You always have more time than you think."

— Pratham Chopra, IBPS PO & NICL AO 2025

Introduction of IBPS PO Pratham Chopra

“You always have more time than you think.” – Pratham Chopra.

It’s a line most aspirants won’t believe at first. When you’re in the middle of preparation, it always feels like time is slipping away – syllabus piling up, mocks going wrong, and this constant anxiety that you’re already late. Many rush, skip the basics, and keep chasing speed without direction.

But Pratham Chopra's example suggests that maybe time isn't really a problem – it is an illusion we create and feed off of.

Pratham Chopra’s success story is an inspiration for every bank exam aspirant. Coming from a middle-class family in Faridabad, he graduated from Delhi University in 2022 and started preparing for government exams. During his journey, he faced multiple setbacks, including missing final selection in IBPS PO despite reaching the interview and mains stages. Along with preparation, he also managed a job, which made balancing studies and work difficult.

In 2025, Pratham made the bold decision to quit his job and focus completely on his preparation. With better strategy, concept clarity, and focused practice, his hard work finally paid off. He successfully cleared both IBPS PO 2025 and NICL AO 2025, proving that patience, dedication, and the right approach are the real keys to success.

How Pratham Chopra balanced Job and Preparation

Pratham had to face constant struggle, confusion, and stress while he was juggling between his job and studies. After a full day at work, he would return home with plans to study, but his body and mind had already given up for the day.

And that’s what made it frustrating.

Because deep down, he wanted to study more. He knew what needed to be done. But wanting to do it and being able to do it are two very different things when you’re tired all the time.

At work	While studying
He kept thinking about studies.	He felt too tired because of work.

On the other hand, when he tried to focus more on studies, work started to feel like a burden. His mind was constantly divided—half here, half there.

This constant back-and-forth slowed his preparation and began to affect his confidence, too. There was always this lingering doubt: “Am I doing the right thing?”

With time, he realized something important—this wasn’t balance, it was confusion.

He wasn’t moving forward the way he wanted to. And more than anything, he lacked clarity.

That’s when he made a tough call.

In 2025, he decided to leave his job and give his preparation a fair chance. It wasn’t a comfortable decision. There was stress, confusion, and plenty of overthinking beforehand.

However, after taking that decision, things began to shift around.

For the first time, he was able to sit down and study without feeling completely exhausted. He had the energy to concentrate, the time to get better, and most importantly, a path to follow.

Advice to Aspirants for Preparation and Exam Strategy

When asked about the advice Pratham would give to aspirants, he didn’t share anything complicated or fancy. Instead, he spoke about a mistake almost everyone makes—including himself.

He said, “You always have more time than you think.”

At first, it sounds simple. But if you think about it, most aspirants are always in a hurry. There’s this constant feeling that time is running out—that you need to finish everything quickly.

So they didn't complete their basics properly, always in a hurry to only solve questions without properly analyzing them, and their weak areas never really improve.

When your basics aren’t clear, every new question feels harder. When you ignore your weak areas, they keep pulling your score down

His advice is simple:

• Don’t rush your preparation

• Give proper time to the basics

• Face your weak areas instead of avoiding them

• Don’t solve questions just for the sake of completing them

 

Another thing he emphasized was giving yourself some breathing space.

Preparation is important, no doubt. But you can’t treat yourself like a machine. There will be days when your mind feels heavy, when things don’t click, and that’s okay.

Taking small breaks, stepping away for a while, or just allowing yourself to relax—it actually helps you come back stronger.

Because at the end of the day, preparation is not just about how many hours you study. It’s about how well you are prepared.

Challenges Faced During Mains and Final Interview

Smart Strategy to Skip 10 Questions in the Mains Exam

Most aspirants walk into the exam hall believing they need to attempt everything. Pratham thought differently.

For him, the goal was never to touch every question. The goal was to score better than others without ruining accuracy.

And that completely changed the way he approached the paper.

He admitted that there were certain questions he would intentionally leave. Not because he couldn’t solve them, but because he knew they could waste time, create confusion, and increase negative marking.

His strategy was very clear:

• Don’t chase every question

• Don’t let ego decide your attempts

• Protect your accuracy at all costs

In Quant, he was very selective. The moment he saw lengthy caselets or questions filled with variables and complicated data, he preferred to move ahead. According to him, some questions consume too much time for very little return.

He especially avoided:

• Long caselet DI

• Confusing arithmetic setups

• Variable-based questions

In Reasoning, there was one area he never trusted completely—critical reasoning.

He said that this section often led him toward negative marking. So instead of forcing himself to solve it just because it was there, he chose to skip it.

At the same time, puzzles were his strength. And that’s where he focused his energy.

That’s something many aspirants forget during exams—your job is not to prove you can solve everything. Your job is to maximize marks.

In English, too, he stayed practical.

If a parajumble looked messy or a passage felt unnecessarily complex, he moved on without wasting time trying to force an answer. Vocabulary questions without proper context were also something he avoided.

One thing he repeatedly emphasized was this:

Blind guessing can destroy an otherwise good paper.

And honestly, that’s where many aspirants lose marks.

Sometimes leaving a question is actually the smarter decision.

Pratham’s approach teaches an important lesson—selection in Mains is not about attempting the highest number of questions. It’s about making smart decisions under pressure.

The Impact of Regular Mock Tests on Pratham Chopra’s Success

One consistent thing that Pratham maintained throughout his preparation journey was giving mocks. He said, "he can leave any topic for the day, but never leave mocks."

It can be a prelims mock, sectional, or mains mock; he was firm in his preparation that he would not ignore mocks in any circumstances.

And that habit eventually became a great boon in his journey, as it improved his speed. He identified his weakness and worked on it, and in the end, it gave him the confidence he needed the most.

How Ego and False Confidence Affect Your Preparation

Pratham told Smartkeeda that during his preparation, his ego and false confidence silently affected his preparation.

He thought he was good at maths because he was good at it in his school and college days, so it became a false confidence that he didn't have to practice quant. And that’s where things started to go wrong.

Pratham realized that competitive exams don’t really care about your past confidence. They only care about how prepared you are right now.

What helped him later was that he accepted it honestly instead of pretending everything was fine.

How Ego and False Confidence Affect Your Preparation

Pratham told Smartkeeda that during his preparation, his ego and false confidence silently affected his preparation.

 

He thought he was good at maths because he was good at it in his school and college days, so it became a false confidence that he didn't have to practice quant. And that’s where things started to go wrong.

 

Pratham realized that competitive exams don’t really care about your past confidence. They only care about how prepared you are right now.

What helped him later was that he accepted it honestly instead of pretending everything was fine.

 

Common Preparation Mistakes You Must Avoid

During his preparation journey, Pratham Chopra realized that failure doesn’t always happen because students lack intelligence or hard work. Most of the time, it happens because of small mistakes that slowly become habits.

 

And honestly, these are mistakes almost every aspirant makes at some point.

 

One of the biggest mistakes is having weak basics.

Many students rush directly toward mocks and difficult questions without building a proper foundation first. In the beginning, Pratham also believed that speed mattered more than understanding. But later, he realized that if your basics are weak, even simple questions start feeling confusing under exam pressure.

 

Another common mistake is ignoring your own mistakes.

Aspirants solve mock after mock, but don’t sit down and understand why they got questions wrong. And when mistakes are repeated again and again, scores stop improving.

 

Then comes the problem of no smart skipping strategy.

A lot of students think leaving questions is a weakness. So they keep forcing themselves to solve difficult or lengthy questions even when the paper is slipping away from their hands.

Pratham understood this very clearly during his preparation:

Sometimes skipping a question is smarter than wasting five minutes and getting it wrong anyway.

 

One more dangerous habit is guessing too much.

This especially happens in Mains. The pressure of increasing attempts pushes students toward random guessing, and negative marking quietly destroys the overall score.

 

He also talked about the fear of difficult topics.

Most aspirants avoid chapters that make them uncomfortable. They keep postponing them, hoping they won’t matter much in the exam. But avoiding difficult topics only increases fear over time.

 

Pratham himself admitted that earlier, even looking at some big Mains-level questions used to scare him. But instead of running away forever, he slowly started practicing them regularly until they stopped feeling “impossible.”

 

Another mistake students underestimate is irregular practice.

Preparation is less about motivation and more about routine. Some days will feel productive, some won’t. But consistency matters more than mood.

Even during phases when Pratham felt mentally tired, Pratham made sure he stayed connected to preparation through mocks and practice.

 

Then there’s time mismanagement.

Sometimes students spend hours studying without actually studying effectively. Too much planning, too many resources, and no structure eventually create stress instead of progress.

 

Along with that comes lack of focus.

Pratham openly spoke about how overthinking affected him when he was balancing work and preparation. When your mind is constantly distracted, even long study hours don’t produce results.

 

And finally, one mistake that silently hurts preparation the most - no self-evaluation.

 

A lot of students study daily, but never stop to ask:

• What am I improving at?

• What is still weak?

• Where exactly am I losing marks?

Without honest self-evaluation, preparation becomes directionless.

 

Pratham's journey shows that clearing exams isn't just about studying harder; it's also about avoiding the mistakes that slowly pull you backward without you even realizing it.

The Impact of Consistent Discipline and Honest Practice

One thing that really stands out in Pratham Chopra's success story is that he never attempted to become a "perfect candidate. " He admitted that there were days when he didn't feel like studying, sometimes he skipped mock analyses, and sometimes cricket matches distracted him. But despite all of that, he stayed connected to his preparation.

 

Pratham believed that discipline is not about sitting for 12–14 hours daily just to look hardworking. Real discipline is showing up again and again, even on days when you don’t feel like it.

That’s exactly what he did with mocks.

 

No matter how busy or mentally exhausted he felt, he tried not to miss them. Even if he could only give one hour in a day, he made sure preparation didn’t completely stop.

 

Another important thing was honesty with himself.

 

When he realized his Quant preparation wasn’t as strong as he thought, he accepted it. When GK scared him, he admitted it and started working on it. When certain question types caused negative marking, he stopped forcing himself to solve them.

That honesty helped him improve faster.

 

A Proud Moment of Achievement and Family Happiness

Having prepared since 2022, been rejected after the interview process, managed work and study, felt mentally exhausted, and lastly, taken the risk to leave work, and then in 2025, everything fell into place all of a sudden.

In 2025, Pratham Chopra cleared the IBPS PO exam. He was ecstatic, and his family was immensely proud of him, too.

 

To make things even better for him, at the same time, he had cleared another test, that is, the NIACL AO exam.

 

5 Questions Asked During Pratham Chopra’s Interview

During his interview, Pratham was asked 5 questions that reflect his preparation journey, his ups and downs, and the challenges he faced. Each answer reflected the kinds of challenges most aspirants quietly deal with.

1. How did you manage your time while preparing for bank exams?

 

Pratham admitted that managing your time is not easy. He was rushing through topics without properly completing them, and eventually, that became his weakness. After some time, he realized that time is not something we can control, but we can control how we use it.

 

2. What challenges did you face while balancing a job and exam preparation?

 

Juggling between his job and preparation, it was hard for him to be single-minded on one side. Those phases are filled with constant overthinking, which eventually hampers his preparation. So in 2025, he chose to quit his job to fully commit to the preparation.

 

3. What was your strategy for attempting questions in the mains exam?

 

Pratham was focused more on accuracy and question selection rather than attempting more random questions just for the sake of increasing attempts. Instead, he focused heavily on accuracy and easy question selection.

His mindset was simple:

“I have to solve the paper smartly, not prove that I can solve everything.”

 

4. How did you prepare for the General Knowledge (GK) section?

 

              Pratham said he used Smartkeedas ' mock drill PDF to clear his GK section. He says multiple revisions and attempting quizzes are essential, as they develop a natural instinct that will help in the mains exam.

 

5. What mistakes did you make during your preparation, and what did you learn from them?

                Pratham admitted that during his preparation, his ego and overconfidence were his biggest mistakes. His overconfidence about quant proved him otherwise. Another mistake he talked about was rushing.

• Rushing through concepts

• Rushing during exams

• Solving questions without proper analysis

Over time, he learned that slowing down and understanding things deeply actually improves speed naturally.