Many candidates depend on others like their parents, teachers, friends, and mentors to guide and motivate them for the exam. They feel that they need someone else to keep them disciplined and focused on the exam preparations and without their help, they fail to prepare.
Thinking that having thorough preparation of only one or two sections is enough to crack the examination is where most of the students fail to succeed in the government’s competitive exams.
The most important aspect of preparing for any exam is a thorough revision. Studying or covering a topic once does not assure you that you are going to remember it forever. However, by regularly revising a topic, you can make sure that the topic is imprinted in your memory forever.
Time management is very important while preparing. Some students waste a lot of their initial time on one subject only and then have very little time in their hands to prepare for the others.
One should never leave important topics for the last few days thinking that preparing it a few days before the exam will help you remember it at that time. Doing this will leave you with insufficient time to revise the important topic and thus doing more harm than good.
Most competitive have a negative marking applicable therefore the students must answer the questions very carefully. Although attempting 100% of the paper is a good practice but it is not encouraged when negative marking applies.
No matter how many hours you spend on coaching, you still have to focus on self-study. Self-studying allows you to remember topics better and longer and make sure that you can build concepts of your own.
Students must ensure that they first clear their fundamentals and basic concepts as without proper knowledge of those, you cannot move further. You should move one step at a time and refrain from skipping steps trying to reach the top faster.
Mock Tests are very important and help you in knowing the level of your preparation. It also helps you get familiar with the format of the exam so that you can be mentally prepared to face it. It helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Many students fail to make the cut despite working very hard. They do spend a lot of time studying but still do not clear the exam. This is because they are not working smart. While studying the students must know what to study and what to leave.