How to clear CS Final New syllabus - Tips by Muthu who passed all groups in single attempt

Mr. Muthu Kumar from Chennai has passed all modules of CS Professional course new syllabus in the 1st

attempt in December 2014. He is sharing his success tips here for the benefit of students:

1.     What are your views on the new syllabus? 

New syllabus gives more emphasis on Practical approach including most of the exams ; I think first time a professional institute came up with Open Book Exam, which is a novel idea. New paper Information Technology is included in the CS Course, which helps to developknowledge in the area of IT and its recent developments.

The new syllabus study material is good in all aspects ;  even the practical examples and procedures are also covered in the institute material now.

The drawback in the new syllabus is that the question Paper doesn’t contain one mark questions; my opinion is that it can be retained for the benefit of the students to gain marks & also to save time. 

2.      Why students are struggling in new syllabus? What makes it difficult for them?

• Time duration provided in exam is only 3 hrs, which may not be enough for the students as they need to write more for the theory questions.
• Students generally depend on the scanners and few      author’s books and they are not considering the Institute material fully, which is why they are facing difficulty.
• New syllabus Question paper Pattern doesn’t provide choices like old syllabus.

3.     Can you guide the students with tips on how to prepare - subject wise? 

ACLP:

Studying the entire book may not be possible at this time. For the students preparing for their exam in the last Month only  may go with the sankeet kedia’s book on ACLP which is really good. For others who are preparing from the beginning, they should study the study material & also the scanner.

CRI:

Institute Study material is the best one for the CRI paper. Even the students who are preparing at the last moment can go with the study material. Also they may use the scanners for referring to the previous year question papers and FAQs.

Due Diligence and Compliance Management:

For this paper Institute study material and the scanner will be sufficient. Many students are not studying the Due Diligence study material properly and they prefer the other books & hence face difficulty in exams.

Financial Management:

Preparing for the theory as well as for the practical questions are equally important. As question patterns differ every year, preparing for practical questions is also very important. Recently our institute also issued the Practice manual for this paper that can be referred for the practical questions. Before going to the exams, solve all the questions in the scanner; at times questions in this paper are repeated from past year.

IT:

For IT paper studying the study material is the best approach. For the last two attempts, questions are coming from the study material only.

Tax:

In new syllabus, 70 marks are there for IDT, balance portion of 30 Marks is allocated for Direct Tax. Direct Tax questions are mostly asked from study material only. But in IDT questions are also asked from outside the material, where Bangaru material can be used, which is a good one. Particularly for the case Laws and practical questions bangaru material will be helpful one.

Also, Studying the supplementary updates is equally important, as questions are asked from recent updates.

General:

Above all, preparing notes is also essential for all subjects, since during exam days, studying entire book will not be possible. While preparing notes, don’t repeat what is there in material make it as points or table or chart so that revising the entire paper in a day should be possible.

4.     Will you advise people to take all 3 modules together or break and write?

It is always better to write all the 3 modules together. In CS all the papers are interrelated one. For eg. Studying CRI will be more helpful to learn Due Diligence paper. Likewise FM questions may be repeated in the Tax paper. So writing together will save your time for preparation as well as increase scope of clearing the papers (group carry forward of marks is also available). Moreover, now institute is also giving 1 or 2 days leave in between the exams.

5.     Which elective subject you took? Which papers are comparatively easy in electives?

I took IPR for the main reason that it is easier compared to other papers. In IPR, 50% of the portion is repeated from the Inter syllabus only. Moreover, the first 50 mark questions are logical questions which can be answered easily; this advantage will not be there in the remaining 4 papers. The balance 50 marks in the IPR are from the study material and from the Bare Act only.

6.     How many months did you prepare? What would you advise - as regards months of preparation?

I prepared for 6 months. And I would suggest at least 3 to 4 months preparation for writing all the 3 modules. Moreover Daily 6 hrs of effective preparation is enough for clearing all the modules in the first attempt itself.

7.     Which are the papers that are more scoring papers in the new syllabus?

Scoring papers are

• CRI and DD in the first module
• FM in the second module
• Tax and Drafting in the third module

In all the above papers, scoring 60 and above is possible compared to other papers. Particularly in FM and CRI scoring 75 and above is possible.

8.     What about revision? How many times you revised?

I revised the subject for 5 to 6 times. If you need to be familiar with the subject, atleast 3 to 5 times of revision is required. Moreover when writing the exams, recollecting and presenting the answer will be quiet easy for those who revised their papers.

9.     Any other specific points that you would like to share...

Whenever preparing for the exam, have a clear timetable with you and fix the place where you are going to study. Don’t change the place often, since environment also matters while studying. Next important thing your food habits ; don’t take any NEW food item during the exam time.

I think with 3-4 months intense preparation, one can clear the new syllabus 3 modules. 

Wishing the students all the best and success in their exams and career..