when you have time, from various Indian websites.

Accept beforehand that the questions will be easy, and you’ll make silly mistakes.

For the preliminary exam, you’ll read and forget, then read again and keep reading repeatedly; this way the questions and answers will become ‘set’ as images in your mind. Control your natural urge to read everything. Say you want to eat a mango. You can eat the mango after learning its scientific name—no problem. But I think it’s better to eat the mango first and then satisfy your curiosity about its scientific name later. If you get so caught up in learning everything about the mango’s ancestry that you never get to eat it, then what’s the point? It becomes difficult enough just to glance through what needs to be studied—where’s the time to read random, useless things? Study a bit more intelligently. For instance, memorizing the currencies and capitals of various countries or the entire constitution might get you 2-3 marks, but putting that same effort elsewhere could get you at least 20 more marks. In competitive exams, earning marks is more important than self-satisfaction. For now, drastically reduce your study time for the written exam. If you want, you can just practice translating newspaper editorials from Bengali to English and English to Bengali.

This piece was published on Friday, November 27, 2015, in Prothom Alo’s career section. Here’s the link: