IBPS PO 2017 Prelims : 5 Important Tips For The Last 10 Days

Only 10 more days to go for the IBPS PO Prelims 2017 exam. We hope that you are in the last leg of your exam preparation. To help you make the most out of these last 10 days before the exam, in this post we will list down some things you MUST do.

Let’s take a  quick look at the IBPS PO 2017 Prelims exam pattern:-

Sr. No	Name of the section	Number of Questions	Total Marks	Duration (in mins)
1	English Language	30	30	Composite time of 60 minutes
2	Quantitative Aptitude	35	35
3	Reasoning Ability	35	35
	Total	100	100

Before listing the tips, it is important to state here that, ideally, in these last few days before the exam, one must have the mindset of “fine-tuning their preparation” instead of thinking that they would be “preparing / studying” for the exam.

That said, let us now move on to the exam tips. While some of these may look like stating the obvious, they are extremely useful as the IBPS PO Prelims is a speed based exam and small optimizations at your end can help you score those few extra marks.

• First of all, remember that IBPS PO exam follows the SBI PO pattern. Hence, drawing an analogy between these two exams, you can expect a paper of higher difficulty. So, you must expect no less. Accordingly, you should use these days in solving slightly more difficult questions for the important topics. For Oliveboard users, try the level 3 Topic Tests. You should also our practice full length mocks which prepare you for the most difficult questions! However, this comes with a caveat. Do NOT let the scores demotivate you (if they are low) or make you over-confident / complacent (in case of the good scores). It is essential that you look at it as learning and building over and above whatever preparation you have done until now.

Read : What To Expect From IBPS PO 2017 (based on SBI PO exam analysis)

• Ideally while preparing you must decide on the following things for as exam:-

1. Order of attempting various sections
2. Time to be spent on each section
3. Number of questions to be attempted

These parameters are subject to change. Hence, it is advisable to attempt at least 1-2 mocks in these days so that you have a proper strategy in place before the exam day. Understand that the only way to have an exam strategy that works the best for you is by proper analysis of the mocks. So even if you give a less number of  mocks, make sure you do the proper analysis for each.

Read : How To Analyse Mock Tests Properly For IBPS PO Prelims

• While giving mocks and topic tests will ensure that we’re spending equal amounts of time studying all sections, all of us have one section / topic that is our Achilles’ heel. Devote some  extra time to the very important (in terms of weightage in the exam) portions of that section just so that you don’t forget anything. Based on our analysis, most people find the English language section a little more challenging compared to other sections. One quick tip : Solve RC’s daily and keep learning words as usual! You may find the following links useful.

Read : How To Score More In Reading Comprehensions Part-1 & Part-2

• Try not to learn  something new in the last days. Make sure you revise everything you have learnt up till now first. Revise and then revise again. The more you do it the better, because that’s just how the human mind works. The more familiar you are with something, the better you get at it. It is also advisable to revise all the calculation hacks such as : squares, cubes, decimal values of fractions. Like we mentioned in the beginning, IBPS PO is a speed based test so even a few seconds saved can mark the difference between a successful attempt and a failed one.

See : List of Cubes & Squares ; List of decimal values of fractions

• Last but not the least, ensure a healthy lifestyle and the right mindset. The importance of this often goes unnoticed as we tend to take things for granted. Make sure you are well rested and relaxed before the exam. Also, have an optimistic and hopeful state of mind instead of being scared and nervous. Do NOT  do or eat anything that may hamper your health. This  will enhance your performance in the exam.

What you do in these last few days impact your exam performance a lot. So, make sure you use this time judiciously and make the most of it.

Hope these tips help you in your preparation.

All The Best!