Preparation Strategy for JEE Main 2014

By Ramesh Batlish

The JEE (Main)-Offline exam will be held on April 6, 2014, while the online exam is scheduled between April 9 - 19, 2014. Approximately 14 lakh students are expected to appear for the JEE-Main 2014 and only 1.5 lakh students from all categories would qualify to take the JEE(Advanced). Those who also qualify to be in the top 20 percentile of their respective class XII boards and clear the JEE (Advanced) will make it to the final merit list of the IITs.

Know more about JEE Main 2014 exam

Choice of Medium of Question Papers

Pattern of examination:

• BE/B.Tech (Paper 1) - Entrance examination is of 3 hours having objective questions from Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics with equal weightage given to each subject. Each question will have four options. There is a negative marking of 1/4th marks for incorrect answers.
• B.Arch / B.Planning (Paper 2): Entrance examination will be of 3 hours having three parts: Mathematics, Aptitude test and Drawing test. While Mathematics and Aptitude test will have objective questions, drawing test will have questions to check the drawing aptitude of a student.
• A serious aspirant ideally must have completed the syllabus by now. The following points would help prepare well.

Different sections and subjects in JEE Main 2014 exam:

Clearing JEE (Main) is not a difficult task. Systematic approach towards its preparation will help students get admission into one of the top National Institutes of Technology (NITs). JEE (Main) consists of CBSE syllabus of Physics Chemistry & Mathematics and some common topics from 11th & 12th of State boards. In JEE (Main) 2013 Chemistry was difficult as compared to JEE (Main) 2012. Mathematics was relatively simple. Generally about 25% questions in the examination paper are easy, 50% are average and 25% are difficult. The cut-off for JEE (Main) is generally around 60% for NITs & IIITs.

General preparation strategy students should adopt:

• Speed and accuracy is an important aspect, which comes from extensive practice of questions.
• Always mark time with clock while solving JEE (Main) papers. In Maths use short methods for calculations, skip irrelevant steps to save time.
• The most important thing is clarity of concepts & regular practice in problem solving.
• JEE (Main) is not difficult. However, its questions do need different tricks to solve tricky ones.
• Focus on solving the problems on your own, while preparing for the exam. Start with conventional methods of problems solving but improvise constantly and build your own shortcuts and ways of problem solving.
• Both speed and strike rate matter. You need to be quick and accurate to achieve high scores. High speed with less accuracy can actually ruin your results.
• Never use calculator while preparing for the JEE (Main). Being adept in mental calculations can actually increase your speed to a great extent.
• Select your questions wisely. If you solve easy and average questions correctly, you can easily get through. You may attempt difficult ones later to make better rank, after having attempted easy & moderate questions.
• Gather and implement tips, gain confidence, be positive, and you will ace JEE (Main).

Most important topics (subject-wise) that students must study

Students are advised to avoid selective study in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The reason being, the number of questions is more in the objective papers where there is intermingling of concepts from various topics.

Important topics subject wise as appeared in JEE (Main)-2013:

Physics: In Physics it was found that 40% questions were easy, 52% medium level and 8% difficult. More weight age was given to chapters like Mechanics & Electromagnetism, Optics, Modern Physics and Current Electricity.

Chemistry: In Chemistry, 40% questions were easy, 50% Medium level and 10% difficult. More Weight age was given to chapters in Physical Chemistry than Inorganic & Organic Chemistry.

Mathematics: In Mathematics, 32% questions were easy, 58% Medium level and 10% difficult. More weightage was given to chapters of Algebra, Co-Ordinate Geometry, Calculus than Vector & 3 Dimensional Geometry and Trigonometry.

Expert Advice / Recommendation: Always attempt theoretical questions first and then questions which require calculation. It’s human nature that if you attempt a few confident questions in the beginning then you feel loaded with positive energy which increases your efficiency and speed for the rest of the paper. It is advisable to avoid numerical questions in the first 10 or 15 minutes of the exam.

About the author:

IITJEE & AIEEE expert Ramesh Batlish is Centre Head, NOIDA FIITJEE. He holds a BE in Electronics &Telecom (Hons).  He is a senior Mathematics faculty with over a decade of successful association with IIT JEE.