Step-by-step plan to get a top score in JEE Main 2025

By Aman Goel

Planning to take JEE Main 2025 exam? Here's a step-by-step plan to help you nail a top score in JEE Main. Read more on Shiksha.

JEE Main is one of the most competitive engineering entrance exams in India. Approximately 15 lakh students appear for the exam every year. The exam is the entrance to NITs (National Institutes of Technology), IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology), and CFTIs (Centrally Funded Technical Institutes). In order to get a top rank in JEE Main, a well-thought-out strategy is needed. In this blog, we will talk about a step-by-step plan to nail a top score in JEE Main.

• Set a clear goal: This is the most crucial step. The maximum attainable score in JEE Main exam is generally 360 out of 360. Before you start your preparation, you should be very clear about your goal score. For instance, a goal could look like this - I want to score at least 300 out of 360 in JEE Main. Things that are measured can be achieved more easily because, at each step, you can evaluate your performance.
• Start the preparation early: Don’t want for June/July. Start as early as in the month of April, right after your board exams get over. This will give you a head start over your competitors. You will be able to understand concepts better when they are taught in a school/coaching institute.
• Make a timetable: Making a study timetable will help you stay disciplined. This way, at every step, you will be dedicated to your studies and you will be able to efficiently manage your time.
• Start with NCERT textbooks: JEE Main syllabus is exactly the same as the CBSE syllabus. As a result, it would be highly advisable for you to follow NCERT textbooks properly. A lot of problems in JEE Main are directly asked from NCERT textbooks. This happens quite frequently in Chemistry in particular. As a result, you should make sure that you don’t miss out on marks on such problems.
• Study from tougher textbooks: NCERT textbooks are good for a start. However, for an ambitious goal like scoring 300+, you will have to go beyond NCERT level. There are quite a few good books in the market that you can pick up for both theory and practice problems. You should definitely go for such books in order to improve your score.
• Practice a lot of problems: JEE Main paper is mostly numerical oriented. As a result, you should aim to practice a lot of such problems. As mentioned in the previous point, there are lots of good practice books which you must go for in order to improve your problem-solving skills required for JEE Main.
• Make notes: Making appropriate theory notes is going to help you a lot in the long run. First, it is a proven fact that whatever you write is retained better than whatever you listen to. Secondly, making notes is going to help you significantly during the revision period when the exam is near. It is tough to revise the entire chapter from the book again. However, it will be quite easy to revise the most important points from your notes.
• Revise a lot: Quite a few topics require regular revision. For instance, p-block elements, qualitative analysis, etc. These topics are easily forgotten if not revised frequently. You should revise regularly from your lecture notes. You can also revise a chapter by solving say 20 - 30 problems in that chapter.

• Take mock tests: There is a lot of available test series for JEE Main. There are several JEE preparation platforms that you may enroll in order to practice for the final exam day. Make sure that any mock test you take is timed so as to give you a better feel of how it would be on the exam day.
• Get doubts cleared: Never keep an element of doubt in your mind. Always get any doubts clarified with teachers or friends. In fact, you should also try to help your friends in clearing their doubts. This way, you will be able to improve your understanding of the subject/concept as well.
• Rely on self-study: Don’t depend on anyone to come and teach you. Take your own responsibility. You should figure out what are the best books. You should not depend on a coaching institute or school to provide you with sheets or practice problems. You must do these things on your own from books and other study materials available to you.
• Prepare as per the pattern: JEE Main pattern is objective. Therefore, it is recommended, that you should prepare accordingly. All questions asked in JEE Main are single correct type problems. As a result, you should focus a lot on such types of problems to make sure that you are familiar with them. JEE Main paper also involves negative marking for wrong attempts. You must practice as per this pattern to make sure that you are comfortable on exam day.
• Study for board exams as well: The actual seat allocation will be based not on your JEE Main score, but on your JEE Main rank which will be obtained by normalizing your JEE Main score with your board exams percentage (after converting it to percentile). As a result, you must make sure that you take your board exams seriously. The competition in well-known boards like CBSE is quite fierce and good students cannot afford to lose even a single mark because that will lead to a significant drop in the percentage.

Following these pointers is sure to help you prepare for JEE Main and achieve your dream college. Staying motivated and working hard is the key. All the best.

About the Author:

Aman Goel is a co-founder at a Tech Start-up. He holds a BTech in Computer Science Engineering from IIT Bombay with a JEE Advanced AIR 33 (The year 2013).