Its all in the mind. Review on Successful Preparation for IIT JEE

Before anything, answer one question very honestly,not to me but to yourself, Are you sure you want to do this ?

I can see a lots of eyebrows arching. Yeah, we all do think or shall I say like to project we are good and couple it with the pride factor involved, lots of misinformed students choose the wrong option when they have to make a choice.

Guess why 147,000 jee aspirants remain aspirants every year.Agreed that a lots of them could have done it with better preparation/luck, but make a conservative estimate , how many?

Does make you wonder why waste your time when you can do much better in a field closer to your heart, not pride.

So the point of the whole discussion is that at the time when you have to make a choice be a bit realistic. Assess yourself properly(self analysis plz) , look deep and hard inside yourself and your capabilities and say, yes I can do it and get down to business.

How to do it?

I have seen both the sides, being unsuccessful in jee and then being successful. So perhaps I can give a more detailed account of the sure shot methods. I attribute all my success to my great teachers and perhaps most of the matter in this piece must have originated in their mouths.

The most factor is how you control your mind. Its very easy to get the list of inf amount of books and bury yourself in it, if you are a strong believer of this approach you can very conviniently leave this article at this point.

The following is what I was told and did, lets hope it works for you too.

Start Early

One of the most vital things about successful jee preparations is the ''Early lead factor''. Start as early as possible.Get the most basic point right at this stage itself,it is a rat race and what better than gaining a lead when all others are still sleeping.

• All that clutters is rubbish

Lets take the simple path. Remove the pile of heavy books make sure they gather enough dust until you are sure that the world has finally ended. Select a time tested single reliable source and trust it until you get enough reasons not to. See, it is tempting and fashionable to take the fancy names among your peers but again think hard, what purpose does it serve?

• Set you priorities right

I love watching the great time waster called cricket. I love chatting on telephone, I love attending 10 -15 day long marriage functions...hold on please. I told you, set your priorities in a clear well defined hierarchy. Occasional departures are most welcome, take care it doesn't become regular enough. Remember you immediate goal.

• Planning has to be FOOLPROOF

Spend hours, days or even a month, but get this one 100% right.

It falters you falter. Take into care all the factors and constraints that you might encounter, and again be aware of what you can and cannot do. Can't elaborate much as it is highly situation specific. In general a plan which gives you enough buffer time and is made taking into account your strengths/weaknesses and the current trends, is the best.

Study, revise,revise,revise.....relax

Revise to the extent of feeling the taste of it in you blood. Don't forget relaxation.Yeah set your priorities about the topics as well.

Go for the real thing

Actual exam situation practice tests are an absolute necessity. Spend some money please. Do avoid the kinds which in the name of their reputation of being ''tough'', become outrageous. See the jee pattern, its getting simpler and simpler. You just need to get your fundamentals right.So why go for solving draconian problems. The idea is you have to attain maximum accuracy and conversion rate,i.e. you develop an eye to select the doable questions as quickly as possible from the question papers and once into it, do it correctly. An intelligent testseries helps you do this.

Simplicity Rules

This is the toughest part.Developing a mindset which is trained to take the simple route,always,is a tough job. Once done,the battle is won.Lots of factors affect it. Right from the kind of guidance you have, kind of study circle, kind of books you follow....Just be aware always that every problem has a simple solution, if it doesn't have then chances are that you won't be able to solve it in those 3 pressure hours.

The Art of Relaxation

Needs to practised anywhere and everywhere. You need to relax to bring out the best...even inside those 3 hours. Meditation techniques and regular counselling with someone you trust goes a long long way.

IS coaching necessary?

You might be wondering why i'm talking about this so late, because this is how I feel. It is a personal choiceand a risky one too. Get in good hands and you don't have to worry,else god help you. Hence for once do go by the teacher/institute's reputation.

Hope what I have compiled does help you

Best of luck