Less than a year is left now for the preparation of JEE 2018, and it is soon going to be hectic for all of its aspirants. There must be too many formulae, methods, equations to remember till now. The syllabus must be on the verge of completion. So, now it’s the time to use the remaining year wisely in order to eat the fruits of the trees planted a year ago.
Everyone knows there are two levels – JEE Main and JEE Advanced. Both the exams are very different from one another, syllabus being almost the same. If you learn a thing or two from the previous year’s papers, it will only give you an edge over the others.
There are lessons you need to take forward from JEE 2017, to better prepare for JEE 2018.
JEE 2018 – Lessons to Learn from JEE 2017
JEE MAIN
- Focus on CBSE books
The questions asked in this exam are normally not too difficult but certainly not formula-based. They are moderately tough and strictly follow CBSE textbooks as far as syllabus is concerned. You need to give equal importance to 11th Standard as well as the 12th Standard syllabus. So, you certainly cannot neglect 11th topics.
- Preparing for topics not in JEE Advanced
If you are preparing for JEE advanced, then you must be having an idea that there are certain topics in the syllabus of Main which are not in Advanced. Such topics must be done only during boards preparation because there is no point in studying them for Advanced.
- Choose Online or Offline wisely
According to me, there is not much difference between online or offline mode of exams. However, choose it wisely if you are aiming for IIT (JEE Advanced). Every single day is important for your preparations. The more days you get for the preparation of Advanced, the more important it is. This year, there was a gap of almost one week between the offline exam and first online exam. So, it was recommended to give offline so that you get one more week for the ‘Advanced’ preparations. However, if this gap is of one or two days, then the decision is up to you. The pros and cons of both the modes are mentioned here.
- Time Management
Since you have to solve 90 questions in 180 minutes, ideally you have only 2 minutes for each question. Thus, managing time is really important for this exam. You should maintain a proper pace right from starting of the exam. You cannot waste your time thinking about only one question. You have to move ahead if you cannot solve a particular question or options don’t match. That doesn’t mean you should leave the question directly if you cannot solve it in your first try. For this, it is advisable to solve a few question papers within the time limit and analyze your pace and work on it.
JEE ADVANCED
- Be ready for surprises
When you get your question paper, the first important thing to do is analyze the marking scheme. JEE 2017 was full of surprises in this aspect! The marking scheme, total number of marks changes almost every year. This change will definitely surprise you during the actual exam. The next important thing is instant planning of how to solve the paper. Initially, the question paper may sometimes mislead you. Pranav Rao, who got an AIR 26 in JEE Advanced, said that he was very happy after seeing only 54 questions (only 18 questions each subject) in paper 1. But he realized later how difficult they were!
- Be ready for new questions
JEE Advanced is quite popular for setting brand new questions every year. You will hardly find any repetitive question from the previous papers. In order to tackle such questions, you must be conceptually strong. You should solve as many mock papers as possible. You should solve questions of 10 types rather than 10 questions of the same type. Prepare your own notes rather than referring to books, as it will save your time. Do as much self-study as possible. Solve your doubts with peers.
- Accuracy
Accuracy is a really an important factor in JEE Advanced. Every correct and incorrect question matters. 10 marks may create a difference of 1000 ranks sometimes. This accuracy will come with proper time management. You can solve questions with no negative marking first and then move ahead. Sometimes, it is better to leave a few questions completely if you find them time-consuming or too difficult.
Lastly, I would say that currently, you have 5 months in your hand. Use them wisely. Work on your weaknesses and make your strengths stronger. JEE 2018 won’t be such an unscaleable task for you then!
You could also read about how you can measure your JEE preparation status here.
Keep solving problems!
