During my preparation for MSQE, I often found it difficult to get candid accounts of what the process looked like in practice - what resources people used, how they structured their preparation, what mistakes they made, and what ultimately helped them succeed.

In 2025, after receiving an AIR 3 in the ISI MSQE entrance examination, I wrote the note below for helping other aspirants. Since I still receive occasional messages from prospective applicants, I am reproducing it here with only minor edits. The information reflects my personal experience and preparation strategy rather than a definitive guide, but I hope future aspirants find it useful.

This began as a Piazza post on Econschool’s Piazza forum. Econschool is a preparatory program for students aspiring to graduate studies in economics. The Piazza forum is just one example of a large array of free resources offered by their team, headed by Amit Goyal. I relied extensively on his mentorship throughout my preparation.


Offers Received

  • ISI MSQE AIR 3
  • CUET PG AIR 41 → Offered admission to DSE; waitlisted for IGIDR
  • IIT JAM AIR 30 → Offered admission to IIT Roorkee

Ultimately, I chose to join ISI Delhi.


Starting Point & Timeline

Did economics at Kirori Mal College, DU. Graduated in 2021. Prepared for a little bit during my final year, but burnt out due to juggling college, COVID and prep.

Returned to preparation in 2024 after roughly three years of work experience. Prepared for 2 months, missed PEA cutoff by 2 marks or so. Decided to commit for one full year seriously.


Resources

In my first rushed attempt with only 2 months of prep, I covered Sydsaeter and Hammond pretty well. Apart from math, my prep was quite weak, and I relied mostly on the textbooks in my college curriculum.

In the following attempt where I committed one full year to prep, I signed up for the Econschool test series with weekly tests. I used the guided program updates post as a benchmark, along with the topics for the weekly tests, to structure my prep process - which topics to cover, how long to spend on them, etc.

I would start each week by watching the playlist, then doing as many problems as I could from that particular week/topic [the post linked above can basically be used as a topic-wise question bank]. Apart from this, the test series programme also granted me access to a set of topic-wise quizzes on Gradescope, which were quite challenging and really helped me get some useful practice.

For statistics, I used stat110, but apart from the linked lectures, I also did the first 3-5 homework/strategic practice assignments that Prof. Blitzstein has linked on his website.

For econometrics, I relied on the references that are used in the DU curriculum, supplemented with this playlist by Ben Lambert. I did not devote a lot of time to econometrics though.

I did not take any full time classes, but I did take some modular courses at Econschool - a 4 week programme on microeconomic theory, a 4 week math camp programme, and another 4 week programme focused on PEB prep. The math camp and the PEB prep programme were the most useful ones for me.

For math, I often struggled with algebra that involved modulus, GIF, SIF etc. I used the Mathsmerizing free videos to get better at that.


Mistakes & Challenges Faced

The weekly tests were great preparation, but if I did poorly on a test, it would tank my confidence for a few days. I guess that is natural though.

I realised too late how useful the Gradescope quizzes were. When I started doing those diligently, my weekly test scores started to hover in the top 3 consistently.

Returning to prep after working for 3 years, I did not have batchmates from college who were preparing alongside me, and that was always a big challenge. I did not apply for GATE 2025 since I did not realise that there were multiple exams for IIT and did not have any friends who reminded me.

The prep was the easier bit, what was really hard was to manage the cycle of emotions, motivation and energy as they fluctuated across the year.


What Helped The Most

The weekly tests helped me stay anchored, my entire preparation was basically structured around the tests. I did not have to worry about the whole picture at once, I just focused my energy on these smaller weekly units and that helped immensely. The scores were very useful feedback, especially for someone returning to studies after working.

Doing the quizzes diligently really helped me get better with specific topics. The quizzes also include problems from competitive exams, and that again reinforces some confidence in your own abilities + helps you identify your weaker areas.

Around halfway through the programme, I got in touch with a couple of other students at Econschool. It was very useful - I did ask them for advice on studying, but I could also rely on having them around for navigating the application process and all. I also would contact Amit sir once in a while to get his perspective on my prep strategy.


Advice to Future Aspirants

  • Don’t spread yourself too thin with material. You cannot realistically cover so many books and videos
  • Don’t tie your entire identity to these exams and the outcome, it will make you more anxious and affect your performance.
  • Try to make the process enjoyable for yourself. If it is enjoyable, you will naturally find energy to stay consistent.

For PEB:

  • PEB shifts the game quite a bit. I rarely cracked the top of the leaderboard during the PEA mock tests we had, and even my PEA score in the exam was not the highest [101/120]. My PEB section went very well, and PEB has 3 times as much weight in your final rank (at least for 2025).
  • Participate on the forums! Ask questions, show your work, show up curiously - there are many valid ways to answer the same question.
  • Be expressive when you answer questions. My forum participation made me good at PEB since PEB involves showing your work and constructing mathematical arguments.


Using AI

AI did not play a significant role in my own preparation, but it has become an increasingly useful tool for current aspirants. A few observations based on interactions with students over the past year (as of June 2026 - AI is evolving rapidly, so this may be outdated soon):

  • LLMs are often helpful for clarifying concepts in mathematics, statistics, and economics. They can provide alternative explanations, generate examples, and help identify gaps in understanding.
  • Be cautious about relying on AI for complete solutions to unfamiliar problems. I have found it most useful as a supplement to independent problem-solving rather than a substitute for it. I’ve seen LLMs do not do too well with very specific problems (i.e a given utility function or production function, specific parametric values etc.)
  • One particularly effective use case is preparation analytics. Some students upload mock tests, their responses, and answer keys to an LLM. The model can then score the paper, classify questions by topic, identify recurring mistakes, and generate a structured summary of strengths and weaknesses. This can save a significant amount of time and help make revision more targeted.

In general, I think AI is most valuable for explanation, organisation, and feedback. The actual learning still comes from solving problems yourself.