Are you looking to apply to top liberal arts universities in India? When it comes to best liberal arts universities in India: Ashoka University, Krea, Flame, OP Jindal, Christ, Symbiosis, Shiv Nadar, Azim Pemji come to mind. A student needs a holistic profile which includes grades, summer programs, online courses, projects, extracurricular activities, community service to stand out for these colleges. Apart from a brilliant profile, most of the colleges also take an aptitude test. Here, we’ll discuss in detail about aptitude tests – their exam pattern, syllabus and how you can crack them.

What does the Exam Pattern look like?

Many of the universities accept SAT/ACT scores while all of them have their own aptitude tests. In some cases, it is mandatory to take their tests. For example: it’s mandatory to take the AAT (Ashoka Aptitude Test) irrespective of whether you submit a SAT/ACT score or not.

In this article, I have analysed Sample Papers of five colleges and identified the topics covered in their tests. Take a look.

Now that you know the exam pattern, let’s understand the syllabus of each of these exams.

After going through multiple sample papers and syllabus on official websites of the universities, I have collated and categorised the syllabus under four main headings – Logical Reasoning, Quantitative Ability, Analytical Reasoning, and Verbal Ability. I have further outlined the syllabus under each of these headings to give a better overview of the topics covered.

Some of the topics covered under Quantitative Ability are:

Some of the topics covered under Analytical Reasoning are:

Some of the topics covered under Verbal Ability are:

So, how do you prepare for these tests?

First thing is to assess  how much time it will take you to prepare for these exams and when should you start preparing for them. Preparation time depends on your comfort level with different subjects required for these exams. One needs to also assess whether they can prepare on their own or they need some external help. 

The best way to identify this is to attempt sample papers of these exams and check your performance. Here is the link for sample papers of a couple of colleges.

Azim Premji 

Sample Paper: Click here 

Answer Key: Click here

OP Jindal (JSAT)

Verbal Ability Sample Paper with Answers: Click here

Logical Reasoning Sample Paper with Answers: Click here

Quantitative Skills Sample Paper with Answers: Click here

Flame

FEAT sample paper with answers: Click here

Symbiosis International University

There are no sample papers given on the website. There are sample papers given by some educational websites. Click here for one such website. 

Ashoka University

Ashoka exam is completely based on TSA (Thinking Skills Assessment) Pattern. TSA exam is used for admissions in Oxford, Cambridge and UCL. Instead of sample paper mentioned on their website which has very questions, attempt a one full length TSA paper. 

TSA Oxford 2020 Paper Click here

Answer Key Click here

Explained Answers Click here

Incase, you think you need a tutor to prepare for these exams, here are some recommendations:

• Career Launcher: Good for overall preparations for aptitude exam. They do not have specific courses for liberal arts aptitude preparation.
• Pratham: Offers a wide variety of exam preparations. No specific course for liberal arts though.
• Inomi TestPrep: Inomi offers TSA and AAT (Ashoka) aptitude exam preparation in small batches. 

Ankit Goyal

Ankit Goyal works as an Academic Counselor with Inomi Learning. If you have any questions for Ankit, you can reach out to him at ankit@inomi.in