Preparation Strategy for JEE (Main) and JEE (Advanced) 2020 as per new exam dates

When HRD Ministry announced that JEE (Main) and JEE (Advanced) examinations were postponed, what was the first question that came to mind?

The computer-based multi-session JEE (Main) examinations will be held from September 1 to September 6, while the JEE (Advanced) will be held on September 27, 2020.

We know that it’s the second time your JEE Examinations have been postponed, and the examinations’ rescheduling would have taken a huge toll on you. And you might be eager to find an answer to the question of the hour – “What would be the most effective strategy for JEE now”?

So on July 7 2020, Allen’s Expert Panel was set up to answer every JEE Aspirant through a live Guidance Session. The panel comprised of  Neel Mani Srivastava Sir (JEE Physics), Sachin Singh Sir (JEE Physics), Sonal Rajora Sir (JEE Chemistry) and Vikas Tiwari Sir (JEE Maths).

This Blog is a summary of the discussions that took place during the session. It will address all your concerns and in the end, you will leave with an effective plan to ace the JEE Examination. Let’s get started!

You have been preparing for the Holy Grail of engineering entrance exam- JEE for years now. But with the JEE exam dates continuously changing and the prevailing situation of the pandemic, it might be mentally exhausting to register all the updates while maintaining a study-life balance at the same time. Let’s look at it this way, you have been running in a marathon and you were close to cross the finishing line, and abruptly the finishing line was extended. Your muscles are cramped, your heart is beating too fast, and the race seems never-ending. Doesn’t it seem like a nightmare?

This is exactly, what is happening right now. You are in a dilemma, your parents are in a perpetual state of anxiousness, the Covid-19 pandemic has turned everything upside down. We know that you were prepared to fight the exam and was hoping for it to be over. But let’s look at the silver lining, now you have all this time in your hand, you can reboot your preparations and refresh your study schedule. It’s time to improvise your preparation strategy.

Being optimistic and having a sorted study schedule in your hand will help you achieve new milestones in life.

A rejuvenating break is all it takes!

(An adequate break ultimately strengthens the brain)
It would be best if you took a rejuvenating and self-motivating break from the current pattern of preparations that you are following. This break has to be very smartly planned so that at the end of the break, you are energized, focused, and redirected towards your goal.
You need to take a “5-Days Break”. It will help you approach the upcoming challenges in a calm and collected manner. Although it may seem like a waste of precious time, but trust us, you need to take this break. Start the break from today onwards and stretch it till July 12 2020.

Your mind needs to unwind and recharge once in a while. And it needs time to recover after a stressful and overwhelming situation to make gains. We would like to call it a “Smart Break”, as it will allow you to discover an effective plan for your future preparations.

JEE is not just an exam that tests your knowledge in Physics, Maths, and Chemistry. It also checks your temperament and how well you can solve the problems under real-time pressure. It checks your mental strength in addition to your subject knowledge.
So from this very moment, you need to calm your brain’s muscles and drain all the fatigue. We suggest that you stop doing any assignments or try to solve new questions or learn a new topic until July 12. Stop multitasking and try having a laid-back time.

Here’s a list of things that might help you make the most out of this break:

• Spend time with your family and loved ones

  Spending quality time with family helps in coping with challenges, instills a feeling of security, fills you with confidence, and reduces stress. So talk to your family, play some indoor games, or watch a movie together.

• Put on your shoes and go for a walk

  Going outside to get some fresh air is great for students. After a tiring study session, spending some time outside can help perk you up again. Even if it’s just a few kilometers in the neighborhood. But only leave your house if it’s safe.

• Don’t overthink and stay away from negativity
  

  The news nowadays is basically about the outbreak of coronavirus and the misfortunes due to that. We suggest you should stay away from such updates. Just watch authentic and relevant news related to your exams and academic updates. Do not get influenced by people, who tend to spread negativity and hopelessness.

• Conduct Self-Analysis/ SWOT Analysis

  Self-Analysis is essential, you should honestly assess your strengths and areas that need further development. Ensure that your self-analysis focuses on how much you have achieved and which subjects and topics need more of your focus. Find the questions that consume the most time while solving, find out your trouble areas in each subject, and then discover a way to work on them. Also, make a plan on how you will be coving the syllabus in the remaining days.
  This way, you will be well prepared when the break ends, and you’ll be able to resume back to your studies swiftly.

• Try some yoga asanas or quietly meditate

  Meditation is a fantastic way to clear your head. And meditation will do more than just help you focus on your studies – it can reduce anxiety, lower stress levels, and fight depression. During this break, you can also reconnect with your hobbies.

After the break, you will be left with around 45 days before your JEE examination. You would have already done the SWOT Analysis during the break (SWOT, an acronym from strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). So you will know which topic will take more time and which one just needs a thorough revision.

Now you have to divide the remaining 45 days in two parts.

• First Part (Peace Time): 30 Days
• Second Part (War Time): 15 Days
  (Both the parts have different strategies)

The Plan for Peace Time: 30 Days

This is the time for learning, for building a strong foundation to fight your examination.
There are approximately 25 topics in all three subjects. And studying all these 25 topics in one go may sound like a tedious task. You need to divide these 25 topics into six segments and cover each segment in a span of 5 days. Study for four days and keep the fifth day as a buffer day, so that the back lag of the segment you are studying can be covered in that buffer day. Buffer Day is very important in achieving the goals that you have established for a set time frame.

The Plan for War Time: 15 Days

In the next 15 days give ‘Combined Tests’ for all the subjects. Try giving a ‘Full Syllabus Test’ on every alternate day and conduct an analysis for each test that you give. Remember, during this time do not try to learn something new, the only thing that is going to be fruitful during this time is persistence in giving tests and their assessments.
You need a very strong foundation so that you do not collapse. Your theories and concepts should be so strong that you can understand even the trickiest question in the examination. The 30 days: 15 days is a Golden Ratio for every student, if followed precisely then you will definitely succeed. Now let’s talk about the Day-Wise Plan in the first 30 days. It may vary from student to student.

Let’s divide students into two broad categories:
First Category- These students have revised their syllabus at least once.
Second Category- These students still have topics, which they have to work upon.

For the first category of students, they need to brush up on all the concepts. They should follow hour-wise planning and should give time to all the three subjects every day. This way they will train their brain to solve the question paper which will cover all the three subjects.

For the second category of students, who still have to work on some weak topics. They should divide the hours in a day based on their stronger topics and weaker topics. We would suggest, that don’t study theory from a new source. They should trust their class notes and the books that they have been studying since the beginning.

Other Important Tips for JEE Aspirants

• Maintain a ‘Healthy Body Clock’ and fix the ‘Table-Chair Time’

  The most important thing is to schedule proper time for sleep in the last few days before the JEE examination. Sleep plays a very vital role in the normal functioning of your body. And we need sleep to give our body and mind some amount of relaxation before the examination. Fix a bedtime and an awakening time according to your examination time. So, that the body “gets used” to falling asleep at a certain time, and you can wake up reinvigorated.
  The second essential thing, that we strongly recommended that students should be super active and sit on a table and chair and take a test in a slot of 3 hours from 9 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 5 pm. The result of following this routine will be tremendous and you will be highly active and efficient in the examination hall, as you have already trained your body and mind to work efficiently during this time of the day.

• What should you do after giving a test?

  Just attempting a test is not enough, you will have to work on the questions you couldn’t solve and questions which took more time than expected. Write the reasons why you couldn’t solve the questions, write down your mistakes and then work on them.
  As you reach closer to your exam, focus on taking as many tests as possible, and learn from each one of them. Making a mistake in a test is not a bad thing, it’s repeating the mistake, which will lower your chances of scoring better marks. So always remember that analyzing a test is as important as taking a test.

• The Last 4 Days Plan: What you should do and what to avoid

  In the last 4 days, you should pick up your short notes and the list of formulas that you might have prepared or got from your institute. These notes and sheets will be your lifesaver. If in case you do not have short notes, then the best way to make notes is to study a topic ➡then visualize it ➡write it down ➡prepare notes of a topic in max two pages. This way your short notes ready in the first 30 days when you will be studying.

  Solve questions from previous years papers on a hit and trial method. Do not chase the questions, you do not have answers to. And at this time, be optimistic and believe in all the hard work that you have done in the past 2 years.
  Don’t follow the strategic planning of someone else, cause they might be on a different level then you are. Be confident in yourself.

.By following the above simple and effective strategies, you can keep preparing in the most optimal way by and keep the stress at bay. One can never be too much prepared, so enjoy learning.