Dilemma of Single group or Both groups while filling CA Exam Form

The examination forms of the CA Final and CA Intermediate exams for November’2018 attempt is already out.

Last Date for Online Submission of form without late fees: 27-08-2018

Last Date for Online Submission of form with late fees: 04-09-2018

The one of the most important question that is in the minds of each CA aspirant at this stage is “Should I go ahead with filling it up for a single group or both the groups?”. This article will take you through all those dilemmatic situations and will guide you a way out of it.

Whenever the days of filling up the examination forms come near, our minds start all those calculations, thoughts and start comparing our preparation levels with the time left and leave us in those wide array of confusing circumstances, because of which, decision making gets tough as to whether we should give single group or both groups. Many of us also end up deciding to fill examination forms for both the groups but focusing our attention to just one of them. Many other situations like this may arise and we might even feel stuck in this situation.

This situation gets complex as our mind constantly keeps on thinking of either one option or the other and never gets constant with one of them. We all even know this reality that the decisions taken after a good struggle at this form filling stage often get changed because of the constant examination pressure.

Even some people think of deferring the exam attempt. But mind it the Golden rule of this course is “Never miss an attempt”.

Our course is a time-bound journey and we have fixed and given time limits to prepare up for the examinations, which are held only twice a year, unlike some other professional courses. Hence, missing an attempt would mean delaying up our dreams and that title by another six months, every single time we do and obviously, none of us would like this delay. Whichever stage we are in, we all know and understand the course and we know that we can always find ways to schedule our ways to achieve what we want in those pre-laid timelines.

First, we all should abide by what we have thought till date. Our thoughts and plans do play a major role in every phase of our lives. We need to understand and remember that planning our studies is a very important phase of our course. “If we plan well, we are half way there”. Obviously, the other half constitutes a logical implementation of all that we planned, and this is a tough stage as many of us change our decisions later because of poor implementation of our thoughts or by going by other people’s words sometimes. We need to understand that each one of us has that examination pressure on with us and some of us face it while some of us fail here. Pressure is bound to be there in this span of time and people will also keep saying but strong determination and commitment to our plans help us in going a level up here. Hence, we should always abide by our pre-plans and thoughts.

Below key factors can help you to decide:

1. Check on your preparation level: We all are strong in few subjects and weak in others. If we are confident about all the strong subjects by this time, we can always plan up allocating more time to the weak subjects in the leftover span and schedule up our strategy in a better and phased manner with ample time for revision.
2. Schedule of Coaching Classes: Coaching and amendment classes should usually get over 2 months before examinations. We should be getting at least 2 months for all our self-studies and revisions. Coaching’s do help us cover the course in detail. We all can check and test on our preparation levels with the help of our respective coaching. Continuous revision with every coaching can help us reduce half of our stress during the examination leaves.
3. You are your own judge: Proper evaluation and analysis of your time can help you make a better decision at this stage. Your plans for both the groups or single group can never be judged better by anyone else but you. You should never take this decision basis the decision of other people. We all know what is better for us and following other people’s decision is not a good idea at this level. Analyze and judge what is good for you.
4. Time for Revision: Revision is extremely essential. You can never think of preparing up till the last month of your examinations. Preparations usually happen during our articleship and later, in the examination leaves the more focus should be on revision. The Written revision will always give you an added advantage as you’ll get to know whether you are able to attempt the questions confidently, correctly and timely.
5. Don’t compare yourself with others: Comparison should never exist. You should never make your decision after making a comparison with either your earlier decisions or your friends’ decisions. You can always decide it logically by learning from what happened earlier and what may happen ahead. The only thing that you should compare is the pros and cons of each of your decisions or potential decisions.
6. Compensation in both groups: One of the most important advantage of attempting both groups is Compensation. Many of us would have seen ourselves earlier or any of our friends getting the advantage of the compensatory set off in the examination pass out criteria. Although it acts as a blessing in disguise, it can surely be taken as one of the major point to consider while deciding for which group to attempt. To add here, if you are weak in one of the groups and strong in the other one, the aggregation will always give you an advantage.
7. Going for Rank: Also, ranks are also allotted to those who attempt both the groups together. So, all the rank aspirants, which obviously we all should aim for to manage our preparations well, will also decide on going ahead with both the groups.

This is also true that attempting both the groups will take a toll on you as you will have to study, practice and manage in a more emphasized manner. But all this can be worth it, if done properly. Attempting both the groups doesn’t require extensive study, it requires smart studies in a logically phased out manner. It requires your morale, commitment and determination more rather than just studies.

So, the decision of a single group or both groups should lie completely on our own thoughts and preparations. You can always analyze what is good for you and compare the pros and cons of each of the options. The only thing we’ll suggest is to make a wise and intelligent decision and stay committed and determined to it. It is very important that Make your decisions and stand by them.

You just need to remember one thing- “You are the creator of your destiny”.

Keep up the preparation levels! All the very best!

(This blog is Co-Authored by CA Aarushi Jain)

(Republished with amendments)