Cracking competitive, enterance exams

Vijay Garg
There are multiple competitive and entrance exams that take place every year. Lakhs of students appear in these exams to fulfil their dream of having a great professional life ahead but it is surely a daunting task as the ratio of the number of seats to the number of students appearing for it is very less. Looking at the stress and the competition that the students have to go through, it becomes crucial for them to follow a plan that will lead them to success.
Students need proper guidance to go through a huge volume of study material in a limited time and get well prepared. Preparing for a regular school exam is different from preparing for entrance and competitive exams.
There are many coaching institutes providing coaching to students for the most difficult entrance and competitive exams like NEET, IIT-JEE, Olympiad, ASSET, NTSE, NSEs, KVPY and many more. It becomes necessary for students to get prepared for these competitive exams from an early age.
Important Tips to prepare for entrance and competitive exams
There are no short-cuts to success and if one knows how to ace the competitive entrance exams then, half the battle is won. You must be knowing what to study and how much time to devote to it but do you know how to prepare for these exams by managing the time and syllabus? Here are some of the important tips to follow:

1. Understanding the exam: Every entrance and competitive exam follows a different pattern so it becomes important to understand the exam thoroughly for which you are preparing. You should go through the guidelines of these exams properly to understand its nuances. Important info such as process of the exam and the syllabus to be followed should also be given a lot of consideration while preparing for these exams so that you don’t miss anything.
2. Exploring syllabus: Before you finally set your foot forward to prepare for the exam you should explore the syllabus of the exam and understand it. Prepare the list of important topics that needs more time and then move down to the ones that are a little easy and prioritise it as per your convenience. Also, go through each segment to understand the marks allotted to it as it will help you give more weightage to those that carry more marks. For most of the exams like NEET and JEE, covering NCERT is very important and proves to be a key to understanding fundamental concepts. Make sure to go cover important chapters, topic and core concepts through NCERT books. Solving NCERT questions and problems is imperative to test your knowledge and understanding level. For quick access, you can refer to NCERT Solutions.
3. Building a winning plan: As a first step, students should build a study plan which consists of details like how much to study, what subjects to review, how to divide the curriculum, and when to practice. The study plan should take into account one’s ability to understand each topic – i.e. if you are not very comfortable with physics, then more time should be assigned to this particular subject. Make sure your study plan includes enough breaks and free-time for relaxation. It is recommended that these study plans are made at the beginning of each month. We strongly recommend your practice on the topics you are already good at and revise, or learn and understand topics through video tutorials. There are numerous live sessions where seasoned coaches work in conjunction with each student to set realistic goals and plans and then monitor the progress closely. This can help you in doubt solving and clearing your understanding of concepts.
4. Planing a time table to sync your home and school study schedule: A well-planned time table is a must when you are preparing for the competitive exams. With such a wide syllabus you must divide-subjects and the topics into a time table with set targets. It will not only help you prepare for exams but practice accordingly. You can divide the time-table and set your targets on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. It is going to make you more disciplined and give you time and space to manage other activities and have time to relax your mind. You can set your study time according to the complex and simple chapters. Give more time to the complex ones and devote less time to the easy ones. Once you get accustomed to the time table everything will seem easy and achievable.
5. Learn & Understand Vs Read & Remember
   It is possible to mug up chapters and do well in school exams, but competitive exams are a different ball game altogether. Competitive exams like NEET and JEE are structured in a way that tests your complete understanding by isolating concepts in the form of questions. So, if you approach these exams with the attitude of mugging and remembering concepts, then you will be making a huge mistake. The best way to tackle competitive exams is to understand the concepts in detail – ask your teachers and mentors as many questions as you like and try and understand the ‘why’ behind everything, instead of just searching for the ‘what.’
   6 Plan for short-study sessions: When we keep on studying for long hours our minds get zapped. We might be going through our syllabus but do not understand it. It is a proven fact that when you study for shorter hours with breaks, in between it makes your brain work efficiently. These short breaks help you absorb this information without putting in any added effort. It is always good to avoid studying at a stretch and divide the time table into small sessions.
6. Practice as much as possible: Studying your syllabus alone once can never help you while preparing for the exams if it is not revised or practised timely. It can bring a huge difference in your preparation. Practising previous year question papers can also prove to be very fruitful as it will give you an idea of the pattern of the exam papers and also give you an insight into where you stand in terms of your preparation when you solve these papers. Sometimes you might also get a question or two from the previous year’s exam papers.
7. Ask for help: One should not hesitate to ask for help when you get stuck while preparing for the competitive exams that can shape your future. Whether the query is regarding your syllabus or the exam for which you are preparing as any loss of information may lead to big consequences. There is no need to hesitate or take chances when it is a matter of your career. You can approach your teachers, peers or friends to get your doubt cleared and avoid wastage of time.
   Vijay Garg Ex.PES-1
   Malout Punjab