Preparation for IIT — JEE
Hi friends, I am Suyash Somani, I did my B.Tech in chemical engineering from IIT Bombay. It seems very cliché to recall about my AIR, but so it was 766 (year 2010). To start with, I would like to assure you guys that IIT-JEE is a test of wittiness rather than extraordinary intelligence. One needs to be smart and witty enough to understand the concept as well to implement it in mostly optimal way so as to maximize one’s attempt. Honestly, speaking I was a decent student in my class (used to get 80ish % in school exams). As it is said that the journey towards the end goal makes you a champion, it was IIT-JEE preparation which brought the best out of me and helped me overcome my shortcomings.
Physics: I had very profound memories of studying Physics under the guidance of Manish sir. Have you ever seen construction of a home/building or any structure, particularly during the cementing phase? If you have carefully observed, what follows after cementing is regular watering of the cemented layer one’s it dries out. That is done to consolidate the cementing. My physics training was somewhat on similar lines; every conceptual lecture was followed by thorough reading through H.C Verma and the practicing out all HCV questions, then other material offered by the faculties. It helps in cementing the concepts deep into the mind. Next level of cementing above it was ‘selective’ problem solving from Irodov. Mind the word ‘selective’, with changing patterns one need to be aligned with the current curriculum and requirements. Daily Practice Problems (DPP’s) were essential part of breakfast meal, as they used to cover miscellaneous questions from all the topics so far covered (they were given year round). It consisted of 10 MCQ’s which need to be solved in proper exam conditions. This would gradually improve your processing speed under stress and time constraint conditions. Following it were the question banks. We can broadly classify various chapters in physics into different buckets like mechanics, electricity & magnetism, kinematics, wave theory etc. Question bank for a concerned topic was given 1 month after its completion. It used to help in revising old topics as well highlighting those subtopics and question types which we found difficult at first attempt or weren’t able to solve easily. The one thing which I missed (while doing my own preparation) was reading NCERT. And I still feel, it could have made a difference of 50–100 ranks had I gone through them diligently. So, my final advice would be to definitely read NCERT and try to solve their after chapter questions.
Chemistry: Class notes and first taught concepts are important building blocks. NCERT is a must. There are too many material circulated. One need to check with faculty which book/reference to read and follow.
Maths: For maths, the more variety of questions one practices, better and deeper is the concept understanding. It helps you get an idea of the horizon of usage of a concept. To start with, RD Sharma is a must, then followed by RD Sharma objective, selective questions from A Das Gupta and course material for each topics gives suffice questions to give initial consolidation. Further question bank and DPP helps the student to keep the concepts on fingers and keep up with past taught topics. Other than this, giving as many as possible full length test is very essential. In my last lap of preparation, one month prior to JEE, I just used to give written tests in the same time frame as that of main exam. It helped me to prepare myself psychologically as well as physiologically for the exam. Most people give excuse for revising individual subjects but remember, revision would never end as the course curriculum is enormous. As net practice is different from match practice in cricket, similarly giving full length test is of paramount importance. There are a lot of wrong practices one need to understand about oneself in regards to paper giving such as time management, getting used to filling OMR correctly, giving exam using pencil, solving under the same time frame of 9–12 am and 2–5 pm thereby adjusting one’s body clock etc. Also, mock test gives you the correct idea of which portion to focus more on and on which to improve on accuracy. Patience and perseverance are foremost required to succeed in JEE; it is not cleared in a day, it is cleared through small baby steps taken each day towards improvement in the 2 years of preparatory journey.
Lastly, I would like to say that IIT’s are good, but they are not the end of the world. If you are hardworking and consistent, sky is the limit for you in life. Talent is the most overrated thing; hard work and perseverance are the most valued. All the best for your career ahead!
