Preparing for Board Exams? Avoid these 10 Common Mistakes

Preparation for board exams can be very strenuous and stressful for students. It is a crucial time that shapes the career of many students. Along with these high stakes comes high anxiety and we tend to make a few errors in judgment and technique of preparation. These mistakes, if avoided can greatly boost your score. Let’s take a look at some of the common mistakes while preparing for exams.

Quantity over quality:

One of the most common mistakes that students do while preparing for board exams is to buy every single book in the market for a subject. Some of them are high-level reference books that are not at all necessary. Looking at all these books can overwhelm anyone and make it difficult to focus. Besides, the most important matter will be lost if we load our brains with too much information. Stick to the prescribed textbooks, like the NCERT textbook. This is usually more than enough to ace an exam.

Realize the value of hard work:

The sooner we realize this, the better. There is no shortcut to hard work, and it is the only key to success. No matter how many different strategies we use or techniques we try, you cannot replace this. Many students believe that strong subjects do not require work or that smart students do not put in work. On the contrary, it is believed that this is merely an escaping mentality. As you start working towards your goals every day, you will realize how much you are able to improve.

Learning is a quick process:

This is a myth that takes understanding through experience. While everyone learns at a different pace, learning is a slow process with many repetitions. We need to train our brains to receive information. Many students can focus for long hours without getting distracted. This is only because they are able to train their brain to focus for such a long time. As you study for longer periods of time, your ability to learn also improves.

Singular statement facts are knowledge.

While learning, statements that we learn do not stay as the knowledge that is retainable. These facts may stay in our heads for short periods of time but will not be committed to long-term memory. To actually ensure that it is retained, try to relate it to previously studied knowledge.

Making notes is a waste of time.

A lot of students assume that making notes will not serve any purpose as everything is already there in textbooks. They fail to realize that this is not the only purpose of making notes. The notes help in a quick revision towards the end of our studies. It should be made in such a way that the entire chapter’s key points are brushed upon a single glance.

Another importance of making notes is that it helps in visual memory. Many times, the bullet points, diagrams, flow charts, and graphs that are made in notes will appear as an image in our memory which makes it very easy to recollection.

Some institutes also provide pre-made notes and NCERT solutions. This also saves time spent on figuring out the solution when stuck at a problem or doubt.

Not paying attention to familiar and easy topics.

This is a common mistake while preparing for the board exams. When a student is familiar with a specific topic, they tend to leave it for the end or neglect it. Unfortunately, it might so happen that this is an important or scoring topic. Be thorough in what you already know. This way, you are consolidating the marks that that unit carries. Ideally, try to cover easy important topics first, followed by easy and not so important topics. This will ensure that you cover a good bulk of the syllabus and will make you feel more confident. Then, move to the difficult and not so important topics.

Not setting time for revision.

As mentioned before, learning is a slow and repetitive process, especially when you want to retain the information for a long period of time. Make sure your timetable has slots for revision as this plays a vital role in the preparation. Without revisiting a topic, it is as good as being forgotten. Do not hesitate to revise tricky and difficult concepts as many times as required. Strengthen your basic concepts and the rest will be made easier.

Not testing yourself.

There is a difference between solving papers and testing yourself. While attempting a mock paper or a previous year’s paper, make sure that you do it in the form of an actual paper. This will definitely give you an idea as to where you stand with your preparation, how much you remember, your time management skills, and also how to write a paper. 

Tests can also be shorter assessments done through the course of preparation to gauge your improvement. This will clearly indicate your strengths and weaknesses and will help in improving on them. You will also be exposed to new questions, making your concepts clearer.

Trying to multitask

This is a problem with the more recent generations. A lot of students are crunched for a time due to the vast syllabus. Due to this, they try to do multiple things at once. You might end up finishing the task in this way, but it will not serve any purpose. For example, many students try to listen to lectures or classes online and complete assignments at the same time. At the end of it, your concepts on neither will be clear but you would have completed both tasks. Stick to one task at a time with complete concentration.

Relying too much on instructors

While it is important to have the support of a teacher or instructor, it is not the most important element for the preparation. The teacher can only do up to a level after which the student has to study on their own. The instructors are meant to guide the students and not make them learn. This initiative has to be taken by the student only.

So here are the top 10 mistakes that students make while preparing for board exams so that you don’t have to repeat them!