Every year at this time of the year, students run to teachers, friends and seniors asking for advice on their preparation for the exams. The pressure is immense and time is short and in today's environment where a single mark can alter your rank by 1000 points, it is essential that students be completely prepared to do their best to get the top rank. However it is easier said than done.

Follow up:

The point is that even if you have studied the entire course, it is not enough till you have revised the portions at least twice . The best trend to follow is to finish the portion early in the academic year, finish two revisions by October and then get on to practice tests. The academic year for students in India usually begins in the month of April. This is the time schools start the portions for the final year students. From April they have 12 months to finish studying, finish at least 2 revisions and as many practice papers as they can. There are 2 critical steps that need to be followed to get good marks and ranks.

1.Finishing the portions
2.Revision

Finishing the portions
Finishing the portions in time is the most important thing because if you don't finish the portion you cant move onto revisions. This is a common problem faced by most of the students, they always have something they have not revised or finished. The 'mantra' that can help students cover their portions is “proper planning”. The best thing to do is to divide the year up according to the subjects that have to be studied and the time that is available. Once the time has been calculated, split it between the subjects and assign time to each subject according to the level of study needed. An example would be that if you decide that Monday will be the day for Maths and English then assign more time to Maths since English is not that difficult. You can assign time in the same fashion to all the other subjects. You will have to make sacrifices on free time but it is important that you do. If you follow a strict timetable then you will be able to finish the portions by September.

A practice that was followed even by the 2009 CET toppers was that they joined extra classes right after their Ist PUC / Class XI exams. It is best not to waste time or wait for too long before doing this. Even Pavan (2009 CET rank 36) along with Naveen Bhat Y (2009 CET Rank 2) and Kishor S V (2009 CET Rank 35) endorsed this practice. He himself had joined extra classes and said that he had managed to finish two complete revision for PUC well before the exams and that his extra classes had played a major role in helping him finish. These extra classes help set a good pace for the studies and keep students well informed about the latest trends.

Another thing that students should do is to dedicate proper amounts of time every day to studies. This is a must. They should spend at least 4-5 hours studying. This practice, however, should be started from the day that they finish Ist PUC / Class XI exams and not 2 months before the exams because it is a little too late by then. Students should remember that it is important to set goals and work towards them.

Revisions
Revision is the second most important part of achieving success in exams. This should not be an annual exercise but an all year round activity. The way to effectively revise is to study what is taught in classes at home that very day. Once a chapter is over, students can take a small test in that chapter to see what they have learnt. Once they have covered at least 2-3 chapters, they should take unit tests in those 3 chapters and also include previous chapters in the test.

Chapter wise tests and regular unit tests ensure that students are well prepared to move to the final stage of taking full length practice tests. If the student has followed the schedule correctly then they should have finished their entire portion by the end of august. In September, they should start their first revision, including the portions of Ist PUC/ Class XI and finish it by the end of September. Once that is done they should proceed with the second revision, beginning it in October and finishing it by the end of the month.

In case students have failed to finish the portions by August they should try and finish them at least by September so that they still have October and November for revisions and the remaining time for mock exams. And if a student has not finished revisions by december then they should start working on revisions and practice tests right away.

So remember when you are revising for board exams:

1.Make a schedule and STICK TO IT

So when should the practice tests begin???