JEE Main is the largest entrance exam in India. Scoring high enough can open the doors to some of the most esteemed engineering colleges in India, including the IITs and NITs. Cracking the JEE Main exam can be the first step towards a rewarding career and a prosperous life.

As the dates for registration for the JEE Main January 2020 is inching forward, students and parents are juggling several questions and doubts. “How to get into the dream college,” “is studying from NCERT books enough,” “is practicing MCQ-type questions from reference books enough” – these questions keep coming up while students prepare for the JEE entrance exams.

In reality, you need to have a timetable, scheduled practice sessions, solve mock tests and attend specialized JEE coaching classes. Acing the JEE entrance takes a lot of hard work, self-study, preparatory work, and smart time management. It is easier said than done. You need expert guidance and tips to ace your JEE exam.

Remember: each subject needs a different approach

The way you learn chemistry may not be equally effective for mastering physics or mathematics. Organic chemistry and biomolecules require quite a bit of memorization. However, acing mathematics and physics does not depend on memorizing problems. Apart from remembering a few formulae, there isn’t much you need to learn by heart from your mathematics lessons or physics textbooks.

Mathematics and physics demand advanced problem-solving approach. You can hone that by constant practice. The difficulty level of the problems you are tackling every day will determine your preparedness for the JEE Main. While covering the math and physics syllabi, it is never enough to go through the NCERT textbooks only. On the other hand, you can rely on the NCERT textbook by the line for learning everything about the reactions, reaction mechanisms, and structures of compounds.

Here are the 7 expert tips that can help you score higher marks in your JEE Main –

Construct a practical study plan

All study plans involve jotting down the complete syllabus of classes 11 and 12. You need to make a list of the number of chapters, the test papers, and mock tests. Self-study and self-analysis should always feature within the timetable. Without self-analysis, it is impossible to understand how far you have progressed.

Stick to time-tested reference books for theory

In spite of the change in the format of the test, the experts’ preferences for the time-tested reference books have not changed. NCERT books are ideal for building a sound concept of the theories. The language is simple, but the problems are not too advanced. For acquiring advanced problem-solving skills, you should check out at least one reference book for each subject. However, for preparing for the JEE Main, you should opt for advanced mock tests from reputed sources only. Click here to know more.

Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses

It is alright to make mistakes while you are learning the concepts. It is much better to learn about your strengths and weaknesses before than finding out about them during the test. It is important to learn from your mistakes, and the only way you can do that is by revising, solving test papers and practicing new problems every day.

Perfect your MCQ approach

Since the exam went online, many have tried to find the perfect approach to solve the MCQ questions. There are several circulating theories about how to optimize the time and solve maximum questions correctly. Our approach is quite simple –

You will have 180 minutes to solve 90 questions.

90 questions can be divided into three categories – easy, moderately difficult and difficult.

The easy questions should not take longer than 1.5 minutes, and the problems of intermediate difficulty should not take longer than 3 minutes.

Saving around half a minute per question will allow you to devote more time to the difficult ones.

Attempting 5-6 questions correctly from the difficult section can fetch you around 20-24 marks.

Omitting questions, you are unsure about can save you from negative marketing.

Gaining even 20-24 marks extra can improve your rank by hundreds or thousands depending on the general performance of the other students.

Practice questions from the previous JEE Main tests

You can find the JEE Main question papers from all years online. It is important to pay attention to the question types, frequency of questions from each topic and analysing the difficulty of questions for each year’s paper. Since the JEE Main will be held twice in 2020, once in January and once in April, you will benefit from following the pattern of problems that feature in each examination paper.

Apart from attempting the questions from the previous year’s papers, you need to analyse your performance by comparing your answers to the published answer sheet. According to the JEE experts, analysing the last 10-years’ questions papers from all three subjects will reveal a distinct pattern across the 90 questions.

Method of elimination

Solving the JEE Main MCQ-based question papers is simple – every question has four options, and only ONE of them is the right one. Finding the right answer will give you four marks. Practicing on real JEE Main question papers from the previous years and analysing the previous years’ JEE main answer key online, always help students grasp the difficulty level. 

When you are attempting to solve MCQs from test papers and mock test papers, you must remember the principle of elimination. The JEE Advanced has questions with MCQ options that have more than one correct answer. Therefore, instead of struggling to find the right answer, you need to find the wrong ones. It will help you eliminate the incorrect ones.