The Final Assault - Last Days before IIT-JEE

Getting into the IITs - the hallowed portals of high class engineering education in India requires one to cope with immense competition, the changing pattern of the exam year after year and in the end giving one's best during the 6 hours on the exam Day. The right kind of strategy, planning and execution during this intense high pressure period can be the perfect icing on the cake and can result in the difference of thousands of ranks, between success and failure.

Let’s talk Physics first. In Physics, there are some topics that are very important and are often missed out by students. The topics like Fluids, Modern Physics, SHM, Waves, Optics and Surface Tension are very simple. Don’t miss out on these. It takes one or two sittings of 2-2.5 hrs each to finish off these topics. Compare that to mechanics, which you must have studied for around 6-8 months, but keeping mind the marks distribution, it really isn't worth the effort. Also keep in mind that there is hardly any difference in Electrostatics and Gravitation. So if you have studied one, studying the other should not take any time. Focus on the concepts and revise the theory of topics such as Thermodynamics, Electric Current and Magnetism from a book that you have read them from. Don't try to solve too many problems now.

About Mathematics- it is not a subject which you can improve overnight. Our suggestion is that you should give it a last priority right now. You should focus more on the marks scoring subjects and topics. Individual cut off is something you should manage if have decent prepration. Here the easy topics would be coordinate geometry, more specifically Hyperbola and Ellipse. Other topics, in our opinion cannot be completed in 1 week. Moreover, if you look at the pattern of an IIT JEE paper over the last 10-20 years, Mathematics has rarely been easy. Try to revise all the formulae of Trigonometry and in Algebra and Calculus just have a look at the solved examples of the book that you have studied from.

Finally let’s focus on Chemistry. Two very important things that you should know- one, chemistry is the subject that has the maximum effect your rank in IIT-JEE and secondly, this is a subject where you can cover the maximum in the last few days. Most of the students find inorganic chemistry boring and don’t read it at all although it constitutes 30-35% of the questions asked in Chemistry. A must read chapter is that of Co-ordination Chemistry and Transition Elements. Many questions are regularly asked from this chapter and the concepts are also easy. For the reactions, part, IIT generally never gives out right reactions to write in the paper. Spend time on understanding the groups and the associated properties of the elements. Do go through Chemical Bonding, especially the hybridization theory. In physical chemistry, chapters like Chemical Kinetics, Radioactivity, Gas Laws, Energetics, Atomic Structure, Solutions, Surface Chemistry are the ones which require just 1-2 sittings of 2 hours each. If you have the self confidence you can complete in the little time left at your hand. In Organic Chemistry don’t rack your brains over each and every mechanism. Study isomerism, general organic chemistry properly. Know all the reactions and most important of all do the fringe topics like Carbohydrates, Amino Acids, Polymers properly.

Take a couple of hours every day, preferably in the afternoon, to go through previous years question papers. These questions will give you the best idea of the kind of questions asked in IIT-JEE and they match the best quality questions you will ever come across and at the same time they cover most of the concepts.

The coming days are very crucial in terms of your mental make-up and your environment would play a very important role in that. You need to take care of your health, your time and your preparations. Let us delve deep into the strategy and planning. Divide your time suitably. Remember that the only reason you are studying right now is marks. Study topics where you can improve your score most. Which ones do? The answer to this is very personal. If you make a lot of silly mistakes, you should revise the old topics again so that they don’t make those mistakes again. You have to revise what you know well. There is not much use trying to mug up new things. It won’t help, especially in IIT JEE.

Do not spend time talking to friends over the phone and waste time by discussing what you don’t you. Also try and avoid discussing particular problems, discuss concepts and theory, their applications on a broader scale.

Take a couple of mock tests. Also make sure you see what mistakes you have made in those. It is very important that you stay confident every day. Don’t let negative thoughts come to your mind. Don’t lose faith in yourself just because you have a friend who knows far more. You are good, he is better. Moreover, it may be your day. Good Luck comes to those who are prepared for it.

Just a day before the exam, make sure you have checked the admit card, stationary that you need to carry, the exam center and the transportation. Don’t try to cram a lot of new stuff. Focus on concepts and how you can use the things you know best. Sleep well.

On the morning of the exam, have a good shower. Have a decent meal. Make sure you pack something for the exam hall, even if it is a packet of biscuit. Exams are on Sundays, so most restaurants will be closed! Don’t get into any fight or debate.

Tips during the exam: The most crucial thing is speed. You should start with the subject which gives you your speed. Play to your strengths. If you find the paper difficult, don’t get jittery. It is difficult for everyone else too. The scoring is relative. You have to solve as many problems. Picking up speed is very important. Once you have the speed in the exam hall nothing can stop you. If you can’t solve a problem, move on. Every second in the exam hall is important. Don’t spend more than 2-3 minutes in any problem. Accuracy is very important. Remember that the toughest entrance exams require less than 50-60% score to get in the top 1000 ranks! So you may be underestimating yourself. Make sure that you mark the answers regularly after solving 10 odd questions. You would not want to be in a situation where you miss out marking the questions due to time. Be prepared for any shocks. Keep in mind that IITs have changed their question pattern almost every 2nd/ 3rd year. If it happens again don’t be surprised. Always keep this in mind that it is the concepts and your knowledge that matter, not the pattern of the paper. Also, if the paper is too tough, you will not be the only one facing the music.

Good Luck

The authors, Nishant Sah and Rajiv Agarwal are IIT Kharagpur alumni and co-founders of Edudigm, a mentoring institute for IIT-JEE.