Sumit Majumdar from askIITians and Keshav Pratap from Collegepedia offered some simple time-tested guidelines on ‘How to Prepare for IIT- JEE’. Here are some of the highlights of IIT JEE tips that they offered to engineering aspirants:

How to prepare for the new JEE format?

We need to be methodical in our approach. To reach the IITs, one has to first give JEE Mains and then, JEE Advanced. To get to the JEE Mains, we have to prepare well for Class XII board exams. Not only board marks play an important role in JEE Mains eligibility criteria but the board exam preparation in itself is quite helpful in making it through Mains exam.

Syllabus for JEE is not much different than Class 11 and 12 syllabus. Only the application of concepts and the preparation approach for board exams and JEE exam is different. Focusing merely on JEE will make it difficult for you to score well in board exams. We should plan our studies in such a manner that we master concepts for both the exams at the same time. Delve into a concept till you master JEE-level problems. Then, you just have to revise it and learn definitions for your boards.

If you have prepared well for JEE, one to one-and-a-half months should be good enough to brush up Maths, Physics and Chemistry for Class 12 board exams.

If you get a very good score in JEE Mains, you have an option to choose to give JEE Advanced.

2015 board exams and IIT JEE 2015 are just round the corner. What should be the current strategy for students right now?

Let’s assume that you have just one month for JEE preparation. You have pre-board exams which take place in December or January. Your preparation for board exams should take place during these pre-board exam studies. The pre-board exam preparation period should thoroughly be devoted to scoring well in your CBSE, ICSE or state boards. After that, students can take up JEE Mains preparation again.

              Sumit and Keshave also pointed out the importance of Emotional Quotient of students during JEE preparation. According to them, when you have a fresh mind, you are able to find solutions to problems faster. You can start with Mathematics which is generally more challenging for students and then, move on numericals of Physics and Chemistry, and finally take on the theoretical questions in Physics and Chemistry where you just have to recollect what you have learnt.

What should be students’ strategy during JEE exams?

When you are trying to solve questions in JEE exam, you need to be positive and focused. Read the entire question paper at least once. You will find that you already know answers to some of the questions at first glance. Segregate those questions and attempt them first.

If you are not able to answer a particular question, just move on to the next one. To ensure that you know answers to most questions, you have to practice JEE-level questions beforehand, in a regular manner.

Some of the questions will be outliers and some of them will be confusing. 50% of the time, the first option that you think to be correct is actually the correct option but try to keep guess work at minimum.

Time Management is crucial for JEE exam. If Physics is your strength, you can give 50 minutes to it, 1 hour to Maths, and 45 minutes to non-mathematical section like Chemistry. You can use 15-20 minutes in hand to review the paper and try and solve questions you find difficult.