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IIT - JEE

Every year, around 2.5 lakh students appear for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). Among them, only about 5000 students are selected.

The format of the exam

The IIT-JEE is one of the most competitive exams in the country. The test follows no fixed format. An analysis of the last three year’s question papers shows that there were two separate papers of three hour duration. Both Paper 1 and Paper 2 included sections on chemistry, physics and mathematics. The questions are of the senior-secondary academic level.

How to score in mathematics

The section on mathematics includes simple, stereotypical questions as well as challenging and complex problems. You should be able to solve them both. Before beginning to solve a problem, identify what exactly needs to be answered. Drawing a sketch or diagram from the given data and writing the appropriate symbols and equations will help you in solving the problem.

Read the problem carefully so that you understand what you are supposed to find. Identify the data and conditions that have been provided with the problem. Once you have found an answer, recheck it. In multiple-choice questions, try to identify the choices that cannot be correct.

While attempting questions, do not waste time on any one question. Try to solve the simple questions first and then move to the difficult ones. There may be negative marking, so guessing the answer is not a good idea. You should try and attempt mock question papers. There are several websites that provide mock practice tests.

Preparing for physics

The section on physics does not follow any specific format. Subjective questions, which involve detailed solutions, are not asked now. But this may change. Multiple Choice Questions with more than one correct answer may be asked. At least one of the questions will be based on an experiment.

Make sure that you have learned all the definitions and formulae in each chapter. Don’t just memorize them. It is essential to understand the assumptions involved in deriving a formula. Write down important formulae in a separate notebook. In the days before the exam, carefully review chapters and recall the formulae and laws in each chapter. Give special attention to the problem areas in each chapter. In the physics paper, checking the given answer for dimensional consistency is often very helpful.

Books recommended for physics

Fundamentals of physics by Halliday, Resnick and Walker
Advanced Level Physics by Nelkon and Parker
Physics of Class XI and XII by NCERT

Preparing for chemistry

There will be questions from all three branches of chemistry – physical chemistry, inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry. At least four different types of questions are asked.

There will be questions with four alternative answers, of which only one is correct. Multiple choice questions with more than one correct answer are also asked. Reasoning type questions involves two statements which have to be correlated with each other. Only one answer is correct. A fourth type of question is also asked. You will be given a paragraph stating certain facts, from which a set of three questions is asked with four alternative answers. Only one answer will be correct.