level 1

This page is for those appearing for the state level examination from Maharashtra.
Others may read it if intrested.

The state level examination is the first round of the National Talent Search Exam.It selects number of students according to the quota alloted to that particular state.
The quota of Maharashtra for the year 2009-2010 was 496
students including reserved categories. The cut-offs for Maharashtra for the same year were 159 marks out of 200 for the general category.

This exam is held in the month of November by the respective states in accordance with the NCERT.The questions are mostly based on the syllabus as of the state texts.To clear this round we must be almost perfect with the MAT and learn all the state texts of social science and science.

Before that learn about the registration. The OMR readable form must be filled with a Black ball point pen. You can get these forms from your school or directly from the ZP office. Fill this form carefully and submit it before due date to avoid any kind of problems.

The format of the question paper briefly is like you have to solve a 200 mark paper in just 180 minutes. It is divided into 2 papers of 100 marks each namely MAT and SAT. The First paper is the MAT. It consists of questions based on reasoning. You must be perfect with the MAT and be able to get above 90 marks in the MAT paper so as to qualify the round. The SAT paper is again divided to 4 parts. The first part is Science. It consists 12 questions from Physics,12 from Chemistry and the rest 11 are of Biology which on whole totals to 35 marks. The Social studies is divided in similar sections but instead of Physics,Chemistry and Biology it has History,Geography and Civics respectively accounting to another 35 marks. The social is totally from the state board books.The next 20 questions belong to Mathematics.Maths is usually tough and includes subjects like surds,geometry and other common topics.The last 10 questions are general. They include 2 to 3 questions from each section. They can also include questions based on the wildlife sancturies, rivers, deltas, specific crop producing areas, vitamins and minerals, etc.

I suggest you to practise MAT as much as possible because practise makes a man perfect.
You can use any book for MAT. One good book is Verbal and non verbal reasoning by R.S.Aggarwal. If you practise that book thoroughly then you are sure to get atlest 90 marks in MAT. For the SAT paper learn the state board books by heart of the following subjects - SCIENCE, HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY and CIVICS. You must be able to tell the whole lesson.For this I would like to give you a tip. Students generally find History boring.
So to learn history you follow this system. The state board History book of Maharashtra contains 16 chapters. You take a target that you would finish the first 4 lessons in the first week. Then in the second week you must learn 4 more lessons and then revise the lessons you did earlier. Then when you go for the next 4 give the first 4 a break because they are already revised twice. It makes it very easy to learn it. I strictly advice you not to use any books of private publications for the first level. You may use it for MAT. But make sure that you don't use it for SAT, because the state level paper is never bought out and these private publications are misleading. I have also given some test based upon the history lessons and I suppose that you could derive your conclusions of the type of questions you would face.This is posted to the links at the end of this page.

Now suppose your examination is tomorrow then what all preparations will you do? firstly take an exam pad and a black ball point pen. No pencils and even Blue ball point pens are allowed. You better take a cutter with you because in the first level of Maharshtra the paper comes in a packed with your name on it. The most important thing where most of the students commit mistake - suppose you have opted for english as a language of exam. So you won't get only the English paper. It would be combined with the marathi paper. The first part is marathi and the second part is English. So what most students do is they start solving marathi paper and obviosly waste their time so I suggest you to check for the English section. Then at the time of solving paper keep your cool and concentrate on the paper you would obviosly be benifited. Click the links below for furthur information.

Some more tips :

* Be thorough with your state syllabus text books.
You must be able to tell the whole lesson at a stretch.
* Don't use any kind of books of any publications for SAT as the paper is not let out and these books misguide you.
You may use these books for practicing MAT.
* Solve as many MAT papers as possible and while solving the paper think generally before and if you don't get an answer get to the extraordinary way.
* See the pictures,maps,diagrams and photos from the state texts carefully because all the questions based on the pictorial part would be asked as it is from the state texts.
* Practice to complete GMAT paper in time.