Political Science Entrance Exam

The basic eligibility for admission to MA Political Science is as below:Bachelor's degree in any stream preferably Arts and Humanities
Students with a graduate degree in other streams can also apply
Minimum marks required vary form 45% to 50% in graduation and may vary for different universities
The minimum pass percentage is higher for non-humanities courses
Admission to M.A. Political Science is usually conducted by Entrance exam & Direct Admission.
1. Entrance Exam:
The entrance test paper may contain objective or descriptive or both type of questions. The questions in the test are asked from the following topics:
Current Affairs
General Knowledge
Indian Constitution
Governance and Polity
Contemporary Social and Political Issues
Generally, marks scored in the Entrance test is the sole criteria for admission to the programme. Some of the universities which conduct entrance exam for admission to M.A. Political Science are:
University of Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Banaras Hindu University
Jamia Millia Islamia University of Hyderabad
2. Direct Admission:
There are certain universities which also admit students on the basis on marks scored in graduation. Direct admission is, however, limited to B.A. Political Science students. The criteria for direct admission is a first class degree in B.A. Political Science. Certain universities like University of Delhi also set a certain minimum percentage criteria for direct admission.

For M.A. Political Science in JNU entrance exam, there is hardly a repetitive set witnessed in the past. The entrance exam is solely based upon your awareness in the subject and the surroundings. Or, do the following steps:
1. Read two newspapers every day- I would suggest the Hindu and Indian Express. You can read it online or whatever. Read Editorials and Op-Ed properly.
2. Read Frontline every week cover to cover.
3. Start reading fundamental concepts and theories (see point 6).
4: Brush up the Indian political history (India after Gandhi by Ram Guha is a good start).
5: Read Economic and Political Weekly sometimes. Try to see how essays, arguments, data is used. You may not understand some of it, but just read it to see patterns, structures, language. Also, read Seminar Magazine, which is a monthly in-depth magazine published by Seminar Publications, New Delhi especially January issue for past 4-5 years.
6: Get basic textbooks like those, by Andrew Heywood. Ensure that you do concepts, theory, and philosophy.
7: Acquire a copy of Oxford Companion to Politics in India (Students Edition). Read as much as you can. You may not understand all of it, but get going.
8. Visitwww. Jnueeqp. Com, they have old question papers. See the type of questions, the arguments, the types of questions.
9. After lot of reading, take time to sit and write some argumentative essays.
10. For writing answers in the Entrance, you need the following:
Step 1: You need ideas about the concept and the theory. Step 2: You need knowledge about events and the political history of India and the world. Step 3: You need to combine 1 & 2 into coherent structured essays. Learn how to support your arguments and opinions with facts, theories and concepts. All the best.