Students leave after taking the entrance test at Patna Science College on Friday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Youngsters seeking admission to undergraduate courses under Patna University (PU) are expected to know the background and the who’s who of the college and the university they want to study in.

Two tricky questions in the general knowledge and mental aptitude section of the entrance test at Patna Science College on Friday checked the aspirants’ knowhow of the college and the university. Many got stumped.

One of the questions in the general knowledge and mental aptitude section was who is the chancellor of Patna University. The options were P.K. Shahi, Nitish Kumar, Devanand Konwar and Shambhu Nath Singh.

Many students guessed on Konwar, while others opted for Singh. Konwar is the chancellor of all the state universities being the governor of Bihar.

Another googly that put the students in a spot is when was the Patna Science College established. Options given were 1921, 1922, 1923 and 1927. Some Aspirants recalled that 1928 is etched as the founding year of Patna Science College on the façade of the building.

Vikash Kumar, a passout from SMD College, Gopalganj, said: “I felt that the options given were wrong as I had seen 1928 etched on the college building. So I marked 1927 as it was closer to 1928.”

M.N. Sinha, a professor of geology in Patna Science College, said: “The college was first opened in 1927 as the science department of Patna College. The science college was formally opened on November 15, 1928, which is observed as its foundation day.”

PU vice-chancellor (VC) Shambhu Nath Singh said: “The moderator set the questions keeping in mind that the objective was not only to test the knowledge of students but also their confidence.”

Similarly, many students would have assumed that the question on the science college’s founding year as erroneous. But the science college was indeed established in 1927 according to PU records.

The VC said: “I interacted with examinees enthusiastic about the college’s pattern of the entrance test.”

Aspirants claimed that apart from the two questions on the college and the varsity, the rest were more or less easy. One of questions asked the length of Gandhi Setu, the correct answer to which is 5.575km.

Some examinees found the question number 90 in the mathematics paper confusing. Of the options A, B, C and D, both B and C appeared correct.

To accommodate the large number of aspirants, the entrance test on Friday was conducted at Patna Science College and Patna College. Arun Kumar Sinha, the principal of Patna Science College, said: “Of the 3,600 applicants, 3,303 appeared in the test for the 600 seats on offer.”

After Friday’s entrance test at Patna Science College, only Vanijya Mahavidhyalaya has to conduct the entrance exam. It is slated on July 7.