Tips for balancing board and entrance exams

HIGHLY EFFECTIVE TIPS FOR BALANCING BOARD AND ENTRANCE EXAMS

We all understand how overwhelming it can be to strike a balance between preparations for BOARD EXAMS & COMPETITIVE EXAMS which are both equally crucial in deciding your future. Nevertheless, both these exams are needed to be successfully attempted & scored, so as to secure a seat in a good college which would in turn lead you towards a brighter future.

Since both these exams go hand-in-hand, competitive exams following the board exams with barely a month’s gap, you have to be well equipped to crack both the exams with flying colors.

Here’s a strategy to help you streamline your journey and prepare more efficiently and effectively for both of your exams. READ ON!!

1. Understanding the syllabus for both the exams : 

• Make a list of topics under each subject covered in the syllabus for both the exams
• Understand the key-concepts & sub-topics under each topic and list them

2. Align the syllabus for both exams based on their weightage : 

• Highlight the common topics/key concepts covered in both the exams in the list prepared above
• Check the board exam & competitive exam syllabus & write down the weightage against each topic

3. Prioritize your preparation based on the weightage in exams & your proficiency :

• Once you know the common topics for the exam & their weightage, you can prioritize your time allotment to each topic accordingly
• Allot your time from highest weighted to lowest topic descendingly (more time to higher weighted topics) & more time to topics where you find yourself weak
• DO NOT deprioritize the topics you are strong at. Practice them regularly as well. But allot them lesser time as compared to your weaker subjects

4. Analyzing the pattern difference between both the exams : 

• Both these exams have almost same syllabus, but the main difference lies in the pattern of exam
• Board Exams are subjective, and focus on theoretical elaborative answers, where each step of the answer holds some weightage and are scored accordingly
• Whereas Competitive exams have Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), where you are expected to mark the correct answer. The steps does not matter as long as the answer is correct you get scored for it
• Practicing mental calculation will help you a lot in solving numerical problems more effectively and will prove to be very effective in time management. Mental calculation will give you an upper hand in exams.

5. Align your preparation for both exams :

• It will always be a very burdensome task if you try to treat these 2 exams as completely separate entity
• Instead, if you strategize your preparation in a way where it goes hand-in-hand, the task becomes much easier & more effective
• Choose a topic → study & understand the key concepts → answer the theoretical/subjective questions pertaining to that topic → solve the numerical based questions → verify the answers → revise the concepts which you found challenging while solving questions/numericals → redo the questions where you made mistakes or took longer than usual
• The above method will cover your preparation for both subjective & MCQ questions

6. Divide the whole study time into 3 categories : 

• Preparation time - Pick a fresh topic, study & prepare notes
• Revision time - Schedule a fixed time for everyday to revise the topics that you have studied that day
• Solving papers time - Reserve your Sunday (9-12am) for paper solving. Use alternate Sundays to solve Board exam sample/previous year papers & sample competitive exam papers 

7. List down your challenges in the preparation for each of your exams :

• List down the topics where you are making more mistakes & finding the topic difficult to understand.
• Connect with your school teachers to help you understand the concept better 
• Connect with your coaching tutors to help you with ways & tricks to solve these numerical problems better & faster

8. Partner up with a friend (if it feels convenient to you) :

• If you are comfortable studying with a partner, choose a friend who is equally interested in preparing with you. 
• You both can pick topics, prepare them, discuss with each other & clarify each others doubt
• But 1st be sure that you are comfortable with group study because not everyone is
• DO NOT form a large group for this. It should be maximum 2 people {larger the group, more the distraction}

9. Keep a day for complete break either Friday or Saturday (NO STUDY DAY) :

• Use a day to spend time with your family
• Go out & spend some time with friends
• Indulge in leisurely activities - like pursuing a hobby
• DO NOT worry about studies that day {Timely breaks prevents burn-out}

10.Utilize your Sundays to the most (very important for your success in exams) :

• Use your Sundays to solve sample/mock/previous year papers
• First 8 months - solve a board exam mock paper & competitive exam mock paper every alternate week
• Last 4 months - solve a mock board paper (9-12am) & competitive mock paper (2-5pm) every Sunday
• Use the remaining part of the day in analyzing your performance and working harder on your weaker areas

General tips : 

1. Believe in yourself that you can do it
2. Refrain from comparing your preparation to other childrensome text
   • Frame your own schedule, strategy & timeline for your preparation
   • Follow your preparation schedule and stick to it
   • Comparing it to others will only bring in undue stress, which will affect your preparation negatively
3. Eat greens & memory enhancing foods
4. Pursue a hobby (at least once a week)
5. Workout daily (even if it is a 20-30 mins session do it daily)
6. DO NOT discuss your preparation before going to the exam center or right after the exam
7. Go home, eat & sleep well. Once relaxed, then assess your performance
8. Sleep 7-8 hrs/night