Approach to Exams
"Not many people are willing to give failure a second opportunity. They fail once and it is all over. The bitter pill of failure is often more than most people can handle. If you are willing to accept failure and learn from it, if you are willing to consider failure as a blessing in disguise and bounce back, you have got the essential of harnessing one of the most powerful success forces." – Joseph Sugarman
We all have good potential but due to the pressured nature of the exam we may delimit our own ability and ultimately in the pit of failure. Never have fear of exams. Exams are to be worked for not feared of.
1. Learn any topic with the concept. Understand the reason and the approach to the solution. Don’t just know the solution know how the solution is arrived. This is the most basic but most important step. CA exams are not like B.com exams where you expect the same type of question with change in amount only. Here the concept of mugging up will not work. You have to know WHY?? Why each step is carried on. Once you know the answer for Why you can solve any problem.
2. Don’t study only for the exam point of view. Study with the intention to learn the subject.
3. Plan Plan Plan – Plan your studies. Divide the number of days left for each subject. Plan each day, for each hour of the day. Plan for revision. Plan for breaks.
4. Fear – Fear is the worst enemy. Be cool during the study holidays and in the exam hall.
5. Make the habit of notes during the initial stages of studies. Revise them at regular intervals. Especially for theory subjects / topics like MICS, AS, Etc. You can make a summary sheets for subjects like MICS by writing only the headings for each chapter and then read the summary of 2-3 chapters every day.
6. Provide more time for subjects you feel you are bad at so that you are confident before going into the exam hall, since if you are not confident on yourself you cannot achieve anything.
7. Study two subjects in a day. One Theory & one Practical. (Depends on Individual)
8. Select the book you want refer and stick to it. Don’t keep changing books on hearing from your friends that the some other book is good. Each person is different, there are 100’s of books available in the market you select the one which suits you and stick to it.
9. Give 100% - While studying study 100% and while taking a break take 100% don’t worry about your exam while taking a break. Just enjoy that moment but when you are back to studies forget everything else and give 100% for studies.
10. Attempt for the maximum marks in the exam hall.
11. Don’t keep your mobile with you when you are studying. Keep it away. Just check the msgs and calls only once a day.
12. Use highlighters for highlighting the important headings so that while revising you can revise only those things, since you will not have the time to read everything once again. You highlight the important words its sufficient. You can understand the whole thing if you just read those words.
13. For instances if you have 3 months left for the exams break it as follows:
a. Total no of days left – 90 days.
b. Total Subjects – 8 Days
c. No. Of Days per subject – 11 Days
d. No. of days required for Final revision per subject – 1-2 Days
e. No. of days required for 1st Revision per subject – 2-3 Days
f. Therefore no. of days left for each subject is – 6-8 Days
g. You may like to give more time for some subject which you feel is difficult and reduce some time from some other subject which is easier.
h. For instances Direct Taxes is voluminous its take more time, where as MICS consumers lesser time. So you can use some of MICS time for DT.
14. Speak with friends when you bored but don’t speak much about studies it created fear in you.
15. Don’t worry too much the world does end with CA’s. Out of 110 Crores population of our country there are hardly 1.6 lakhs of CA, and all the other people are living, infact living a good life. CA is not the final thing (This is only to remove the fear from mind).
16. Most important everyday at the day end before you go to bed take out half an hour and revise what you studied that day. This will help you for good remembrance. And also when you start studying the next day glance through all the topics what you studies in the subject before. This will make things more permanent in your mind.
17. Revision is important. If you read a subject in the starting and don’t revise it, by the time you complete the other subjects you will foreget it.
"Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently." - Henry Ford
"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." - Colin Powell
"Failure is the tuition you pay for success." - Walter Brunell
"Never walk away from failure. On the contrary, study it carefully and imaginatively for its hidden assets." - Michael Korda
Note: The above is only my opinion.
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