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Final year, placements start in six weeks — do I prep for the campus tests or the off-campus grind? — CareerVerse

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Final year, placements start in six weeks — do I prep for the campus tests or the off-campus grind?

Anonymous27 Jul 2026

Our placement cell has us doing aptitude and MCQ mocks every weekend. Quant, logical reasoning, a bit of Java trivia. Meanwhile every off-campus opening I look at wants DSA and a project I can actually talk about for twenty minutes.

I've got maybe two focused hours a day. If I split them I'm mediocre at both.

Seniors from last year are split too. Half say the campus drive is the easiest offer you'll ever get so don't you dare skip the aptitude prep. The other half say campus roles pay so little that you'll be job hunting again in eighteen months anyway, so build for off-campus from day one.

For anyone a year or two ahead of me: did the campus route actually work out, or did you end up going off-campus regardless? Just trying to figure out where the two hours should go.

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Anonymous27 Jul 2026
The aptitude material is far more learnable, in far less time, than your placement cell wants you to believe. There are maybe fifteen recurring question types and once you've drilled those you'll clear most campus cutoffs comfortably.

I'd give it two focused weekends and put everything else into the project. Which brings me to the actual question — what's the project you'd talk about if someone asked you today? That answer matters more than either prep track.
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Anonymous27 Jul 2026
Went through exactly this two years ago. Did the campus prep, cleared the aptitude round, took an offer that was well below what my off-campus friends eventually got, and left after fourteen months because the work was pure maintenance.

Still no regrets about taking it. Having an offer in hand while everyone around me was still applying completely changed how I interviewed later. You negotiate differently when you're not desperate.

Take the safety net. Just don't confuse it with the destination.
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