Tackle those exam blues

Students of Delhi University talk about how they will face the semester exams.

Exams around the corner: Prep in progress.

Delhi University (DU) will be conducting its summer semester exams, later this month. While some students start studying from the beginning of the semester, there are many who are just getting started. Here are a few things you can do to reduce exam stress.

Be thorough with your syllabus: It is important to be sure about what you are going to be evaluated upon. Often, students do not have proper knowledge about their syllabus.

Get your notes right: One thing that helps you in passing exams is ensuring that you have notes for every chapter and important concept that you have been taught during the semester. If some notes are missing, get them photocopied from your friends or contact your lecturers and get a brief of the same.

Schedule your time: Making a proper timetable is necessary in pre-exams and exams days. Students usually tend to give all of their attention to one particular subjects which results in neglecting the rest. Some like to study during the day whereas some prefer to study through the night. Both of these can be okay, provided you do not end up wasting your time.

Solve sample papers: The Internet is an amazing tool, if you use it right. Previous years’ question papers are available on the Internet these days. Solve as many as possible. This will give you an idea of the pattern of the exams and help you with revisions. You can also talk to your seniors and get an idea of the pattern of the exam papers.

Stop-watch your time: While solving sample papers or revising, always set a target time for completing a part and make sure you meet iy. In the beginning, you might not meet it. However, keep practising and you will surely be able to achieve it. For best results, try to finish off your sample exams in 2 hours 45 minutes, instead of the usual 3 hours.

Stay away from social media: With so many options available, students end up spending a lot of time on various social media platforms. What happens in such a case is that students do not realise when they end up spending an hour on this, when they planned only 10 minutes. Social media can also cause a lot of distractions in addition to wastage of time.

Sanjayrohith Reddy, B.Com (H), 1st year, SRCC

“A lot of my time is consumed in active participation of societies and union elections. Exams are approaching and we haven’t even opened our books yet. This is what happens in DU. Even semesters are packed with elections and odd semesters are electrified with fests.”

Prashanth Xavier, Computer Science, 2nd year, Hansraj College

“Being a hosteller, I had active participation in college election and fests. This has affected my studies. I did not want to repeat the same mistake. So, I started preparing for my third semester from the beginning.”

Mahima Khurana, Economics (Hons.), 2nd year, Janki Devi Memorial College

“This is the time of the year when preparation has to reach its culmination. College internals prepared us for the worst and now we are trying to make use of this experience to face what is ahead. This is the time we befriend previous years’ papers.”

Tanya Bhatia, Economics (Hons.), 2nd year, Janki Devi Memorial College

“Experience has shown that those who have prepared for their finals by completing the whole course usually score higher. So, I also prepare in the same way. The best way to prepare is to undertake a thorough review of the course content. Also, write as clearly as possible.”

Divya Kandukuri, B.A. Journalism, 3rd year, Lady Sri Ram College

“We are stuck with the busy schedule of college which gives us no time at all to prepare beforehand. Classes finish at 5:30 and we don’t have enough time to go through the books again. Societies are never an obstacle as we choose to be a part of them. But, it gets hectic sometimes. We have just started our preparation now and hope we will complete the portion before the exams.”