The more competitive, the more stressful! Yes, we are talking about preparing for competitive exams, especially in Indian scenario. The education system has quickly moved towards objective from subjective and the race to get admission in the best institution has intensified. What matters in these situations is the concentration and commitment towards preparations for the competitive exams.
Gone are the days when you could only do the crash courses and get through the exams and admissions. Moreover, when it comes to engineering admissions, the preparations have to be a hundred percent. The challenge here is to bring the balance between board exams preparations and that of the competitive or entrance tests.
When you are in this situation, it is important to realise that there will be times when you would feel very confident about your preparation and also there will be times when you feel you have reached nowhere. Yes, it is all about dealing with ups and downs of the exam preparations and coming out as a winner not only in terms of your scores but as an individual who managed the stressful preparation period in a balanced manner.
When you are in the midst of your entrance exam preparations, remember a few things that might help you deal with uncertainty and the ups and downs that you face during this period.
1. Focus on the objective
The most common mistake lot of students commit very often is not defining their objective early. Is your objective to score well in school exam or get a rank in other competitive exam while simultaneously preparing for school boards? Whatever it is, define it. Once the objective is clear, align your effort and time accordingly. This will not only help you to have a clear vision of your goal, but also will save lot of time which you would have other-wise spent stressing out handling all things in one go.
2. Grass is NOT greener on the other side
Many of us compare our preparations with that of others and a slight negative comparison is enough to de-motivate you. Never ever think of what others are doing because everyone has a different learning style. Some students are slow in understanding the subject and then they pick up the speed and can solve problems or questions in no time. Whereas other students might learn things quickly but still struggle later on to answer questions. So never compare yourself with others. Instead, what you should do, is to see how better prepared you are today that you were yesterday. Take questions or problems that you could not solve earlier, work on them and solve them today. This will definitely help you see yourself as better prepared and would give you that much needed confidence.
3. Focus on how not what
Many a times, we focus on what questions can be asked in the examinations and try to solve them rather than focusing on how a particular type of question can be solved. It’s great to solve previous years’ questions which give you idea about what kind of questions can be asked in the next exams. But remember, likelihood of the same question coming in the next exam is almost zero. You would relate this to the theory of probability right!! So here is a tip, learn how to solve the problems or questions based on the subject topics rather than trying to solve a specific set of questions. Focus on understanding the concepts or the process to solve the questions, this will help you prepare better to master any topic.
4. Focus on quality not hours
Yes, you heard it right. It is not about how many hours you put in for your preparations. One of the major reasons you feel down or low in self confidence is that you spend so many hours on preparation that you end up being stressed. It is not important to put in longer hours. However, it is important to get maximum out of those hours that you spend preparing for exams. Three productive hours of preparation is better than five unproductive hours of slogging.
5. Take thoughtful breaks
One of the key factors in keeping yourself fresh is to plan your breaks between preparatory hours and spend them well so that you get to preparations in a fresh state of mind. There is no doubt that these years of maintaining a balance between board exams and entrance exams would bring a lot of pressure and stress. It is all about ensuring you spend enough time to refresh yourself from the preparation. One key reason why students feel low is because they do not enjoy the breaks and time off available in between the preparation timetable. Here is a trick, plan your breaks so well that you know what you will be doing in each break. It could be a movie or a visit to a friend or an episode of your favourite web series or a pizza treat with your siblings or anything of that sort. This will help you stay fresh and on track all the time.
6. You are not the only one
Thousands and lakhs of students appear for the competitive or entrance exams every year and the numbers are increasing substantially every year. Every individual student would feel the ups and downs of the exam preparations, not every day going to be the same. We need to understand that exams would have questions that you may not have seen before but they definitely would be based on the topics that you have studied and you will have to apply your understanding of the topic and subject to crack that examination.
7. Get the right kind of mentoring
This one is the most important. Having the right kind of mentoring is very crucial to help you deal with the exam preparation, stress and ups and downs that come along in the entire process. For example, we at Vedantu, not only provide the best subject experts who can teach the subject in the most digestible form but also our mentors help students plan their preparation so well that the process of learning becomes enjoyable that a burden. The mentors at Vedantu are approachable and provide guidance on how to deal with each subject and the preparation.
Be it your school exams, board exams or entrance exams, it is important to ensure that we are in the right frame of mind to manage the preparations and the stress that comes along with them. Ups and downs in the exams preparations are an inevitable part of the process. Keeping the above simple points in mind would help sail the process much easier. If you need any further help, get in touch with us at Vedantu and we will be happy offer our best possible assistance in your quest to meeting your expected results.