In case a student has not done in particular subject in the first paper, he/she has the opportunity to "get even" in the next paper . to this extent the student will find that all "his/her subject eggs are not in the same time basket". under the time stress, it is very likely that a student will perform below par in his/her otherwise favorite subject.
He/she has the opportunity to bounce back in the second inning--the second paper. if the pattern of question happens to be smilier in the second paper, then most likely the student will do well in his/her second outing.
Mental stamina plays a very important role in long duration testing. students need to be prepared on this front ; specifically to sustain their energy levels throughout the 'exam zone'.
Strategy-:
first two two hours of each paper should ideally be spent equally on all the areas. it would help the student go through the paper in full and attempt enough question to clear the subject-wise cut-off. the remaining one hour should be used by the student to attend as many question as possible in his/her strong/easy subject.
one should also be careful about being biased about weak subject. for a subject that a student thinks he/she is weak at, it could be a wrong move to just do the bare minimum and neglect the remaining question.
Preparation-:
A serious aspirant may need to have a re-book at his fundamental style of preparation that he followed for the last several months.
The change which needs to be brought about is that the remaining time before the exam should ideally be spent by the student on areas where they are strong and not on learning new areas/concept.
it is important to revise all basic formulas from all areas.
the student should practice a number of model papers and try implementing the above-mentioned strategy in as many model papers possible.
