Experts’ Speak: Want to score 300+ in JEE Main? Follow this strategy for a month

By: Dr Rahul M Das

Apart from the subject books, what will really work wonders for a solid preparation will be solving the previous years’ question papers. I followed very simplistic and smart approach that consisted of preparing my own notes while reading through the chapters and solving the previous year papers. 

Every aspiring candidate can think of securing 300+ marks in JEE Main with a simple yet structured approach. The focus needs to be clear right from the very beginning so that the preparation can be done well within time. Preparing in the last month can be very stressful and the syllabus to be covered will appear like an ocean, yet the preparations can be done within the last month, provided the preparation is extremely focused on specific contents and thorough revision of previous years question papers. In my experience, the preparation of JEE Mains should begin with the NCERT prescribed syllabus of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics.

JEE Main Books

Personally, I am in the category of individuals who prepare in the last mile before the scheduled date of examination, keeping a very focused approach on what must be prepared well, what can be revised, and what can be skipped. All of this can be done in a very smart way in the event of last month preparations. Ideally, as I’ve mentioned earlier, the preparations should begin well in advance if you want to avoid the stress before the examination.

Some of the subject wise books that I can recommend for effective preparations are:

1. Chemistry: NCERT Textbooks (Class 11 & 12)
2. Physics: Understanding Physics by DC Pandey
3. Mathematics: Cengage Maths by G Tiwani

Apart from the subject books, what will really work wonders for a solid preparation will be solving the previous years’ question papers. I followed very simplistic and smart approach that consisted of preparing my own notes while reading through the chapters and solving the previous year papers. The notes provided me with a crux of each of the chapters that carried high weightage and at the same time helped me filter out those questions that appeared more frequently in the previous year papers.

Follow the Structure

The examination structure of JEE Main has now been classified separately for B.E. / B.Tech Exams, BArch and B.Planning

Preparation Tips

The key points to be kept in mind while last mile preparation is:

• List out the subject wise topics that carry highest weightage in terms of coverage in question paper
• Identify high scoring topics for each subject and assign your preparation time for these topics first
• Refer to some of the previous year question papers to understand the pattern of questions under each topic
• Prepare your notes as you proceed with the preparation for these targeted topics as this will be helpful in the last-minute revisions

Make a Study Plan

Last month preparation does not give much room for an exhaustive study plan to be put in place, still it is worth putting a quick fix study cum revision plan to have a bare minimum structure to approach the preparations. When short of time, I take the following approach to put up a study plan

1. Identify chapters that have highest weightage and probability of appearing in the examination due to the importance of the topics
2. Divide these important topics into daily targets with a combination of chapters that are well read and chapters that need more preparation
3. Prepare my own notes while covering the topics and revise the notes at end of every day to ensure the coverage of topics and the understanding is complete
4. Every following day invest at least one hour to review and recapture what was covered the previous day

Self-Evaluate

The most important step for an efficient and quick fix preparation is to solve chapter-wise mock papers every alternate day while preparing the topics. Following this the secret behind cracking these competitive exams with lesser preparation time at hand is to solve the previous year papers with thoroughness. This will boost your confidence to take the examination with a greater level of motivation while you are preparing for the examination.

About the Author:

Dr Rahul M Das is 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.