In college, we bunk lectures, we party, we have night outs and we chill throughout the year but at the end of all this we do have to face our biggest fear, exams. No matter how cool or composed you think you are (I didn’t use the word sincere because if that would have been the case then you would have rather be studying now than reading this article right before your exams), it always comes down to a nail biting finish, both for you as well as your parents.
University exams are in itself a big deal for students and if there are some added diminishing aspects to it then it just piles on to some extra pressure. I don’t think this added burden is in anyways good for the students. I know every university is different from the other but that doesn’t give them the leverage to do whatever they want, leaving the student in distress.
If you are a student who studies in a college which comes under VTU then there are some weird facts about exams which you must have been really familiar with by now. If you haven’t, then here are those 5 things which you definitely are going to experience when its exam time.
#1 You just don’t know what to expect – The syllabus of VTU is so vast that it becomes almost impossible to guess what kind of questions will be asked. No matter how much you try to cover the portion there will always be some part left and if luck doesn’t favour you then you will come face to face with that left portion when you get the question paper in your hands.
There are just no boundaries, then how is it fair for the students who are being expected to get good marks? Leave out marks for a minute, even in terms of knowledge how are they going to gain anything if everything is presented in such a scattered manner. Just for the sake of having an elaborative syllabus they touch everything but cover nothing.
#2 You have not attended enough classes to know what is important for exams – Since managing attendance is not a big deal as long as your college comes under VTU, you hardly pay a visit to your classroom. This assures that you have no clue about what is going on there inside the classroom. So more often than not when the teacher is out, giving important notes to everyone, you are enjoying a peaceful sleep in your bed.
More often than not it’s the leniency of the college in terms of attendance which leads to the downfall of students. Colleges ask for ‘fine’ in order to fill in for attendance, somebody please explain it to me, how is money going to compensate for the amount of study which they missed by bunking classes.
#3 Internal exams are a mere time pass – In most universities you have to cross a certain threshold in the internal exams to become eligible for externals, but not VTU. There is no criterion required to sit for semester end examinations which makes the student very casual during the internal assessment tests. They have this feeling in the back of their mind that even if they don’t do well now, they can catch up later, which as you know, never happens. There should be a mechanism in place which can inflict seriousness in students towards these exams. In this way everyone will be preparing bit by bit from the starting itself and you be feeling the burden all of sudden at the time of semester end exams.
#4 Predicting your grades is like predicting a lottery – Since you have no clue about who is going to check your paper, it’s very difficult to predict your marks. I am not against anonymity of professors, I am just saying that there should be an evenness present in all of them. Even though you might know how much you have written in the answer sheet but your past experiences with the VTU board will stop you from reaching to any conclusion inside your head. Though there is a marking scheme, it completely looks ineffective when it comes down to practicality. Concept of average marking still looks very much a part of the system.
#5 You always get something less than what you deserve – In VTU the papers are being so strictly evaluated that the results always leaves you wanting for more. Seeing your friends getting easy 8 pointers under autonomous colleges doesn’t help either. You just wish if someone could make these professors understand that it won’t cost them anything if they just become a little more liberal with the marks. Low grades can sometimes prove detrimental for students who are planning to go for higher studies. Though there is a system which tries to even out the grades of all the universities but there is some ambiguity which always remains there especially when it comes to applying for admissions in colleges outside India. Don’t you think it will be your university’s fault if in case you don’t cross the cut-off set by a foreign institution?
Life is an exam and for a VTU student it’s even a trickier one, so always be prepared for it. No matter how tough the going is, it will be over and you will be relieved. All I want to say is, just hang on buddies, things will get better!! Hopefully there will be a time when the system realizes its flaws and changes itself to become more student-friendly.
