How to study properly for an engineering exam
It is very common that people study in wrong manner. This results in less marks in spite of the efforts. I would like to share my experiences on how to study effectively.
I am in my last semeter of engineering and have secured distinction throughout my college life. I have seen people studying for 14-15 hours and still get very ordinary marks. I noticed that they do not study properly.Books:
A lot of books are available in the market which contain the entire syllabus. Many professors have taken lots of efforts to take references from internet and a lot of foreign authors and standars books and prepared books containing the entire syllabus. These books are published through local printers and are called as local author books. I strongly recommend these books only during the final preparatory leave that we get. Any subject in engineering is manageable by any person if he believes he can study it. So, choosing of proper books is the very first step. Only go for standard books specified in the syllabus booklet. We get these easily in libraries.Taking Notes:
Many people believe that writing down notes is a waste of time. Many of students ask other students to give them their notes. This will never help. Because the person has written in his own language which you may not understand. We make a very big mistake during semester. We believe that we can study everything during the final preparatory leave. But we must make use of the time we have during our semester. A very simple procedure will help everyone a lot. All we have to do is during weekend, just take one topic and study carefully from the reference books and prepare your own notes consisting of the important questions and their answers. Always prepare notes in question answer fashion including the marks.
for e.g - Q.1 - What is electromagnetic radiation? How to eliminate electromagnetic effects in any instrument? (6M) Always write questions which are previously asked and answer them according to the importance given i.e marks in the exam. This makes us habited to the format of the question paper. Simultaneously we are also preparing the notes. Doing this will help in a lot of ways. Time Management:
Never try to study too much throughout. A common mistake done is people study during entire semester and obviously, saturation level comes and they feel exhausted much earlier. Similarly, if we do not study at all during semester, it will create panic during exams that we are not confident about any topic. The best way is to gradually study and never over exert yourself. Manage your time efficiently. Always have a balance between studies and relaxation. Always watch movies, go out of your house to some place like a hill to relax, listen to music, do whatever makes you feel good during the preparatory leave as well. Do not just sit at home and study. This will create a kind of boredom in your mind a it is not active and this fatigue will come out in the exam.Sleep Properly:
Never disturb your sleep time. You must sleep for at least 7 hours everyday irrespective of how much you have studied or not, irrespective of whether it is exam day or any other day. Human body is made in such a way that for proper functioning of brain, we have to have proper rest . There is a purpose for your sleep. Many people study very late in night up tp 5 am and sleep for 2-3 hours and go for exam at 9 am. This will never help. Your mind will be very tired during exam. One has to be very calm and fresh during the exams.Believe in yourself:
People have very little confidence in themselves. This is the biggest problem. They study everything but still are never confident about what they have studied. So, they panic in exam hall and this makes situation even worse. So, I would suggest that always be confident in whatever you have studied. And be sure that you will be able to write it in the exam.
I hope that my study methods might help a few of you. And please try to avoid the things that I have put as not to do.
I finally got it how to study engineering, thank you so much for this wonderful article Nikhil Shelke.