by Asim Jalis
There are two key things to keep in mind in exams: (a) to not
stress out, (b) to allocate the time optimally. Of these
allocating the time is the most important point.
Here's usually how I did the time allocation:
1. Divide the total time available by number of problems and then
round down to 5 or 10 or 15, to get a rough idea of how many
minutes per problem I had.
2. Skim through the exam and start from the easiest ones. This
way I would usually be a little bit ahead in time, and this would
make me feel less stressed.
3. If a problem took too long, or there were unexpected
obstacles, then I would move on to the other ones and plan to
come back to it in the second iteration.
4. After finishing all the problems I would go back and scan the
exam for problems that I missed.
5. Another general technique was to keep track of how many points
I had earned. This way I did not get in a situation where I spent
all my time on 1 or 2 point problems and have no time left for
the ones loaded with points.
