If you are preparing for an exam to qualify for a scholarships or any jobs after graduation, you tend to take the help of coaching institutes. If you are not interested to pay heavy fee to the coaching centers, or if there are no proper coaching institutes around, then preparation for competitive exams will be tough.But this does not mean one cannot succeed in competitive exams without the help of a coaching institute.

a) Study everyday: Since we have no external time table or any one to monitor us, we need to have our own time schedules to study. The best times is like in the early mornings before college or office hours and again in the evenings if possible. Regular touch with books and syllabus is essential till appearing for exam.

b) Complete the whole syllabus Question: paper in competitive exam covers any part of the syllabus mentioned. So no portion of syllabus can be neglected. Hence one needs thorough completion syllabus.

• First check the syllabus required to study for exam.

• Gather standard books and notes to study the syllabus. 

Complete the syllabus including every chapter or topic mentioned as fast as possible. There are possibilities that some chapter are understood yet when we go for revision we can understand them. The aim should be to complete the syllabus.

c) Revise multiple times: Revise and revise the syllabus as many times as possible. Revision helps to keep you updated with subject and also helps memorize better.This can be done on entire week with each subject on everyday basis. Revision is so important and without revision it is useless to cover new chapters. This is particularly useful for English and biology.

d) Solve previous exam papers: Solving previous exam paper is very interesting and also very much required. It helps to evaluate how much one can score in the exam. It helps to answer the questions in stipulated time. There are many students who fail to answer all the questions in competitive exam within the fixed time leading to low score. So to answer all the questions one should practice previous question papers. The technique is to revise the entire syllabus once and then go for answering a previous question paper and evaluating your ability. This should be repeated by revising syllabus again followed by answering a fresh question paper.

e) Referring new books or internet for more information: Few questions in competitive exams seem to be very new or unexpected. Yet one should solve or answer them to score better than others. So one need to refer to new books or more information on the internet for more information. Always there are chances of new or surprising questions in exam. So we need to answer them smartly.

f) Form a group: If possible make a group study. Group study helps one cover vast syllabus in short time. But useless chit chat can also waste time. So group study should be by mutual explanation of subjects and clarifying doubts.

g) Eat healthy food and exercise: This is one overlooked aspect of preparation. Your diet and health takes a backseat, amidst all the chaos! Do not compromise on your diet and sleep pattern. A balanced diet is the most important thing to follow for good health. Try and exercise regular, at least for four or five days a week, an hour each day. It boosts your metabolism (obviously!) and your energy levels! You will then gain more stamina and this is sure to help you in your preparation.