With ‘judgement day’ approaching in all its glory, every aspirant’s hope is to crack the code. Though JEE in itself isn’t that difficult to crack, it is still a herculean task and each aspirant fears if all his hard work is going in vain.
You are going to enter the last phase of your 2-year old journey. The last one month is the month of anxieties, stress, disbelief and sleepless nights. You have to brace yourselves for all the possibilities that the future holds. It is time to fasten your seatbelts and prepare yourselves for the final ride of your JEE journey.
It is imperative to know that, the utilisation of this time is a must, and will consequently be a deciding factor in the examination. It’s time to clear all the uncertainties and to channelise your efforts into getting a fruitful JEE rank. To optimise your performance, you must keep in mind the following factors and work on them accordingly:
Stick to the syllabus:
It is necessary to stick close to what is mentioned in the syllabus for the examination. Some students have a habit of learning things which are beyond the scope of the syllabus and end up wasting their time. JEE Advanced has a definite syllabus which is enough for cracking the exam. So make use of your time in the most productive way in order to be prepared well for the exam.
Focus on your fundamentals:
The questions of JEE Advanced are set in a way to combine all the topics together which may appear to be intimidating and complicated. But the reality of the questions can be easily understood by having a meticulous look at them. These questions are based on the fundamental topics that you have been taught. All you have to do is to stick to the basics. You can crack each and every question possible with the knowledge you have, just don’t fear the sums.
Stay healthy before the exam:
Apart from studying, staying healthy is also very important for your exam. You must have at least 6 hours of sleep daily and have proper meals to make sure that you do not face any medical issues. Additionally, you can practice solving papers in the time that you will be appearing in the real examination.
Correct your mistakes:
Small, silly mistakes can be your worst nightmare in the examination. In the pressure, mistakes such as (-1)*(-1)=-1, or 4+5=20 can cost you the complete question. You must discover these type of recurring mistakes you make in the paper and find a way not to do them.
Test series and past years’ paper:
It is imperative to self-evaluate and gauge your understanding of the concepts you are studying for the exam. The best way to do this by solving mock papers and tests which can be insightful enough for the purpose. Also, it’s always wise to go through the past years’ question papers which can be helpful in gauging the level of difficulty and understanding the type of questions. This is also helpful in discovering and rectifying the mistakes and managing time to a great extent.
Develop an optimal strategy to attempt the paper:
“Without strategy execution is aimless. Without execution strategy is useless.”
-Morris Chang
The way you select the questions, how much time you devote to each question, the management of time and several other factors play an important role in determining your JEE rank. You should develop your strategy for execution and optimise it as much as you can, in order to get the most out of 3 hours. At the same time, your way of execution should be flexible enough to transit from plan A to plan B without panicking as JEE Advanced can prove to be notorious at times.
Stay in control of your emotions:
At times, you may feel like giving up on things or get frustrated. You may regret the silly mistakes you did. You may feel like you can never make up for the time wasted. But don’t let these emotions override you. You have to manage these crucial moments with confidence and have belief in yourselves. If you feel gloomy or develop frustration, stay calm. Relax your mind. Remember the things you learnt in the course of 2 years, clear out your goal again to charge you up. Listen to some music to get refreshed.
Lastly,
The things I have mentioned are the ones that are within our control. The final verdict of the paper is in the hands of JEE Advanced Board. You never know what surprise you are going to get till the last minute. Last year, before the examination, the mindset of all students (myself among them) were all set to give 180 marks of paper ( paper-I and paper-II) in 3 hours, with some questions having negative marking (max. 50% of the question’s weight-age) due to past years’ exam pattern. The fact that JEE comes with a twist when you think you have judged it enough, proved yet again. In Paper I & II both, Total 60 Questions were asked. 20 Questions from Each Subject were asked. First paper was of 264 marks while paper two was of 240 marks. Each subject was of 168 marks overall. Total marks for both paper combined were 504. Many aspirants were bowled out with this sudden change of pattern, lowering down the average marks scored. The thing I am trying to say is that, you can never expect what is going to come this year, but have the fact in the mind that, whatever comes in the examination, give your 100%. You will only get one chance to strike, push your maximum out of it. Be ready to face the worst situation possible, if you can make out of it, you will achieve your dream.
If you remember these things, you will surely be able to clear examination with flying colours!
