12 Tips to Crack Quantitative

Aptitude Section of IBPS PO

Prelims 2016
By admin September 6, 2016
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Hello IBPS PO Candidates, With Only a few weeks left for IBPS PO Prelims Exam
for the year 2016, we bring you the much awaited Tips to crack Quantitative
Aptitude Section.
In this article [hide]

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

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Order of Attempt and Time allocation

Time Allocation and Order of Attempt

Categories of Questions :

Tips on How to Prepare Quant Section in last few weeks

9.Topic wise Tips

General Mistakes to Avoid:

12 Tips to Crack Quantitative Aptitude Section of

IBPS PO 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 PO 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

Quadratic Equations

Simplification

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 ones 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.

9.Topic wise Tips

Data Interpretation: As we mentioned in our previous article, if the answers are numbers not close
to each other, then you do not need to do the accurate calculations. You can round off the numbers
and do approximate calculations and mark the answer closest to the answer you calculated. No
other strategy can beat the option elimination technique in DI section. Try to avoid doing long
calculations as in an exam that demands aspirants to solve 100 questions in 60 minutes; you may
end up wasting and not investing your time by doing long calculations. If you are good with
calculations & approximation techniques, percentage, ratio & proportion and option elimination
technique these questions are very easy to answer.

Quadratic Equations Revising your high school mathematics book on factorization can assist you
finding the roots of the quadratic equations faster.

Series Mostly n2, n3, n2 constant, n3 constant, n2 n, n3 n, n2 n3 will cover around 75% of the
series completion problems. Hence, relax and attempt.

General Mistakes to Avoid:

10. Not Reading Questions Completely

In quant section this is the most common mistake made by students. In hurry to solve
questions faster, you dont read questions clearly and end up making mistakes. This
problem can cause frustration as even after solving the question methodically, you will
not get the relevant option. And then, it becomes a herculean task to identify as to
where you went wrong. Hence, read twice before you go ahead and start solving.
11. Avoid Risky Shortcuts
You may be of the view point that the whole point of Speed test is to solving question
as fast as possible then why avoid shortcuts. If you have practiced a particular shortcut
or trick on lot many questions during your preparation then go ahead. But, if you have
just read some shortcut or any trick during last leg of your preparation, avoid using it
in the exam as you do not know the conditions in which this particular shortcut can be
applied. Solve the question using conventional way even if it takes more time.
12. Guess Work
Absolutely avoid any guess work.

This brings us to the conclusion of our well read and much loved series
about IBPS PO Prelims Tips.
We hope you gained lots of knowledge and confidence for attempting and
cracking IBPS PO Prelims 2015. Let us know how this whole series helped you
and how we can improve to serve you better by commenting below. Also please
ask us any questions not only related to Quantitative Section but with IBPS PO
in general. Thank you. God Bless you

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