Tips to top JEE Main in 1-year preparation

By Ajay Singh

It's time you pull up your socks and utilise the one year in the best way possible. Here are some tricks and trips that would help you prepare for JEE Main.

Studying in premier engineering institutions of India like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) is the dream of most aspirants appearing in JEE Main examination. The passion for Engineering is the driving force that leads people towards preparing for this exam. If you have one year’s time when you start preparing for the exam, you must be highly determined and willing to work really hard if you wish to see yourself on the pinnacle.

One year is not a lot of time, and it isn't too little as well. If you follow a time table religiously and prepare by keeping the pattern of examination in mind, giving priority to the high scoring and rank-boosting topics, you will definitely get through this. There are no shortcuts to success, you can word smart, but that will also require perseverance and dedication.

Everyone out there, lakhs of aspirants you would be competing with are all working hard and so you to reap fruits of your efforts you must put them on the right track. And by right track I mean, the right study material and an empirical study plan. So, it's time you pull up your socks and utilise the one year in the best way possible. Here are some tricks and trips that would help you prepare for JEE Main:

Know the syllabus thoroughly: When it comes to the syllabus, JEE Main, as well as JEE Advanced examination, encompasses a considerable amount of syllabus. The plethora of topics under each subject may startle and discourage you initially, but you mustn't lose hope. Not all the topics hold equal importance, and you have to be able to differentiate and categorise the topics based on their importance and the time they will require to be covered. High scoring and less effort requiring topics should be on your priority.

Focus on NCERT books: I have seen most of the JEE aspirants being indifferent towards the NCERT books, which are supposed to be read religiously and thoroughly. The government of India recommends NCERT books and any examination cannot give you questions that are beyond the scope of NCERT. Of course, the pattern and level of questions would be higher as compared to NCERT because they are meant for laying the foundation and the basics. Without rock-solid information and hold on the foundation, you cannot build a castle. Therefore, you must not let NCERT books catch dust lying in the corner. Read every page of it. That would be very useful for JEE Main. However, for JEE Advanced, you need to go beyond that and have detailed knowledge.

Solve questions: This is by far the best and the most practical way to crack any competitive exam and not just JEE. Solving questions give you an insight into the exam and you can familiarize with the pattern of exam, prepare tips and tricks of your own, boost your confidence in by being able to solve them, having an exam-oriented approach towards your studies, allowing you to manage your time based on the type of questions, knowing in how many ways can a question be framed, and the advantages are innumerable. So, you must sit, pick up a book that would appear to be monotonous and have a lot of questions and solve them. This can help you tremendously during this one year you have. You can dedicate up to six months for reading the theory part and making notes and the rest 6 months on solving question papers and giving mock tests.

Stay positive and have faith: Don't end up stressing yourself so much that it deteriorates your performance. You must have moderate stress just as the Yerkes-Dodson theory states that the optimum performance is present at moderate stress levels. Have faith in yourself and your preparation and study for getting knowledge not just for clearing the exam because when you get into the college, it's your knowledge that will make you stand out and not the rank you got.

Set up achievable targets: While your ultimate objective is getting into an IIT, you should make it happen by taking baby steps. Set up realistic and achievable small targets for like a week or for every day. Such plans keep you motivated and ameliorate your focus. Don't get distracted or waste your time on social media platforms.

This was about the general tips that are essential and ought to be considered. Now let's move to subject wise preparation strategy, tips, and tricks.

The ability to grasp things is highly variable, but no matter what your intellectual capacity is, perseverance is what is necessary. You don't have to be a prodigy to crack the exam, you just need to be compassionate towards your goal.

Physics

The major chunk of questions in physics will be from Mechanics and electromagnetism. You shouldn't be surprised if 50% of your physics portion is from these two topics. But it doesn't mean you can leave the rest 50% untouched. Heat and Thermodynamics, SHM and waves, and Optics will form another significant portion. You have to go through the entire syllabus at least once and then revise from your notes. This simple and easy strategy is actually very effective. After completing NCERT, you can solve questions from HC Verma, which is quite straightforward and worth solving. Another option you have is the Arihant Physics series.

Chemistry

Listing out some of the essential topics first:

• Organic Chemistry: Alkyl Halides, Alcohol & Either, Aromatic Compounds, Biomolecules, Carbohydrates, Amino Acids and Polymers, Carbonyl Compounds, Environmental chemistry, Reduction, Oxidation & Hydrolysis Physical Chemistry: Atomic Structure & Nuclear Chemistry, Mole Concept, Thermodynamics, Thermochemistry, and Ionic Equilibrium.
• Physical Chemistry: Chemical Kinetics, Electrochemistry, Solid State and Surface Chemistry.
• Inorganic Chemistry: Chemical Bonding, Periodic Table & Periodicity in Properties, P and S-Block elements.

These are some of the most important topics in chemistry that you must not skip. Chemistry may seem like a little dull subject to engineering aspirants, but it can help boost your scores and rank if prepared with a reasonable strategy.

Mathematics

Differential Calculus, Integral Calculus, Coordinate Geometry, Matrix & Determinants, Coordinate Geometry (3-D), Probability, Trigonometry, Matrix & Determinants

While I'm listing the most important topics, it doesn't mean you have to dedicate the entire time to these topics. The exam is mostly unpredictable, and no one knows what the future holds. So, be prepared with everything.

After completing NCERT, you can solve questions from the RD Sharma objective of Prafful K Aggrawal, both of which are decent books and have ample knowledge and questions. The latter is what you need more of.

So, just keep practicing, keep revising the formulas, keep them on your fingertips, get thorough with your syllabus and stay loyal to your goal. That is how you'll get things done.

About the Author:

Ajay Singh completed BTech in Information Technology from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi in 2010. He began his career by coaching Class 11-12 students for Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology. He later qualified GATE in 2011 and started a career in the field of Electronics and Communication. However, his passion towards the Software industry took him to service industry and now he works as a Software Application Support Engineer (L3) at IRCTC.