In conversation with Mr. Radhakrishnan K, Head of School Marketing, T.I.M.E., Chennai, on the importance and benefits of taking up IIT JEE Crash Course. He also shared few valuable IIT JEE tips and strategies for standing a better chance at the engineering entrance exam.
About T.I.M.E., Chennai: Triumphant Institute of Management Education Pvt. Ltd. (T.I.M.E.) is one of the most reputed test-prep institution spread across 118 towns and cities in India. T.I.M.E., Chennai is one of the many branches of T.I.M.E., located across India. Established in 1992, the T.I.M.E. institute has achieved great success by helping students to prepare for top management/engineering entrance tests, competitive exams and foundation courses to launch a successful career. T.I.M.E. has also ventured in formal school (CBSE) located in Hyderabad.
What is IIT JEE Crash Course? Who normally takes the course?
IIT JEE Crash is a short-term course (21-22 days approx.) which basically starts immediately after the XII Standard. The IIT JEE Crash course is offered to students who are planning but not trained to take up the engineering entrance exam. Normally, the kind of preparation required for IIT JEE entrance exam is not included in the school curriculum. In CBSE, students are mostly tested on concepts with few questions on application and hence majority coverage involves ‘Concepts’ and a few ‘applications’ (the ability to think better to solve problems). In state board since application play very limited role and is more of rote learning, students sail throw with only concept knowledge. Whereas the entrance exam preparation questions requires 100% applications or let’s say 90% applications. So the crash course is the last minute preparation for students who are appearing for the entrance exam. The term ‘crash’ itself means that the student has joined the course when he/she has very limited time to prepare questions based on applications for the entrance exam. The IIT JEE Crash course is continued till the scheduled exam date and students continue after appearing the exam as a preparation for other similar entrance exams such as Amrita, VITEEE, BITSAT and others which follows the same question patterns. In short, IIT JEE Crash Course are for those students who have not been trained for the last 2 years for the entrance exam. This crash course will give them an exposure to the IIT JEE entrance exam patterns, areas and skills they need to focus in a short-period of time.
It is advisable that students take up the two-year training program as it will help them to solve more problems and enable them to tackle different questions easily. Students who are willing and has acquired the ability to solve problems will stand a greater chance to crack the IIT JEE entrance exam.
How taking an IIT JEE Crash Course can help students to crack the entrance exam?
The entrance exam is all about solving problems and the IIT JEE Crash program teaches a student how to solve problems. Due to limited time, a student enrolled in the IIT JEE Crash Course will be able to solve limited number of problems from different levels of difficulty – easy, normal and tough. Students need to think better and they can improve their thinking only by solving more problems. The crash course will teach an aspiring student how to solve problems but he can only become an expert when he solves more and more problems.
The crash course is basically scheduled for six hours a day for 24-25 days approximately. To leverage the most out of the crash course and stand a chance to score better at the entrance test, a student needs to solve more problems regularly. Attending classes for six hours will not deliver higher result unless the student solves some questions on his own on a daily basis. Let’s see this way, a student who attends the crash course might get benefitted up to 30% at the exam, whereas a student who took up the course and also devote time to solve problems every day might benefit up to 60-70%.
There are two levels of exams for the IIT JEE – Main and Advanced. In 2014, 13.4 lacs students appeared for the IIT JEE Main exam and out of which 1,50,000 students were eligible to appear in the Advanced exam. Generally, students in the General category who get 31% (i.e. securing 115 out of 360 marks) approximately in the Main are eligible to appear for the Advanced exam. The aggregate score required to sit in the Advanced exam is not very high, so students who are average/above average should be able to make a difference to their score by taking up the course.
Tips to tackle Physics, Math and Chemistry for IIT JEE?
To stand a better chance in the IIT JEE entrance exam, aspiring candidates can cover topics which were mostly asked in the last 2-3 years or topics which are predominantly covered in previous exams. Students who have only taken up the crash course for appearing the entrance exam, need to do selective readings to score better in the exam, since they have less time to prepare all the topics under each subjects.
Physics: Students can focus on Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism from which most of the questions were asked in IIT JEE Physics. In 2013, around 60% question from the above topics were asked. And if a student manages to solve 12-13 questions correctly they can stand a better chance in the exam.
Chemistry: In Chemistry, students need to focus more on Organic & Physical Chemistry which are easier to solve and a little less on Inorganic Chemistry which were tougher to solve. Solving as many problems as possible from Organic and Physical Chemistry will help students to stand a better chance in the entrance, in case a student is doing only the crash course as a preparation for the exam.
Mathematics: Here the students need to focus more on Algebra, Differential Calculus and Inferential Calculus topics and solve as many problems as possible. Building the ability to solve any question from the three topics can help the students to do a better job at the exam in a short period of preparation. Also preparing on topics which were frequently asked in the last 2-5 years will help students to tackle the exam and score better.
Three IIT JEE common mistakes students should avoid
Three common mistakes students make are:
- They want to solve all the problems even if they are not sure of the answers (which is not required or correct to do). Generally, students think if they attempt 4 different questions (multiple-choice type) they may end up getting 2 answers right which will secure them 8 marks and if even they answer 1 right answer and 3 answers wrong, still they manage to get 1 mark. This is neither effective nor required
- Spending too much time solving first few questions
- Unable to identify – easy, medium and difficult level questions. Generally, there are certain percentage of questions which are easy (40% approx.), medium (40% approx.) and difficult (20% approx). Students need to identify the set of easy questions and solve them first, then solve the medium level questions and tough questions. As a candidate need to secure 31-40% (approx.) to be able to sit in the Advanced exam, so they should focus on questions which they are sure of answering correctly.
In the Online mode of exam students have a provision of being reminded of questions which they had skipped to solve later which they can utilize. However, in the Paper-based exam this provision of reminder is not available and students sometimes forget about the question which they need to visit later.
The most important strategy for students is to solve 40% of the questions correctly which will be good enough to get shortlisted for the Advanced exam. So students should not try to solve questions they are not sure of which may cost them their cut-off marks sometimes.
What strategies do you think is required to succeed at the IIT JEE exam?
The strategy to succeed at the IIT JEE exam is very simple. Aspiring candidates should:
- Plan Early
- Prepare Early
- Be Regular
A student can only be successful at the IIT JEE exam if he/she solves maximum number of problems regularly. The more number of problems a student solves and develops the skills required to solve problems will stand a better chance to succeed.
How long should a student study along with the IIT JEE Crash Course?
If a student has taken the IIT JEE Crash Course, he/she need to devote 3-4 hours every day besides attending 6 hours of JEE Crash Course classes. On a daily basis, students should be able to devote 10-12 hours for a month before appearing for the entrance exam.
And for students who are preparing on their own, it would be better if they join a coaching center. At a coaching center students get to meet fellow competitors which gives them an idea of where they stand in the competition. Also meeting students from different backgrounds help them to learn different perspectives of the various students towards the exam. Meeting more competing students help them to prepare better for the exam.
What is the difference between Online and Paper-based exam? Which medium is better for students?
The IIT JEE entrance exam is available in two modes – Paper-based and Computer-based. Majority of the students appear the exam in the Paper-based mode and only up to 1.5 lacs students took up the test Online last year.
Generally, students feel it more comfortable and safer to appear for the exam in Paper-based mode. They believe if anything goes wrong with the computer, it may hamper their exam performance. However, this is not true as there are enough provisions, computers and technicians at disposal, to take care if anything goes wrong. Rather a student who are opting for the Online mode are likely to benefit more. How? Generally, there is a gap of few days (10-13 days approx.) between the Paper-based test and Computer-based test. The IIT JEE Main Online mode exam is scheduled after the Paper-based mode. A student appearing the exam in the Online mode will have the opportunity to look at the Paper-based question papers and get an idea of the level of difficulty of questions to be asked in the exam.
Popular entrance exams like GMAT and CAT have shifted completely to Online mode, so its better if students get used to the Online mode which is definitely better. And if student have any doubt about the Computer-based exam, they can always take up mock tests to get acquainted with the Online test interface.
Is state board students at a disadvantage to CBSE students in the entrance exams?
As mentioned, the CBSE has more applications than the state board but both the students stand on the same level when appearing for entrance exams. Last year more than 1,500 students from Tamil Nadu had qualified for the JEE Advanced exams.
The number is less as number of takers are less and also students are not serious and focused on entrance exam with too much dependence on board score and Anna University affiliated engineering colleges.
Any students who works for 10 to 12 hours during the crash course would perform well irrespective of the board.
What do you think of the crash course for Medical/AIPMT?
Most of the students from the state board bank on their board score for admission to Medical colleges as the same is based on board score. The CBSE students may not be able to match the score of the state board students and would have to take entrance exams – AIPMT/AIIMS/JIPMER/CMC etc.
More than 337 seats in Tamil Nadu is filled by AIPMT exam and state board students can attempt AIPMT as well as a back up.
The crash course would help a students to understand the type of questions asked as well would help them brush their preparation. Crash course would surely be an advantage for students attempting various competitive exams.
T.I.M.E. Chennai invites Students and Parents to avail our Online Registration Assistance for various Engineering Entrance Exams including IIT JEE.
