An Olympiad tests the abilities of a student outside of their standard school syllabus. It is a way of evaluating their capabilities and how well they can apply the information to a bunch of trickier problems. Olympiads are a level higher than the yearly school exams, have an alternate test pattern, and contain more intricate questions than what students are normally used to.
Olympiads are conducted yearly at the school level by the Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF). The point of the test is to screen students of classes first to twelfth through a high-level assortment of questions based on their individual class syllabus. On the off chance that you decide to appear for these Olympiads, the accompanying tips will assist you with improving your performance –
1. Select the Olympiads you wish to give –
SOF organizes several Olympiads for different subjects that a student studies in the school such as NSO (National Science Olympiad), IMO (International Maths Olympiad), IEO (International English Olympiad), NCO (National Cyber Olympiad), IGKO (International General Knowledge Olympiad) and ISSO (International Social Studies Olympiad). Students should select which Olympiads they wish to give based on their interest and command in any given subject and then register themselves for the Olympiads.
2. Gather information on the syllabus of Olympiads –
Every student must be aware of the syllabus of all the subjects that they decide to appear for in order to plan how to study in a better manner. They can easily get the information for the syllabus on the official site of SOF. Diving straight into studies without having proper knowledge of the topics that will be asked in the exam is unwise and is hence not recommended.
3. Start at the earliest –
Even though the syllabus for the Olympiads is pretty much the same as that of your school exams, the level is much higher than it. Therefore, it is advised that you don’t wait until the schedule of when the exams will be conducted is declared and should start preparing as soon as you can. You can also start preparing topics parallelly as they are taught in your school so that you don’t have to prepare the same topic separately later on. Students who score top ranks internationally start their preparation for these Olympiads as soon as they enter the new standard.
4. Clear concepts of the subjects you are appearing for –
Concepts form the foundation based on which, questions can be solved. A good grasp on the concepts of topics of each subject you are appearing for gets even more necessary for Olympiads as the level of these exams is much more. Therefore, students must have a thorough understanding of each topic that is prescribed in the syllabus of the respective subject Olympiads. In an exam as complex as Olympiads, many questions are asked which require the use of 2-3 concepts simultaneously in order to get the correct solution.
5. Make a timetable to prepare for the syllabus –
Next, it is essential that you make a proper timetable in order to plan how to study for all the subjects you are appearing for simultaneously each day so that no subject lags behind and you are equally proficient in all these subjects so that you can do well in all applied Olympiads. Your timetable should be balanced, with equal time devoted to school studies, Olympiad’s preparation, and relaxation also so that you don’t burn yourselves out studying continuously. It is advisable to devote one hour each day in order to prepare for the Olympiads which includes studying the concepts, revising old concepts, or practising questions based on the studied topics.
6. Get an understanding of the pattern of Olympiads appearing for –
Students giving an Olympiad are not generally used to marking answers in an OMR sheet, which is the preferred marking system used in order to record to responses of the students. Hence, students should make it a point to practice marking their answers on OMR sheets so that they are able to mark their answers accurately in the exam time. Also, students are not used to attempting MCQ questions as subjective questions are asked in their school exams mostly. So they should also try to practice more MCQ questions so that they are comfortable in attempting these sorts of questions.
In the Olympiads, students have to answer 50 questions in an hour for class 7th with each question carrying 1 or 3 marks depending on the section they are attempting. So, students must get a thorough knowledge of the pattern of paper in Olympiads and plan their strategy accordingly.
7. Divide your time well into different subjects Olympiads –
As you have limited time and different subjects to study for, depending on the subjects you have selected to appear for, it becomes really important that you divide the remaining time well for the different subjects based on your comfort in attempting questions of a given subject. Divide time such that no subject is left behind or left underprepared so that you are able to give yourself the best chance of getting the best result in all the Olympiads that you appear for.
8. Don’t ignore the Logical Reasoning Section –
Many students tend to just focus on the Mathematical topics for the Olympiads they are appearing for and ignore the Logical Reasoning section that is asked. It is really important that students prepare this section as well as the others as many students lose marks in this section as they are not prepared for questions based on Logical Reasoning.
9. Take advantage of the Achiever’s Section –
The last section in the Olympiads for class 7th is the Achiever’s section, in which there are 5 questions asked for 3 marks each amounting to 15 marks, which is 25% of the total marks based on just 5 questions. These questions are generally high-order thinking questions that require advanced applications of the concepts in order to solve the questions.
10. Solve sample papers to get acquainted –
Students should solve the sample papers and IMO Maths Olympiad Previous Year Question Paper Class 7 2015 for the Olympiads so that they are able to get enough practice of the sort of questions that are asked in the exam.
GOOD LUCK!
