Start your exam preparation as early as possible !!!
We all know that the result season for CA November 2011 Exams has come and in fact result of CA Final has already been declared by ICAI. Congrats to all the pass outs.
Now it is time for all of us to know the importance of time in our hand. This write up is for those who didn’t clear this time and for those new CA Aspirants who are targeting May 2012 CA Exams.
Many Students have recently asked me through PM -- How to start our Exam preparation. I know it is indeed a very vital question. As per my personal observation most of our precious time wasted to figure out how to start our Exam preparation. Believe me exam time is not the most stressful part of your professional journey, if you plan your study well in advance and study on a regular basis.
So with the help of this write up an attempt has been made to share a few suggestions regarding how to start your Exam preparation. Sincerely hope that this write up would help you to deal with high degree of pressure to perform well in professional examination.
SELF STUDY Vs. COACHING
As per my understanding your very first step should be to decide whether to go for coaching or self study. You don’t have to wait until exam time approaches. Make up your mind from the very beginning otherwise this question may be converted into a big dilemma later on. Regarding advantage and disadvantage of self study or coaching, I would suggest you to go through my article “Self study Vs. Coaching classes-A Whole new dimension with analysis” available at the link mentioned below:
SELF STUDY VS. COACHING CLASSES_ANALYSIS
ROLE OF SCANNER
Buy a latest Scanner from the market and analyse it properly. According to me full understanding of Scanner regarding how to use it, is very essential as it gives you a bird’s eye view of every subject of your professional course. These days solved scanners also available in the market. Based on my previous experience I’d suggest you to buy Shuchita Publication Scanner.
SELECTION OF REFERENCE BOOKS
Selection of appropriate reference books is really important. One of the essential and indispensible suggestions to start your exam preparation is to collect good reference books well in advance. Here we cannot deny the importance of study material provided by the respective institute. For correct course content and notes preparation one must also refer study material along with reference books.
Along with selection of reference books in advance it is also advisable to collect exam oriented notes from the very beginning and stick to them. Kindly check the link below to download some useful exam oriented notes:
EXAM ORIENTED NOTES AT ONE PLACE
DESIGN A STUDY SCHEDULE IN ADVANCE
It is really essential to develop a study schedule before starting exam preparation to help you study effectively without any stress. Prepare a list of Exam oriented important chapters with the help of scanner and design your study schedule accordingly. The earlier you perform this exercise, the more time you will have to design your study schedule and prepare for the examination.
TIME MANAGEMENT – A KEY FACTOR
We all know time management is that wonderful skill which we have to learn and develop sooner or later during our professional journey. Being a student after getting enrolled for a professional exam you’ll get ample time to your credit. Proper and prolific utilization of this time is really essential to clear your exam in first attempt. So in this way and to prepare an effective study schedule time management is very important. So focus on time management and keep asking you – Is this the best use of my time. This is to share with you all that am still using this Q and A technique.
FOLLOW EXAM SUGGESTIONS AND TIPS FROM THE START
As we all know there are always some methods or tricks to perform well during exam times. Keeping in view your ultimate goal there is no harm if you acquainted yourself with these tips or tricks well in advance and tried them during your initial stage of study as later on sudden adoption of these methods may reduce their effectiveness and create unnecessary perplexity. One of these tricks is to prepare a list of frequently asked questions from scanner and design your ATLAS accordingly. To view the details of “My ATLAS Method” click at the link given below and download my file titled “real time tips to deal with theory paper”. Sincerely hope that this method can bring a huge difference to your professional success.
ALL MY EXAM TIPS AT ONE PLACE: REVISED
UNDERSTAND EXAMINATION PATTERN PROPERLY
Understanding of prevailing examination pattern in a proper manner is also very important for a good start to your exam preparation. If you have good understanding of Examination pattern then you can easily plan for exam paper according to your strength. For example in Audit or Law papers attempt flat questions first like short note etc. instead of practical problems as practical problems are a bit time consuming.
TIME ALLOCATION
Another question which comes into mind regarding how to start exam preparation is how much time is needed in the beginning to study. As per my personal opinion in the beginning it is not necessary at all to invest 10-12 hours a day for your study. A 5-8 hour productive study would be enough. Remember, it is the quality and not the quantity of study that is required. However it would be better for you to decide your study sessions as per your own aptitude/capability.
QUESTION YOURSELF or SELF ANALYSIS
Self analysis is also necessary to figure out that everything is going as per your plan. A well defined study plan is not a guarantee of success unless executed in totality. So you may test your preparation by attempting some previous exam paper under ultimate exam condition or environment. Later on check the result of your effort and make necessary correction/modification to your study plan. These kind of regular tests also helps you to understand your strengths and weaknesses. If you are weak in any area, you can remove that weakness easily by detailed study.
Hope this Article would be off some help during your professional journey. Awaiting your kind responses on the above mentioned points. Please share your views along with your valuable comments/suggestions/guidance.
Wish you all the Best
Best Regards
Ankur Garg
CAclubindia
