Mistakes to Avoid During Olympiad Exam (And What Actually Helps Students Perform Better)

Most students don’t lose marks because they don’t know the answer but because of how they attempt the exam. They come prepared with all the points and the facts that they know of, read the question and accordingly write answers that suit the points as per the topic.

Olympiad Exam changes this pattern of students who plan on answering the question in this manner.

Because it is not a structured exam pattern that requires students to answer that they know or have learnt. But it is designed to check:

And that is where students miss out on scoring well. Because these small mistakes cost them big numbers. So this blog is a detailed guide on mistakes students should avoid during Olympiad exams and instead what will help them perform better in the papers.

But first,

Who should read this?

If your child is preparing for Olympiad Exams, you should ensure that you cross check the mistakes they might make.

If your child is “good in studies” but unsure about how they would perform.

If the school is participating in the olympiad, then they should share this with teachers and students so that teachers can help students rectify the mistakes they might be making.

Because when a child gives an Olympiad, it is not just their concern or growth, it gets related to their family, their school, and their surrounding as a whole.

Mistakes Students should avoid when attempting Olympiad Exam

Treating it like a school exam

This is the most common mistake most students make. While school exams are completely aligned to the particular syllabus of that grade and what teachers have taught, Olympiad tests students on their intelligence and not how much they know in the boundary of the defined syllabus.

Also, school exams are held to examine whether kids have understood what they were taught throughout their curriculum, so the questions are mostly direct and the patterns are also known that it would be short answers, long answers, true/false, fill in the blanks, one word answers, etc.

But in Olympiads, questions are set in a way to test whether students are able to apply the concepts clearly or have they just learnt it thoroughly. So there are times when the same concepts and the same questions are asked in an unfamiliar way.

So, if students try to recall what they learnt instead of thinking, it will cost them losing marks in olympiad exam, even if their intelligence would have answered the question.

Students attempting the olympiad should be trained to ask “What is the concept behind this?”, instead of directly jumping to the answers. Mittsure Olympiad Masters organised Olympiads, but alongwith also brings olympiad resources like olympiad books, sample and revision papers, from which students can learn, practice and know the pattern & process of olympiads.

Rushing through questions to “finish fast”

This is a pattern which makes students lose out on the marks without even realising the mistakes they are making.

For instance, we came across one child sharing his experience on a mistake he made when attempting this question.

“A number is increased by 20% and then decreased by 20%. What is the final result compared to the original number?”

The options to this question were given as

In an attempt to finish the paper fast, he saw +20% and then -20%, assumed it will cancel out and marked the answer as A, and later realised that it should have been C.

This happened because he either jumped to conclusion without thinking, did not pause to justify his logic, or instead of applying it to the real life situation, he just assumed, answered, and went forward to the next question.

Spending too much time on one question

If rushing through questions can end up in mistakes, spending too much time on one question could also be a problem for the child. If they are stuck on one question and they think I should be able to solve it so I will get this right, the child ends up feeling drained.

The time is gone, the confidence is gone, ultimately affecting the rest of the paper. That’s why time management in olympiad exam is very important.

Instead, the child should move ahead after a point and once they have completed answering the rest of the questions can come back later with a fresh mind, while also confident as they have answered the rest of the paper well.

Not practicing the right way before the exams

When preparing for exams, how they prepare can change the overall gameplay of their child. Preparation is not just whether they are able to solve the questions correctly.

What many students do is practice the questions randomly, focus on the chapters, the concepts and whether they can answer them. But they miss out on checking whether they can apply the concepts everywhere or is it just the certain pattern of questions that they are able to crack.

Instead students should practice mixed questions, they should focus on strong reasoning & critical thinking, to be able to solve concept-based problems, and keep attempting timed practice sets to avoid any mishap on the final day.

Not understanding the exam format properly

Many students start preparing for exams without having clarity on the question types, the time structure, or the difficulty pattern of the paper.

This creates confusion while attempting the paper. A child might not be able to allocate time properly, ending up in a terrible mess.

There are set of study materials for kids to have a rough idea on what they have to prepare and how they have to go about it. This way they get familiar with the format and accordingly when they sit to attempt the olympiad exam, things would not come as a surprise to them.

Mittsure Olympiad Masters - Ready for a better approach?

MOM does not help students test their level of knowledge but, in reality, how well they apply their knowledge in the best possible manner.

So if your child or your school is getting ready for Mittsure Olympiad Masters, the focus should not be just on the practice but the right kind of preparation that can change the overall performance.

Get the study materials for your child to prepare for the Mittsure Olympiad Masters in the right way.

FAQs

1. How can students avoid silly mistakes during the exam?

Most mistakes happen due to rushing.

2. Should students attempt all questions in the paper?

Not necessarily.

3. How much practice is enough for Mittsure Olympiad preparation?

It’s not about how much, but how students practice.

Concept-based and timed practice is more effective than random question solving.

4. Are Olympiads only for high-performing students?

No.

Olympiads are designed to: