Preparing for JEE Main Session 2 can be quite daunting due to limited time combined with high expectations, avoiding common mistakes during this critical period can greatly impact your performance. Most students tend to study harder, but what really counts now is how to study smarter.
One of the major mistakes that students commonly make is starting new last minute topics. Given that there is only a few days left until the exam date, attempting to learn all new material can result in stress and confusion. Thus, this is an opportunity for you to reinforce the material that you have previously learned. Concentrate your efforts on reviewing main concepts, formulas, and commonly asked topics. Accuracy and clarity should be your foremost goals at this stage rather than new learning experiences or expanding the volume of the material being covered.
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Another frequent mistake is failing to revise. Many aspirants continue to solve new questions but fail to go back and revise the materials they have previously studied. Concepts can go out of your head quickly without revising them, which results in more mistakes. A structured revision schedule, covering physics formulas, chemistry reactions, and maths concepts every day, will keep everything in your brain up to date.
Students also often underestimate the value of taking mock tests. Some avoid taking mocks due to the fear of poorly performing, and others take them lightly without doing an analysis. Both approaches are detrimental. Mock tests can help mimic the real exam environment and improve time management. Analysing your errors after each mock test can help you to see your weak areas and avoid repeating those errors.
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A critical factor that many students face is ineffective time management during their preparation phase. For instance, students often devote too much time to one subject and not enough time to the other subjects which creates an imbalance in their preparation. Therefore, it is important to devote an equal amount of time to physics, chemistry and mathematics when preparing for JEE Main. You should break down the time you have available and ensure that you are covering all three subjects evenly throughout your preparation period, even if you do not have much time available to study each subject in-depth.
Many students think that if they spend all of their time focusing on the harder problems they will be able to achieve better results than if they attempted the easier/medium problems as well. Although difficult problems are important, if you do not spend time working on the medium problems as well you may end up with less total points at JEE Main as a result. Historically, JEE Main consists of a mixture of easy/medium/difficult questions, with scoring well being heavily dependent on solving the easy questions quickly and accurately.
Another common mistake that is made by a large number of students is not giving enough time for the study of NCERT when studying for JEE Main,especially in chemistry. A significant portion of the chemistry portion of the JEE Main paper is made up of material that is either directly or indirectly tested with respect to NCERT. Therefore, if you do not study NCERT you will likely end as a result of losing a large number of marks. Remember to read through NCERT and study carefully, especially for Inorganic Chemistry which requires a line-by-line reading of the text.
During this stage, health is usually neglected, which can lead to diminished performance. Sleep deprivation, eating at irregular times, having too much stress, and having too little concentration and efficiency, all of these factors affect productivity and mental sharpness. If you have a good routine, sleep enough, and take short breaks, your productivity will increase, and your brain will be kept sharp.
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Another common mistake is to compare yourself to others when preparing for your test. This leads to self-doubt and anxiety. Each student has a different speed and methodology for studying, therefore it is best to keep your focus on yourself and your achievements. Having confidence in yourself will help you do a better job on an exam, especially if it is a competitive exam, such as the JEE.
A final day without a clear strategy could end up hurting your performance. Many students take the JEE without knowing the sequence in which they will go through each section, or how they will utilize their time throughout the test. Therefore, in order to identify the one that works best for you, you need to test out different strategies in your mock tests.
In the days leading up to JEE Main Session 2, the focus should be on minimising your mistakes as opposed to maximising your efforts. Continue to be consistent, continue to review your materials, continue to practice your skills in an intelligent way, and maintain a calm mind. By working to minimize the above mistakes, you can improve your performance level and get an excellent score!
The author is founder and CEO at Shiksha Nation
