12 Tips to Crack Quantitative Aptitude Section of IBPS Clerk Prelims 2016

Quantitative Aptitude is considered to be the arch nemesis of almost every Banking Aspirant (if it is not the case with you, believe us, we are so happy for you). Many aspirants have missed their dream banking job because they were; somehow, unable to clear sectional cut offs, primarily in the section we are talking about.

Order of Attempt and Time allocation

1. This section, like Reasoning Section, contains 35 Questions. Difficulty level will be similar to SBI Clerk Prelims Exam and the expected Break up of this section is as follows:

Arithmetic Questions ( Percentage, Profit and Loss, Ration and Proportion, SI & CI, Time and work, TSD, SI &CI, Mixture and allegations, Averages, Problems on Ages etc)	8-10
Series	5
Quadratic Equations	5
Simplification	5
Probability	0-2
DI [Pie Chart, Bar Graph ,Tables etc)	10 (5 *2)

Time Allocation and Order of Attempt

2. If you are one of those few students who never had any trouble in Quant Section, you may like to attempt this section after English and allocate around 20 minutes. This will not only help you in clearing sectional cut offs but also scoring decent marks which in turn will help you with overall cut-offs. For those who are either weak or average in Quant you can attempt this section at the end. Time allocated to this section should be 22-25 minutes. Categories of Questions :  We can divide all Questions in Quant section into two categories. 3. Easy and Scoring Questions Start your quantitative section with these questions.  These questions are generally easy to solve , require less time and you can easily achieve high accuracy. There will be around 15-17 Questions from this category. Simplification Arithmetic Topics(Click on the link to open questions & concepts) : Problems on Ages, Percentage, Averages, Simple Interest/ Compound Interest , Profit and Loss , Ratio & Proportions. DI (one of the DI Sets ) 4. Time Consuming Questions Questions in this category are difficult than above and may require more time to solve. Attempt them after solving first category questions. Some of the questions are tricky. Accuracy will depend on amount of practice done before exam. There will be around 12-15 Questions from this category. Probability Quadratic Equations Arithmetic Topics :  Mixture and allegations , Time and Work , Time Speed and Distance Number Series Another DI Set For students who just want to clear sectional cut offs  solving first category questions with a few question from second will be enough but then you will need to solve decent number of question in both English and Reasoning to clear the overall cut-off. Tips on How to Prepare Quant Section in last few weeks With less than a few weeks left for exam, there are only a few tried & tested approaches you can opt for. The Most Common approach is to identify the weak topics upon which you can work. 5. Compartmentalization of topics is very important. One must know the topics one is comfortable with – from least to most. One also needs to know as to what could be the level of difficulty of questions; one can handle in an examination scenario. To make you understand, lets assume I am extremely confident with percentage related problem. Irrespective of level of difficulty, I know in my heart that I would be able to do solve the problem. I also have also realized during my preparation that I can solve easy to moderate level questions from TSD (Time, Speed and Distance). And, the moment I see a question from Probability, I feel nauseated. One has to have an understanding of this level pertaining to one’s preparation to sail through test without much trouble. 6. Use the last few days to formulate your strategy to attempt questions based on this understanding. Solve as many last year questions as possible just to make yourself comfortable & confident. You must not be wondering and surmising on the final day on the pattern, topics, level of difficulty of questions etc. 7. Keep a notebook with yourself where you write important points and formulas. This will assist you revisiting the most vital points and formulas on your exam day. 8. Start Attempting as many mock tests as possible. When your are left with handful of days to go,  nothing will help you more than writing and analyzing Mock Tests. These tests will provide you with insights, such as Time Management, Selection of Questions and Topics, formulation of an effective strategy to nail the test etc.