JEE Advanced 2017: Here’s how to prepare for the exam
Expert tips to help you crack the exam
Cracking the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main is just the beginning of the journey to becoming an IITian. The final step is to clear JEE Advanced 2017, which will be held on May 21. This year approximately 2, 20,000 top rankers from JEE Main will be eligible to take JEE Advanced.
JEE Advanced comprises two 3-hour objective papers: Paper-1 and Paper-2. Each paper is balanced in 3 subjects: physics, chemistry and mathematics. Certain sections come with negative marking for incorrect answers. Some questions have one or more than one correct answer requiring deep analytical reasoning and skills in the application of concepts. It is this system of negative marking which sets the JEE Advanced apart, owing to the decimating influence on the overall marks and the relative position of which students are ranked.
Here are a few tips to guide students for the JEE Advanced in the remaining time:
REVISE COMPLETE SYLLABUS
With time running out, the most important task is managing the time you have in the most efficient way possible. Revise all the concepts from notes with flags on question requiring tricks and analytical reasoning. Devote equal time to all three subjects.
WORK OUT A PLAN
Understand your limitations and opportunities, your weaknesses and strengths. This is not the time to try anything fresh or tackle difficult unsolved problems thrown at you. Just revise and perfect the concepts. Be stronger through honing your strength. Focus your energy on learning or retaining rather than just studying. Different from rote learning, JEE advanced requires enmeshed analytical skills with a great emphasis on critical thinking. Hence, it is imperative to understand the application of concepts well. Set yourself daily reasonable targets based on your capabilities. A well-conceived study plan and regular mock tests would help you streamline your preparation to progressive perfection.
MOCK TESTS IN SIMULATED ENVIRONMENT
Solve mock tests and past papers to know gaps and weak areas in your preparation. Strengthen these areas and check with further mock tests.
Keep a track of time taken to solve questions and keep it to a bare minimum. Given the limited time frame in which the JEE Advanced paper needs to be cracked, it is always a good practice to monitor the time spent per question, while practising. You can easily score on questions that you know and keep the most difficult ones towards the end during your second attempt after finishing paper with 45 minutes to 1 hour.
STRATEGY FOR ANSWERING ALL POSSIBLE TYPES OF QUESTIONS:
• Multiple choice single correct: The best way to attempt these questions is to run through the question-option- question way. Scanning the question again after the options in mind helps to strategise the approach to solve the question. Sometimes the options themselves guide towards the correct strategy or even the correct answer.
• Multiple choice multi correct: Each question has to be solved and mapped with all options. It may also happen that the options are the same values written in different form.
• Comprehension based: Even if you know the concept mentioned in comprehension, you should still read it thoroughly as there are chances of redefining a concept or providing hypothetical assumptions. In that case, your conventionally correct approach might lead to an incorrect answer.
• Matrix match type (one to one matching): If the question is of one to one matching, then your approach should be finding.
• Matrix match type (one to many matching): This type would be the most challenging and time-taking. The suggested way is to attempt this problem if you are confident on the concepts of all 4 rows, or else keep this question for attempting last.
• Integer answer type: Generally, these questions are subjective converted to objective, and hence would be time taking. The correct way would be to treat them as subjective and solve them only if you have a command on the topic or if you have attempted all other questions of the paper.