In secondary school exams, I was lucky to get 100/100 in Maths, 91 in Physics, and 69/75 in English Paper (It's not marketing but just a mere example ;-) ). You know, what the reason was? I am telling you, what I did in exams. I did attack on the pysych of the examiner. In Maths, I solved 97 marks and a question of 3 marks left. It was skipped by us and no practice was made on that topic and there was no choice those days. I did the manual calculations and put the solution totally in my own way with my own designed method and believe me I did accurate calculations. What I did there, I distinguished myself from others by attempting that. In Physics, I had one Question left and last five minutes so no extra sheet granted to me. I wrote the summery of answer in the space right and left and in the end a note that no sheet is given to me. I got marks for that. In English, I wrote my own essay and I think I got maximum marks in essay as only 6 marks were deducted, although I had no extra-ordinary writing skills and there might be mistakes but Checker would be impressed with my effort. These are examples of smart work in Paper.
While, there are some strategies one may adopt to work smart. Nasr Bhai! Main ne bohat kuch aisa share kia hua hai iss forum pe jo edge ho sakta hai kisi k liye. May be kisi ne pick kia ho ya na. I love the spirit of yours, you should be so as you are a qualifier now.

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Fixed signs.