How to Prepare for IIT JAM Mathematical Statistics (MS) ~ Pravat Kumar Hati

Learn from the Achiever - Pravat Kumar Hati (AIR-22)

Pravat Kumar Hati - IIT JAM MS Success Story

Pravat Kumar Hati has cleared the IIT JAM Mathematical Statistics (MS) 2021 Entrance Examination with a Score of 53.67 and an All India Rank (AIR) - 22.

He shared with us how he prepared for the IIT JAM MS in an interview with the Cheenta Statistics and Analytics Department. This interview will take you through the preparation journey of Pravat for IIT JAM MS 2021 and can help you with some insights that you can utilize for your IIT JAM MS preparation.

When did you start preparing for IIT JAM MS?

November, 2020.

What was your plan of preparation? How did you start?

I heard of JAM when I was in my 2nd year then I checked its syllabus and some of the past year's papers. I found that topics that are in JAM are not something different from our college courses. So, I decided to focus on College courses and develop concepts on topics as much as possible. For that I followed my college lectures and some standard books like Rohatgi, Casela, etc. And after puja (i.e after October). I decided to solve varieties of problems and previous years' papers which are kind of JAM-type problems.

Share your preparation journey in as much detail as you can.

As I told you initially. I focused on my College course which helped me to develop concepts on most of the topics that are in JAM and some topics which are not covered in college yet at that time, I tried reading those topics from some books or online resources. And at the end of October, I completed covering the syllabus of JAM. Then from November, I started solving varieties of questions mainly MCQ type from various questions papers and other sources which are kind of similar to JAM questions, and continued this till mid-December. From mid-December, I started solving questions in a time-bound manner. Alongside solving problems, I sometimes revised theories and all and took some mock tests on previous years' question papers (3 or 4). This continued till February.

What did you do in the last 3 months?

In the last 3 months, I thoroughly solved problems mainly MCQ's of different entrance exams ISI, CSIR-NET (not all some selected topics ) along with previous years' problems of JAM starting from 2009. While solving them sometimes I realized that I needed to brush up on some topics of 1st and 2nd year, so I went back and revised them when required.

What did you do in the last 1 week?

In the last 1 week, I gave mock tests on papers of the last 2 years of JAM and recapped some formulas and relationships between different random variables which are commonly used while solving previous years.

What did you do on the last day?

Nothing actually. Just chatting with friends, watching cartoons, and spend the rest of the day sleeping.

What are some good online free books/notes resources for all the topics (Probability, Statistics, Calculus, Linear Algebra)? Please share the links.

IIT Kanpur notes that are available online.

There are just too many books out there. But how did you select your optimal combination of books? How did you select the books, that suit you?

Books you may refer to the corresponding topics:

Combinatorics and Probability

1)An Introduction to Probability and Statistics by V K Rohatgi

2) First Course in Probability by Sheldon M. Ross

Real Analysis

1)Introduction to Real Analysis

2) Mathematical Analysis by Malik and Arora

Linear Algebra

1) Linear Algebra by Rao Bhimasankaram (May find it difficult if so then refer to the 2nd one)

2) Linear Algebra by S.K. Mappa

Statistical Inference

1) Casella Berger Statistical Inference

2) V k Rohatgi

Any resources/books/courses to practice problems for/like IIT JAM MS examination?

For practice:

1) IIT JAM MS previous years paper from 2006 to 2017 left last 3-4 years paper for mock test.

2) Try previous years paper on ISI, CSIR NET (These will help you level up and increase your skills in the MSQ portion)

3) May see HCU papers too

4) Cheenta Mock Test Series

What are the important topics for all the subjects for IIT JAM MS?

1. Sequence and series (different kinds of tests for Series)

2. AM-GM inequality

3. Basics questions come on Linear algebra

4. Focus on Eigenvalues and Eigenvector and system of linear equations

5. Relationship between various random variables

6. Inference (scoring).

What is a good score to get in IIT JAM MS?

It varies from year to year. In general 65+ is the safe score, I guess.

How did you attempt the question paper? How should one attempt the question paper to maximize the marks?

My strategy was to attempt MCQ first as they carry negative marking, then move to NAT after doing half of NAT, shift to MSQ, and then again NAT. But this strategy didn't work in the exam I did half MCQ then half MSQ and then NAT. After finishing all NAT again, I shifted to MCQ and finally ended with the remaining MSQ. I think everyone should have their own strategy of attempting and this, he/she will get to know while giving mock tests or practicing previous year papers.

How did you manage your time during the exam?

Time management comes with practice within time, giving the last 2-3 mock tests on previous years' papers helped me in this.

How did you manage your exam preparation alongside your college classes and exams?

I did not face such difficulties as many topics in the JAM were also in our semester exam.

What are the mistakes you made, that you don't want your juniors to make?

In my year, the NAT portion was the easiest portion according to me and I made really very bad silly mistakes in that part. I would suggest practicing as much as possible. That only can reduce silly mistakes as in my case while practicing I never used to reach the final answer. I used to leave it once I find that I am on the right track. So, please don't do this do all the calculations necessary to reach the answer whether it is nasty or not.

Anything you want to say to the students?

So here I will say something which I wasn't able to do as such and thought later, that it might be beneficial if I had done those things.

1) Try to overcome the exam pressure by giving mock tests in a similar manner as in the exam hall. And attempt it more with accuracy in exams not like attempting more and doing mistakes in most of them.

2) Practice more so that you can overcome your silly mistakes.

3) If possible make your own notebook where you will be writing your mistakes in mock tests.

4) Make some cheat sheets that will help you to recap topics with ease.