Success Story of Akash Maan (Cleared AIR-781, SSC CGL 2016)

In his own words,

“Hi, I am Akash Maan. I have got AIR-781, Marks-551 in SSC-CGl and have been posted as ASO in Election Commission (AOM 4600).

I started preparation for SSC CGL in March 2016. Before that, I had prepared for CAT 2015. My strategy was simple– Less GS– More QA and English.

For QA I referred my CAT books and previous year questions of SSC.

For English- I used the following books: Norman Lewis for Vocabulary, SP Bakshi for Vocabulary and Grammar, Neetu Singh- Volume 1 for Grammar and Voice-Narration and previous year questions of SSC.

More Focus should be on QA from the start. English can be completed in 3 months time, by dedicating 2 hours regularly.

Revise English as much as possible– Especially Vocabulary (Synonyms, Antonyms, OWS, Idioms). Practice grammar, Comprehension, Cloze test, Para Jumble from previous years– preferably paper-wise as mocks. Do not differentiate between QA of Prelims and Mains examination. Prepare as a whole.

I took QA Mocks of Oliveboard, and they were a notch higher in difficulty than previous papers and it helped me to manage my time more efficiently. Also, Oliveboard QA questions are conceptual not just repetition of previous years with the change in values and not just calculative without concepts.

Although I couldn’t score good marks in QA Mains (12 Jan re-examination, frustration and a bit higher level of the exam than expected and 5 wrong questions in the exam, got 10 marks as grace but time lost in trying them again and again was more than 10 marks worth.)

Be ready for any miss-happenings in your journey. My individual scores were –  PRELIMS: 156.5

( QA-50,English 43.5 Reasoning 45 GS 18),

MAINS : 328.5 (QA 163.5 English 165) and Tier-3 (66). Total Marks – 551.

Make your own strategy based on your strength and weakness. I didn’t study GS much because I believed I would compensate for this in the Mains examination. If you are good in GS, then score as much as possible in Prelims Examination. Focus on concepts for QA, don’t just blindly memorise previous year tricks and questions. For English, don’t overdo Grammar, It can backfire. One book of grammar can get you 32-35 out of 45 in Mains. Focus on other parts as well.

Thank You and All the Best to all aspirants!“

Read more success stories.