JEE Advanced: The way to it

- Subham Das.

Credits : Minglebox.

Hey Guys & Girls!!! I am a sophomore of IIT Kanpur and here to bore you a little about the JEE exams (Just kidding, ha)

"JEE Advanced"- the ultimate exam today for every student who really dreams of studying in an IIT and calling himself/herself an IITian. The prestigious tag that indeed makes you hold up your head high.

Here are some questions for the early birds who are in a dilemma whether they should prepare for JEE or not. Ask yourself...

Q1: How much are you interested in solving numerical based problems?

Q2: Is this really your choice or you just want to get into IIT because all your friends are trying for it and it is due to peer pressure that you are forced to opt for it?

Q3: How much time do you have to prepare for JEE? That would determine a lot on how you should prepare for the exam.

If you manage to find positive answers to all these questions above in support of your preparation, then start preparing for it. There can be no force stopping you in your path to clearing the exam.

First and foremost "Be Confident". Get rid of any kind of fear of not clearing JEE and prepare accordingly. 'A battle is won in the mind and not in the battlefield.' Trust yourself and have faith in your abilities. All those who have ever cleared the exams were normal humans after all. There's nothing superhuman in clearing the entrances. After all its ultimately an exam like many of those which you have appeared for in your lives.

As the present pattern gives weightage to board exams too for JEE Mains, so prepare well for that. Board exams are quite often taken for granted and many have to pay a price later. So preparation begins with regular curriculum based studies and then one comes to the problem solving part. Time is a major factor and it is very important to use time judiciously, whatever you do try to get maximum out of it whether you do- study or have fun. Plan your time-table for covering maximum topics till the final exam. Make adjustments according to your need and based on progress. An hour of fully focused study is far better than hours spent on half minded study.

I know all these sound really boring and even I responded to such articles saying "Bore mari ase, sobe zane eibur". So saying it in brief- “Hope for the BEST & Prepare for the WORST". An IIT is neither the start nor the end of one's life. Everyone may not make it through, but what's essential is that you gotta make it large. Life comes with many opportunities. You must always keep the doors open.

These are some tips for JEE preparation as a whole:

a.) Find reliable sources of information-

The books that I followed include-

H.C. Verma, D.C. Pandey, I.E. Irodov, NCERT for Physics.

Tata McGraw Hill, NCERT for Maths.

P. Bahadur, ARIHANT Organic Chemistry, NCERT for Chemistry.

O.P. Tandon is also suggested for physical and inorganic chemistry.

Apart from these there are also many reliable books in the market but the point is to solve problems to the maximum extent possible from the available sources. JEE exams offer you a varied array of questions. One must be competent enough to practice various kinds of questions pertaining to different topics.

b.) Coaching has become an integral part of today's preparation, however one has to remain focused in order to gain something from the tuitions. Its not just about taking a seat in the lecture room and hearing the sermons. Every bit of time you invest in your coachings and tuitions are worth its weight in gold. And you must realise the value of it. The teachers and faculty of various institutions are vastly experienced in their respective fields and you will only be benefitted if you pay attention to the words of these gurus.

How I prepared-

Maths- Rupesh Jha Sir. (INFINITY)- Very helpful and always ready to help the students who show their desire to learn.

Physics- Ronen Sharma Sir. (Ronen’s Physics Point)- Highly experienced and knowledgeable personality with a very good idea of the exam pattern.

Chemistry - Manav Agarwal Sir. (Impact Educations) - A very good nature and a highly experienced teacher.

The trio can really help you to gain a huge amount of knowledge but at first you, yourself should be determined and confident on your skills and focused to extract out every bit of knowledge that you can acquire.

c.) Try and join some Distance Learning Program (highly useful to get a bulk amount of materials to practice) & appear the All India Tests conduct by them(FIITJEE preferred).

d.) The BITS exam, CEE is highly useful and most students must appear these if preparing for engineering entrances.

e.) Solve the past year papers of JEE Mains (earlier known as AIEEE) & JEE Advanced(earlier known as IIT JEE)

As JEE Advanced is ADVANCING :) so some short term tips-

1. Solve as many Papers of past year JEE, you can.

2. Try to practice problems in real quick time.

3. Judge yourself by appearing and solving for full 3hr papers twice in a day and try to finish them as early as possible. Use a timer if necessary to judge your speed at solving the various type of questions.

4. Sample Tests are very important. Though they do not reflect the actual exam but appearing for them and solving them is indeed helpful.

5. Try out the subjective problems (if you have finished with the objective ones completely).

6. Look for suggested important topics by magazines for JEE and judge yourself.

7. Get your doubts solved from your teachers and ask for extra classes (for doubts) and sample tests set by themselves.

8. Check the recent year’s trend and find the sections that have been asked for.

After all this, just CHILL OUT!!

If you think you are sufficiently prepared, just do not worry and do not panic. Keeping a calm head on your shoulders is of utmost importance. You get only 3 hours for proving your mettle. The entire hard work for 2 years or so demands to be applied in those deciding 180 minutes. You just cannot afford to freak out or get nervous in the heat of the moment. An entrance exam is as much a test of your character as that of your skills. Do make sure you make each and every minute of yours count.

Lastly, do not get demotivated if you are not selected, be optimistic as you have already cleared JEE Mains and try and get admission in a good college. Remember that there are many many of them who compete for a seat into these colleges. Even if you don't get a top-tier college, feel proud of the institution into which you have made your way through. In engineering what matters is your creative and innovative mindset. The market now demands forward thinking individuals and  not rote-learning parrots. As they say, its the students who make an institution. And you are a STUDENT. A student with loads of potential. A true asset to the society.

BEST OF LUCK!!!