12 Simple Tips and Tricks to Prepare for Entrance Exams

1. Create a practical study plan:

Students usually spend more time in planning than actually executing those plans. Planning is art of the possible. So, create a plan which can be successfully executed. Give more time to topics which you find difficult and keep a buffer so that you can complete some pending tasks.

2. Know your strength and weakness:

Everyone has specific strengths and everyone has specific weaknesses. It’s pretty certain that if you are not clear on your weaknesses then you are not clear on your strengths either. Playing to your strengths and sailing through the weaknesses is the best exam strategy you can bet on.

3. Use fewer books for theory: Students have a habit of referring innumerable books for each subject even though most of them convey the same thing. Having too many books would lead to confusion during time of revision and most of your doubts would remain unresolved without a book.

4. Read the questions cautiously: Examiners try to trap students by playing around with the question and options. So read the question carefully to understand what is required and see the options with great concentration. Watch out for the questions which are designed to have more than one correct answer and you are supposed to choose the option with multiple correct answers.

5. Plan your exam strategy:

Planning the way you attempt various questions is quite crucial to crack the entrance exam. You do not have to approach the question paper the way it is intended to be. The important thing is not to waste time over questions which seem to be difficult. Finish off all the sections which you are really good at so that you can dedicate more time for the difficult ones.

6. Train your mind for the exam: Our mind should be prepared to perform well during an exam. This requires consistency over a long period of time. If you are planning to give your exam in 9-12 slot, you should practice solving papers at the same time so that your mind is trained to be super active during that period.

7. Practice previous year papers: Practicing previous year question papers should be left for the last couple of months before an exam. These are actual questions which have appeared and you should time yourself while answering them so that you can compare your scores. Also, try to attempt the test papers in the same time slot as your final exam.

8. Use our cheat-sheet to revise formulas: Our experts have created cheat sheets which you can refer anytime you have a doubt or forget a formula. Revise these cheat sheets weekly and if required get them printed. It includes a comprehensive list of everything you will ever need to crack your entrance exam. You can sign up to access these cheat sheets.

9. Use method of elimination: Whenever in doubt use method of elimination to your rescue. Start by eliminating 2 options which have the least possibility of being correct. Sometimes irrespective of the question, the fact contained in the options itself can be used to eliminate them. Selecting a final answer out of 2 is sometimes tricky and if it’s worth the risk you can go with your gut at times.

10. Learn all the shortcuts: Every student has shortcuts which they use to prepare for entrance exams. Be it for remembering formulas or memorizing charts, use shortcuts to save your time. There are some standard shortcuts which you can tap into but creating your own wouldn’t harm either.

11. Stay Physically and Mentally Balanced: Keeping yourself and your mind healthy is quite neglected during exam preparation but it can have adverse effects in the final outcome. Exercise daily and sleep well so that your mind and body are fresh when you are taking the exam. Avoid sleeping late and tune your mind so that it works best in the time slot of your final exam.

12. Practice, Practice and Practice:

Finally, there is no substitute for practice. 70% of exam preparation is practice. Use this time very effectively by using our platform which can help you plan, save time and improve accuracy. Our students have improved 25% accuracy and saved 30% time by completing goals on our platform.

Useful tips to prepare for exams in short time

1. Calculate the time left for examination and prepare a time table that covers all the subjects/topics. Give proper breaks in between your preparation sessions to avoid over exertion. Don't try to secure more time for entertainment & rest breaks because from now on every single minute will count.

2. Prefer hard copies of study material over soft copies. Studying through PC's, Laptops and other electronic gadgets may be stressful and you may also be distracted easily by internet. Use internet only to take help regarding the concerned topics and subjects.

3. Try to make short notes, hints and formula's list rather huge bundle of notes. This will optimize your time and will help in quick revisions. Use more diagrams and symbols rather text content wherever possible,   because diagrams and symbols make much quicker impressions in mind than text, as a result you will be able to memorize things quicker.

4. Skip those topics which are taking more time to understand and have not much weightage in examination. Consider these topics at last, if you are left with some spare time.

5. Use master-problem-technique. This technique is used for the preparation of problem based examination.

According to this technique try to solve a complex problem that is combination of many types of problems. This will help you to save some time.

6. Keep provision for revision period in your time table. Revision is the most important part of your preparatory process that will surely have a great impact on your performance in examinations.

How to prepare for JEE Mains

1. Know about the exam: 

• Knowing about the exam will give you the advantage of starting preparations in the right direction.

Exam Pattern	Eligibility	Important Dates
Syllabus	Scoring and Results	Application Form
Cut Off’s	Colleges	Admit Cards

2. Pay attention in class:

• Most topics in the syllabus of JEE Main are same as those taught in class 11 and 12.
• Take notes and solve questions in NCERT textbooks of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

3. Develop speed and accuracy:

• Solve as many questions as you can daily.
• Work on shorter approaches towards solving a problem.

4. Honest self-analysis:

• At every stage, test yourself. Know where you are lagging and work hard on it.
•  Mock tests, past year papers, sample papers play a key role in doing this.

5. Believe in yourself:

• You can do it

7 ways to study SMART for competitive exams

1) Identify the “BEST TIME of the day” to study:

The first thing to find out is whether you are a day time learner or the peaceful quiet surrounding in the mid night gets the Peak out of you. Peak time are those hours of day when your concentration is all time high. Identify your peak hours and allot them to study brainy topics and give the hours when your attention span reduces to Revising.

2) Engage yourself in Distributive Learning:

Attention span of even the brightest minds on the planet is not more than 2 hours at a stretch therefore it is very important to take timely breaks, say of 30 min after every 2 hours, this half an hour is to be used to relax and rejuvenate, go for a brisk walk in fresh air, listen to light music etc. Just break in long hour of study sessions is not enough you need to bring in a variety in the subjects you study during the day, ideally keep 2 different subjects to be done in a day.

3) Fill in the gaps during the day and innovate the Learning Process:

By gaps I mean the hours of the day when you are not studying unintentionally like your Travel Time, this time can and should be utilized to the fullest because in competition every second counts. Try to make Flash Cards which may have some quick formulas to brush upon or some vocab building.

Try to use colors in your text as mind reacts to color more attentively then the black & white text.

4) BACK UP Notebook – A Must!

Most of the competitive exams around the globe require months and sometimes years to prepare. Aspirants join coaching classes, use material and resources available on the Internet and bundle up tons of notebook, but eventually when the D-day comes near we cannot go through each and every note we made during our preparation therefore it is necessary to adapt to the concept of Back Up notebooks. These notebooks specifically have tips, tricks, shortcuts and ways to approach a problem and so on. These are going to be your savior during the last days before the exam.

5) Give as many MOCK’s as possible:
MOCK’s are undoubtedly the most important part of your preparation. Every competitive exam has a different pattern and time constraints so it’s very important to adapt yourself well with these situations. Join a Mock series program of some good coaching institute.

Mocks are also important to devise your own strategy and go for the kill on the D-Day. At least 10 mocks in real time situation is highly recommendable before you sit for the Exam.

6) Make sure that your surrounding are conducive to studying:

Find the most serene place around before you pile up your books and start studying. If there is commotion and distraction in your surrounding try to use that time in studying the topics which requires less use of brain or just revise anything done before.

7) Time Management:

Note down a list of topics you plan to do each day and make a time table on a stick on which could be pasted on your study table. Try to complete one topic and then move to other as the abrupt transition could be time consuming, confusing, demotivating and taxing.
Lastly, Health plays a much bigger role in achieving Success in Studies. So Invest in your Health from the very beginning.

You must have heard that Life is a race if you don’t run you would be left behind, I would say Life or more specifically Competitive Exams is like a Marathon ….you don’t need to run, you must not stop…just jog and build your stamina to reach the finishing line.

How to score 90 percent marks in the exams:

(1) Study regularly: Do not assume that the final examination is not important enough as a summative assessment. A regular study always leads to good performance.

(2) Review sample papers: It is advisable that the candidates solve sample question papers and keep practicing till they get a hold of the pattern.

(3) Revise the NCERT books thoroughly: For CBSE board students, all questions from the NCERT book should be revised thoroughly.

(4) Focus on time management: Stick to a schedule and solve at least one sample paper every day. The breaks should be pre-planned and short, with a definite end. Try using alarm clocks to mark time.

(5) Practice writing: Since you will have to do a fair amount of writing during the examination, it is critical to ensure that there is a uniform speed of writing throughout the entire duration of the test to minimize the chances of not completing it.

(6) Finally take care of your mind and body: Relaxing, doing deep breathing exercises, meditating etc. helps you stay completely free of stress. Eat home-cooked food and avoiding oily junk food which will make you lethargic. Staying healthy is the key to a fully functional brain and it will also reduce the chances of your falling sick at this critical stage.

Subject Wise Preparations for Intermediate Exams

Science Stream Tips

Physics:

⇒ Carefully read the fundamental and concepts of the subject.

⇒ Practice hard on direct formula and theorem based questions.

⇒ Take last year question papers and use formulas & theorems to solve questions.

Chemistry:

⇒ Questions related to organic and inorganic chemistry are fact based questions that can be solved quickly with good practice.

⇒ Work on your speed and accuracy while solving a problem.

⇒ Carefully study the name reactions along with their examples.

Biology:

⇒ You should practice a lot the diagrams along with their theory.

⇒ This subject has difficult terminology, so you should practice spelling and writing such terms.

⇒ Also try to solve objective type questions it will give you an in-depth knowledge of the subject.

Mathematics:

⇒ Firstly, clear the basic fundamentals and concepts of the subject.

⇒ Try to solve questions with short cut methods to increase your speed.

⇒ Some calculations can be lengthy you should practice a lot these types of questions.

⇒ Commerce Stream Tips

Economics:

⇒ This subject is a combination of theory, calculations and diagrams, so you should practice each of them equally.

⇒ Practice the calculations & diagrams on a daily basis.

⇒ Read out all the important definition and formulae.

Accountancy:

⇒ Make sure that your basic concepts should be clear about fundamentals and calculations.

⇒ Solve calculations properly with the sufficient explanations and narrations.

⇒ Make your doubts clear about the various statements of accounts.

Humanities Stream Tips

History:

⇒ You should memorize the names, dates and periods of the various important historical events.

⇒ Regularly revise the historical events.

⇒ You can also watch movies and TV programs related to historical events.

Political Science:

⇒ Stay updated about the recent political developments at national as well as international level.

⇒ Make sure to focus on world politics and its politic scenario.

How to Prepare for 12th Board Exams?

1. Confidence:
Some of the brilliant students lack in their confidence. They have a better idea to learn, good concentration and interest in their study but they always think negative about the result. They always took the study as seriously as it becomes a load over them. Therefore, try to learn with fun. Take your study seriously but do not get this seriousness over your confidence.  Always think positive about your examination. Positive attitude towards exams is the main important fact which you should have in yourself to successfully crack your exam.

2. Time management:

Time management is another important thing in your preparation. You need to maintain a time-table for your study and give equal time to all subjects. If you follow this tip, you will certainly be able to avoid the stress and fear which arise in the students during preparation of the exams. Set a deadline for each subject, and then only you will able to complete your studies within time.

3. Revision:

To complete the study in time is important, but revision is more important in your study. Revision is just like a final touch to your study. Don’t wait till the end to revise. Select your weekend day as the best day for your regularly revision about whatever you have studied during the entire week. Complete your all subject around 2 months prior to the final board examination, so that you could do the revision again.

4. Study method:
Set your study hours and right study place. Allocate more time to the subjects which are tougher than that of others on which you already have a grip. It will make such subjects easier at the time of examinations.

5. Write notes:
Writing is a good habit to learn effectively. Always write the subject wise notes including definitions and formulae over the topics what you are studying. At the time of examination these notes will help you in your revision.

6. New topics:

Always avoid reading new topics at the time of examination. It will make your thoughts negative that you did not have prepared well and ultimately you will go under the stress which is not good at the time of examination.


7. Refreshment and rest:

Allocate some time to the refreshment activities daily. Take a good 6-7 hours comfortable sleep. Ensure that your bed is much comfortable for sleep. Take a regular exercise and yoga. Eat a healthy diet. These all above said things will make you fit for the next day study and make your brain fresh and able to increase your output.

8. Time before the Exams:

Students are strictly advised that do not try to read any new topic just before the exams. Get up early in the morning and revise the important topics you have marked.

Stay relaxed and stress free and be self-confident about your preparations for the examination.


9. Go with the Syllabus:

Grab details about the syllabus of all subjects clearly. Besides preparing from reference books, you should also prepare from your syllabus books like NCERT books (in case of CBSE students). Syllabus books are designed by keeping in mind the strict syllabus of the examination. Stick with the prescribed syllabus and read accordingly.

10. Work in your Weak Points:

Have a look at what are your weak points and how can you make them strong. Check your answer sheets of class tests and pre board and take a deep look into them and find your mistakes. Make a list of your weak points for each subject and start doing hard work on your weak points and make them strong.

Mistake 10

Producing an Incoherent Answer:

One of the worst things you can do to put off the teacher or examiner marking your paper is to write incoherently. That is, your thoughts and ideas are badly expressed and very difficult for the marker to understand. In short, your writing does not make sense.

Imagine that you are the person who has to mark hundreds of test or exam papers. You could be very tired by the time you reach for another paper to mark. Then to your horror, you realise that this particular student’s answers are incoherent. You have to read and re-read each of his or her answers before you understand what he or she is trying to say. Worst of all, you may not even understand what he or she is trying to say!

In situations like this, how would you grade the student’s answers? Would you want to spend more time on his or her other similarly incoherent answers? Probably not.

The thing about incoherent writing is that students who write like that do not realise that only they themselves understand what they are writing about!

The only way to make sure that you do not write incoherently in a test or exam paper is to write more often. Below are the suggested measures:

1. Write an essay on any topic you want.
2. Check through your essay at least twice to make sure that you yourself understand what you are writing.
3. Ask somebody who has a better command of English than you (e.g., your friends, classmates, teachers or family members) to proofread your essays for you. The more persons you can get to proofread your essays, the better.
4. Find out which parts of your essay they have understood and which parts they have difficulty understanding.
5. Ask them how you could have rewritten those parts that they do not understand.
6. Ask yourself whether their suggested rewriting of those parts is easier to understand than what you have written.
7. Discover where you have gone wrong in your initial write-up and try not to repeat such mistakes again in future.
8. Proceed to step 1 above and repeat the process.

Mistake 9

Misinterpreting a Question:

"What are the consequences of a poor diet?"

Imagine you are answering the above question. A quick definition of what make a good diet and a poor diet in your first paragraph would make a good start in your answer. You should then dive into the specific results of a poor diet.

Had you written more about the examples of what make a good diet and a poor diet, including the calories count and nutritional values of various foods, you would be writing something that is uncalled for.

Had you proceeded to talk about the importance of having a good diet, the disadvantages of a poor diet, the reasons why widespread poor diets exist in some countries, or the circumstances leading to a poor diet, you would be writing out of point.

All that could happen because you have not understood the question, or you have misinterpreted it. Misinterpreting a question can cost you dearly in a test or exam. This is especially if the question is worth 10 or 20 marks out of 100. You would be spending precious time producing an incorrect answer at the possible expense of other questions.

The only way to avoid misinterpreting a question is to read through the question at least twice. Underline the key words in the question. Make sure you understand what those keywords mean. Some examples of keywords which some students have problems with are:

• Describe
• Outline
• State
• List
• Explain
• Evaluate
• Discuss

Where a question contains a few parts, and your answer to two of the parts are similar, you must immediately realise that you have misinterpreted at least one of the partial questions. Proceed to correct your answers.

In case of doubts, you may try to ask the teacher or examiner what the question is asking for. Although teachers and examiners are often not allowed to explain the questions in a test or exam to students, some teachers and examiners are very kind and may help you.

Mistake 8

Jumping Straight Into Answering a Question without Proper Planning:

You read a question and you know the answer. Do you immediately raise your pen or pencil and start writing away? If yes, how many times have you encountered the following scenarios?

• You are halfway through your answer and then you realise that your answer is wrong!
• You are penning a new paragraph when you realise that it should have come before a previous paragraph!
• You are halfway through a point you are trying to make before you realise that you have already written it in a previous paragraph!
• You are writing about a new idea and then you realise that it should have been discussed together with another idea that you have already written!
• You realise you have left out an important point in a previous paragraph but there is no space for you to insert it! Therefore, you are forced to write this point in the margin of the paper or somewhere away from the paragraph. Then you draw a long line to connect this sentence to the paragraph.
• You have finished the answer but realise that the paragraphs need to be rearranged! Therefore, you resort to numbering the first paragraph as (1), the second paragraph as (5), the third paragraph as (2), and so on so forth.

If you have encountered any of the above scenarios, and are still running into such situations, would you want to avoid them in future?

The solution to the above problems is proper planning. Proper planning ensures that you have considered all the major aspects of the question before you start to write your answer. It would save you much time later when you write the answer. A carefully planned answer would also get more marks than an unplanned or poorly planned answer.

Below are the suggested steps in planning an answer to a question:

1. Always spend a minute or two thinking through a question.
2. Underline the key words in the question and ask yourself what kind of answer the question demands.
3. Make quick notes in point form as you brainstorm for all the relevant points and ideas that come to your mind.
4. Group all the related points and ideas together into main ideas.
5. Ask yourself whether you have enough main ideas. A long question typically requires at least three main ideas in its answer.
6. Ask yourself whether you have too many or too few points for a particular main idea.
7. If more than half of your answer is about one main idea only, while the other main ideas make up the rest of your answer, you are most likely paying unequal attention to each main idea and your answer will be lopsided.
8. Finally, plan how you wish to approach the question and structure your answer accordingly.

Mistake 7

Starting with the Most Difficult Question:

Some students attempt their test and exam papers in a less efficient way. They start with the most difficult questions.

"What is wrong with that?" you may ask.

For one thing, attempting a tough question is a bad start to a paper. Your mind gets stumbled at the very beginning of the paper. You rack your brains trying to come out with the answers for that agonising question. You begin to feel exasperated. You mind loses its calm. You cannot think properly. And you lose precious time while you are stuck with the tough question.

Before you know it, you only have half of the time left. Now, you rush to answer the other questions. But your mind has got so entangled with that tough question that it cannot think properly. You have forgotten the answers to the easy questions! You can’t believe it! And we can’t believe why you even began with that tough question!

Always start with the easy questions. First, it makes you feel good about the paper and boosts your confidence. Second, you are assured that you will get the marks allotted to these questions. Third, if you manage the easy questions properly, you will be able to answer them quickly and allow yourself more time for the difficult questions. Last but not least, you may be able to attain the answers to the difficult questions after you have solved the easy ones. It has happened to many people many times!

How to Attempt the Exam Paper in Four Ways

 There is not enough for a complete knowledge of the subject, reproduce the answer sheet in an efficient way to increase a lot. Order and systematic presentation of questions and answers is a must-read to make a good paper. Exam papers to see your best, here are some tips to help you take more values:

1.       Priority: Scale that can pass through the questionnaire thoroughly, you have to answer the question effectively. Answer a priority, in order to launch their first answer booklet. It makes a good impression on the examiner. Please write by hand very well. Avoid many of the cutting and washing response. Keep your answers neatly and nicely formatted.

2.       Highlighting: Highlighted is the question-and-answer session and a very important figure sequencing. You have to keep in mind the perspective of the corporate auditors. If you try to facilitate as much as possible, you go for the examination on the paper. It amused him. Write questions and answers in bold numbers, we highlight it.

3.       Avoid Long paragraph: Please try to avoid the answer in the long paragraph. It interferes with the examiner. Each examiner must go read most of the hard copy and paragraphs. So instead of a paragraph that you have the corresponding points. You too, you will be able to select them in the subordinates and to bold them. As they become ambiguous, leave a line or two after each point.

4.       Diagrammatic Representative: Chart is a good way to pick up a lot of character. If possible, try to explain by example appropriate, also to explain your answer, please try to answer the graph, or table. This, the auditor could have thought to have a good understanding of concepts the students.