Avoid these 13 Silly Mistakes and Errors In JEE Exam Preparation
Students who aspire to be engineers from all across the country know the importance of cracking JEE Main. Not only because cracking the exam makes them eligible for JEE advance but also because it earns them the tag of ‘genius’ for years to come. Over 15 lakh students compete every year for one of the most difficult exams in India and quite a few come out on top. Those who clear the JEE Mains, sit for the JEE Advances exam and those who clear that one too gets the chance to experience What IIT Teaches besides Engineering for the coming four years.
Despite several Myths About IIT’s and IITians, this Institute has been ranked the top most Institute in India for engineering and some of its colleges got a place in the Top Universities around the world. While everyone dream of getting a place in such prestigious institution, only some of the reach there. The main reason behind this is the Strategy to Clear IIT in first Attempt, which many aspirants lack and so do their luck.
13 Silly Mistakes to avoid in JEE Preparation
After wading through advice from previous toppers, going through the syllabus and also analyzing the way aspirants go wrong during the preparation for IIT JEE, we’ve come up with the perfect guide on how to avoid silly mistakes in IIT JEE and the difference between the schedule of selected candidates and non-selected candidates:
What is the fuss about the schedule?
Consistency, hard work, and determination are what sets selected candidates apart from non-selected ones. But there is also a major difference in the schedules of students who crack IIT JEE and those who don’t.
Schedules of selected candidates consist of firstly writing down these 4 things:
- Strengths
- Goals
- Important chapters to cover
- Time left
Also planning out your day based on the above 4 factors is crucial. The below schedule will help you cover every aspect of your Syllabus and Pattern of IIT without you feeling exhausted or restless.
- Early morning is the time start with new theories and also difficult questions as you feel fresh and also are able to concentrate the most during this time.
- During daytime follow your regular schedule of going to classes and revising theory.
- In the evening time when your energy levels are on the slightly lower end, studying is not the best idea. Instead, keep yourself on track by giving mock tests to improve your stamina and accuracy while still maintaining your speed. Give yourself a short break after completing a test as a reward for staying focused.
- During the night time when your energy levels are the lowest, try solving practice questions without keeping a time limit. This will help you feel more relaxed while still preparing for IIT JEE.
13 ways to avoid silly mistakes in IIT JEE
1. Don’t go overboard with the reference books
It’s a common habit of IIT aspirants to go overboard with reference books, other study guides, and question paper booklets. Spending tons of money on these books is not just wasteful but totally unnecessary for IIT JEE preparation. Keep 2 notebooks for practicing problems for each subject and a maximum of 2-3 textbooks for studying.
Toppers that were interviewed mentioned that the 3 essentials for cracking the exam are: a theory book, regular tests, and 1-2 practice books. Seeing a pile of books which probably have more or less the same material will put you off even before you start studying. Instead, you can practice from the previous years’ papers of JEE. It helps to understand the pattern of question better.
2. Prepare yourself with extra study resources
No, this doesn’t mean you join the most expensive coaching class or shift to Kota for it. Some of the best study resources can be found online in the form of websites which give you study hacks, clear your doubts and also shortcuts to solve problems.
In this day and age where study material can be accessed in seconds, don’t just rely on yourself for cracking IIT JEE. We are not saying that self-study isn’t reliable on its own but sometimes it’s very draining for students.
3. Work smart
Though every IIT JEE topper mentioned the hard work they put into the preparation, what they meant was to put efforts into the right areas. One of the many silly mistakes you may make is to finish studying the entire syllabubs once but not revising it thinking that you don’t need it. You need to make sure you work on areas which need the most focus.
4. Stick to the syllabus
Aspirants who have cracked the exam on their second attempt have stressed on sticking to the syllabus. Most books contain a lot of extra information which is not part of the syllabus and is frankly a waste of time and energy from an exam point of view. Also, the ‘out of syllabus’ question papers given by coaching centers are misleading because JEE will only follow the syllabus.
5. Don’t forget to eat on time and eat healthily
Fast food and sugary energy drinks during exams is very comforting and almost feels necessary to deal with the pressure. But indulging in unhealthy, greasy food during the preparation period can make you lethargic, lazy and unwell. If not unwell during IIT JEE, you’re definitely not going to feel okay after it’s done. To avoid the unnecessary hassle and eat nutritious meals on time.
6. Don’t isolate yourself
When you’re preparing for one of the most important exams of your life, maintaining your social life makes you feel guilty. So we isolate ourselves and keep to just our family or a close friend or 2. If this pattern continues, you may start feeling very alone, depressed and not too good.
Friends are the best stress busters during exams and don’t feel guilty if you spend an hour or 2 with them after a week of studying hard.
7. Don’t say goodbye to your favorite hobbies
Though we have grown up and let go of a lot of our hobbies due to lack of time and loads of studying, taking out 20mins a day for your hobby isn’t difficult. It can be anything from writing poetry to playing basketball to playing the guitar, these activities actually relieve your mind from stress.
Doing the activities you love for a small period will make you feel relaxed and not so exhausted because of the continuous studying.
8. Analyze every single test paper
This is one of the most common silly mistakes. Analyzing your test paper will give you information about the concepts you aren’t clear with and what areas need improvement.
Often IIT JEE aspirants are scared of coming face to face with their mistakes and hence avoid the process altogether. This will make you lose marks especially if you’ve cleared JEE Mains and are preparing for JEE advance.
9. Maintain consistency when it comes to studying
Students are usually enthusiastic when it comes to making the daily study schedule consisting of waking up, studying, eating, and sleeping and so on. It is also posted in the student’s room but rarely followed. Your inconsistency while studying can affect your test performance tremendously.
Students who cracked IIT JEE on the second trial have stressed on being dedicated, studying daily and never procrastinating.
10. Don’t go to extremes
It’s a natural tendency to feel amazing on days that you’ve to managed to study for 12 hours and horrible on the days you made a lot of errors on tests and lost focus after a couple of hours. However, getting into extreme views about yourself and your ability is simply not healthy for you. Not only will this affect your morale and confidence but also your test performance in the end.
11. Don’t lose focus before the race is completed
Another common occurrence is being dedicated and studying consistently until December and finishing the syllabus and as January comes along, losing focus and giving up. Many a times students are well versed with the syllabus early on, get really bored with continuous practice and grow restless.
For students who study on their own or live alone, this is a major problem. When this occurs, you have to keep telling yourself that the race is still left and you’ve to keep running to win.
12. Take lessons from your preparation phase
After giving the exam, you may or may not crack it. You may even crack it but not get the branch you wanted. But the time and effort that went into preparing you for IIT JEE isn’t a waste! The ability to stay focused, determined and the quality of hard work all teach you valuable life lessons. Lessons that will prepare you for the biggest exam-your life!
13. Failing is not the end of the world
India is the land of some of the best colleges with the biggest variety of courses. IITs, NITs, and BITS are just a few of the many great colleges that India has to offer.Though you may dream of getting into IIT, failing to do so isn’t the end of the world. Your life does not end there and neither do the opportunities for success end there.
The above mentioned 13 mistakes will hopefully help you understand everything you must do to crack the exam and the things you should avoid at any cost. During this difficult yet fulfilling journey to IIT JEE, you are bound to make mistakes. But as long as you learn from them and don’t stop trying, you can always come out on top!
So work hard, give it your best short and come out as a winner! And if you don’t, don’t feel disheartened.
Check JEE Mains 2018 Result and Answer key Here