5 Effective steps to crack the IIT entrance exams

An estimated 14 lakh engineering aspirants appear for the coveted IIT Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) every year, with only a fraction of those getting accepted for the 9885 seats on offer. The Indian Institute of Technology, India’s most elite engineering college, with currently 17 branches across India are also the toughest to get into, given that the JEE is also one of the toughest entrance exams for a professional degree course. And, like there are no free lunches, similarly, there really are no shortcuts to achieving that ‘sought-after’ position in one of the IIT courses. Hard work and hard work alone will help you climb this steep hill. However, there always is a strategy to achieving a tough target, and here we share with you the most effective strategy to crack one of the toughest entrance exams in the country. The 5 Ps to cracking the IIT JEE-

·Practice for Perfection
Like I said before, there is no substitute to hard work. Begin your preparation at least 6 months before the date of the exams. Set yourself daily targets and work towards achieving those targets. Whatever target you set yourself, ensure that you pursue it completely, and not half-heartedly. Take regular mock tests, and then do a thorough analysis of your performance in those mock tests. This will help you know the areas that need more practice. More practice will ensure you achieve perfection in these areas. There is no such thing as striking ‘luck’. Amongst the lakhs that appear for the JEE, only the ones who have practiced the most reach their destination. Focus and discipline are the only virtues that will help you in the long run, even intelligence will take a back seat when it comes to acing the grueling JEE.

·Planning
Just like practicing, planning is another important trait of candidates who have cracked the IIT JEE. Plan your whole month in advance, and then break it down further, week-wise and then day-wise. Make sure that you follow your daily plans to the ‘T’. Never deviate. Like the saying goes, ‘Tomorrow never comes’, ensure that you leave no work pending. However, and importantly so, keep your Sundays free, so finish all your work by Saturday. Even while setting your daily plans, see to it that you set yourself ‘achievable’ targets, not daunting ones. For instance, set yourself an hourly target. Like the saying goes, ‘early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’, it actually is 100% true. Keep a tab on every hour of your day while preparing.

·Persistence
Don’t give up easily. Just like practicing and planning, persistence is equally important. The first two won’t have any impact unless you keep at it. Whenever you get stuck, keep practicing till you get it right. Don’t ask for help instantly. Try to solve it first on your own. This will give you confidence in your own capabilities. It doesn’t matter if it takes you time, a day, two days, a week to solve a problem. But the satisfaction and confidence you will earn out of solving it all by yourself is unparalleled. This exercise will also ensure you never get stuck at the same place ever again!

·Play:
While working hard, never forget to take some time out for yourself. Even your brain needs the time to process the information you have fed it over the week. That’s why I have said earlier, keep your Sundays free. This should be the day you indulge in recreational activities. Go for a movie, listen to music, meet with friends, play a game of cricket, go out to your favourite restaurant, or just sleep. Do whatever you feel like doing, just stay away from those books! This will help break the monotonous cycle of studying continuously, de-stress you and give your brain the much needed ‘breather’. This will in-turn increase your efficiency, simply because you will be rested, happy to get back to practicing and your brain will also process information faster. Remember that stress always reduces efficiency.

·Patience:
Last but not the least is patience. Remember while taking your exams, you must be patient. Never panic. Even a slight deviation into ‘panic mode’ can ruin your entire test. Do not invest emotionally into any question in the test. The penultimate objective has to be scoring maximum marks’. So devise a strategy of dealing with each part in the exam, even as you practice during your mock tests. Remember that mock tests are always designed in the manner of a real JEE, so, there will always be a level of familiarity with the way the questions appear in the test. Someone who has practiced enough will automatically know which portions to solve first and which to tackle later, and that strategy will be the differentiator between the winner and the loser!

So, everyone who’s taking the test this year, write your test like your life depends on it! And don’t fret! Because as I said in the beginning, if you’ve done your homework right, it’s time to let magic happen on the answer sheets!

(Rahul Khandelwal, is a former IIT Delhi student, and the Founder & CEO of Unlearn Formulae, a unique startup that looks to creating a revolution in India’s education system by wiping away the stigma and fear attached to ‘Math’ as a subject. You can visit them here http://www.unlearnformulae.net/)