Do’s and Don’ts while preparing for competitive exams

Preparing for competitive exams like JEE or NEET can be a daunting task for many students. Problems like not having enough time or the course material are too wide to cover are often the most heard. While teachers teach what to study, they will not explain how to study.

With this view, Edignite shares some scientific study techniques to help students prepare for upcoming entrance exams.

The Do’s during competitive exam preparation

If you are one of the aspirants preparing to qualify for competitive exams, follow these steps

1. Make a strategy

Analyze the exam pattern and study the syllabus according to it. Mark out your strongest and weakest subjects as well as topics. Estimate the time you need to spend on every subject and prepare a  better strategy.

2. Work hard

Make strong topics stronger so that you can solve the questions at your fingertips and improve your confidence. There might be topics that you are too weak. In such a case, check out its mark-weightage and leave it if it is not important. But work hard and strengthen other topics.

3. Stay motivated

Think big, dream high. Self-motivation will help keep your spirits high. If you are feeling nervous and anxious about the approaching exam date, well, assign a particular time slot and concentrate on revising thoroughly.

4. Give special attention to Reasoning

Some of the topics of the logical reasoning subject such as Seating Arrangements, Syllogism, etc. can be tough to learn, however,  they are very important. They just require more time. So, practice more and more until you are confident.

5. Read a newspaper daily

Make it a habit of reading the newspaper daily based on your exam language. In the case of the English language, you can choose ‘The Times of India’ or ‘The Hindu’ to get updates on GK and current affairs to answer well in the examination.

6. Revise, Revise and Revise!

After attending coaching classes and doing self-preparation, the only thing left out is revision. Plan your exam preparation in such a way that you complete your syllabus a month before the exam so that you can have time to revise which improves your confidence.

The don’ts during competitive exams preparation

Below mentioned are  some things you should not do while preparing for competitive  exams

1. Don’t mug up your syllabus

When you understand concepts,  don’t need to mug them up. Always aim at conceptual understanding that helps to relieve pressure to mug up vast amounts of information.

2. Don’t stay awake at night

Not getting enough sleep can adversely affect your health in the long run. Your mind needs rest and sleep to digest the knowledge and make space for another. So, take 7-8 hours of sleep to keep yourself healthy.

3. Don’t force yourself to study

It is not realistic to expect yourself to be able to study for 5 hours straight because your brain needs a break! You may need to take a short 5-10 minute break every 30 minutes or try studying for 50 minutes before taking a 10-minute break.

4. Don’t extend your time slots

Binding yourself within time limits works great. Fix a particular timeline for a topic and finish it with that timeline. While solving problematic questions, put a time limit to solve them.  It keeps you confident and lets your mind work even in a pressurized environment.

Edignite hopes that the above preparation tips will help you rank high in any competitive examination. All the best!