Unlike aptitude-based business school admission tests, DU B unit is an exam that rewards memorization and writing skills. That means you need to put in some hours for the test along with your IBA preparation.

The exam has three sections: Bangla, English and General Knowledge.

Marks Distribution

MCQ — 60 Marks

Bangla/Elective English (for EM students)
Total Marks: 15
Pass Mark: 5

English
Total Marks: 15
Pass Mark: 5

General Knowledge
Total Marks: 30
Pass Mark: 10

Combined MCQ Section Pass Mark: 24+

Writing — 40 Marks

Bangla/Elective English (for EM students)
Total Marks: 20
Pass Mark: 5

English
Total Marks: 20
Pass Mark: 5

Combined Writing Section Pass Mark: 11+

Overall Total Combined Minimum: 40+

1. Get yourself a Question Bank or a website/app that has practice tests.

   Start with a test. It can be a question paper from the previous years or a practice on a specific topic. Attempt the questions based on your prior knowledge and intuition. After you’re done, learn from your mistakes. Learn from the questions themselves. If a question states new information, that is something you need to learn.

Keep doing it for every topic till you’re confident you’ve covered most of it. This process takes away the monotony of cramming loads of rules, facts or random words. All you need to do is learn while you’re solving questions.

This is not to say you’d just solve all the questions mindlessly. Take a pause midway, and learn everything from the relevant materials. Then come back to solving questions. You’ll get better at it.

2. You may consider getting a course and/or private tutor. Since B unit is your backup, you might slack off without a proper routine and accountability. This is totally up to your consistency and preference.

2. The writing section is the game changer. Most people only emphasize on the MCQ part all while keeping the writing section for later. This is something you may have to improve a lot. Fortunately, it only takes regular practice. The question pattern is repetitive, so you should be able to get better at it. Make time for practicing writing early on.

2. Bangla is difficult. You’d find yourself lost with the boring rules and jaw-breaking words. That’s only if you go all out at everything. Start with the process of solving questions. Try to understand the concepts and pick the pattern. If a rule is way out of your reach, don’t bother yourself for the time being. Get back to it only if you see it appearing frequently over the years.

Bangla Writing requires deeper understanding as well as good writing skills. Read in between the lines while answering the passage related questions. Unlike the mcq section, questions from “birochon” require deeper understanding in the case of writing.

5. Good News: English will be a walk in the park for you. Just familiarize yourself with the question pattern. You should be alright. Missing a point should hurt your ego as an IBA aspirant.

The writing part for English is predictable. Sentence making is a common question type. Word Smart helps, but the words/phrases that appear frequently are easier for someone good with communicative English (Something you can learn). Make sure you practice writing paragraphs on various topics regularly. The analytical essay tested in IBA will help you prepare for similar paragraphs.

6. General Knowledge: I won’t tell you to dig up newspapers or read history books for B Unit gk. You can go the extra mile ofc, but an easier route would be solving questions along with learning from capsules (current affairs) and GK books (static GK).

In short, the bottom line is, practice as many questions as you can while learning the basics of the things being tested. Get a well-rounded question bank and follow the process.

Words of wisdom:

By the time you sit for the B unit exam, you’ll probably know whether or not you’ve passed the IBA written exam (I was practicing gk questions when I got my iba result). Be prepared early on, as you could be heartbroken a week before the exam. You’re getting at least 3 weeks after the IBA exam, which is enough even if you haven’t done “enough” the whole season.

B Unit is different from the IBA exam. You’ll find questions in common if you practice enough. That’s something you should look for by analyzing the question pattern.

Make sure you pass the test. If you have a desired department, be mindful of the criteria. Your whole preparation should revolve around your exam hall strategy. This was my whole plan for B unit.

Writing will take you places. To reiterate, PASS the MCQ part and then maximize your score in the writing section.

Preparing for a backup doesn’t have to be an all out parallel preparation. It’s better if you are on track, but it’s still not the end of the world if you are not. Trust the process and do your thing whenever you feel like it. Unfortunately, talking about backups comes with a dull tone. But it can be fun if you gamify the preparation process. Make sure you're having fun, and you’ll be just fine.

Yasir Affan
DU Economics