How to prepare for JNU MA Political Science Entrance and MA International Relations Entrance exams?
Table of Contents
- 1. Understanding the Syllabus and Exam Pattern
- 2. Update Your General Knowledge and Current Affairs
- 3. Study Post-Colonial and Contemporary Political and International Affairs in-Depth
- 4. Stay India Focused
- 5. Work on your writing skills
- 6. Practice Previous Year Question Papers
- 7. Research Extensively
- Books Recommended for MA Political Science Entrance & MA International Relations
MA Political Science Entrance 2020 ONLINE batches available now. Click for more info:
Jawaharlal Nehru University is going to conduct MA Political Science Entrance and MA international Relations Entrance exams around 27-30th December 2017.
Already, the registrations are closed for the JNU admissions 2018 for all PG and MA courses.
Both the MA Political Science and MA International Relations can easily be said to be the most popular courses in JNU. Therefore, it is the most challenging to secure a seat in these courses as you get admission through entrance only.
That too, the entrance exams are subjective, which again increases the difficulty level of the exam.
Because you not only need critical thinking but also excellent writing skills in order to ace the exams.
Hence, to help students, we have come up with top 6 tips to effectively prepare for JNU MA International Relations and MA Political Science Entrance exams. The entrance syllabuses for both the courses are almost same.
That’s why we have combined the tips for the both these courses.
1. Understanding the Syllabus and Exam Pattern
MA Political Science Entrance and MA International Relations Entrance syllabuses are almost same with the minor distinction.
Following are the major topics, you will need to cover to effectively prepare:
- Political Theory and Thought
- Comparative Politics and Political Analysis
- Indian Government and Politics
- Bureaucracy and Public Administration
- International Relations
The exam pattern for both the exams are bit different:
MA Political Science Entrance exam pattern:
Questions: 7 (only 3 to attempt)
Time: 3 hours
Marks: 100
Pattern: long-type subjective answers
MA International Relations:
Questions: 20 (only 5 to attempt)
Time: 3 hours
Marks: 100
Pattern: long-type subjective answers
In MA Political Science Entrance of JNU, you will get more theory-based questions. Where you will need in-depth knowledge of popular theories and thoughts.
Meanwhile, in MA International Relations Entrance of JNU, you will get more current events and affairs questions. In which you will not only require a decent knowledge of theories but also in-depth knowledge of current events and affairs.
2. Update Your General Knowledge and Current Affairs
It is highly important from the standpoint of preparations that you’re updated with the latest General Knowledge and Current Affairs.
Because you may have to answer questions such as these:
MA Political Science Entrance sample questions:
– Do you think that a reorganization of the Security Council has to take place in order to make the United Nations more relevant? Argue your case.
– Democracy is globally the most widely accepted political system. What do you think are the recent challenges to democracy? Give examples from across the world.
MA International Relations Entrance samples questions:
– Discuss the causes for Arab Spring.
– Write an essay on BRICS and its importance in contemporary international politics.
In order to answer these questions, you not only need a good understanding of popular theories but also a good understanding of current complex national and international issues.
Now, to prepare for General Knowledge and Current Affairs, we recommend you to read:
- Newspapers such as The Hindu, Indian Express etc.
- Magazines such as Frontline, Competition Success Review etc.
- Online News Portals such as The Wire, Kafila, Caravan etc.
- Journals – Economic and Political Weekly
- Books and variety of content in context of Politics and International Relations only
You will need to make it a habit to read extensively and thoroughly.
3. Study Post-Colonial and Contemporary Political and International Affairs in-Depth
Often, aspirants preparing for both these entrance exams fail to dig deeper in Post-Colonial and Contemporary Politics, moreover, current International affairs.
It is recommended to do detailed contextual readings in post-colonial and contemporary politics, and international affairs. As it will give you clear hindsight of the current events and issues of national and international politics.
Reading popular political philosophers of post-colonial and contemporary history and politics will help you a lot.
However, we recommend you to also watch political documentaries, important speeches, UN proceedings etc. that help you a lot in gaining better knowledge.
4. Stay India Focused
Your contextual readings and preparations need to confine within India’s perspective. Otherwise, you will read anything that comes to you will not be able to prepare effectively also will lose focus.
Moreover, if you analyze MA Political Science and MA International Relations entrance exams previous year JNU question papers, you will notice almost all questions are in India’s context.
Therefore, make sure that your study material whether it is International Relations or Contemporary Politics, it has to be in India’s context.
5. Work on your writing skills
Your writing skills are highly crucial for your success in JNU entrance exams. Without it you will stand no chance in cracking the entrance exams.
Therefore, you will need to improve your writing skills.
How can you improve?
We have following writing skills development tips for you:
- Work on your grammar, punctuation and sentence formation
- Make your writing more engaging using examples, subtitles, bullet points, shorter sentences, and paras etc.
- Strictly follow KISS policy – Keep it simple silly
- Use references and citations, while mentioning some work, author or quote
- There are variety of essay and answer writing formats – learn them
- Improve your handwriting – just write clean and simple – avoid cursive writing
Lastly, extensive reading and regularly practicing answer writing will help you hone your writing skills.
6. Practice Previous Year Question Papers
Practicing previous year question papers is often recommended for entrance exam preparations. Because with this you not only get ideas to crack exam but also gain essential confidence.
As you practice, try getting it checked from your seniors or college professors. Because then you will get a much better review and tips to improve your writing.
Download PDF JNU MA Political Science Previous Year Question Papers:
2017 MA Political Science Entrance Exam Download PDF
2016 MA Political Science Entrance Exam Download PDF
2015 MA Political Science Entrance Exam Download PDF
Download PDF JNU MA International Relations Previous Year Question Papers:
2017 MA International Relations Entrance Exam Download PDF
2016 MA International Relations Entrance Exam Download PDF
2015 MA International Relations Entrance Exam Download PDF
7. Research Extensively
Researching is a key to better learning, therefore, make sure you research online. Also, you could use your college library or public libraries for this purpose.
Do not limit yourself to guides and set standard books. Instead, go and explore but make sure you stay within your focus. Also, try reading only within your field of study or only to enhance your knowledge about a particular subject.
Avoid goalless reading, and browsing through the variety of books on various topics and subjects. Because it will easily divert you and lead you to nowhere.
JNU 2017 December Entrance Exams for MA Political Science and MA International Relations are just hardly a few weeks away. Therefore, you may not be able to cover all tips.
Nevertheless, you still have time to effectively prepare. Ideally, you should start preparing for these entrance exams 6-7 months early.
For any queries, please feel free to use the comment box below. I would love to help all the aspirants.
Best of luck for your exams!
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Books Recommended for MA Political Science Entrance & MA International Relations
O.P. Gauba Political Theory
JNU MA Political Science Entrance Exam Guide
The Oxford Companion to Politics in India
International Relations
MCQs Political Science
Indian Constitution And Indian Polity
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Can you please give more questions related to Gk for practice ?
We will try our best!
Sir Jnu pol.science ka ans. Hindi me write kar sakte hai
JNU says “Unless otherwise specified in the question paper, the JNU programmes of study (barring Languages) is English; and the candidates are advised to write their answers, as far as possible, in English.” See it here: https://admissions.jnu.ac.in/Prospectus/JNUEE/FAQ%20on%20admissions.pdf
For Political Science it is English only as questions are in English. Nevertheless, you may confirm from JNU if you can write your MA Political Science Entrance exam in Hindi.
can you just solve yesterday’s entrance test of Politics with IR
I will do my best
Sir, myself Abhijeet Mishra a student of LNMU want to be faculty of polityour and governance in upsc questionso for this I want to do my M.A From JNU so please guide me.
Sir, what should be my first step for preparing the entrance exam for 2019 political science
Sir, what should be my first step for preparing the entrance exam for 2019 political science
Sir I.R ka entrance exam ka answer Hindi main De sakte hai.
How can we improve our presentation in the exam..and how much pages we need to cover for each question?
In terms of presentation, make sure your handwriting is legible and clear, and your write-up should have- short paras, avoid long paras, bullet points, subheadings, and above all it should have grammatically correct sentences. There’s no set minimum or maximum limit to the word limit. If you can critically write effectively and convincing in just 300 or 500 words then that’s more than enough.
Plz provide the material for MA political science for jnu in hindi
Sir,what should be my first step in preparing for jnu MA international relations entrance exam?
Sir will you provide questions in hindi
Sirr kitna page likhna hoga
Booklist for poltical science FOR JNU MA
Can you suggest me the books to clear MA political science Entrance Exam ?
Sir is this paper in hindi? can we write ans in hindi
Yes you can write in Hindi!
Thank you sir,,I m in final year ,, please give me tips to prepare better,,
Thank you
Thanks sir , your valuable tips.
Im a final year pol.science student pursuing graduation in Delhi university.can u suggest me some strategy to cope up with jnu preparation while covering static portion of upsc syllabus.Would the thought of balancing upsc nd jnu preparation makes sense?
The JNU MA Political Science Entrance and UPSC Mains Political Science exam pattern are different from each other. Therefore, the strategy has to be different accordingly.
Can you also please give some tips how to crack HCU entrance exam
You could visit our store here: https://learningskillsindia.com/store/product-category/english-literature/ our experts have suggest the top books to read for MA English Entrance exams preparation.
Please say some standard books to study with author’s…
What would be the syllabus for MA POLITICAL SCIENCE WITH INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS entrance exam
The MA Political Science Entrance syllabus primarily consist of BA Political Honors Syllabus of DU, and Current Affairs, and International Affairs.
Actually I don’t have political science background… I have just chosen my optional as Political science and INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS in Civil services and want to write JNU 2019 which is an OBJECTIVE exam… Please help me how to read… Which topics to read to get through this exam?
Follow our tips for preparation given above. For the topics, you could follow the BA Political Honors Syllabus of DU: http://www.du.ac.in/du/uploads/Syllabus_2015/BA%20Hons%20Political%20Science.pdf and analyze the previous year question papers to find out the most important topics.
Hello sir what is career options open after M.A in political science ?
You could pursue further studies or pursue a career in Teaching, Political Analysis, Liaising, or prepare for a Government job.
Course in detail …for MA International Relations.
Hello sir I’m Mohit from du sol university final year Pol science honour in English medium students.
So as you mentioned in some of your answers that to prepare for M.A international relations Pol science graduation books will be enough. So does it includes sol also.?
Or else I need to go for regular books.??
As far as I can say SOL books will be good, but there are more subjects covered in regular books, then do refer to those as well.
i’m confuse with the pattern of the examination here in this website the mode of giving the exam is long term subjective but the other the university website it says MCQ
Yes, you are right, the exam pattern is now objective (multiple type questions). This is an old article, we will soon update it as per the latest changes.
Sir please guide for 2020 entrance for a politics (jnu)
Can you please give some name of books for political science MA and can we give this examination in Hindi language
Read BA Political Science Honors books and yes you can give answer in Hindi language.
Sir,can we give answer in bengali?
I don’t think so, you can either answer in English or Hindi. Nevertheless, you may contact JNU for final confirmation.
Sir i am right now in BA second year so how to proper improve my writting skill for jnu ma political entance exam
Follow the guidelines given in the article.
sir,my self k.Nagarjuna,I will write jnu entrence exam of politicalscience,but Ihave one dought that is I can write entrence eham in my motherthoung.
As far as we know, you can only write in Hindi and English. Nevertheless, please confirm from JNU for the final word.
Sir this paper is available in hindi or not?
Yes, it is available in Hindi.
Can we give answer in Hindi language
Yes you’re allowed to write in Hindi, provided you mention in your application for MA entrance exam.