Exam Strategy
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Exam Strategy

Overall approach

The paper is designed to test speed under time pressure. Most questions are not conceptually deep. Your score improves when you reduce reading time, avoid silly mistakes, and recognize templates quickly.

Section strategy

Aptitude: 30 questions / 30 minutes

Target split:

  • First pass: 20–22 easy questions in 18–20 minutes
  • Second pass: 5–7 medium questions
  • Last minute: fill/guess remaining if no negative marking

Skip immediately if:

  • calculation is becoming long,
  • DI table is too dense,
  • wording is confusing after 20 seconds.

Technical: 30 questions / 30 minutes

Target:

  • Answer fact-based questions quickly.
  • Mark uncertain but familiar questions for later.
  • Eliminate two options first.

Common trap: options differ by one word, e.g. process vs thread, paging vs segmentation, severity vs priority.

Pseudocode: 20 questions / 20 minutes

Target:

  • 45–50 seconds per question.
  • Use trace table for loops.
  • Do not “feel” the output. Calculate it.

Fast trace format:

i | variable1 | variable2 | condition | output

Coding: 2 questions / 30 minutes

Time split:

  • 3 minutes: read both questions
  • 12 minutes: solve easier question
  • 3 minutes: test edge cases
  • 10 minutes: solve second question
  • 2 minutes: final cleanup

If one question is much easier, finish it fully. Passing all test cases in one question is usually better than half-solving both.

Gamified assessment

Treat games as cognitive sprints.

  • Stay calm after a wrong move.
  • Accuracy matters because many games are adaptive.
  • Use pattern names: mirror, rotate, swap, count, sequence, block-path.
  • For memory games, chunk positions instead of memorizing raw coordinates.

Guessing policy

If the test screen says no negative marking:

  • Attempt all MCQs.
  • Use elimination.
  • If stuck between two options, select the more textbook-standard answer.

If there is negative marking:

  • Guess only after eliminating at least two options.

Final 10-minute pre-exam checklist

  • Read instructions for negative marking and language availability.
  • Confirm coding language.
  • Check if arrays are 0-indexed or 1-indexed in pseudocode.
  • Check input/output format.
  • Keep rough-sheet trace tables neat.