What is the Key to Success in Competitive Exams 2024? The need to crack or succeed in competitive exams is a must to have a successful career. This is more so in developing countries, where education is a primary requisite for a stable career. The competition is intense for entrance exams like medical (MBBS), management, fashion, engineering, etc., in top-rated universities and colleges.
Some succeed in these competitive exams with ease and confidence. But for many, success is not guaranteed even after repeated attempts with laborious preparation. Therefore, we need a proper approach and strategy for the preparation process.
Strategy for What is the Key to Success in Competitive Exams 2024
A decision to achieve the goal: Firstly, set up the desired score or the order of rank you wish to achieve in the competitive exam. This step brings clarity about the marks you need to achieve in the exam. By checking the records of previous competitive exams, the toppers indicate the marks obtained. So if you want to get the desired marks or rank then you have to get the marks or grades obtained earlier and 10 marks from the latest topper.
A definite plan to achieve the target
Once the goal is set, assess how much of the target score you can make up by your present or current standards. This can be affirmed by solving past years’ papers within the stipulated time. Once you solve them, evaluate the answers yourself, honestly, by referring to previous answers, i.e., answer keys released after the previous exam.
Having known your standards, see the syllabus you need to cover in entirety for the competitive exams. Select appropriate books to cover the curriculum. Fix the time to complete the syllabus and the maximum possible number of times to revise the covered syllabus.
Modification of the plan to achieve the target
Study the subjects keeping the syllabus in mind. Some chapters may appear time-consuming. Cover it as briefly as possible and move on to the next one. When you revisit the briefly covered chapters, they become easy for your mind to process. It is advisable to make a team of friends with similar goals as yours and help each other in covering the syllabus. During the preparation, be sure to practice any mathematical or statistical problem, and/or formulas thoroughly. Try to make short notes of important topics which you need to remember to revise easily. To answer questions on general knowledge, read the newspapers daily. Discuss important topics with your friends while you hang out to have a more explicit idea of the topic.
Revise: A Key Study Skill
Once the syllabus is covered, revise the lessons as many times as possible with constant evaluation of your preparation by solving previous years’ question papers after each revision.
If the questions are of multiple choice type, they are less strenuous to answer, but if they are of essay type, then writing essays for practise will enhance your writing speed, handwriting, grammar and mental skill. Remember that without proper revision, it’s of no use to cover the huge syllabus.
Writing the Competitive exam: How to solve the paper?
For essay-type exams, two key skills are essential: writing speed with clear, legible handwriting, and the ability to craft creative responses. If you’re preparing for civil services or any exam that tests your judgment and reasoning, regularly read essays from newspapers, magazines, and other publications. Therefore, practicing before the exam is quite essential to improving both of these skills.
When you receive the question paper, start by reading all the questions and identifying which ones you can answer best.
Start by answering the short questions first, followed by the long ones. This is necessary as you can score more points on individual short answers compared to a single long answer.
Ensure you leave proper spacing between words and lines, and if diagrams are required, draw and label them clearly to make them stand out and boost your score.
If the competitive exam is of the objective type
For exams like APGMAT, GRE, TOEFL, and various scholarship entrances, the mode is objective type.
Answer questions as fast as possible. For this, you must practice completing previous years’ question papers in the shortest time possible.
If you are doubtful about a particular question, attempt the next and return to the previous question after you answer all the known ones. If a question has four choices and if you are in doubt, then eliminate two unsuitable ones and of the remaining two, select the best one, Be careful with terminology because the meaning of terms can sometimes help you recognise the right answer.
If you are not sure about a question, then it’s better to not answer it in order to avoid negative marks.
Finish answering the question paper quickly, and then revise your answers.
The right mindset
Take inspiration, support, and suggestions from elders and friends. Suggestions from successful candidates can be very helpful. Attend group studies to help you mould your vision and thoughts toward success. Imagine your success frequently and be optimistic.
Things you should not do
Don’t stress about the level of competition; the number of exam-takers doesn’t impact the score you aim to achieve. The success path is crowded at the bottom, not at the top.
Avoid relying on too many suggestions you receive from others. Instead, figure out your plan for how to prepare and crack in the exam.
Stay committed to attending your regular classes or school and don’t skip them in favor of studying for the competitive exam.