Experts’ Speak: How to be exam-ready for JEE Main

By: Dr Rahul M Das

Similar to any competitive examination JEE requires good planning and diligent structured approach in preparations to ensure success. The overall preparations should include studying the important chapters/ concepts under each subject, complete syllabus coverage, solving previous question papers to get a hang of the difficulty levels, type of questions and repetitive questions. 

Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is one of the toughest examinations any engineering student aspires for entering the prestigious institutes of engineering in the country. The IIT (Indian Institutes of Engineering) conducts this examination twice a year i.e., in January and April. Going by the statistics, every year approximately 15 lakh aspiring engineering students appear for JEE Mains to secure an admission in NITs (National Institutes of Technology), IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology) and other GFTIs (Government Funded Technology Institutes). For studying in the IITs, a student must clear the JEE Mains which is the preliminary examination, followed by clearing the JEE Advanced which is the final qualifying criteria. Only those students who fall in the top 2.5 lakh ranks in the JEE Mains become eligible for attempting the JEE Advanced.

Similar to any competitive examination JEE requires good planning and diligent structured approach in preparations to ensure success. The overall preparations should include studying the important chapters/ concepts under each subject, complete syllabus coverage, solving previous question papers to get a hang of the difficulty levels, type of questions and repetitive questions. Such an approach will make you more confident and reassure sound preparation for the examination. Let us break this down to the finer details for our understanding.

JEE Main Preparation Strategy

In my experience of attempting JEE, my preparation was focused on the key concepts covered in Class 11 and 12 under the subjects – Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Some of the key branches under each subject are listed below with approximate percentage wise coverage of syllabus in the examination. The preparation strategy must be aligned based on the importance of the topics covered.

JEE Study Plan

I followed a simple and structured study plan along with a thorough revision schedule that proved to be sufficient to attempt the examination successfully. A good study plan consists of logically designed timetable that helps in achieving the maximum level of output during the preparations. You should smartly carve out your timetable that accommodates all the subjects, relevant topics and reasonable daily targets for a definite time period. This will help you sustain the motivation to keep going with your daily preparations. I focused on the following points while designing my study plan

i) Review the syllabus – identify chapters that are well-known and chapters that need more attention

ii) Divide the syllabus into daily and weekly targets with a combination of chapters that are well versed and those that need more preparation

iii) Categorize the chapters into hard, moderate, easy to create a blend of it in your daily timetable

iv) Prepare well on those chapters that carry higher weightage in the examination

v) Schedule for attempting past sample question papers and mock tests as you progress with your weekly targeted chapters

vi) Assign at least one hour every day for a quick revision of chapters completed the previous day

JEE Preparation & Board Exams

Preparation for JEE and your 12^th board exams can be stressful, but this can be managed without losing focus of either of the examinations. One should not have a misconception that preparation for the board exams will suffice for attempting and clearing the JEE exam; the latter requires repeated and consistent practice.

Apart from the regular classes and additional preparations for the board exams, one should design a reasonable timetable for JEE preparations based on the above shared study plan approach. This will help you identify topics that goes beyond the syllabus for boards and focus on them specifically.

JEE Tips for Time Management

A very classic complaint that most of us make is lack of sufficient time in a day to manage the classes/ regular schedule and the JEE preparations. Following are the key aspects for efficient time management and prioritizing various activities each day.

a) Effective and well thought out timetable over and above your daily classes/ commitments

b) Add some ignitors to your study plan – create a blend of learning content using some lecture videos, animated learning content, topic-based articles and so on

c) Make sure you take reasonable breaks to re-energize yourself and get back to the planned schedule

d) Always prepare your short notes for each topic – this comes very handy during revisions

JEE Last Week Tips & Tricks

This is an extremely stressful phase before the examination is around the corner. By now you must have completed the syllabus and all the key topics must be thorough. Based on my experience, I always suggest to use the last week only for quick revisions that will help you gain confidence on the preparation. In case, for some reason you have failed to complete the syllabus, you should not panic. Instead, focus on revising those topics that you have already completed and thorough with. Any last mile stretch to cover new/ difficult topics should be avoided as this might result in lowering your confidence and also lose hold on the topics that you’ve already covered.

You never know what's around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back and you've climbed a mountain. -Tom Hiddleston

About the Author:

Dr Rahul M Das has a Doctorate in Organizational Behavior from University of Madras with two Master’s degree. He is an academician-turned-consultant-professional with eight years of teaching experience. He has been working for the past two years as a Senior Consultant with Bengaluru-based Abanel Management Consulting Pvt Ltd. Dr Das has expertise in training and development, counselling & mentoring, developing leadership and managerial skills through experiential learning.