Exam time is the most crucial period in our life. The most challenging part of this period is that the whole years study is tested in just three hours. During the exam time, we are completely under pressure and tension. Following excuses are given by most of us while appearing for the exam:

1) I have studied the whole subject thoroughly but I do not remember a single word.

2) I have not completed the study of even half of my syllabus.

3) I became completely blank while solving the paper.

4) I did not get time to write all the answers.

5) I was totally confused in the exam hall.

6) I do not know how much I will score but hope that I will at least clear the subject.

These statements do not have any age bar. They are made by all the students, right from those appearing for 10th standard exam to those appearing for civil services examination. But there are very few students who are extremely confident and they do not have the fear of exam. They study properly and come out with flying colors. Then the question arises that:

 What makes these few students different from the others? Well, the answer is the lack of confidence and planning.

In a classroom, each and every student is taught the same subject with equal attention. All the students have the same span of time of study and all the students have the same 3hours time to write the answers.  But still some get good scores and some get poor scores. The reason is that most of the students do not plan their study properly. They study for the whole year but get confused at the eleventh hour.  This looses their confidence resulting in poor performance in the exam.

So what should be done?  Following strategy should be followed while preparing for the exam.

Revision:

The first and the most important step to success in the exam is revision. It is essential that we should understand the importance of revision. It is required that we should organize our time and plan the revision in advance.  Revision should not be a last minute attempt.  It should be done for the whole year because it is seen that as we complete studying one topic and switch on to another topic we forget the previous one. So it should be revised frequently.

How this revision should be done? 

 Before starting the revision of any subject proper planning is essential.  While planning one thing must be kept in mind that revision is the process of reviewing the knowledge which have already gained and studied. Topics which we have never learned cannot be revised. So it is must that all the subjects are taught and studied by us at least once.  Once we are sure about this, then we can plan our revision process. Following steps are useful for revision:

a) First of all we should open the book of the subject of which the revision is to be done and go through the syllabus and contents of the subject.

b) Collect the reference books, notes and the related study material of that particular subject.

c) Throw a glance on previous year’s question papers. This will help us understand that on which chapter maximum questions are asked. Many times the teachers also mark some chapters or topics as important which help the students to figure out that which chapter is to be given first preference. Such list of important topics makes it easy to decide that which topics should be revised first and which should be revised later.

d) After this comes the important factor of time management. Let us now make out how to manage the time so that all the subjects are revised properly:

1) The subject paper for which there is a no holiday or gap should be revised first.

2) The subject which has a very vast syllabus should also be revised first.

3) We should calculate the time which we get to study after completing our daily chores.

4) We should find out when we can concentrate more on studies, whether in the morning hours or in the night and then plan accordingly whether to stay awake in night or get up early in the morning. But while doing this the sleeping time should not be curtailed unnecessarily. It is required to sleep for 6-7 hours daily because if the brain does not get complete rest, it cannot work properly.

5) We should try to reduce the time spent on activities like bathing, watching television, talking on telephone. So that this saved time can be used for study purpose.

6) While studying, we should try to study continuously for 1 – 2 hours. Take a break after every two hours. Within this break we can relax by chatting, reading newspaper or by eating something. This will reduce our tiredness and we can again concentrate on our studies for the next two hours. But this break should not exceed 5-10 min and we start studying immediately after the break.

e) Every subject has some easy and hard topics. While revising the hard topics, we might feel that the speed of study has reduced extensively or we are not able to remember things properly. But we should not lose hope but should try to revise those topics as many times as we can.

f) We should try to find out from previous question papers that which question carry’s how many marks and which questions are optional. Generally the questions having one, two or three marks are easier and must be opted to gain maximum marks.

Avoid Stress:

 It is very natural to have mental stress during exam time.  The thought, how to study the whole year’s syllabus in such a short time, forms the basis of this mental stress. But care should be taken that this stress does not have any adverse effect on our efficiency. The spare time should not be wasted on worrying about the exam but should be utilized to revise the topics. To make the mind stress free we can take a walk in fresh air or talk to someone we are close to. This will help us to relax.

 It happens many times that while studying we feel completely blank or think that we have studied only few things and still a lot of topics have to be covered. If such thought constantly flashes in our mind than it becomes impossible for us to concentrate on study. So we should not allow such thoughts to capture our mind. Every night before sleeping, we should have a glance on the complete syllabus and review how much we have studied today and how much portion is left. We should than plan our next day’s time table according to that.

Preparation for the day of exam:

Following things should be done positively prior to the day of exam:

a) Check the exam date, time and place.

b) Confirm the time-table of the exam two days prior to the exam. Many times there occurs a mistake while reading the dates of the exam and this cause’s eleventh hour bustle leading to disappointment.

c) Collect all the material required for the paper one day before the exam. If possible keep all the items in a set of two. Extra pencil, pen, scale, eraser, refills etc are must. Make sure that all these things are in good condition and keep these items in a single place.

Adequate rest:

a) It is very important that we should be in a fresh mood while writing the paper. For this it is essential to take complete rest the previous night

b) We should never try to keep awake on the night prior to the day of exam.

c)  If we are suppose to leave for the exam center early than make sure that we have set our alarm properly so that we do not have to hurry the next morning.

Eat properly:

a) We should not skip the breakfast on the day of exam.

b) We should energize ourselves by eating properly so that we can write properly in the exam.

c) We should not eat fast-food, cold-drinks just to calm our hunger.

d) Take some healthy food like chapatti, idli, dosa, fruits etc. and if required have some tea or coffee.

Reach the exam center on time:

a) We should start for the exam by keeping ample time in hand. Many times we may not get proper source of convenience and this may waste our time.

b) We should keep extra money with us and our mobile should be charged with adequate balance in it so that we can immediately make a contact in case of emergency

c)  We should keep our mind cool while crossing the road or catching bus or train because life is more important than examination.

Last minute revision:

a) We should just throw a glance on every topic in the last minute.

b) We should not try to read in deep and even do not read any new topic.

c) We should close our books and stop revising 10 minutes before the exam.

d) We should not participate on any exam related discussion taking place in the exam hall.

e) In this last minute we should not bring any negative thoughts in mind and get panic.

Paper writing:

a) At the beginning of the exam, we should listen carefully all the instructions given by the invigilator and follow them.

b) After getting the question paper, decide which questions can be solved at the beginning and plan the time accordingly.

c) Keep the last 10 minutes of the exam in spare so that we can have a look on the answer sheets again and correct the mistakes, if any.
d) All the details on the answer sheet and the supplements should be filled in correctly and the supplements should be tied serially to the main answer sheet.

Method of writing the answers:

There are various ways of writing the answers in the exam. Every student has his own way of writing. But still some tips should be remembered.

a) It is not necessary that we are able to attempt all the questions, but we should try to attempt maximum questions. Writing few lines related to the question might give us one or two marks which is definitely important.

b) We should try to solve the questions carrying more marks properly. It should not happen that while solving the questions carrying fewer marks the higher marks questions are neglected.

c) We should not waste our time in thinking about the answer of a single question because we have very limited time with us. If we do not know the answer of a particular question, it should be left blank and should be solved at the last

d) Check the answers once again in the last ten minutes. Make sure that the correct question number is given before the respective answer.

After the exam is over, we might feel that if we would have studied a little harder, then the paper would have been solved in a better way. But thinking about the paper after attempting it is of no use. So it is better to forget about the attempted paper and prepare for the next paper with full concentration.

Preparation of some important subjects from exam point of view:

A) Economics:

1) Economics is the subject based on formulae and definitions

 2) While preparing for this subject, it is required to by heart the definitions and formulae. This will help to score more in the exam.

3) Many times we may not remember the answer of a particular question but if we can try to attempt the question by elaborating the related definition or formula along with a suitable example.

4) This subject has many theories and it is essential to understand these theories properly.  Every theory has a graph in economics and this graph should be understood while studying the theory.

5) Graph is the pictorial representation of the theory. Whatever is stated in the theory, same is represented in the graph. So it is beneficial to understand both the things simultaneously

B) History:

1) History is a very vast subject. It includes various dates, places and names of many people.

2) It also includes various important events, which are difficult to remember.

3) History means an event which has occurred in the past. All the incidence and events in history are the results of an already occurred event. Every incidence is related to other in some or the other way. So it is important to concentrate on the relation between the two events, while studying history

4)  We should try to understand the reason and the effects of a particular event as well as the chronological order of the events. This will help us to remember things more easily.

C) Geography:

While studying geography, one must take the help of map. This will reduce our work to remember each and every thing individually. Try to understand the various definitions and concepts of geography with the help of related figures.

D) Physics and chemistry:

Both these subjects are based on theory, practical and formulae. Every theory is developed from an experiment. These experiments are done by the students in the laboratories and if they are properly understood, it will be easy to understand its theory and formulae and one can also easily solve the related numerical.

E) Mathematics:

1) To solve the mathematics problems, it is must to remember the formulae.

2) Try to solve at least two sums of different types from each chapter. This will enable us to understand that which question should be solved by which method.

3) The theorems and its explanation should also be studied properly.

F) Biology:

1) While writing the biology paper, speed is important. The answers are very descriptive and require more time to write.

2) The names of various species and genres should also be remembered. So, one should try to concentrate on the names and spellings of these species.

3) The diagrams and figures should also be given equal importance.