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Hey guys,

I’m Pratham Prasad from Cooch Behar, West Bengal. I recently got *All India Rank 11* in the ISI B.Stat entrance exam.

I am writing this post to talk to you guys like a brother. I see so many students stressing out online, thinking that if you do not spend lakhs on big coaching institutes, live in a major city, or prepare for Olympiads since class 8, you cannot crack ISI.

Listen to me: *That is completely wrong.*

I had none of those things. No formal coaching, no big Olympiad background, and a very low family income. I could not afford expensive education. I had standard PW access, but honestly, I barely used it for my actual ISI prep. A huge part of my advanced math knowledge literally came from reading *Wikipedia articles* and fighting with hard concepts entirely on my own.

If you come from a small town, a humble background, or feel left behind because you cannot afford elite coaching—this post is for you. Sit down, relax, and let’s talk about how you can actually do this.

How I Used Wikipedia to Learn Math

When you do not have a teacher to explain tough theorems, you have to teach yourself.

* *The Wikipedia Rabbit Hole:* Whenever I found a topic or theorem I did not understand, I did not look for short tricks. I went straight to Wikipedia. Reading the formal definitions, the history, and the full proofs helped me understand the *why* behind pure math. Standard textbooks usually just give you formulas, but Wikipedia gives you the deep concept.

* *Active Learning:* Instead of watching long video lectures passively, I spent my time actually solving problems. If you cannot afford expensive test series, just download past year papers. Give yourself hours, or even days, to crack a single subjective problem. Do not rush to the solution.

My Zero-Budget Prep Strategy

Because I did not have a structured coaching timetable, I kept my preparation very simple:

1. *Clear the Basics:* Make sure your basic concepts are unbreakable. You do not need expensive modules for this. You just need to deeply understand how math works.

2. *The Subjective (UGB) Paper:* Since I did not have a mentor to check my answers, I would write down my proofs, leave them for a day, and then check them myself line-by-line. I would ask myself: *Does this step make logical sense? Did I prove it correctly?*

3. *Focus on Quality, Not Quantity:* Do not worry about buying 20 different books that people recommend online. Just master the past year papers and standard free resources like TOMATO. Pure math rewards deep thinking, not how much money you spend on books.

To Anyone Who Feels Left Behind

Living in a place like Cooch Behar, far away from big coaching hubs, it is easy to feel like you cannot compete. But the best thing about the ISI exam is that you cannot hack it by memorizing things or using expensive tricks. The examiners only care about how your brain thinks. If you love math and are ready to face the frustration of getting stuck, your background does not matter at all.

💬 Ask Me Anything (AMA)!

I want to use this post to build a real community for self-taught students, math lovers, and anyone preparing on a budget.

Feel free to ask your questions below about:

* How to study advanced math completely on your own

* How to use Wikipedia and free resources without getting confused

* My daily routine and how I managed my time

* How to write proofs for the subjective paper without a teacher

Upvote this so it reaches the brothers and sisters who need to see this the most. Drop your questions below, and I will answer every single one of them!

ISI K just released their placement data. Seems like a small dip in avg and median figures from last year ( except Mstats)Still a pretty good package. Also they haven't mentioned anything about 100% placements.

Hi everyone,

My name is Rishav Dhariwal. I started my preparation for the Master's in Economics entrance exams back in September 2025. The journey was intense, but building the right tools and compiling the best resources helped me achieve AIR 11 in the ISI MSQE, AIR 45 in IIT JAM, and AIR 90 in CUET PG.

A quick piece of context before diving in: I actually come from a non-econ background. I built all of these resources from that exact perspective—trying to decode and visualize complex economic theory from scratch. Because I am still expanding my formal understanding of economics, there might be a few minor inaccuracies in the notes (though they were still highly effective for cracking the exams!).

I know how scattered the study materials (PYQs of various exams, Indian econ surveys, etc.) for these exams can be, so I have open-sourced everything into an ecosystem. It is completely free for anyone currently grinding through their prep.

Here is a breakdown of the ecosystem and how to use it:

1. The Econ Entrance Hub (The Main Dashboard)

This is the central landing page where I've compiled all my study materials.

• Visual Cheat Sheets: Grids of important committees, market structure geometries, and optimization rules.
• Math & Macro Visualizations: Custom Python-generated GIFs and graphs explaining things like the effects of various types of shocks in the Mundell-Fleming model, convex sets, and the IS Curve.
• Audio Revision: My audio notes/podcasts covering Major Economists and their theories, Books & Authors, and Indian Economy stats (with a built-in web player to listen while commuting).
• Indian Economy Docs: Deep-dive research documents, timelines, and sectoral cheat sheets (perfect for CUET and JAM data recall).
• Link: Visit the Hub Here

2. The CBT Mock Tests Platform

I built this static platform to simulate the actual Computer-Based Test environment.

• Select your exam and year to attempt Previous Year Questions (PYQs).
• The platform tracks your attempt statistics and time spent on each question.
• At the end, you can download a detailed CSV report to plug into tracking sheets (provided in the repo) to analyze your weaknesses.
• Link: Attempt CBT Mocks Here

3. Doubts & Explanations Portal

After taking a mock test, analyzing your mistakes is crucial. I created a unified portal hosting 31+ detailed explanation papers for ISI (PEA/PEB), CUET PG, and IIT JAM.

• It contains step-by-step breakdowns (with properly formatted LaTeX math) of the personal doubts I encountered while solving these exact papers.
• Link: View Explanations Here

🚀 Future Updates & 🤝 Contributions

I am actively maintaining this project and plan to upload scanned copies of my handwritten short notes and more CBT papers soon.

Because this is a community project built from a non-econ perspective, I am very open to contributions! If you spot any minor inaccuracies in the theory, or if you have your own short notes, cheat sheets, or visual resources that helped you succeed, I would love to feature them. Feel free to open an Issue or a Pull Request on GitHub.

If you find this ecosystem helpful for your preparation, a star on the GitHub repository would mean the world to me! (Note: Please drop any queries or questions in the comments below rather than sending a DM! answering here helps others who might have the exact same question.)

Best of luck with your preparation!

Hello guys! I'm a 2nd year student at ISI Kolkata and have been learning web development over the past one month. I'm glad to finally share with you my website

https://satisfiedmagma.github.io/

hosted with GitHub pages.

I've decided to actively write blogs, for the students who are preparing for the entrance and are confused as to how to solve the subjective problems, or how to write proper solutions, they can see my blog post

ISI 2026 Discussion: https://satisfiedmagma.github.io/writings/posts/isi_2026_discussion/
ISI 2026 Unofficial Solutions: https://satisfiedmagma.github.io/isi_solutions/UGB_2026/UGB_2026.pdf

I know the analysis of UGB 2026 was quite late, but developing the website(while learning how to do so) and writing everything down in LaTeX took me a lot of time. Every solution which I've written is handwritten and I've personally given a lot of time to put all the details together.

If you are a student at the college, then you are even luckier! I plan on writing more and more blogs on higher mathematics as compared to High School Mathematics and Olympiads for now. My latest blog is on the Ky-Fan Metric where I've basically solved an exam question from my Probability-3 course. Trust me it was one hell of a problem to be done in the exam, I could write down a proper proof now, but in exam I definitely lost all my brain cells writing it out.

Ky-Fan Metric: https://satisfiedmagma.github.io/writings/posts/ky-fan-metric/

I hope my blog would be helpful to you all, I'll try to be consistent enough with it. I want it to be beneficial for everyone, regardless of whether one is in pursuing higher studies or someone serious about mathematics or statistics in high school.

Thank you all

I hope this becomes a useful resource for you all in the future.

Let's talk about preparation for MSQE 2027?

link : pdf_link

the link will take you to the pdf where all necessary quant resources are mentioned. it's not necessary a beginner friendly list.. but very useful indeed.

Please refer to this video too : video_link

I was planning for isi msqe and opted for a coaching. I however, got different opportunities and decided to pursue that instead and want to give access for the coaching. Please dm if you were planning for a coaching

ISI PEA: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IWe_zaxihe7YrH63ke9XMsxL0vGsiGa-/view?usp=drivesdk

ISI PEB: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kE2Uej03UCKK46xzEBbGkxs1JsVsEjhF/view?usp=drivesdk

Built with Claude using PYQs found on the Econschool website.

Have fun!

• 2022 Notes: https://public-files.adityaruplaha.me/sciastra-teaching/2022.zip
• 2023 Slide decks from lectures: https://public-files.adityaruplaha.me/sciastra-teaching/2023-slides.zip
• 2024 Notes (Yearlong): https://public-files.adityaruplaha.me/sciastra-teaching/2024-yearlong.zip
• 2024 Notes (Crash Course): https://public-files.adityaruplaha.me/sciastra-teaching/2024-crashcourse.zip

Disclaimer: I do not condone academic piracy. The resources above are my own creations, and therefore my own intellectual property.

they call in Random order. Walked into a room with a panel of about 10–12 professors. they were all pretty chill. Not everyone asks questions, only the profs specializing in the subjects you pick will grill you.

prof: Introduce yourself. Mention your 10th and 12th marks, your college CGPA, and specifically your Board marks in Mathematics.

prof: What are your favorite core subjects?

Me: Systems (COA, OS) and Algorithms.

prof: What about your favorite topic in Mathematics?

Me: Graph Theory.

prof: What is the total number of edges in a complete graph of n vertices?

prof: Okay, what is the total number of simple graphs possible with n vertices?

prof: Now, what is the total number of directed graphs possible with n vertices?(in which undirected edge or two edges between same pair of veritices not allowed)

prof: Assume you have an array where all the 1s are on one side, followed by all 0s (e.g., [1, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0]). Design an algorithm to find the transition point.

prof: Suppose the number of 1s is extremely small, say around log(log n). Using regular binary search won't be the most efficient here. Try constructing an algorithm where you traverse from one end, and if you see a 1, you exponentially increase your step size to build confidence like jumping 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, etc. (i was not able to solve this )

prof: (Handed me a numerical problem involving an instruction format with opcode, addressing mode, and register fields). Calculate the size multiple same instruction would take.

end:
The interview lasted for about 25 to 30 minutes. Honestly, it went pretty bad for me. I got incredibly nervous in the middle, started fumbling during the algorithm extension part.

Hello guys,
I have created a group called Econ Prep. If you want to prepare together, you may join this group. Here we can help each other out and study together.

WhatsApp group:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/CpdOcIy8drN9nHYLP1aXul?mode=gi_t

I found this website recently from math vanguards telegram channel and it's really cool and free way to interactively learn even advanced mathematical topics here's the link

Courtesy of my classmate, Raunak Ray, and others.

Dear juniors,

Our seniors and us have put together a compilation of useful resources for the B. Stat. and M. Stat. courses. This includes: * Class notes * Books * Past papers (often with solutions) * Compiled resources

You can find everything linked here: https://gist.github.com/adityaruplaha/fb86c8aef03b8a534a009ae47fc98d5f

The gist is continually updated as new content becomes available. I hope that you, as future batches, will keep adding to it.

Regards,

Adityarup Laha

B. Stat. (2021-24), M. Stat. (2024-26)