Preparation for Competitive Exams: Selective or Full Course?

With the upcoming months being choc-a-bloc with competitive exams, students have to work harder than ever before if they desire a seat in a prestigious college for a course of their preference. Let’s analyze what goes into the preparation of competitive exams, and how students should prepare for them.

How Should I Prepare for Forthcoming Competitive Exams?

Generally, this question is never asked before a student begins preparation for a competitive examination. However, this question is extremely important. A minor thought or direction can fetch you better results for years of hard work. Some important tips in this regard are mentioned below.

• Peruse the course in an in-depth manner

• Consider each topics’ weightage in the exam

• There may be overlap of some topics across subjects. For instance, for pre-engineering, consider integration and differentiation in Mathematics. Proper understanding of this topic will benefit you in both Physics and Maths. If you find these topics hard and give more attention to Physics, you may have a bumpy ride and may need to spend much more time to grasp these topics firmly.

• After carrying out the above analysis, consider your favorite topics and subjects as well as those you are tremendously afraid of.

• It is highly advisable to give more importance to topics that have high weightage.

Should I Cover Full Course or Should I be Selective?

This is a tough question, and the answer can be extremely tricky. In majority of the cases, the pattern of examination answers the question. Let’s take a closer look at different scenarios.

• Let’s imagine that the examination features objective questions with anywhere between 100 and 150 questions that need to be answered in 3 hours. In such a scenario, it is expected that you cover the entire syllabus, though not very deeply. These types of exams want to make sure that you are well versed with the fundamentals, vital examples, and the fact that you can use formulae in the right manner. In such exams, you won’t have much time to spend on individual questions. Generally, such exams have a negative marking system in place to check a crucial aspect of your personality, which is “correct in the first attempt.” These exams test several aspects of your personality, which are mentioned below.

  • You work hard and study the entire syllabus on time

  • You have an excellent memory recall, and can apply the principles quickly

  • You are adept at time management and know how to optimize your studies in limited time

  • Your calculations are free of mistakes; however, short, quick calculations pose a challenge

  • You are an avid reader; however sometimes answers are embedded in questions, and a minor error can leave you disappointed

  • In such exams, minor errors are the deciding factor

• Another form of an objective exam features 50 to 75 questions with duration of 3 hours to solve the paper. This, too, is an objective test; however, it is targeted at students possessing different qualities. You can devote more time to the questions posed because the questions are tricky and not straightforward. The focus lies in how you apply your knowledge. Formulae are identical; however, you may have to resort to different tricks like breaking the problem for applying the relevant formula. Such competitive exams require in-depth understanding of each subject. Covering the entire syllabus may not be essential; however, deep knowledge and good presence of mind are required.

• Let’s take a closer look at subjective exams. These are the polar opposite of the above two exams. They test the aptitude of the student. Your subject expertise is tested along with the ability to apply core principles in numerical questions. Adequate presentation, word-limit restrictions, and right answers are expected from students in such exams. Generally, such exams may feature options amongst questions. In these types of tests, covering the entire syllabus may not be mandatory; however, in-depth knowledge and excellent practice of Mathematics are essential. In majority of the cases, comparison of statistics, examples, etc need to be learnt by heart and quoted in the answer.

Therefore, we have seen which type of competitive exams require the entire syllabus to be covered and which need selective preparation.