JEE Main 2015: Get prep tips from 2014 topper

A resident of Udupi district, Srinidhi Prabhu emerged as the JEE Main topper with an All India Rank 1 last year. A hardcore fan of comic books and novels, Srinidhi believes that for anyone aiming to top this national level exam, all it takes is an uncompromising and committed effort since the beginning.

Talking about his strategy, he says, " I think for a student who wishes to get within a rank of 1000 in JEE (Main) should prepare for nearly 4 years, that is, start preparation from class 9 onwards. I myself have followed the same strategy, I used to attend foundation classes when I was in class 9 and 10. This helped me in understanding the basics thoroughly which helped me understand the concepts better when I was studying the syllabus of class 11 and 12 and preparing for entrance exams".

In an interview with shiksha.com, Srinidhi Prabhu, currently pursuing first year, B.Tech - Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras talks about his strategy to help students crack the exam successfully this year.  

Is it necessary to join a coaching institute or is self-study good enough? What study plan did you follow for your prep?

Actually I feel that joining a  coaching institute is not necessary, but it does give students some help when they need it. If a student is confident of his capabilities, I don't think he should join a coaching institute. I also feel that self study is more important to clear the entrances rather than depending on the teachers for everything. However, there will be some times  during preparation when a student may need guidance, be it in studies or other aspects. In these circumstances the coaching does seem useful in guiding the student. So I would say it is better if the student joins a coaching close to his house rather than one which is considered prestigious which is far away from his house.

The study plan I followed was simple. I just wrote a lot of mock tests which helped me identify my weak areas. I worked more on them and ultimately strengthened them.

How did you divide your time between chapters/section? Which chapters/sections did you spend more time on?

Actually I feel that, all topics are equally important. The JEE  papers are completely unpredictable and it is necessary for a student to be thorough in as many topics as possible.

I had divided my time for topics based on my understanding level in that topic. I used to spend more time on topics which I found difficult to understand while I went fast on the Topics I found easy. As the easy and difficult topics would be different for different students, I feel they must identify it themselves and work in the same way.

How did you work on improving your weak areas?

To work on my weak topics, I never used to leave a topic until I had understood it completely. And I feel once a student understands everything completely in a topic he or she must be able to solve most of the problems related to that topic. And in such a case, it would no longer be a weak topic. So basically I feel understanding of the theory and concepts in the topic is more important than solving problems mechanically.

How much time did you spend on revision?

I was a distance learning student of coaching institute Resonance, Kota. And I felt that their material was really good and it made me understand a lot of concepts on my own without the help of a teacher. Also I felt that there were sufficient problems in it which offered practice to the student, though some of the problems were above JEE  level.

Any useful study material/ reference books you can recommend to JEE MAIN aspirants?

Some other books are HC Verma for physics and Arihant publications books for Maths which had 6 volumes of books each book containing 1 or 2 major topics.

What did you do right to crack it?

Well, to crack the exam I think I was just determined and focused. And I think my continuous effort finally paid off.

5 top tips for JEE Main 2015

• Be calm in the exam.
• Avoid silly mistakes and calculation mistakes.
• Understand concepts thoroughly.
• Write more number of mock tests towards the end of your preparation.
• Make your own notes which helps you to revise on the previous day of exam and makes you feel confident.

I had completed the portions for my entrance exams by October and then I had nearly 6 months to revise the portions, during which I spent the first 3 months revising the entire syllabus and then I wrote many full tests along with preparation for my board exams.