The most essential factor which will help you in clearing your CA exams is, how well you have planned to revise the entire curriculum in 1.5 days before the exam. Even though you are preparing properly from the start, but don’t have a strategy for the last 1.5 days, your months of hard work may go into vain. The most common mistake which majority of the students make here is that they don't plan for this in advance and instead make one at the last minute, but in my opinion, planning for those 1.5 days should begin from the day when we start our first revision after completing the classes or self-study.
Now you must be wondering how to plan this in advance. Let me explain to you what I exactly meant to say when I said this.
We are all aware of the fact that how vast the curriculum for CA examinations is and completing the entire portion in 1.5 days is extremely difficult unless we have a good strategy. So, while doing the first revision, we must keep a few things in our mind in order to revise the whole curriculum efficiently in those 1.5 days.
Things to keep in mind while preparing for Theory Papers
For theory papers like Advanced Auditing & Professional Ethics, Corporate & Economic Laws etc. it won’t be feasible to revise the entire portion from your coaching institute material or from ICAI’s study material. So, it is best to prepare your summary notes and refer to them only for the last day.
Additionally, you may record the key provision on a voice note and send it to a WhatsApp group (in which you are the only member). This way, you will have all the important provisions in one spot, and you will be able to revise all of them in just a matter of minutes. It is recommended to prepare different groups for each subject.
Things to keep in mind while preparing for Practical Papers
For practical subjects like Strategic Financial Management, Financial Reporting etc. prepare a list of questions which you will refer to on the last day as going through each and every sum won’t be possible. This list will have at least one question on each concept and in this way, you can brush up your entire concept of that chapter easily and effectively.
One more thing to keep in mind is having proper referencing of your question and answer i.e., mark the book’s page number in your copy where the solution is done and also mark the copy's page number in the book where the question is given. You won’t realize now that by doing this how much time you will save as you know exactly where the question and answer is and you don’t need to run through the pages searching for it. I am sure you will thank me later for this.
A common tip for both Practical and Theory Paper
If feasible, try to revise each subject once before the exam in 1.5 days. For example, if your examinations begin on November 1st, start preparing two weeks earlier, on October 18th, with Paper No. 2 and work your way up to Paper No. 8 until the first half of October 28th. The remainder of your time until November 1st should be spent on revising Paper No. 1.
If you follow this strategy, you will have an experience as to how to handle each subject in those 1.5 days and trust me this will boost your confidence to the next level. In addition, if you follow this you will have an ample time of approx. four days for revising your first paper.
The final show game has arrived after so much effort and hard work, and the most important thing now is to maintain your calmness and keep your thoughts away from any negativity.
Let's look at how to put the above-mentioned advice into practice in the final 1.5 days before the exam.
Day 1: After giving previous exam (5:00 pm to 12:00 am)
Please do not discuss how your paper went with anybody after you are done with your exam, and do not try to calculate your probable marks, as this will impede your preparation for the next exam. When I say this, I mean it completely because it happened to me during my CA Intermediate exam. After giving my Advance Accounts paper, for which I had prepared well, the exam did not meet my expectations. So, as I got out of the exam room, I just went through discussing the paper with my friends, and then when I got home, I computed my grades, which were much below my expectations. This just demotivated me and I couldn’t prepare nicely for my Audit exam and when the results came, I got an exemption in Advance Accounts but failed in Audit by 5 marks. So please do not make this mistake otherwise your months/years of hard work will just go for waste.
Now let’s assume you reach your home by 6:30 pm. After reaching home, have some food and try to take a short nap, it will refresh your mind.
Try to get to your study table by 8:00 p.m. after waking up and revisit the area in which you are most comfortable. This will have a positive impact on your subconscious mind since you will be able to recall whatever you have studied earlier. If you don't want to do this, you can watch revisionary lectures at increased speed as per your convenience provided by your faculty or you can refer to any lecture available on YouTube. Just make sure that this isn’t the first time you are watching these lectures.
After doing this try to get to bed by 12:00 a.m. and get at least 6 hours of sleep.
Day 2: Entire day of 24 hours
This is the main day in which you will revise the majority of the portion. Suppose you wake up by 6:00 am and you are on your study table by 6:30 am. Now revise the area in which you are less confident but make sure you aren’t studying anything new which you haven’t studied earlier.
For theory papers, keep going through your summary notes and listen to the voice notes which you prepared while your first revision.
For practical papers, don’t try to solve sums in pen and paper rather go through your marked sums and for sums in which you are less confident try to solve it in the calculator itself.
One thing which you must do is not lose your calm even if you think that you won’t be able to revise 100% of your syllabus by tomorrow.
Day 3: The D-Day
This half-day before the exam can be used however you see fit. If you have finished the revision, simply look through your summary notes/marked questions again or re-watch the revisionary lecture; if you haven't finished the revision yet, attempt to finish it before heading for the examination center.
Don't study after you get to the exam location since you need to give your mind a break before taking the exam.
Make sure you are not panicking in the exam hall and try to give your best.
Summing up the Article
It makes no difference in how consistent you were during your classes or how effectively you used your 3 to 5 months of study leave if you are unable to revise adequately in 1.5 days before the exam. So, Plan Wisely and Execute Properly.
Did you find this article informative? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section. Also, please visit other author's blogs, which may be useful for you in your CA journey.
#ca #chareterdaccountant #icai #caexams #attempts #caresults #campusinterviews #caarticleship #caaspirants #cafoundation #caintermediate #cafinal #cafirms #academics
Comments