No matter how well you prepare for an exam, your result is determined by the way you perform on the day of the exam and not by how well you had prepared prior to the exam day. It all boils down to how focused, mindful, and calm you are on the day of the exam. These are really important things that matter a lot on exam day if you want to score well in IMO or any other Olympiad for that matter.
There is no question that preparation along with hard work and dedication is the way to accomplishment in Olympiad tests, yet when the opportunity arrives to face the actual test, how you act in the exam hall and solve your paper becomes similarly vital with that. It is common for the students, even though unintentionally, to commit a few errors during Olympiad tests because of which their final score takes a hit, despite having prepared so hard for the Olympiads.
Here are some exam hall tips that will help you in performing well in IMO in class 6th –
· Attempt the paper with a well-devised strategy –
Attempting the paper without a well-planned strategy is a common mistake that many students make. Once they get the IMO question paper they start attempting the questions without any strategy or plan which can result in too much time on the first few questions, which in turn does not leave enough time to finish the paper on time. Hence, it is advised to scan through the entire test paper and if possible mark the questions you think are easy, moderate or difficult, before you start to solve the questions.
You should prepare a strategy on how you plan to go about attempting the paper while preparing for the Olympiad and then follow through on that strategy at the time of giving IMO.
· Read all the questions with utmost focus –
In the exam hall, with the timer ticking, students often hurry through the process of reading the questions carefully which leads to the costly mistake of misreading a question which further leads to an incorrect answer. Our mind has a habit of filling in the gaps of information that we don’t take in which is what happens when we don’t read the questions with maximum focus and thus results in unwanted mistakes. Most often this mistake happens in the questions where NOT word is used, which many students tend to skip while reading the question and hence give the answer that is opposite the correct one. Hence, make sure to read all the questions in the IMO Olympiad exam with all focus on the paper.
· Be attentive while filling the responses in OMR sheet –
In the Olympiads that are conducted by SOF, including IMO, the responses of the students are recorded using OMR sheets which are supposed to be filled by the students by filling in the circles of the correct response. Many times, students make the mistake of filling in the circle corresponding to the incorrect option instead of the correct one due to haste, which makes them lose crucial marks. Therefore, whenever you are filling in the OMR sheet, make sure that the circle you are filling is corresponding to the correct answer you got. Practising filling OMR sheets while attempting sample papers and IMO Maths Olympiad Previous Year Question Paper Class 6 2012 can help you in this aspect.
· Complete all the necessary details in the OMR sheet at the start –
Most students have the habit of filling in the details of the OMR sheet, such as name, roll number, etc., at the end, which might result in them forgetting to fill in the necessary information as a result of which, all their hard work might go to waste as their OMR sheet won’t be recognized. Make it a habit to fill in the details of the OMR sheet as soon as you get it and don’t leave it for last.
· Don’t attempt questions in a hurry –
As the students have to solve 50 questions in just 60 minutes and almost all the questions require calculations as it is IMO, students tend to attempt the questions in a hurry and thus make silly mistakes, either making calculation mistakes or misunderstanding what the question is asking. These silly mistakes might prove to be costly at the time of results. Try not to make haste while attempting the paper and attempt each question with patience.
· Don’t leave the exam hall before the final bell –
Some students tend to leave the exam hall early after finishing the exam, without giving the paper a second look or revising their responses, and then later on they realize that they had not attempted a question in the paper. This mistake could have been avoided had they revised their responses before leaving the exam hall. Even though you are able to somehow finish the paper within 60 minutes, do not leave the exam hall and revise the answers that you have given and check whether you have attempted all the questions or not.
· Be calm and don’t panic when less time is left –
As much as IMO is an exam that tests the knowledge of the students in Maths, it is also an exam that tests how you react when put under pressure. When less time is left, students tend to panic when they see that there is still a lot of questions that they did not attempt. It is important to stay calm in such situations and focus on the question you are solving at the given moment instead of panicking about the time left.
· Don’t waste too much time on a single question –
When solving the questions, try not to spend too much time on a single question. If you are not able to find the solution to a question, you can mark it for review later on if time permits, and move on to the rest of the questions that are left so that you can attempt as many questions as you can in the allotted time.
· Try to attempt the Achiever’s Section first –
Achiever’s section is at the last of the IMO question paper, which has 5 questions, each carrying 3 marks. Hence, the Achiever’s section carries a total of 15 marks, which is 25% of the total marks. Therefore, students should try to attempt these questions at first, even though they are more difficult than other questions and if they are not able to solve these questions, they should move on to other sections of the paper.
GOOD LUCK!