A few first-hand tips
Although I realised this quite late, I do believe that I am fortunate. I’ll confess, I didn’t visualise a future for myself, so I never bothered to think about it. And when I was finally forced to, I never expected that I’d be in for such a ride (even with all the advantages I have).
Choosing what I wanted to pursue was again a challenge I never anticipated. When I finally found some semblance of surety with regard to what I wanted to pursue, there was another challenge I had to face - entrance exams.
Wanting to stay in India, and get into a college, it is almost mandatory for you to appear for an entrance exam. And in a country with such a huge population, one can anticipate the sheer number of people who will appear for the same (on any given day, there are over 1,000 entrance exams conducted by various institutes based in India). To get into any field, or to even be eligible to study in a central university, an entrance exam is a common prerequisite.
So, acknowledging the fact that I had to give an entrance exam to get into a decent college was a hard pill to swallow. But, after guzzling it down with over a gallon of water, I took the time to gather my thoughts - I worked out a plan of action!
First, I talked to a couple of people who had already appeared for the exam I was planning to give. I asked them questions I felt would either solidify my intent to appear or at the very least, clear any confusion regarding its impact on my long-term goals. Next, I researched and took my time to shortlist the various courses available on the internet which I considered helpful for the exam. Committing to a course helps you find a sense of direction and that helps you substantially - especially if you don’t know where to start. They usually have detailed timetables and live classes, and provide the required material along with numerous tests you can attempt. This is why it is important to take your time to research the course being offered because some might suit you better than others.
Consistency, however clichéd it might sound, is key. And having scheduled classes on a weekly or daily basis helps you stick to a schedule. If you are one of those people who can formulate a timetable and stick to it, it will help you tremendously. But if you’re someone like me who can’t stick to a timetable, something that helps is setting targets. They could be daily or weekly targets, whichever works for you. They give you a level of flexibility because instead of having to stick to rigid timings, you can fit tasks in any order, at any time of day, be it at 3 am or right before you go to sleep.
Taking an entrance exam requires time and efficient effort. If you want to take one, plan and prepare in advance so you won’t stress out days before the exam.