Make It Your Strength: Reasoning

Dear Readers,

Today we are providing you the strategy for attempting Reasoning Section in the IBPS PO Mains exam. Reasoning has played a very important role in the recent exams. Students have attempted maximum number of questions in this section after Computers. Now let us examine what Reasoning is all about.

Reasoning is the only subject in which you cannot assume anything which is not given. Reasoning has to handled with care and if you succeed in doing so, then it will give you a proper lead in the exam. Now let us have a look at the syllabus of the exam which includes:

• Syllogism
• Inequalities
• Input and Output
• Coding and decoding
• Logical Reasoning(Statement and Assumption, Course of action, etc.)
• Puzzles (Linear, Circular)
• Seating arrangement
• Blood Relation
• Direction Sense
• Data Sufficiency

Reasoning is the subject where the logics are followed instead of fixed formula. In recent times, students have shown a constant scoring pattern in the Reasoning Section and this has helped them score good marks. Now let us have a look at the cut-off given by IBPS last year.

IBPS PO 2014 Cut-Off
Catageory	Overall Cut-Off	Sectional Cut-Off
General	82	10
OBC	80	6
SC	70	6
ST	56	6

The whole motive behind this article is to get maximum marks possible in the allotted time. And to achieve that, we should have a working strategy that can lead us to the goal. Below is one of the strategy that a student can follow:

Strategy That One Can Follow

Step I

While attempting reasoning, you should know what is the strongest part. And most importantly read the full question before attempting it. Last year IBPS twisted the questions from syllogs and asked which of the conclusion doesn't follow and many students still went for which one follows. This kind of silly mistake can cost you an year. So Step I is all about being cautious.

Step II

At this point of time, you should know what to attempt. And its better to attempt Syllogism and Inequalities questions. These 10 marks are easy to get and can be done within 5-6 minutes time. As you all know that the you will save will keep giving you benefit in the form of more attempts. This doesn't mean that you start doing in hustle and start scoring negative. But you can try it being safe.

Step III

After attempting Syllogs and Inequalities, go for miscellaneous part which contains questions from coding decoding, blood relation, directions, order ranking, etc. These questions are comparatively easier and the number may vary from 10-15 questions.

Step IV

This is the part where you should go for Input-Output. The questions from input-output are easy and the it can easily be done in 5 mins. So its your call to attempt this in step II or III. Some people might feel like doing it before and the choice lies with you.

Step V

This part is tough to decide as in PO level exam, questions from Logical Reasoning also appear in the exam. This totally depends on you if you want to go for puzzle or logical reasoning. If you go for puzzle, then try to start with Linear one because the linear puzzle might be easier to solve. Again the choice may vary from student to student.

Step VI

This is nothing but the summing up of reasoning section. If you are reaching this step then you are good to go for other section. This step concludes your performance in the exam and its good to score around 35-38 marks in this section. Its not that easy but not impossible. If a student is practicing it on a regular basis, then he/she will not face any kind of issue in achieving this score. We have provided you the best possible strategy and it doesn't meant that you stick to this plan strictly. This just give you an idea on how to look for more marks.