Board should not be neglected !

He topped IIT-JEE, flunked Class XII!

A couple of years back I anchored a talk show on television — on the concerns and issues of young people. On one of the shows we featured a student who was amongst the toppers of IIT-JEE. But ironically he failed to pass his CBSE Class XII board exam.

It was shocking! It was sad!

During our discussion he pointed out that he had taken the boards for granted and had assumed that if he studied hard enough for the IIT-JEE then Class XII papers would be a cakewalk.

It proved to be an expensive assumption for him BUT he is not alone in his confusion. This is one dilemma faced by lakhs of students in India. Some even decided to drop a year to prepare for entrance exams and the college of their choice. But we can debate the value of this another day.

Top question for NOW: How do you effectively balance study time between board exams and entrance exams?

1. Realise that they are both different types of exams even though the course might seem similar at first glance. The boards in many ways test your ability to memorise and various entrance exams on the other hand test the depth and extent of your knowledge. Don’t take for granted that by studying for entrance exams you will automatically cover the course for your board exams!

2. Now that we have established that both sets of exams need different skills and obviously different study techniques, the next big thing is the TIME factor! Plan your day and set aside time for both sets of courses. You can always give more time to the areas you are not so confident about. Time management is really the key to achieving success not just in exams but in life as well!

3. Believe me when I say that you can have sufficient time to study as well as chill if you plan well and DON’T waste your time! Most of us fritter away precious time — sometimes by neither studying nor relaxing…and mostly by spending unproductive time on the net! So, quit Facebook or surfing the net aimlessly for hours. Instead, put aside a limited time for the internet…and stick to it!!

4. Some other things that you can try are studying the same topic for boards and following it with a similar one for your entrance exam; it helps to reinforce your learning.

5. Follow board exam trends; it helps you to fine-tune your learning. Top things to do: Take mock papers, solved board exam papers, quick MCQ tests.

Hope your exams are going well :)…till next time.