Entry Tests – The final after final

With NET-1 around the corner, I thought of writing this article to help all the current second year students across Pakistan.

You, maybe, have heard people saying “bas FSc hou jae, aagay chill hai“ (Hard times will be over after FSc). Well, you should wake up to the bitter reality that this is not the case sadly. The major finals, after your board or cambridge exams, are the entry tests and that is what will decide your future – either you’ll choose the university or the university will choose you. Either way, you’ll be on a ride to your future but in the former, the roller coaster will mostry travel straight and uphill instead of turning much and going up and down.

Tips to prepare for…

The first upcoming test is of NUST a.k.a NET-1. NUST conducts three tests a year including NET-1, 2 and 3. NET-1 occurs in December, NET-2 in March and NET-3 in June-July (roughly). People have the notion that “Oh yaar, aati hai mujhe FSc, book se hi aata hai test, hou jae ga“ (Oh! I have learnt FSc course. Test is from the books. So no need to worry!). Wrong! Never even in your dreams think that without studying you can get admission in a prestigious university. Hardwork is the key to success – and by that I don’t mean ratta (cramming). If you have your concepts cleared A-Z of your FSc books, only then you can pass any test.

Firstly about Maths…

Main thing is Maths. It’s not about knowing the method or formula, but it’s about solving the question in less than a minute and encircling the answer. That’s were it gets tricky because, as engineering students, we have to solve whole questions to reach the answer. For that, either you should be GREAT in mental maths or you know the shortcut methods to solve certain questions. For that purpose, join an academy or think over yourself because time management is the key. I am not saying academies are necessary because there are students with me who scored quite ALOT, without academies. And by ALOT, I mean 150+ in NETs.

Tips for Physics…

Second thing to encounter is Physics. Ah! For the love of engineering! Only he/she who knows physics, can truly become an engineer. Here, you should have vast concepts about a particular topic and a powerful hold over it. Things like weight, mass etc may seem small; but when applied practically, can turn out to be real ghosts. You can pass this easily if you know these things and save up sometime if you have a good hold. Sometimes, look upon the minor details too like if you are asked ”What’s the speed of light in cm/s?”, Don’t get it wrong by answering the one given in m/s.

Now about Chemistry…

Third is chemistry, the easiest for engineering students as except PIEAS, no university gives much attention to it  .  Straight forward questions like symbol of this and blah, structure of this and blah and just about 5% conceptual, based on your textbook. It’s easy to pass if you’ve read the book thoroughly.

Few words about English…

Fourthly, English. Now this is one thing I really don’t have anything to say. It all depends upon how well you understand it, how well you have a command over it, your vocabulary and grammar. Don’t freak out. If you get stuck at vocabulary, simply try to cut down your options. Cut off those which you think are de-ja-vu type, as in you’ve read them before and you think they don’t fit in, and encircle the one that’s left. Not a fool proof plan  but worked for me. A good practice is to read novels or you can memorize the word list at the end of SAT books (though it’s tough so i didn’t do it). 

Be ready for intelligence test…

Last but not the least, intelligence. Personally I found it the most difficult  . It’s not that tough if you figure out the patterns or something like that  . Make rough calculations, possible ways, etc. For coding, a shortcut is, write ABC till Z and give each letter a number. Now, arrange the letters according to the given word and match the number for the one asked. Voila! Easy peasy. Others are similar to it. You just need to have a good perception of things.

Note to self: If you think you are a Cambridge student and it’s tough for you, then you are wrong mostly. You people have concepts better than almost 60% of FSc students. Just go through their books once and there, you are good to go. While for FSc students, go through your books as well as extra information given by your teachers or the academies, which ever you prefer.

From a personal experience, I found GIKI’s test, the toughest. Followed by NUST, PIEAS and others. PIEAS has equivalent number of MCQs for all four subjects (sciences andEnglish) and one good thing is that calculators are allowed ONLY in PIEAS. GIKI is more of a concept based whereas NUST is a mixture where a score of 140+ is usually enough to save a seat with normal first year marks, whereas for exceptional marks, 130-135+ is enough.

Don’t skip any NET, a personal advice. It just gives you more exposure about what type of questions are possible and maybe, if you are lucky, get an easy test that leads to your admission

Main objective is time. Beat it. Time management is very important. I scored lower in NET-2 because I couldn’t answer 20 MCQs. Hence, try to pace up. NUST is the most difficult to management in this respect. I started with physics, followed by chemistry, intelligence and then maths – the toughest because brain was in flow. But everyone prefers it their own way.

That’s pretty much it. Hope this helps. Feel free to leave ask a question in the comment section below.