Be better at stress hours

The examination time is right around the corner beginning with the CBSE Board exam in March. The period of examination that stretches for months could be quite unnerving for students. So, it is crucial to set up a systematic and feasible plan for optimising time, resources and importantly, the outcome of each exam.

Students from science background are essentially engineering aspirants and would have appeared in Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main held in January 2019 by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Those who did not appear in January and those who wish to improve their January percentile will get another chance to appear in April 2019. So a student has Board & JEE Main exam to deal with in the coming few weeks.

Here are some tips that will help you tide over this phase, better manage your syllabus and get expected results.

Volume of syllabus: Dealing with the examination syllabus is of paramount importance. The syllabus of JEE Main is equivalent to the CBSE Board syllabus. In view of the upcoming CBSE Class 12 Board exam, a student is expected to cover Class 12 syllabus very well. Since a sizeable portion of questions asked in JEE Main is from Class 12 syllabus, a student must factor in the revision of this portion in their study plan.

There is a probability that a student might be out of touch with Class 11 syllabus for quite some time and may find it difficult to study over the next few weeks due to Board and competitive exams. In that case, the revision of Class 11 syllabus should be strategic so that it could be covered within a very short span of time.

Students who completed Class 12 in 2018, and are targeting JEE in 2019 should focus on both Class 11 and 12 syllabi in the upcoming weeks simultaneously. An important aspect is to use the available time efficiently.

Revision: Revising the chapters should be a top priority. It helps to recall the various concepts covered earlier. Revision of Class 12 Board syllabus will help in JEE Main exam too. One should assess the content and its relevance from the examination perspective to decide the time required for revision. Do prepare revision notes so that you can quickly brush up the concepts in less time.

Clarify your doubts: Every doubt needs to be clarified before attempting an exam. After you have finished revising a chapter, you should feel confident of solving any question being asked on that chapter. If not, reach out to your teacher and clarify doubts instantly. If your school or coaching institute is organising review classes, ensure you attend it to have a better perspective of your syllabus.

Questions: Once you have cleared your doubts, you should start answering questions from the chapter that you just finished revising. Try to work out problems by yourself in the first attempt. If you are unable to solve, then discuss it with your teacher. If you had faced any difficulty while solving any specific type of question in the last one year, make sure that you practice it now.

Performance analysis: Solving mock tests is a significant part of your preparation. Take up at least one mock test each for Board & JEE Main, every week. It will help assess your preparation, figure out weak areas, build exam temperament, time management and improve speed and accuracy. For JEE Main, it is important to subscribe to an All India Level Test Series in computer-based format so as to get a national benchmarking or join an online test series for practice.

It is crucial to spot and analyse mistakes; if you do not want to repeat it in the actual exam, solve past questions papers.

Exam strategy: Read all the questions thoroughly — to begin with, the instructions on the top packs a lot of information important about the paper; scan the
question paper to point questions that you can answer well and rank accordingly. The order of attempting the questions should be from known questions first.
If you get confused while solving a question, move on to the next question so that you can return to the question later with a fresh mind. This will save your time.

Follow these suggestions, study smart and do well in the exams. Good luck!

(The author is with FIIT JEE, New Delhi)