• You have to attempt 100 questions in 3 hours, so no such time pressure is there. Try to attempt easy & direct questions in first hour.
• Revise the important results/formulae as some of the questions simply require recalling the standard results.

• Here are some important concepts from which questions are most expected:

LPP, Eigen values/vectors, Simpson’s rule, Trapezoidal rule, Differential equations, Directional derivatives, Gradient, Change of variable/order in multiple integration, Probability distribution

• Never try random guess work as negative marking is 1/3^rd.
• Use elimination method/substitution method

For Example: Consider these questions from JAM 2009

Question 1:

The value of  3 + 1/[2 + (1/(2 + 1/2 .....))] is

(A) 2 – ^2                     (B) 3 – ^2             (C) 2 + ^2                   (D) 3 + ^2

Since the given expression will be greater than 3 but less than 4, so we can simply eliminate the options (A), (B) and (D). Hence answer is (C)

Question 2:

Consider n + 1 points, L₀, L₁, ….., L_n, along a straight line such that the distance between L_{k – 1} and L_k is k metres. Suppose one ball is placed at each location L₁, L₂, ….., L_n. A boy standing at L₀ has to pick up each ball and place them in a basket placed at L₀. If the boy cannot carry more than one ball at a time, the minimum distance that the boy travels to place all the balls in the basket is

(A) n (n + 1) metres                                   (B) n (n + 1)(2n + 1)/6  metres

(C) n (n + 1)(n + 2)/3 metres                  (D)  n (n + 1)(n + 2)/6 metres

You can simply take a particular value of n to answer this question, say 3.

So, required sum = 2 [1 + (1+ 2) + (1 + 2 + 3)] = 20

Only (C) gives same value for n = 3. Hence answer is (C).

It was in year 2000 when spectacular developments were taking place in the IT (Information Technology) and ITES (Information Technology Enabled Services) sectors. This surged demand for Indian techies all over the globe especially in countries like the USA, the UK, and Canada. As a result, more and more people started opting for courses leading to a career in the IT sector. Master’s degree in Computer Applications (MCA) was perceived as one of the major options for student eyeing this huge career opportunity. But the sudden (but highy expected) down fall of the IT industry coupled with the recession, the demand for MCA lessened.

But the scenario has been changing since then. Starting with a promising BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) and KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) sectors the industry has reached new heights with the introduction of PPO (People to people Oursourcing). IT industry is back on track and growing. It has, in fact, become the mean to replicate processes in the fastest and cheapest ways. This coupled with the creative entrepreneurial brains in the industry has made the world believe that India can be the next IT super power.

With India is emerging as an IT giant, the demand for computer professional seem to be multiplying by the day, thus creating an employment gap. This has resulted in the sudden increase in the number of IT aspirants across India. At this stage an MCA degree is becoming indispensable to ensure a sound career in IT. So all those who stopped thinking about MCA to be not good career option, its time for them to wake up to the stats! The future’s brighter than it seems.

STATS SAY IT ALL
Young Indian IT professionals in India earn more than 200% the average salary any other profession earns. This together with salaries rising about 20% a year on average they are most likely to see their salaries jump above any other professional in the country right now. In last few years, people have left their jobs in other engineering streams and joined the Software bandwagon. Even then, India faces a huge scarcity of software guys as per the recent NASSCOM Survey. In fact, by 2010, the demand and supply gap is going to be as wide as half a million jobs. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted a 68% increase in output growth rate of the IT industry between 2002 and 2012.

McKinsey conducted a study and revealed a substantial growth in IT businesses in India. It further confirmed that India is emerging as the super power in IT & ITES. It is being predicted for 2008 that India’s IT business revenue will cross US $ 85 Billion. More than 2 million new jobs will be created out of this and Indian companies will observe their market capitalization to reach a magical figure of US $ 225 Billion. The proliferating impact of the future scenario can be inferred from the fact that one job in IT creates five more jobs in the businesses that rely on IT software and hardware.

The country’s current economic growth rate of over 9 per cent and the increasing share of the IT and ITES industries in the pie keep the promise of even better growth alive and motivating.

MASTER IN COMPUTER APPLICATIONS (MCA) – THE KEY
For entry into IT industry, companies looked for graduates in engineering or post graduates in computer science. Graduates in other streams who wanted to hop on to the IT bandwagon but could not do engineering, also had a chance to become software professionals by joining a 3-year post graduate MCA (Master of Computer Applications) programme, after completing graduation in any discipline with Mathematics as a subject at Class XII level.

MCA is a 3 year fulltime degree course consisting of six semesters. It covers various aspects of computing, accounting, finance, programming, design and managing networks and databases.

Most MCA institutes require certain educational backgrounds like say Mathematics as a subject in 11th and 12th Standard and minimum of 50% in graduation. Admissions are given on the basis of written entrance tests. Various reputed universities and colleges offering the high-profile-placement centered MCA degree in India are:

1. Delhi University
2. Pune University
3. Jawahar Lal Nehru university, New Delhi
4. IIT Roorkee
5. NIT Trichy
6. VJTI, Mumbai
7. Banaras Hindu University
8. MNNIT Allahabad
9. ICSE Indore
10. Thapar University

Other colleges offering MCA are NITs, Vellore Institute, PSG Coimbatore, Hyderabad Central University, BITS Mesra, Jalgaon University, and Panjab University etc