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Early 19th-century American statesman Henry Clay wrote, “Of all human powers operating on the affairs of mankind, none is greater than that of competition.”
The passion to excel in life comes from competition. It is a contest among individuals aspiring for a position which cannot be shared. You have to therefore do the right thing, the right way, at the right time, every time, to overcome competition.
It is even more pronounced in the competitive world today where a student should not only aim to get good results in the Board exams, but also perform well in competitive exams. With the restricted number of attempts, it is rather unfortunate that a large number of deserving students are not able to achieve success in competitive exams owing to their failure to balance Board and competitive exams efficiently.
The key to excel in competitive examinations is to start early. The best time to start preparations for important exams is now. A little preparation every day goes a long way in helping you remember concepts well. Also remember that last minute cramming does not serve any purpose. Do not put off starting the studying process, because if you do, you will lose out on more than just time.
Competitive examinations aim at identifying students who have acquired the knowledge of subjects by visualising situations, understanding concepts, and applying them as and when necessary. To excel in competitive examinations, you have to essentially differentiate between Board and competitive examinations.
Board Examinations
*Generally qualifying in nature
*Restricted to a syllabus
* Questions are repetitive
* Sufficient time provided for completing the answers
Competitive Examinations
*Eliminating in nature
* Defined syllabus and beyond
* Questions very rarely repeated
* Mix of memory, understanding and comprehension
* Questions are framed to test speed and accuracy of problem solving. Hence, time management is critical
In order to take on competition successfully, students need to:
*Have a good knowledge of their capabilities to be able to improve
* Know where to find the best practices
* Know whether a particular practice is suitable for a situation
* Match suitable practices to requirements.
Every learning exercise has some pre-requisites. On careful consideration, the processes require compliance to thorough content learning, acquisition of performance skills, and the capacity to diagnose or analyse, and ensure remedy or enhancement. These cardinal steps are achieved through pre-class preparation, classroom learning or interaction, and post-class work.
Pre-class preparation refers to the work to be done before lecture classes and includes reading concepts and answering conceptual questions or short answer questions from recommended books.
Classroom learning or interaction requires listening to lectures with utmost concentration and taking note of important points. Clarification of doubts as and when they arise is also warranted here. Post-class work requires the completion of the corresponding exercise sets from the recommended books. Post-class work is best done through self-tests in an examination-simulated environment. After the test, evaluation of the paper should be done along with a thorough analysis of performance.
While analysing, you should identify the types of mistakes committed and classify them accordingly - error in calculation, wrong understanding of concepts, wrong application of concepts, etc. This should immediately be followed up with remedial action by going back to the reference books or by discussing with teachers when in doubt. Keeping a record of the scores obtained in the tests taken helps. Ideally, a graph of marks vs tests must be plotted to check progress. Care should be taken to see that your level of performance increases with each test.
From February, the focus should be on Board examinations only. You should attempt answering PU Board exam question papers of the last 5 years to both understand the pattern of questions asked and to develop the skill of answering them in the required amount of time.
The preparation for CET should start immediately after the Board examination. Ideally, the first week after the Board examination should be reserved for revising the portions of I PU and solving a number of CET-type questions. Taking up two full-length tests of 60 marks each on I PU topics is the ideal way to start.
In the next 3 weeks, focus should be on the II PU syllabus. Take up 4 to 5 practice tests in `exam condition', ie., write physics and chemistry paper in 140 minutes and maths and biology papers in another 140 minutes. By sincerely doing so, you will realise that about 10 per cent of questions in each paper will be quite difficult. In order to master the art of tackling difficult questions, pick only such questions from standard reference books and solve them.
All these operations can be optimised by following a planner, which should include time provisioning for pre-class and post-class work, self-tests, revision, backlog and buffer. Regular studies are very essential as last minute preparations can leave you confused and messed up. However, remember the saying — All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Make time for recreation and rest too!
Make sure that you do not get nervous and ensure a proper frame of mind, always. Your mind takes cues from your body. So, dress well and walk tall. It does not take the best to beat the odds. Only the confident rule the roost. Relax, for, you have all the time in the world to prepare. Much value addition is not possible at the eleventh hour. Do not bother about failure because the most successful never think of results.
Lastly, stay focused. Do not let anything, including family and friends, derail your study plans. Plan your work in such a way that each subject gets adequate time for preparation. Always keep your long-term goals in mind.
Inspire yourself to do well by talking to achievers from the previous years and ensure that your family and friends give you the time and space you need to prepare for your competitive exams. Remember! You have got it all. Show the world what you are made of, as the secret of success is with you. Act NOW.
(The writer is head of academics at BASE Educational Services)