NTC Level 7 — Full-Time Study Plan (14 Weeks / ~100 Days)¶
Target: Nepal Telecom — Level 7, Telecom Engineer (Electronics & Communication)
Profile: Full-time available (job left), undergrad completed → technical content is revision, not first-time learning.
Approach:Both papers in parallel, every day — interleaved tracks (tech mornings ∥ Paper I middays) so nothing goes stale and nothing gets boring.
Companion docs:prepstrategy.md (overall strategy) · prepstrategy-technical.md (Paper II tiers & tactics)
Why 14 weeks: the technical track currently has 51 note files grouped into 42 morning study sessions; related short notes are paired within one session. Running both papers in parallel (§2), those 42 sessions fit in 7 weeks of mornings, Paper I rides the midday track over 8 weeks, then ~3 weeks of second-pass sweeps and 3 weeks of mocks. Less than 10 weeks forces skipping Tier-3 topics; more than 18 weeks causes forgetting faster than covering.
Weekly rhythm: 6 study days + Sunday rest (flashcards + news only).
If you start Monday 2026-07-06, the plan ends ~2026-10-11. Tentative week dates are shown below — shift everything if the exam date is announced (see §11).
2. How to use the 8 hours — block architecture (SOTA)¶
Not 4 + 4. Two 4-hour single-subject slabs fail for three reasons: sustained attention collapses after ~90 min, blocking one subject all morning is measurably worse for long-term retention than interleaving, and neither slab reserves a retrieval slot — you'd be covering, not learning.
Use 3 blocks + 1 drip: 3 h + 2.5 h + 1.5 h + 1 h = 8 h.
Block
Length
What
Why (learning science)
A — Deep acquisition
3 h = 2 × ~85 min + break
New technical chapter: read → condense into answer template → draw diagrams
Hardest new material at the morning alertness peak; ~90-min chunks ride the ultradian attention cycle
B — Second track
2.5 h
Paper I topic of the day (management / GK / math per §4 template)
Interleaving a different modality (memorization vs derivation) cuts interference and boredom
C — Retrieval gym
1.5 h
Closed book: reproduce the morning chapter + diagram from memory, then 1 timed written answer
Retrieval practice (testing effect) — the single biggest retention booster known
D — Consolidation drip
1 h (evening)
Flashcards (both papers) · current affairs · 1 diagram from memory
Spaced repetition; reviewing near sleep aids consolidation
The rules that make it SOTA:
Active recall over rereading — re-reading a note is not studying; close it and reproduce.
Spaced repetition — make flashcards the same day you learn a topic; due reviews are never skipped, even Sundays.
Interleave across papers, block within a track — both papers touched daily (durable memory + no boredom), but each track stays on one subject per week so context stays coherent.
Dual coding — every concept gets a labeled diagram, not just text.
Desirable difficulty — attempt from memory before checking the note. Struggle is the encoding signal.
Read once → rewrite into Definition → Labeled diagram → Working principle → Key formula/derivation → Application/comparison → close the note, reproduce from memory → tag confidence and schedule review.
Fig: Fourteen-week study phase map: seven weeks of coverage, a bridge week, three weeks of second-pass study, three weeks of mock cycles, and daily flashcards, current affairs, and diagram drills throughout
Changed from the earlier sequential plan per your call: both papers run side-by-side from Day 1. It's also the better learning design — interleaving beats blocking for retention, and current-affairs/institutional memory needs runway anyway.
Mornings march through the technical notes in 42 scheduled sessions (Tier-1 subjects front-loaded); middays rotate Mon/Wed/Fri = Management–Institutional · Tue/Thu = GK · Sat = Math/Stats. Block C retrieves each morning's assigned notes the same day.
Week 1 (Jul 6–12) — Tech: EDC I ∥ Paper I: Management¶
> 14 weeks away: keep this plan; extend the mock cycle (repeat the Week 12 pattern).
10–14 weeks: compress the second pass (Weeks 9–11 → 2 weeks: merge the Tier-3 sweep into the Tier-2 week). Keep every mock.
< 10 weeks: mornings cover Tier 1 + Tier 2 chapters only on the first pass; midday keeps the Management–Institutional track intact, halves GK, keeps Sat math. Never cut Block C, Block D, or the mocks — retrieval is worth more than coverage.
Re-check all laws/policies for amendments 3 months before the exam date (syllabus rule).
Run both papers in parallel every day: acquire technical in the morning (3 h), memorize Paper I midday (2.5 h), retrieve everything closed-book in the late afternoon (1.5 h), consolidate with flashcards at night (1 h). Each week advances 6 technical sessions + 3 management + 2 GK + 1 math session — full coverage in 8 weeks, then sweeps and 6 mocks convert it into marks. The 8 hours only count if Blocks C and D happen: retrieval and spacing are the engine; reading is just fuel.
