My Journey to JEE Advanced AIR 724
I secured AIR 724 in JEE Advanced 2023. Let me go back to the start of my JEE journey.
I studied foundation chapters of Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics aimed at both JEE and NEET. I was not sure about which stream I would choose till the end of class 10. My class 10 ended in the pandemic and thus our batch did not have a board exam. I decided to take engineering and I made up my mind to prepare for JEE advanced to get into IIT. I joined a coaching institute and started preparing for JEE advanced full-fledged from grade 11. I used to study for around 8 hours a day or even more sometimes. I used coaching materials. I did the homework assignments. I also used some famous books most aspirants use which are:
Physics:
- H. C. Verma
- D. C. Pandey
- Physics galaxy
- pathfinder
- I. E. Irodov
Chemistry:
- Narendra Awasti
- JD Lee
- Himanshu Pandey
- Akshay Choudary
- M S Chouhan
Mathematics:
- Cengage
- black book
- Sameer Banal’s calculus book
I took exams as much as I could. I gave the chapter tests and AITS exams.
I used to get bored towards the end of my preparation but I didn’t give up at any point. I took exams once in 2 to 3 days though my institute scheduled exams every day. However, I focused more on analyzing the exam than just writing so many and not knowing the mistakes I made.
I attempted the previous year’s papers of advanced ones a few days before the exam.
I used to do meditation which helped keep my mind calm.
Succeeding in a competitive exam is not just about subject expertise, time management and ability to avoid silly errors but also about mental stability till the day of the exam. Eating a good diet, having good friends, good sleep and proper relaxation between study hours are very important too to be consistent for two years as in my case.
The preparation was quite consistent in my case. The day of the exam was quite scary because I didn’t get proper sleep that night and whenever up in between the small intervals of sleep I was able to get, I was subconsciously planning how to give the exam like which subject to attempt first.
I, in the exam, felt the very presence of mind I could ever have which I rarely had in practice tests.
I got a score that was 20 to 30 marks greater than the average I got while giving the previous year’s papers. I also felt the paper was easy during the exam.
I went on a trip after the exam and enjoyed it very well. I watched barely 3 movies in 2 years of preparation.
What I realize now is that during the preparation, I could have instead taken up a sport to relax during breaks, rather than listening to songs as I did. Listening to songs often led to distractions, even when I was trying to focus on the subject, as the lyrics would run in the back of my mind. This mistake cost a few questions in every exam spoiled by silly errors.
Now, I am studying CSE at IIT Delhi. I use Beginner for Beginner to learn DSA and I also solve POTDs which helps me right now.