Monday, January 28, 2008

Make your study plan

It is preparation time for those who are planning to sit for entrance tests in India. Many of you may be attending coaching classes or have started there exam preparation quite some time back. But tell me frankly – How many of you have a Study Plan ?


If you don’t , here are a few tips as to how one can go about it as tt is important to have a good study plan. It helps you to keep track of the syllabus you need to cover in a ranged time span.


Create a Study Plan

A study plan that you develop yourself or center around yourself will go a long way toward helping you reach your goal. Develop a realistic plan that's established according to your needs and schedule, and supports the way you learn. This allows you to stick to your study plan and learn at your own pace, which contributes to the learning process. As the exam nears, you will need to create a plan to help you study effectively and minimize stress. The first step is to figure out how much time and effort you must dedicate to studying for the exam by asking the following questions:

* How much material do you need to cover?
* How difficult is the material?
* How much time is available?
* Do you have any other priorities during the study period?
* What is the format of the exam?
* How important is the exam?
* What is your performance target for the exam?

To prepare the study plan, map out all of the material that has to be covered and make a schedule showing what, when and how much you will study each day. If you have kept up with the course work, studying will involve revision of the material that you have already covered. If you are behind in the course, you will have to finish the readings and other uncompleted work before starting the revision (if there isn't enough time to go over everything, you must decide what is most important for the exam).
Here are some tips to follow in creating your study plan:

* budget your time realistically;
* allocate the study time into several manageable study sessions;
* divide the course material into small segments and assign them to the study sessions;
* set clear and specific goals for the study sessions;
* prioritize to ensure that material weighted more heavily in the exam gets sufficient study time;
* take into account your familiarity with the material and the difficulty level;
* don't make the study sessions too long;
* No noise. A noisy area can increase stress while studying. Avoid studying with the television or radio on. Pick a quiet place like your local library to study.
* study sessions should have enough variety in terms of topics and activities to prevent boredom and loss of effectiveness;
* Assess yourself. Take diagnostic or practice tests. Analyze the result. Mark the areas you could consider your weak areas. Concentrate on these areas when you begin studying.
* avoid cramming before the exam; and
* don't forget to include regular breaks.

So, understand why the Entrance Test (you are sitting for) is important to you. When preparing for the Exams, prepare through small, well-planned steps. Accomplish each step; build upon them. Then use these accomplishments as additional benefits and motivators to move you closer to the final achievement
Wish you all the success !