Tackling Examinations

Hello readers, it's been a long time since we've connected. Here is a great news for you - we have on board Mukesh Pareek, AIR 3 in JEE Advanced 2015. Mukesh scored 325/360 in JEE Main 2015. He is presently studying Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay and is in his second year.

Mukesh would like to share some of his experiences in this article:

Hi, I am Mukesh, a student of Computer Science Engineering at IIT Bombay. I have seen many students complaint about examination stress, that “I am not able to perform during the examination” or “I screw up tests” or “I knew this question but it didn't occur to me in the exam-hall” and other stuff that I am sure we have used time and again to justify our failures.

I myself remember whining about these things during my school days. But thanks to some wonderful advices from my teachers and the efforts I put in I was able to overcome this humungous problem. And I realized with time that all my efforts finally paid off. My best performance used to come out in the Exam-hours. And that's the best, one can wish for.

We must start with realizing the reasons of examination stress. I am going to list the most common ones, the ones I faced during my preparation.

•   Silly mistakes! Really?

•   Distractions and lack of concentration!

•   Result Expectations

•   Lack of Speed

•   Under-Confidence (sometimes Over-Confidence)

       Silly Mistakes -

The first thing you should understand is that silly mistakes are not really silly; they do have a logic. I remember one of my teacher told me that no one has the cure for silly mistakes, the best we can do is to minimize them. If you are one of those who screw up their score due to these so called silly mistakes, this is high time you start looking up for the logics behind these mistakes.

I used to maintain a note-book for my ‘Silly Mistakes’ and update it after every mock-test I took.  This might look like an unnecessary time waste on the top of your already hectic schedule. But this is an effort giving time to. You can maintain what kind of silly mistakes you make, for example: ‘Calculation mistake’, ‘Missed some information’, ‘Misread the data’ and so on.  Keep the track of the mistakes you make repeatedly.

These small details are always at the back of our mind but this will definitely help you be more careful while solving questions. If 50% of your silly mistakes are due to misreading the details in the question, you better check the details twice before starting to solve the problem and likewise for other categories. As says the quote - “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” Well, this is the best way to know the devil known as Silly Mistakes.

       Distractions -

It’s hard to maintain concentration continuously for 3 hours and more so when you are in an examination where every second matters. The best way is to realize the importance of the examination. Before your mind wanders somewhere else, keep in mind that everything you have done boils down to those exam-hours. Make it clear that the only thing that matters is how you make use of those 3 hours. The perfect way is to live that time in a way you never regret later, do nothing which you later think shouldn’t have been done. You must enjoy the problems to realize distraction free examination. Forget about anything else and concentrate on the paper. I remember I used to take 2 tests at a stretch every day for getting used to sitting for long hours. I started this some 4-5 month before the final JEE and was almost regular. This is the kind of planning you need to do for getting top rank in JEE. You have to start early and be consistent. That’s the only way to get rid of persistent problems.

       Result Expectations -

That’s another big problem good student face during their exams. The pressure to perform well. Sometimes we expect too much from ourselves. And that takes a toll on our performance. It’s good to expect good result from yourself. but that is the last thing you should be worried about during the exam.

I remember during my JEE Advanced, It was the first paper. I attempted maths in the end. I had almost one and a half hour left when I started with it. I had to leave the 5 questions in a row in Math section, either they seemed lengthy or didn’t strike at that moment. Since I was expecting a rank under 100, it was kind of depressing. If I would have done calculations of my marks then, there is a high chance I could have gone under pressure. But I knew that whatever I had expected became immaterial once the exam commenced. It was just that paper and me, and what I did in that paper would determine my score not the rank I expected.

I suggest you forget what your teachers told you about your potential, what your parents expect from you and even what you think you can get. Everything matters till the last point of your preparation. And inside the Exam-hall everybody starts from a 0, and each question you do increases your score, that’s it. I never thought, What’s going to happen now? I won’t get under 100 rank, My marks will be very less and other things like that. And I am happy that I didn’t. I kept on doing questions that clicked and increasing my score, and in the end I had enough time to come back and successfully attempt those questions. Phew, Happy Ending!

       Lack of Speed -

That’s one hell of a problem and that too with no easy solution. The best you can do is plan your strategy well and do a lot of practice. You should take up enough number of tests to experiment all the possible sequences of attempting the paper and choose the one that suits you best. After having taken so many tests I realized Physics was my strength, boosted my confidence and didn't take much time, so, that was my first section to start with. Chemistry was not my strongest point, but I could do that in very less time, so it came second. And maths required a little more time and effort so it used to be the last.

Everyone can have his or her strategy but that should be well tested before going for the final examination. Also remember that it’s better to have a strategy but don't panic if things don't go as planned. I generally spent some 45min-1hr on physics, 30 min on chemistry and the rest for Maths and revision. But our JEE Main had quite good level of physics and it took me almost 75-80 mins just for the physics section.

Many students got stressed out and screwed up the exam, but guess what!? Maths was lot easier and I was done with both Chemistry and Maths within an hour left with plenty of time to go through the paper again. These are the conditions which test your exam-temperament. Keep your cool and never let your brain take up extra stress. You will end up in a win-win situation!

       Under or Over-Confidence -

Another thorn in the way to success. The balance in confidence is extremely important. A little lack of it or a bit over the required can ruin your hard-work. Your motto should be - “Expect the least and work for the best.” The perfect rule of thumb. Keeping your expectations low will ensure you are never over-confident. Those who are filled with confidence over the brim are surely going to over-estimate their potential and their expectations shoot up high.

Whereas working for the best ensures you give your 100% and that is enough to gain the required confidence. You might not score well in some mock-tests. You might be weak in some topics, but then since you are working your level best, there is nothing to be worried about. Better efforts should lead to more confidence rather than better score.

I can guarantee, keeping this in mind will fetch you the best rank you deserve. And since your 100% efforts will lead you to the score you deserve, nothing should lower your confidence. This makes exams more easier and fun to deal with!

Feel free to add up to this list and find similar solutions for all your problems. Exams won't be this much stress once you are done dealing with these devils!

I would be happy to help you with your doubts in the comments section :)