The bells are about to ring for the State Bank of India (SBI) Probationary Officers (PO) preliminary examination. The bank has released the admit cards recently and has scheduled the preliminary exam for July 1, 7 and 8, 2018. The examination will be conducted for 2,000 PO vacancies.
Aspirants should have a drafted plan to crack the SBI PO preliminary exam, specifically for the last week. This is encouraged only when you have mastered the syllabus thoroughly with our 8-week preparation guide for the SBI PO exam. If you feel that you are lagging behind in some concepts, this is not the time to lose your confidence. To be better prepared for the exam, we have come up with some strategies for your last-week preparations. Let's start with section-wise preparation tips.
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Quantitative Aptitude
If an aspirant is good at calculations and concepts are clear to them, then they will find this section to be a scoring one. Apart from conceptual knowledge, practise matters a lot to crack the questions within a limited time. If you find difficulty in this section, it is better to start practising those concepts which can help you score more than the sectional cut-off. It is suggested to learn at least 30 square roots and 15 cubes during the last week. Also be strong in the percentages and fundamentals of Vedic mathematics topics.
How To Prepare For The Quantitative Aptitude Section In SBI PO 2018
Reasoning Ability
Compared to quantitative aptitude and English sections, the questions in the reasoning section are tricky. One has to mix their logical skills along with their reasoning ability. Aspirants have to stop solving some topics such as seating arrangement and puzzles, specifically when they are not able to get the answer in the required time. This section also requires a lot of practise during the last-week preparations. Be strong in topics such as syllogism, blood relation questions, input-output, direction test, coding-decoding and mathematical inequations.
How To Prepare For Reasoning Ability In SBI PO 2018
English Language
Candidates who are not confident about the quantitative and reasoning sections must do their best in this English section to gain an overall good score. Though the number of questions and marks in the English section are lesser compared to the other two, one should not ignore the English section because of the sectional cut-off.
Grammar and vocabulary are the most important things in this section. One has to have a strong hold of the topics under comprehension, cloze test, fill in the blanks and error spotting. Allot enough time to practise reading comprehension questions during the last week.
How To Prepare For The English Section In SBI PO 2018
Sectional Time Allotment
The duration of the SBI PO preliminary exam is one hour. Though there is no individual sectional time allotment, aspirants are suggested to allot 15 minutes for the English language, 20 minutes for the reasoning ability section and 25 minutes for the quantitative aptitude section.
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Accuracy & Negative Marking
During the last-week preparations, aspirants should not only focus on speed but also on accuracy. Answering 100 questions in 60 minutes is a tough job for anyone. Hence, one should not commit mistakes amongst the questions they answer because there is a negative marking; 0.25 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer.
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Attempt Easy Questions
It is always good to start the preliminary exam by answering the easy questions. In the English language, start with the cloze test, spotting errors and vocabulary questions under reading comprehension. In the quantitative aptitude, attempt the number series, simplification and data interpretation questions first.
While coming to the reasoning ability section, syllogism, inequality, coding & decoding, blood relations and others are important. Attempting the easy questions first not only saves time but also increases the candidate's confidence.