Have one month’s time? You can still prepare for JEE Advanced

Oohhhhoo!! Please do not get a wrong impression after reading the title of this blog; which states that students can prepare for JEE Advanced within one month’s time and they do not need to spend time like other students. Well I have no intentions of demotivating the students who have been working hard for more than a year or two years of time, nor encourage students. Instead the intention of writing this blog is to motivate and encourage those students who made late decision of appearing for JEE Advanced or those who have already enrolled themselves and have not started their preparation yet! Also, this blog intends to provide tips and tricks which will help students to calm down their exam anxiety and aid them in preparing for their exams in a restored and proficient manner.

With JEE Advanced, being the crucial key for entering into NIITs and other prestigious institutes, are designed in such a manner that they are one of the roughest entrance exams to crack. The level of stress and pressure that students need to handle cannot be expressed in words. Cracking these exams is no rocket science. All the students need to do is stay little patient and be confident about their grounding. And the best possible way to do so would be, to have a perfect troika of competent time management, regulated strategies and prudent planning. Students who have got a little late in jumping in race of winning should be dedicated to themselves and the preparation, sincere to their studies and should have the fire in them to crack the exams (in spite of being late in starting the preparation).
Thus, it is suggested that since the students have very less time for their preparation, they should begin with preparing a fool proof time table. Time slots should be divided equally amongst all the subjects. Once that has been done, students need to stick to it (no matter what) and follow it scrupulously. The next step should be to make strategies. This means that they need to understand what their weak and strong areas are; and then start preparing for them. They should analyze formulas and theorems and make notes of them. You need to carefully select the books and study materials that you are planning to use to for your preparation (even this is part of your preparation strategy).

Once the trio is settled, start with the preparations. Here are few tips that will help you to start your preparation. Students would need to dedicate a little extra time as compared to students who have been preparing for a while now. But this should not de-motivate anyone. And then:

• Students need to solve as many problems as they can. It is recommended that students should take up previous years question papers and solve them. Analyze them and understand the style of questions posed.

Students need to keep their concepts clear and should know the perfect way of applying logic. Also, time your speed of answering/ solving the question. This will help you in assessing the time required. The questions consuming more time should be analyzed and a better solutions should be found. Also, take as many mock tests as possible. They are a great source of help when it comes to preparing for these exams.

• Discuss your concerns or queries with your like-minded mates or your guides. It will not be good for you to keep these doubts or questions in your mind.

When you are discussing these queries with your friends or guides, you will get clarity where is it that you are making mistake. This will assist you in having sound preparation.

• I would say that you should drill all the three subjects and be competent for answering the questions from all the sections. But then focus more on your strongest area, as this will help you in scoring more marks and getting a good rank in the exam.

• I believe even those who have started their preparation on the last moment, would have studied some of the topics. It is recommended that students should revise those topics thoroughly, instead of starting a new topic. This will lead to confusion and might raise the level of disquiet in you.

• When you are doing revision or are studying, prepare some of the memory aids. Like mnemonics, notes or short forms to remember the concepts in effective manner. Also, visual imagination of some of the concepts also helps in remembering them very well.

By doing so, it will not only help you in doing a crisp revision, but will also help you to remember the complex concepts with ease.

•  Have proper strategies. Say for example for Chemistry questions refer to NCERT books. Study and understand them thoroughly; and then solve all the exercises given at end of each topic. For Physics, pen down the formulas according to topics and eat them up (I mean by heart them). Referring to them while revising helps a lot. And for Mathematics, students need to practice and solve the questions as many times as possible.

You need to strategize on the basis of your requirement and time in your hand.

• Do not study in haphazard manner. This will not help you. Students need to have meticulous planning in order to crack the exams. It is advocated that you should plan your time in very efficient and accurate manner. To do, divide the time equally. And switch between subjects every day.

Also, another key aspect of planning involves analyzing what time of day suits which subject for preparation. This means students need to decide what time of day they are most productive and then dedicate that time to their weak areas. Many experts recommend that morning hours are very good for learning facts; thus it should be dedicated to Chemistry. Afternoons are considered to be lazy, thus students should take up Maths and then rest of the time should be devoted for Physics.

• While preparing for the exams, you should not forget to take breaks at regular intervals. This is important as it will help in refreshing your mind and you will be able to concentrate more towards your preparation.

Go for walks in morning or evening, talk to friends or do something that you like to do. This will aid you to keep your mind and body fit and fresh.

• Keep a track of all the announcements that are being made in relation to the exam and be updated about the changes that have been made. Also ensure that all the necessary documents such as hall ticket, mark sheets, stationery is in place.

You need to understand that there is no shortcut for being successful. You need to work hard in order to achieve your target and goal. Thus, you need to be focused. Since, very few days are left for your exam, it is necessary that you are positive and confident about your preparation. You feel good about yourself and DO NOT LET any negative thought even cross your mind. As this will have a great impact on you and your preparation. Be optimistic, study thoroughly and give your best shot at the exam. I am sure you will succeed.

And, like I mentioned in the very beginning of my blog that these tips are not only for those who have not started their preparation; but it is also for those who have been preparing for a long time now. You too can follow these tips to crack JEE Advanced exams with flying colors.

I wish all of you ‘All the very best’!!