Tips to tackle JEE Advanced

As soon as students finish writing their Class 12 examinations, they begin their preparations for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). This is a healthy trend, as the examination is one of the prestigious exams across the nation and acts as a launch pad for their dreams, particularly in the engineering field.

This exam is an all India common engineering entrance examination which is conducted for admission in various engineering courses across the country. JEE is held annually in 2 parts: JEE Main and JEE Advanced. It mainly focuses on Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. With JEE Advanced around the corner, here are some tips that will help you ace the test.

For effective revision

First, familiarise yourself with the exam’s format. Next, go through each subject’s merits and how much time you would need to devote for it. And as you go through each subject, make a note of the topics that you can score higher. Once you have done so, go through these topics first. As you revise, make notes. What would help you immensely is updating the notes that you have made during your classes.

For an effective revision, going over the questions that appeared in previous exams will help greatly. Practising previous years’s question papers enables you to check your preparation and know where you stand at currently. Additionally, you will also come to know on what topics you need to focus on.

Very often, it has been noticed that candidates have a strong hold on 2 of the subjects but lack a little in the third one. Hence, it is important to ensure that you do well in all 3 subjects for a good rank and an equal score to balance out your overall performance. The average cut-off score that has been noted for JEE

Advance in the past few years is not more than 42%.
Hence, it’s important to strategise your study plan. No one needs to panic or rush into solving the test; a cool and composed state of mind would help obtain better results. As you now know what your strong and weak areas are, attempt questions that you are strong in first and then try working out the questions where they are slightly weaker.

Practice makes perfect

Many students often end up cramming up topics without getting a complete understanding of them. This leads to them not remembering the topic when they really need it. Without understanding a topic well, one will have limited knowledge and chances are that he/she will be baffled while attempting the examination.

If you are not clear about the subjects, then solving the actual test would be a difficult task. So, it is important to constantly assess your performance and practice to gain a clearer understanding of the topics. So, devote some time everyday to understand them and practise at least 6 to 7 mock tests before giving the actual exam. It would give you a fair idea of the topics as to where one has an edge and where one lacks.

These are some of the most crucial points to keep in mind as the JEE Advanced exam is an opportunity that will not come knocking very often. In addition to these, here are a few more suggestions that will help you be at the top of your game:

Dedicate separate time slots for each subject and maintain them. This will help you concentrate on each subject and prepare well. 

Keep a healthy lifestyle — eat at regular intervals and ensure that you get enough sleep everyday. This will ensure that your mind and body will be energised and not stressed.

Take some time off from your studies and meet your friends. This will help reduce stress.
Pushing yourself to an extent that it wears you out completely is no way of achieving a goal. Hence, make sure that when you sit down to prepare, you are not trying to overdo your own capability to retain the subject matter. While it is a must that you push your limits a little, it should not be done at the expense of your mental stability and physical strength.

(The author is managing director, Motion Education, Rajasthan)