Planning for success – GPAT 2014 success mantra
With the date of GPAT 2014 (February 25th – 27th) fast approaching, there is a feeling of anxiety among the final year students about clearing the exam. Since last year, GPAT has gone online and the level of difficulty has also been increased considerably. It is astonishing as well as disappointing to know that there are a number of students who do not even know the importance of GPAT. Those who understand the importance are plagued by the tension of clearing the exam in the first attempt. The burden of project work in final semester, lack of time to prepare and no proper guidance provided in colleges adds to the agony of many GPAT aspirants. This discussion throws some light on how one can plan their approach to clear GPAT in the first attempt with a good score. This in fact, applies to all other competitive exams like MANIPAL-ENAT, NIPER-JEE, and BITSAT.
So the important ingredients for success in GPAT 2014 and your subsequent admission to NIPER or University Colleges is planning and Smart work.
Study Plan for GPAT 2014
Organizing your study time and planning what to study when is a very important aspect for GPAT preparation. Most of the students find it difficult to manage their time and end up feeling tensed and worried at the last moment. It is to be remembered that proper planning and allocation of time for studies is very crucial in deciding your performance in the main exam.
Let us look at some important points which should be addressed while preparing a plan of action for GPAT preparation
- Syllabus sorting: Finishing the entire syllabus of four years in 2-4 months is foolish and impossible to accomplish. Instead of wasting your time on topics and subjects which are least likely to be asked in the exam, you must try to complete as many topics as you can, from subjects which are given more importance and weightage in the main exam. Even in these subjects, you need not go through the entire syllabus that is prescribed as in case of Pharmacology, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Pharmacognosy and Pharma Analysis. These subjects are very vast and it is practically impossible to cover all the topics that are mentioned in the GPAT syllabus in such a short time of 2 months. Therefore, you must try to sort the topics that are more important and cover them first. To do this, you can do the following:
- Compare the syllabus of your university with the official GPAT syllabus and underline the common topics. These are the topics which will require more concentration while you study.
- Refer books which have papers from previous exams and try to get the idea about the general tendency of questioning from a particular subject/topic. This will help you not only to identify important topics but also acquaint you with different types of questions that can be asked from the same topic.
- Once you have prepared a list of topics for a given subject, start studying your favorite subject first to get into the groove. Start making your own notes, preferably point-wise so that you can easily refer it in the last week before the exam.
Time allocation
It is really a tough task to squeeze out time to prepare for a competitive exam, especially when you have to attend college regularly. However, it is not that difficult, provided you are ready to forego some luxuries and are determined to follow a schedule.
Assuming that you attend college every day for 8 hours (9 to 5) and it takes 2 hours for your journey to college and back home. You are still left with 14 hours every day! Make the most of this time. Make it a habit to wake up early in the morning instead of staying up late night. The ideal time to study for such important exams is from 5-8 a.m in the morning. After you are back from college, take a break for an hour and get back to studies. You can wrap up your day by 11 p.m which means that you study at least 7 hrs (3 hrs morning + 4 hours evening) a day initially. As the exam date nears, you can increase your study time by a couple of which is more than sufficient in the last 15 days.
Also read online GPAT exam tips