So, I gave this exam in January 2024 while pursuing my Master of Computer Applications (MCA). This exam is conducted by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). My preparation journey was full of ups and downs as this exam was just three days after my college end semester exams. My exam was on 18th January and my college exams ended on 15th January. So, I had to prepare for both the exams, thus giving equal time to both. I divided my study time into two parts i.e. half time for studying for college exams and the remaining time was given to the entrance exam preparation.
This exam judges you in the areas of Current Affairs, General Studies, Numerical Aptitude, Reasoning/ Logical Aptitude and English. There are 100 objective type MCQs of 1 mark each and a negative marking of 1/4. Total time given to the candidates is 1 hour (60 minutes). This all is just the Tier – I entrance exam details. There is also Tier-II and Tier-III exam. In Tier-II, MHA will take a descriptive paper of 50 marks (where Essay is of 30 marks and English Comprehension and precis writing is of 20 marks). Time duration of Tier-II exam is 1 hour and total marks is 50 marks. Then, the candidate who clears Tier-I and Tier-II exam jumps to the final stage i.e. THE INTERVIEW STAGE aka Tier-III exam. Tier-III exam is of 100 marks.
So, about my journey? I mainly focused on giving mock tests, both sectional and full length. This exam is just approximately like every other government exams (in terms of syllabus). So, if you are preparing for other government exams , then you can crack this exam as well. It just depends on the level of the questions, rest the sections are same in almost all the entrance exams. During my journey, mock tests saved me as they are the only thing that gives you an overview of how the real exam would look like. You should always give the mock tests wearing proper dress, shoes, having a water bottle by your side and prefer to sit on a chair and table and then give the mock test as all of this would give you the feeling that you are giving the real entrance exam.
Also, the books that I would recommend you would be:
- For Mathematics/ Quantitative Aptitude: “SSC CGL Practice King by Gagan Pratap Sir”. Here, SSC CGL is written but that doesn’t mean that you can’t use this book for IB ACIO Entrance. Basically, this book contains all the formulas of all the chapters that are being asked in Mathematics section. For practicing questions, you can refer Rakesh Yadav’s Sir Maths Book.
- For Reasoning/ Logical Aptitude: Mock tests are a great way of analysing yourself that whether you are strong in Reasoning section or not.
- For Current Affairs/ General Knowledge/ General Studies: You can refer different YouTube channels, one of them is SSC Parmar. For current affairs, there is no option other than reading newspaper daily. Also, you have to prepare at least one year current affairs i.e. if you are appearing in 2025, then prepare 2025 current affairs as well as 2024 current affairs.
- For English: Again mock tests are enough according to me. Also, you can refer “Vocab by Neetu Singh Ma’am.”
All these books/ channels that I have written above were being used by me during my preparation. You might also like these resources or might not like them, it’s all up to you. So, I think I have shared most of the things of this exam. One last thing that I would say is that focus on the time that you are giving to a particular question and increase your question solving speed as most of the students are not selected because they are not able to solve that much amount of questions that are required to jump on to the next stage. So believe in yourself and you can achieve anything.
Thank You!!