January 15, 2015

Strategy for IIT JEE Preparation

- By Ganesh Kumar , B.Tech. ,IIT Kanpur

The Examination for selection into the prestigious IITs is

considered one of the toughest entrance examinations in the
world. The success in this examination requires not only
consistent hard work for 2 years , but also smart work in right
direction based upon correct strategy. In this article, I would
discuss the strategy , successful implementation of which, may
considerably improve your chances of selection in this test . At
the outset, let me clarify that there is no single strategy which
can suit the style and competency level of each and every
student . Nevertheless , this article will highlight some of the key
points which have been found common in the preparation
strategies of most of the successful students , including mine. I
qualified for IIT JEE , in 1995 , with All India Rank 304 , in my
first attempt , without any coaching .

Process of Exam -

Since 2013, selection for IIT is through

a 2- stage exam process . In first stage , around 13 lakh students

sit for JEE Main ( conducted by CBSE ) . Around 1.5 lakh top
students of this exam are qualified to sit for JEE Advanced exam
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( conducted by the IITs ) . Both the exams , Main and Advanced

have questions in objective format . The JEE Advanced consist
of 2 papers of 3 hours duration each , both paper carrying 180
marks each. Each paper has 20 questions each from Maths,
Physics and Chemistry . Each question is of 3 marks . Some
questions carry negative marks also. So in JEE Advanced the
maximum marks are 360 ( including both the papers ) .
Since 2013 , IITs are following policy of fixed cut
offs, which is 35% of total marks and 10% marks in each
individual subject ( for General category ). It means anybody
who gets minimum 126 marks in total and minimum 12 marks
in each subject , will find his name in Combined Merit List of
JEE Advanced . In 2014 , the last rank was 19416 , but the total
number of students in list was 27,152. This was because at each
rank, the students having same total marks and same marks in
individual subjects are clubbed together. There are around 9000
seats in all the IITs , therefore even if your name is included in
combined merit list , there are 2/3 chances that you may not get
admission into IIT. Apart from this , another criteria required for
admission into IIT is that the applicant should be either in the
top 20 percentile of his board or should have scored more than
75 % marks in best of 5 subjects in class 12 Board Exams .

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Strategy for study 1.

A common question by students is how many hours should

they study. Though there is no fixed answer to it, 8-10
hours of consistent study should be sufficient. More than
the quantity of hours, quality of hours studied is important.
One should target that by November - December his/her
syllabus should be over, so that sufficient time can be
devoted for practice of test series and for the final
preparation of board exams in February - March .

2.

Another confusion common among students is, whether

they should study for CBSE ( board exam ) or for IIT,
whether they should study theory or do more numericals
etc. In physics, there is no option of, either/or, between
theory or practising numericals. Both should be done
simultaneously. Syllabus for most of the boards and IIT are
very similar, if not same, so preparation for both can be
done simultaneously ( until and unless you are one of those
students who have decided to skip and take a gap of one
year after class 12 and then appear for IIT ). In CBSE
board Exams as well as some other Boards, answer writing
skills also matter, as there are subjective questions. But, this
skill can be practiced and improved, simultaneously with
preparation of IIT JEE. Anyway, with amendment of
selection criteria in 2014, students need to be either in top
20 percentile or get 75% marks in Boards, so one should
not worry too much about Boards.
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3.

While studying or solving problems, don't concentrate on

only getting the right answer. In subjects such as Maths and
Physics, the route to destination is equally important as the
destination i.e. the method to solve the problem is as
important as the correct answer. You should concentrate
and learn the concepts underlying each and every question,
rather than rushing to find the correct answer. Remember,
you can get the right answer even by wrong method or by
taking unjustified assumptions . It may work once or twice,
but not always .

4.

You need to know more than the correct way(s) to solve a

problem; you also need to be familiar with many incorrect
ways of doing it. Otherwise, in Exams, when you see a new
problem, there may be a number of correct-looking
approaches to take, and you won't be able to immediately
weed out the wrong ones. Struggling a bit with a problem
may often lead you down some wrong paths, and this is an
essential part of learning. Better to struggle for 4 hours in
your home, than to struggle for even 15 minutes during
Exams.

5.

To understand the concepts in Maths and Physics, you not

only have to know what's right about the right things; but
also to know what's wrong about the wrong things.
Learning takes a serious amount of effort, many wrong
turns, and a lot of sweat. There are no short-cuts to
understanding Maths and Physics .



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Books for study Maths -

In Maths, practicing problems is of utmost

importance. There are many books available in the market, such

as those of TMH or Arihant Publishers, or by K C Sinha, or by
Das Gupta and Prasad, which have a vast collection of
problems. The exercises in most of these books are of similar
nature and of similar level. One can also rely upon the study
material of various coaching institutes as they also have similar
exercises.

Physics 1.

Resnick and Halliday - This is an old classic since ages.

Some students find its language too difficult , but I think the
concepts are well explained. Over the years, the language
of this book has been considerably simplified . The present
version of the book is a highly simplified version of the
original, which used to come in 2 volumes during the
1990's, and had tough problems .

2.

H C Verma - This is another standard book with lots of

good exercises. But some students find this also too difficult,
but I think the level of difficulty of this book is just right for
IIT JEE.

3.

Irodov
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4.

Krotov
- These 2 books have a vast collection of tough
problems, so one should be very selective in solving these
problems.

In recent years , the questions asked in Physics paper are

considerably simpler than those asked in previous years . But
even then , One should not completely neglect a tough problem
or a problem which has a novel solution or uses a new concept.
The solution of a tough problem , consists of 3-4 or more steps ,
each step of the problem can be asked as an independent
problem in IIT exam .
Never ever waste your time on cheap books like, objective
Physics or objective Maths by so and so author. Although,
questions in JEE are of objective type , but the solution of each
question is very much like that of a subjective question.
Therefore, the nomenclature objective question is a misnomer
and misleading one. So, don't harm your concept building
process and waste your time by reading books which have just
objective questions .
Generally , students find Maths paper tougher than the paper of
other two subjects. Even the IIT examination board recognizes
and accepts this, because for the purpose of tie-breaking, if
more than one students have same marks, then the student
getting higher marks in Maths is given higher rank . If marks in
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Maths are same, then the student getting higher marks in Physics
is given higher rank . Therefore it will not be an unwise decision
to practice lots of Maths problems, because in Maths, the papersetter has endless opportunity to ask problems of different types
and of different levels of difficulty .

Strategy and Tips during Exam day 1.

Four friends are lost in a jungle. Suddenly they hear roar of

a lion . One friend starts tying his shoe laces . When others
ask the reason , he replies so that he can run fast . " Do you
think you can run faster than the Lion " , asked his friends.
" Who has to run faster than the lion , I only have to run
faster than you three ", replied the man. The situation of
an IIT aspirant is exactly the same. Don't try to beat the
lion and waste your time by struggling with a tough/ tricky
problem for long . Remember , till now no one has scored
more than 95 % marks in JEE . In 2014 , the topper got
334 out of maximum 360 . Only 26 students got more than
300 marks, and to be in top 100, you just needed 278
marks. So don't make it a matter of pride to solve a tough
problem. You can optimally utilize this time to solve other
problems .

2.

In cricket World Cup, suppose India loses easy matches

against weak teams like Kenya , Canada . Then in order to
be even in reckoning to qualify for semi-finals , India will
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have to win all matches against tough teams like Australia,

South Africa . Similarly in exam, the different problems are
of different levels of difficulty. Thus you can afford to miss
on a tough problem, because others are also more likely to
miss it than to solve it. But you can't afford to make mistake
in easy problems, because then you will be pushed below
the average performer, and it will be difficult to make up for
this loss .
3.

While preparation, when you try to do an exercise from a

given chapter, the very location of it tells you what methods
should be used to solve the problem . But in an exam , there
is no such hint. It is for you to first figure out which area
they belong to and then what methods are likely to give the
solution. After the problem is correctly diagnosed and the
method decided upon, rest is very easy simple computation.
And as in medical practice, correct diagnosis is half the
solution.

4.

Give a try to as many approaches as you can think of,

without spending too much time on any particular one
( except when one approach is quickly leading to solution ) .
Do not neglect the straight forward approach. It is a
common misconception that every problem has some catch
to it. Many problems don't have any catch or trick involved.

5.

If none of the approaches you can think of appears likely

to succeed , see if you can modify any one of them or can
think of a new one. If you can do so quickly, well and good.
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Otherwise you are probably missing a key idea and merely

trying the same thing in different ways. In such cases, leave
the problem temporarily and return to it later with a fresh
mind.
6.

In objective questions, some tricks such as checking the

limiting case, or checking the options given for some
particular values of variable etc, can be used to eliminate
some of the wrong options. If the question carries no
negative marks and you are running short of time, using
this approach , you can randomly tick the options left after
elimination.

Many of these strategies and tricks to successfully counter

objective type questions will be discussed in detail in my
subsequent articles . But it is worth mentioning , that you should
not rely too much on short-cuts and tricks. Of late, IIT papersetters have started giving numerical values to variables, specially
in Physics paper, and the options are also numbers rather than
algebraic expressions. In such questions many of the short-cuts
and tricks are useless. Remember these short-cuts and tricks are
like unorthodox batting shots used in slog overs of one day
cricket or 20-20 match . They are no substitute to the technically
correct shots required in Test Matches . And IIT JEE Advanced
Exam, is a Test Match , although it is played on a single day .

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Best of luck for your exam and happy preparation for it . In case
of any queries feel free to contact .
Contact me at google.com/+GaneshKumarIIT

www.facebook.com/ganeshiitk
Email

ganeshiitk@gmail.com

Contact author at google.com/+GaneshKumarIIT

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