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Smart Tips for Exams

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With exams round the corner, time for reading a book from cover-to-cover page-by-page is now over. This is time to stop the endless reading and change gear to strategising on how to improve and polish your performance. Remember that marks are given only on what you have written; the examiner (especially in board examination) has no way of knowing who you are, what you know or how much you have toiled. Your answer paper has to do all the talking!
Therefore, it is time to get smart and maximise your marks with the following tips.
1. Stop acquiring further information, and shift your focus to improving your presentation. Remember the “R”s : Read, Retain, Recapitulate, Reproduce, (w)Rite, and Revise. The time for Reading is up.
2. Focus now on “retaining” and “recapitulating”. The best way is to go chapter by chapter, trying to recollect the points and diagrams, mostly with the book closed, taking a peep into it once in a while when you get stuck.
3. Take a mock test. You will find that your sequence of thoughts, hand writing, writing speed, time management, and many more such issues are quite out of tune as you have been only reading over the last few weeks, and not writing at all.
4. Practice diagrams and label them. They are crucial for science students. Remember that a picture is worth more than a thousand words, and fetches more marks.
5. I cannot over emphasise the importance of time management. You should attempt every question so that the examiner has a chance to give you marks, no matter how less. If you have not attempted a question you cannot expect anything but a zero.
6. Make your answer sheet appealing for the examiner to look at. Number your answers, indent your paras, mention points indicating each one with a number or alphabet, underline key points, and label your diagrams. Your answer paper should look neat, legible and attractive. Marks are given for the number of points mentioned and not for number of written pages. If your command on the language is poor, write points in telegraphic language rather than full prose and create a bad impression with too many grammatical mistakes.
7. Keep your pen box and admit card ready the night before.
8. Catch at least 6 hours of sleep and have a good breakfast before you leave for the exam.
9. Saying a silent prayer helps.
10. Give it a spirited try, as you would in a crucial game, and hope for the best. Remember that it is just an exam, and that there is a life beyond exam. Many, like Sachin or Bill Gates, had not done well in exams, yet succeeded in life.
11. Learn from the politicians contesting elections. Although most aspirants will lose, no one will get to hear of them committing suicide after the counting. They always hope to fight back again.


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