How to Study for a Tough Olympiad
Mentally prepare yourself., Create a schedule., Keep reinforcing your basic concepts., Visualize yourself as a topper., Stick to your schedule., Eat and sleep well., Move on to other topics only when you are 100 percent sure of the current topic...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Mentally prepare yourself.
So you've got about 2 or 4 weeks to the Olympiad.
You need to be ready to work hard and cover all topics in the limited time frame you have. -
Step 2: Create a schedule.
A typical schedule has 5 study days followed by a day for testing yourself and a day for rest and recap.
However, you could modify it to suit your needs.
You will have to stick to your schedule for the remaining time , Since most Olympiads are concept-based and objective (multiple choice question type), all you need to do is reinforce the basic concepts which you already know.
So, for example, if it is a mental ability Olympiad, you need to stick to cubes, matrices, number and letter sequences, blood relations and so on.
If it's a varying Olympiad i.e. if it has many subjects covered, you will have to study all the concepts thoroughly. , The key to performing well in any Olympiad is being confident mentally.
Keep visualizing your success, and it will come to you. , Cover at least 85 percent of the topics that are needed.
Your priority list should be in such a way that you study the high weightage topics first, and then the ones with lower weightage. so clearly, in a varying Olympiad, you need to finish off mental ability first and then maths, followed by science and languages at last. , You've probably read this enough times, but one cannot emphasise enough the importance of eating and sleeping well.
You DO NOT need to study late at night in order to do well.
Sleeping helps brain to retain any new information (boosts memory) and also helps balance out any stress.
Waking up early is better since the mind is fresh. , Most people just try to complete the syllabus, but it is more advantageous if you cover fewer topics which you are completely sure of, since you will be able to answer all or most of the questions from the topic correctly. , Almost all Olympiads have online sites where you can get previous year papers for minimal costs. if you do not have access to these, you can always ask your friends to create mock papers, and then solve them within the time frame of the actual Olympiad. , 3 topics are the most you can do. ,, Solve as many sample papers you can, and keep thinking positive.
Periodic revision is also very important, as it will help you to recollect information faster. , Wake up early and go through all the formulae and equations you need.
Have a balanced breakfast, make sure you have all materials you need (HB pencils, ball point pens, erasers, calculators if allowed) and go to the exam with a positive mind. , Once inside the hall, make full use of the reading time, reading at least 3/4th of the paper.
Leave 5 minutes of your reading time to try to remember the topics you learnt. , Most people are unable to complete the full Olympiad in time because they are too busy stressing out.
Learn some quick meditation techniques and use them whenever you start feeling stressed.
Don't worry, you'll manage to finish the paper in time. , Most of the Olympiads today are OMR sheet types, where you need to darken circles.
Once these circles are darkened, it is really hard to erase the mark and re-mark, since the OMR reader considers even a small dot as an answer.
So, you need to check where you mark twice before you mark. -
Step 3: Keep reinforcing your basic concepts.
-
Step 4: Visualize yourself as a topper.
-
Step 5: Stick to your schedule.
-
Step 6: Eat and sleep well.
-
Step 7: Move on to other topics only when you are 100 percent sure of the current topic.
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Step 8: Solve sample papers.
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Step 9: Days 1-3: Just finish off three simple topics
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Step 10: even if you have a load left.
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Step 11: Days 4 and 5: Keep on solving sample papers and just take regular breaks.
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Step 12: Days 6 and 7: These are the most crucial days
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Step 13: since over working or under working could lead to mishaps.
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Step 14: Wake up early.
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Step 15: Inside the hall.
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Step 16: Keep calm.
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Step 17: Mark carefully.
Detailed Guide
So you've got about 2 or 4 weeks to the Olympiad.
You need to be ready to work hard and cover all topics in the limited time frame you have.
A typical schedule has 5 study days followed by a day for testing yourself and a day for rest and recap.
However, you could modify it to suit your needs.
You will have to stick to your schedule for the remaining time , Since most Olympiads are concept-based and objective (multiple choice question type), all you need to do is reinforce the basic concepts which you already know.
So, for example, if it is a mental ability Olympiad, you need to stick to cubes, matrices, number and letter sequences, blood relations and so on.
If it's a varying Olympiad i.e. if it has many subjects covered, you will have to study all the concepts thoroughly. , The key to performing well in any Olympiad is being confident mentally.
Keep visualizing your success, and it will come to you. , Cover at least 85 percent of the topics that are needed.
Your priority list should be in such a way that you study the high weightage topics first, and then the ones with lower weightage. so clearly, in a varying Olympiad, you need to finish off mental ability first and then maths, followed by science and languages at last. , You've probably read this enough times, but one cannot emphasise enough the importance of eating and sleeping well.
You DO NOT need to study late at night in order to do well.
Sleeping helps brain to retain any new information (boosts memory) and also helps balance out any stress.
Waking up early is better since the mind is fresh. , Most people just try to complete the syllabus, but it is more advantageous if you cover fewer topics which you are completely sure of, since you will be able to answer all or most of the questions from the topic correctly. , Almost all Olympiads have online sites where you can get previous year papers for minimal costs. if you do not have access to these, you can always ask your friends to create mock papers, and then solve them within the time frame of the actual Olympiad. , 3 topics are the most you can do. ,, Solve as many sample papers you can, and keep thinking positive.
Periodic revision is also very important, as it will help you to recollect information faster. , Wake up early and go through all the formulae and equations you need.
Have a balanced breakfast, make sure you have all materials you need (HB pencils, ball point pens, erasers, calculators if allowed) and go to the exam with a positive mind. , Once inside the hall, make full use of the reading time, reading at least 3/4th of the paper.
Leave 5 minutes of your reading time to try to remember the topics you learnt. , Most people are unable to complete the full Olympiad in time because they are too busy stressing out.
Learn some quick meditation techniques and use them whenever you start feeling stressed.
Don't worry, you'll manage to finish the paper in time. , Most of the Olympiads today are OMR sheet types, where you need to darken circles.
Once these circles are darkened, it is really hard to erase the mark and re-mark, since the OMR reader considers even a small dot as an answer.
So, you need to check where you mark twice before you mark.
About the Author
Kenneth Diaz
Committed to making crafts accessible and understandable for everyone.
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