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Aptitude rounds: the last two weeks of preparation

With two weeks to go before a campus drive, what to practise for the aptitude round, how to use mock tests, and what to leave alone.

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Two adults use a practical guide, checklist cards and a recorded workshop to support their learning

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Overview

The aptitude round is often the first filter in a campus drive. It usually covers quantitative questions, logical reasoning and verbal ability, and sometimes basic technical questions.

Two weeks is not long enough to learn everything, but it is enough to find your weak areas and stop losing easy marks. This guide is a plan for those two weeks.

At a glance

Key takeaways

  • Take one full timed test first to see where you stand
  • Spend most of your time on the section that costs you the most marks
  • Practise under time limits; speed matters as much as method
  • Keep a mistakes notebook and revise it, not the whole syllabus
  • Learn when to skip a question
  • Check each company's test pattern; they differ

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Day one: take a full mock test under real conditions. Time yourself, no phone, no breaks you would not get on the day. Then mark it carefully and sort your mistakes into three groups: did not know how, knew how but made an error, and ran out of time. This tells you more than any study plan.

Find the company's pattern. Different companies use different test providers and formats: the number of sections, whether there is negative marking, whether there are sectional time limits, and whether coding is included. Your placement cell and seniors who sat the same drive last year are the best source. Prepare for that pattern, not a general one.

Days two to ten: work on the weak section. If quantitative questions cost you the most, spend most of each day there, on the topics that came up wrong in your mock: percentages, ratios, time and work, and so on. Learn one reliable method for each type rather than three shortcuts. If verbal ability is the problem, practise reading passages under time and checking grammar questions, rather than memorising word lists.

Keep a mistakes notebook. Every question you get wrong goes in, with the right method in one line. Revise this notebook every day. It is a far better use of time than re-reading a whole book, because it is built from your own weaknesses.

Practise timed. Most students can solve aptitude questions given enough time. The test is whether you can do it in about a minute. Do sets of twenty with a timer and track how many you finish correctly.

Learn when to skip. In a timed test, a question you are stuck on costs you two easy ones later. Decide on a rule: if you have no clear method after thirty seconds, mark it and move on. Come back only if there is time. If the test has negative marking, be more careful about guessing.

Days eleven to thirteen: two more full mock tests, a day apart, under real conditions. Compare with the first. Revise the mistakes notebook after each.

The last day: no new topics. Revise the notebook, check the test time, place and what to carry, and sleep properly. A rested mind recovers more marks than one more late-night chapter.

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