100 Days to go..

Amol Gopal Kabra (CA,CS,DISA) (Practicing CA) (8539 Points)

21 July 2011

The result of CA Final exams was declared recently. Heartiest Congratulations to all those who cleared their finals, but hard luck for those who didn’t manage to. But don’t worry and concentrate on the attempt to come. The PCC/IPCC result is yet to be declared, but then the result will be similar, some will qualify and some wont. In any case, those who shall be preparing for the November Exams, there are a hundred odd days to go. I am writing this article to present some tips for the exams. Needless to say but this article is for both category of students appearing for Final and IPCC, i.e. fresher and repeater.

Considering the time span remaining for the exam, that is around 100 days, you need to fully dedicate towards studies. It does not mean that you should study for 24 hours a day, but now your approach towards the exams must be serious.
The prime requirements for beginning the studies are Confidence and Self Belief. Unless and until you have these two ‘deadly weapons’, you are not going to conquer the exams.
The level of Confidence should be optimal. Under-Confidence as well as Over-Confidence, both are equally harmful. So, the dose of Confidence should be appropriate.
Until you believe in yourself, nobody else will do so. If you pray to God without believing in yourself, God will also not believe in you and may not help you.
Remember, study and hard work comes first. All other things, i.e. luck, wishes, God’s grace, etc. follow. So, there is no other option than hard work and study.
Study for 7-8 hours a day for the next 2 months and for 10-12 hours a day for the rest of the days. This much of study with good level of concentration is sufficient for anybody to clear CA exams.
Don’t chalk out time-wise or subject-wise time table for study. You won’t be able to follow the same. And then this will result into frustration or loss of concentration which will adversely affect your studies. Whatever may be the time and whatever may be the subject, study as per your mood. But at the same time keep in mind two constraints – time and subjects. You need to study for the above mentioned time and in a span of 8-10 days you give justice to each subject you are going to appear.
Don’t ever plan to leave any subject to be prepared at end. A subject left is left forever. So, irrespective whether the subject is your favorite or not, you have to study it well before exams.
Apart from studies, also include recreational activities in your schedule. These activities should be of such nature those give peace to your mind. Examples are listening to silent music, going for a walk, etc. These are just examples. You can do any activity that gives peace to your mind.
Keep your attitude positive throughout the preparation period as well as the exam period. Keep out of reach of people who give you negative inputs, even if such person is your best friend. Because, his intentions might not be to harm you, but still it may affect you adversely.
Don’t compare your studies with your mates. If you think you are lagging behind them, it will frustrate you. If you think you are ahead of them, it will relax you and you may lose down on your studies. If you want to compare, just compare with yourself.
Give proper rest to your body even during your exams. After all our body is not a machine. And even machines need rest and repairs if used excessively. Have a sleep of at least 6 hours a day. 8 hours of sleeping is highly recommended. If you go on studying on without giving rest to your body, the body may face a breakdown during exams. And if anything adverse happens, no problem, just wait for 6 more months to achieve your success in exams.
Don’t gulp down entire syllabus. Study with proper understanding. Remember you can’t eat an entire Chapati or Roti in one stroke. You have to eat it bite by bite. Same is with or brains. The input has to be in small parts and, to ‘digest’ the input, we need the ‘saliva’ of understanding.
Don’t study till the last moment of the exam and till the invigilator asks you to leave your books. Leave the books at least 1 hour before the exams. This will give rest to your brain to be used with more efficiency during exams.
Most important thing, don’t get nervous before the start of exams. Most of us think that how to recall such a huge syllabus. But what we have to recall is just answers to 8-10 questions that we have to face in the exam. If you are calm during the exam, the brain will work at least 10 times faster. And if you panic, it won’t help you to recall.
If you think that by sending a message to 15 people, you will get success in exams and by not sending the same you will face bad luck for years, then you are the biggest fool in this entire universe. These are all the tricks to lose your concentration. So better don’t believe on such rubbish things.
Always keep a smile on your face. This will help your nervousness to get down.
Even during exams, do spare some time to talk with your relatives and friends. But the topics of discussion should be strictly other than studies. This is just to reduce the nervousness about exams.
In case you feel down and need motivation, feel free to speak to those people who you think can inspire you. Motivation is highly needed at the times of exams.
All the best for your studies and