Compile the study material

Some questions that come to our mind are:

• How much material?
• What IIT JEE courses material should I use?
• Should I study from the school textbook or the one recommended by the tuition teacher?

There is little time to complete one set of textbooks. It is next to impossible to complete two different sets. Keep just one set of text books for studying the theory (concepts, definitions) and basic problems.

The new pattern of IITJEE has brought it much closer to the school syllabus. So, ideally, it should be the textbook recommended as part of your school syllabus. There is very little difference in the theory presented from one textbook to another. After one set of textbooks is completed, students can look at other books as reference.

Similarly, keep just one set of IITJEE course material.

Note: Collecting too much material is a recipe for disaster

After you have chosen the material that is best for you, how do you put it to the best use? There are as many different ways to study, as there are different people. The trick is to find the study style that works best for you.

Read

This is one of the most useful activity. It takes minimum effort and brings maximum result. Students, who are used to studying from coaching notes, tend to avoid reading. This is the single biggest reason for their failure. No coaching notes can replace reading of textbooks.  The information you gain from reading is important. If you just “do it” without learning something, it is a waste of time. Train your mind to learn!

Read the following:

1. Title
2. Core text and examples
3. Introduction and Summary
4. Heading and subheading
5. Graphics – charts, maps, diagrams, etc. are there to make a point – don’t miss them.
6. Reading aids – italics, bold face print, chapter objective, end-of -chapter questions

Understand

You must understand thoroughly the major ideas and concepts presented. Without such a conceptual framework, you will find yourself faced with the impossible task of trying to cram hundreds of isolated facts into your memory.

* Locate and note down the new terms, which are introduced in the chapter.
* Note down statements, definitions, formulas, etc. which you must remember completely and precisely.
* If you are not able to figure out the meaning, then look it up in the glossary or dictionary.
* Study charts and figures. They usually summarize in graphic form the major ideas and facts of the chapter.

Note: It is a good idea to keep a glossary of your own in the front page of the book. Record the terms and their definition or the page number where the definition is located. This is an excellent aid to refer to when you are reviewing for an examination, as it provides a convenient outline of the course.

Ask question
Ask questions and keep trying to answer them as you read the chapters. The more the questions, the better your comprehension is likely to be. You may always add further questions as you proceed. When your mind is actively searching for answers to questions it becomes engaged in learning.

* Write down the key takeaways (learning) from every topic (make notes)
* Write down the questions that you cannot answer?
* Mark sections for clarification wherever necessary
* Review the key takeaways (notes) after completion

Related Topics:

1. Tips for IIT JEE Success #4– Attending lectures and taking notes
2. Tips for IIT JEE Success #2 – Study Hard & Smart
3. Tips for IIT JEE Success # 6 – Manage Your Most Valuable Asset – Time

Math is the study of quantity, structure, space, and change. It is a tool we use to solve real-life problems. So, proficiency in math is measured by our ability to use it to solve difficult problems.

Students who are weak in math, typically, study without writing and practicing with pen and paper. They may be spending a lot of time in reading, remembering or trying to understand the problems.

Mathematics requires us to practice solving problems with pen and paper. Only by attempting problems in various ways do we become proficient in applying the quickest method in the shortest time. So, students who like to study by practising with pen and paper, automatically tend to excel in mathematics.

Physics

Physics is the study of matter and its motion through space-time and all that derives from these, such as energy and force. Physics requires thorough understanding of concepts.

Proficiency in physics is measured by our ability to reconstruct or model the physical world through the various laws it follows, and predict the outcome of a given situation. Application of formula to solve problems requires modeling the problem into solvable mathematical equations. Typically, the mathematics involved in solving the problems is very simple. Most students get stuck in the modeling of the problem. They don’t know the method of applying the formula to arrive at a mathematical model to solve the equation. If one does not understand the problem and application of the formulae, no amount of practice will help. Even if one has a perfect memory of the formula and quantities involved, it would not be possible to solve the problem. Just knowing and remembering the concepts as written in the books may not be enough.

Students who are weak in Physics, do not spend time in reading and understanding the concepts. They may be spending a lot of time in reading, remembering and practicing the problems.

Physics requires reading, thinking, visualizing, integrating and understanding. Students who spend time in reading and understanding concepts, do well in physics.

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science concerned with the composition, behavior, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions. It is the study of various atoms, molecules, crystals and other aggregates of matter whether in isolation or combination, which incorporates the concepts of energy and entropy.

Physical chemistry requires thorough understanding of concepts to solve problems. Inorganic chemistry requires knowledge of properties and reactions. Organic chemistry requires understanding as well as knowledge of the compounds and their reactions. All in all, we find that there is a lot more to learn in chemistry than physics and maths combined.

Students who are weak in chemistry do not read and remember. They may be spending time in trying to understand the system or practicing the problems.

Chemistry requires reading, integrating, learning and revising. Students who spend time in reading and learning naturally do well in chemistry.

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1. Why you find certain subjects more difficult ?
2. 3 key skills – Remembering, Understanding and Practice
3. IIT JEE Study Planner: Minimum recommended time for self study

• Reading and remembering
• Conceptual understanding
• Practice

Every subject requires all three skills.

Reading and memorizing

Whatever we read gets retained in the head as memory. We can recall from our memory when we are needed to do so. It has been observed that we tend to remember better if we have written something ourselves. We are required to reproduce these things at will while solving problems.

We have to learn the formulae. One can understand their source by going through the derivations, wherever possible. However, eventually, what matters is that we know the formula. We can learn/remember all formulae by reading, writing, and revising them again and again. It helps to have a compendium of all formulae.

For example, if we don’t understand the derivation of formulae in mathematics, we won’t be able to apply formulae effectively. However, while solving problems, one does not have the luxury of time to derive it. So, it must be pulled out of our memory instantaneously.

Conceptual understanding

It is critical to understand the conceptual framework of a subject. It is important to understand the flow of the logic in the argument being put by the narrator. The examples and illustrations used should fit well into our understanding. We observe various phenomena around us in everyday life. Physics and chemistry attempt to explain the reason behind these phenomena through various concepts, laws, deductions etc. We should gain a thorough understanding of the system / concept being explained, before attempting to learn any formulae or solve any problems. This can be done, with the help of examples. Apply the concept to different real life situations and predict the outcome. If the understanding is correct, the outcomes predicted will be right. Conceptual, theoretical questions are a great way to check ones learning of concepts.

Practice

After writing down the formulae required and applying the concepts, we still have to solve the mathematical equations. Solving problems is a skill. If there is no limit to the time available, a lot of students may end up solving all the problems in a test. However, the key is to solve maximum number of problems in a given amount of time, which is the duration of the test. The best performer manages to solve maximum number of problems in the given time. This needs practice. In a competition, we don’t want to lose time in experimenting, deriving etc. If we have practiced enough, we would know the exact manner in which a problem can be solved. This saves time in solving a problem and gives s extra time to solve others. Therefore, to score high in a competition, practice is a must.

Related Topics:

1. Different subjects, different skills – how to study Math, Physics and Chemistry
2. Why you find certain subjects more difficult ?
3. Tips for IIT JEE Success #3 – Develop a System- The Ultimate Weapon

Once again, class X only shows hardwork and sincerity and class XI only shows potential. Now i shall point out the difference between class XI level of school and the class XI level of what comes in IITJEE.

The following are some of the questions from class XI school level

and the following is a question that came in IITJEE 2006 (based on class XI).

This one single question in IITJEE requires a mixed understanding of the all the three questions (school level) that I listed. So if the student has the capability to solve the 3 school questions, he might not necessarily have the approach or strategy in his head to mix the three things to solve this single problem. I have seen this ability in very few students. But, I am not saying that these few students were born with this ability. Definitely not. If that was the case, it would have been sheer discrimination and an incorrect way to select students (like the movie ‘gattica’, only the perfect people survive).

This skill of approach and strategy, can be BUILT in the students mind. There are strategies for that which will be listed in my other blogs.

The bottomline is… IITJEE is not a mystery.

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1. Tips for IIT JEE Success #3 – Develop a System- The Ultimate Weapon
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We are taught a lot of things in our school, college, work place and home. But we have never been told about the mind. What it is and how we can use it to our advantage, and when it becomes a evil. I will try to explain as clearly as I can. (Many have tried to explain this same thing and died painful deaths trying to help compulsive thinkers)

The brain has connections to the rest of the body through the spinal chord. Every part of your body is connected to your brain. So you cannot afford to mess around with your brain, can you?? If the wrong signals are sent, you do not know where those signals will eventually land up, and what they might convey to that part of your body. But what does the brain produce?? Nothing but ‘Thoughts’. Just like the bone marrows produces Red Blood Cells. Its just keeps producing thoughts. Thats its job. But now just wait a moment and analyze the difference between the bone marrow and your brain. Both were given to you as part of a self-driven programmed mechanism called ’save this guy… help him live’. The machinery of both was programmed in the DNA of every cell in your body. So thats what they keep doing.

But haven’t you ever noticed that you definitely have some ‘CONTROL’ over your thoughts. But you do not seem to have any control whatsoever on your bone marrow. That control is the ‘YOU’. You are not your hands, legs, brain, body. The ‘YOU’ is that control ’sometimes’ exercised. This control sometimes even appears in the form of ‘ATTENTION’ while reading a book, watching television, listening to someone speak. It can even be the ‘CONCENTRATION’ thats needed often while studying. You are simply this attention, this control, this knowing, this observer. Once you have got this, then only you will understand the next para.

Now that you have got your ‘ATTENTION’, whenever you have a thought like ‘I do not feel like’, or “I feel sleepy’, or ‘I am a loser’, or ‘I cannot…’, then just start to observe your thoughts. Simply observe without any prejudice or judgment. JUST WATCH your thoughts… if you do this the right way, your thoughts will not survive your attention. They will die/vanish.

Related Topics:

1. “I do not feel like studying… please tell me how i can concentrate” – I
2. 3 key skills – Remembering, Understanding and Practice
3. Is coaching essential?

(a). The psychological help: The thing that separates the two ‘helps’ is that this one has at least some acceptance. Almost no one likes to hear ’spiritual lectures’.

You have to know the following sequence -
Thoughts -> Words -> Actions -> Behavior -> Habit -> Personality -> ‘Who you are’

So in a way, we are saying that what you have thought of, will eventually become ‘who you are’. There are just some steps involved in the process that I have written down above. Hence, when you say ‘I do not feel like doing something’, then you are already in stage 2 of the process of becoming ‘who I really am’. Which means you have already thought that ‘I do not feel like it’. Meaning that ‘I have actually made up my mind. And you just listen to what I have committed to myself in my mind, which is, that I do not feel like it’. Well, in this case I really cant do much to help you, can I. Nor can you yourself do anything about it. I hope you got what I am trying to say here.

I am not trying to play with words here. Just trying to help you out a little, to make you realize that your just saying something starts to put shape to what you want to become. The moment you say ‘I feel tired’, you begin to become tired (I mean how can you become tired when you have not moved too much of your body the whole day, and have just been thinking and solving problems). I know so many students who say they get tired by studying. How can you?? How can your muscles get tired or be out of oxygen, when all you were using was your brain?? So in reality, when you said ‘I feel tired’, you wanted to quit doing whatever you were doing, because now you have got ‘bored’ of doing that thing.

But not that you have said that ‘I feel tired’, you will begin to get yawns, your muscles will begin to ache a little and you might want to lie down, or even sleep. “Your body will do what you want it to do”.

Has your brain or your body ever “disobeyed” you?? They just cannot. They are not programmed that way. Then how are they? Well, they will always help you and follow your instructions. ALWAYS. So you will ask, ‘But even when there is exam tomorrow, I feel sleepy, so my brain is not helping me!!’. I will then tell you that you yourself have told your brain to feel sleepy. It is you who thinks!! Its not your brain that thinks. Your brain is what you use to think. Let me explain… does your hand move on its own? Or do you make it move? In the same, how can your brain do anything on its own. It looks like its functioning on its own, but in reality it is you who is asking it to do this, or that.

‘So what do we do if we cannot really control our brain like we can control our hands and legs? What if we just keep thinking compulsively. Thoughts just come in and we do not have a way to close the door?’ … Try N.L.P. (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Read about it in the book ‘Unlimited Power’ by Anthony Robbins.

This is one of the things that I do… I visualize situations in my head. Suppose that I have a big headache. I will create an image in my head of all the bad, red, hot, angry, negative things in my head and collect them all in a box. I then start shrinking the box in size, and imagine complete peace and blackness outside the box as it shrinks. The peace increases in size and the box reduces in size progressively, till it disappears.I keep doing this again and again for 5 minutes. And the headache goes away. This simple technique actually works every time in all situations. So you could be in a situation where you are feeling lazy, and all you have to do is close your eyes and imagine a situation in which you have been selected in IIT. You have secured a rank of 340 and have just gone for counseling in IIT-Delhi. And you have been awarded the stream of your choice, ‘Computer Engineering’. And you are so happy and enthusiastic with joy that you have never been in life … Just imagining this situation is enough.  The next time you feel lazy, imagine a similar situation, but cook up a different future story, otherwise you will start feeling bored of the same old story.

Related Topics:

1. “I do not feel like studying… please tell me how i can concentrate” – II
2. Tips for IIT JEE Success #1 – Motivation
3. Is coaching essential?

“Overall, 11555 out of 12676 students exercised their choices online and not a single complaint of misuse has been received,” said Director of IIT Madras Prof M S Ananth.

The online counselling is being held for the first time this year for IITs, BHU and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad and concerns have been expressed by some sections of the IIT faculty over its possible misuse.

Every step of the counselling process has been made completely secure, he said adding, even the acceptance letter containing allotment of seats can be generated only once.

He said wrong entries or falsely generated acceptance letters can be rectified by verification by one of the IIT-JEE offices.

During the counselling process, the successful student enters name, registration number, date of birth, all India rank and a random number which is printed only on his or her admit card. After this five-parameter authentication, a login ID is created for each student and the student enters the password, Ananth said.

This can be used for multiple logins. Most of the general category candidates who qualified for counselling through JEE used this secure authenticated online facility to submit his or her course and institute choices, Ananth said. This step has been successfully completed and not a single complaint has been received of misuse, he said.

The Joint Implementation Committee then allocates the course and institute for each candidate based on the choices filled. The results of this exercise were published through JEE websites on June 28, 2010, he said.

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