My JEE Story

Welcome to my first post! In this I will describe my JEE preparation journey. This will be a long post, grab something to eat!

I do not exactly remember when I was introduced to IIT. When I was in class 3, there used to be these SOF olympiads in subjects like Science, Maths, English and Computer. I used to perform decently in those. For example, I got a state rank 4 and international rank 47 in IMO in class 3. Eventually I got a few gold medals at state level. I missed international medals narrowly 2 or 3 times.

That was my first taste of competition. I liked Maths from my childhood. I was above average in Science as well. So I used to prepare for these olympiads, never studied too much for school but performed well.

Our school suddenly stopped the conduction of these olympiads when I entered class 7. This was a very sad moment for me. I loved studying and competing in competitions. So I started looking for other exams, and I gave a bunch of other exams like FIITJEE entrance tests and NSTSE, where I again did well enough.

I decided I wanted to get admitted in FIITJEE just for the extra study I would do on the weekends. So I gave the admission test and got admitted. I did not do much of note in class 8, but I guess was introduced to the concept of IIT around this time. Most of the things my coaching taught, however, was centred around NTSE. I also qualified NSEJS twice(in class 8 and 9).

Then I gave the IIT Genius test for admission to the 4-year classroom Program in FIITJEE South Kolkata(where I was studying in class 8). The top 30 all over India would be called for an interview to Hyderabad or Delhi. Now, I remember that I did qualify for the interview, which I unfortunately did not well very in(I was nervous). Still, as I was in top 30 in the written test, I earned 100% scholarship.

Now I enter class 9. FIITJEE was focused more on NTSE and NSEJS , but we did have some IITJEE pattern tests sometimes.(based on class 9 10 syllabus only). I performed well enough, generally in top 3 of the institute. I also cleared NSEJS in class 9. Before class 9, I had not fully decided I would go for IIT preparation. In class 9, it started becoming clear to me that Biology was not my cup of tea. I disliked it like anything, and used to sit at the back during Biology classes and solve Maths questions along with a couple of friends. So, I decided to prepare for JEE advanced once I entered class 11. I started reading Quora answers regarding IIT preparation around this time. I especially followed Aman Goel sir.

In class 10, I focused on my boards(I was in an ICSE school) and NTSE. I still attended coaching, but before school tests I sometimes had to miss these classes. Also I rarely attended Biology or Social Science classes. I just was not interested in them.

I scored 99.2% in my class 10 boards. Covid hit in the middle of my board exams. My ICSE Geography exam was postponed the day before it was supposed to be held. Initially, it felt like the exams would be conducted by the end of March, but they were not. Lockdown was declared and there was chaos everywhere. In the midst of all this, class 11 JEE Advanced preparation classes (online of course) started on April 19, 2020 (Yes I still remember the date!)

My preparation began on a relatively sedate note. The classes began slow, so I had a lot of time to relax while building basics. Most of April, May, June and July passed in just covering a few basic chapters like Mole concept, stoichiometry and gaseous state in chemistry, Kinematics and NLM in Physics, basic maths, straight lines and circles in Mathematics. I set a really high goal of getting a rank in top 100 in JEE Advanced 2022. 

My preparation carried on. I gave my first phase test around the 5th of September. I did pretty well, was ranked 3rd in my centre. I used to get worried about the speed at which our coaching was finishing syllabus. Most of class 11 passed in a similar fashion. Attend online zoom lectures, make notes, solve problems, give tests. Still, I took out some time every day for recreation as well. I qualified KVPY SA as well(AIR 226).

At this point, all tests used to given at home as well. So sometimes I actually got poor ranks(this really bothered me). I remember getting a poor rank in my third phase test. Then all of a sudden, we were told that an offline reshuffling test would be held based on all of class 11 syllabus. I felt that this was my chance. I did not disappoint. I ranked 2nd in my centre. This ended class 11.

In FIITJEE, the system was a little different. I was in the star batch, but all students in the star batch also attended classes of their old batches. I began to realize around this point(April 2021) that my organic was quite weak, physics was ok(though not at the level I wanted) and Maths was my biggest asset. As time passed, I began to really enjoy calculus. Class 12 Physics appeared easier to do compared to class 11(although I caught up in class 11 Physics eventually). I took steps to improve my organic.

I started main Inorganic (the cramming part) only around August, after completing all of Organic. I achieved my best ever phase test result (1st) in the 4th phase test. I was really happy, and maybe I slacked a little in September and October(began wasting a little more time than usual). I was again, worried about when syllabus would be complete. 

This year, boards were to be held twice. Irritating, I thought. Still I prepared a little, grudgingly. My mother, who has an MA in English helped me to prepare English(from scratch, I had not touched English since class 10 boards). I somehow managed Computer Science while I did not do too much for PCM.

AITS began in November, but because of my boards I had to skip the first 2 part tests. I gave the third part test almost without preparation. Messed up badly in the mains and got a rank of 75 in the Advanced one. Mostly satisfied considering my lack of revision.

Then came phase 5 test. This was one of my worst performances throughout the 2 years. It was a part test, and as I said, I had not revised well. Also I suspect, in hindsight, that many people cheated in this test.I feel it is clear now, as several people who got more than me in this phase test have not even managed under 5000 rank in JEE Advanced.

This shook me up. I recovered in the AITS, and began revising like a mad man, studying 12 hours a day. Still, the last 2 or 3 chapters in Chemistry were still left. I got my best ever rank in an AITS mains test, where I got an AIR of 53. I was back on track, I thought. I got another shock. A test was held to select the best students of the star batch. I messed up like anything, but many of my friends(who were quite good) also did badly while some not so good students did very well. You could give the exam from your own home, so I suspected cheating to be the reason. Many of the students who topped in that mock test eventually did horribly in JEE advanced. In hindsight, I would say that my suspicions were right.

Anyway, I continued my preparation and made it a point to give all AITS tests. While I did decently in AITS Mains tests(was in the range of 65-90 AIR in all tests apart from 2 or 3). I did have the occasional upset, though. I remember seriously messing up one test in the beginning of February, and my rank nosedived to beyond 200(210-215 ish). I was really distraught, so much that my parents explicitly told me to take the day off and watch a movie. I ended watching Chichhore that day, and sort of calmed down.

Time passed. I revised well, and practiced a lot of questions of advanced level-PYQs, and other books like MS Chauhan, P Bahadur for Chemistry, Physics Galaxy Advanced Illustrations, subjective PYQs for Physics, black book and Sameer Bansal calculus for Mathematics. 2 advanced AITS tests were conducted-I did well enough in the those, getting ranks of 59 and 46. In the second half of March, after the Advanced test on one of the Sundays(one in which I got 46 rank), I began studying separately for JEE Mains. Got the 2021 solved question paper book and started reading Chemistry NCERT in depth.

Now, as April began, I began solving 2021 papers, and did well enough-score varied from 260-275 normally. I used to get full marks in Mathematics quite often. In the first week of April, a bombshell was dropped by NTA-they declared the postponement of the JEE Mains. This really irritated me, as I felt I was prepared. I was so frustrated that I skipped all JEE studies for a couple of days. In the midst of  all this, I had to give my school pre-boards as well. I just skimmed through the books and got decent marks. 

Now as I am from West Bengal(I live in Kolkata), I had to give the state entrance exam as well-WBJEE. Now I never wanted to give this test, as I was hell bent on going to IIT, and would definitely not go to any other college, I thought. Still, I gave it as all my coaching and school friends were giving the exam. I did not really bother preparing, just continued my normal revision and solved a couple of mock papers. My ISC Boards began on April 26, WBJEE was on April 30 and my next board exam was on May 2. So I was busy and had to kind of pause my JEE ADVANCED preparation for 10 days or so.

WBJEE went fine. I remember my classmates asking me how my exam was on May 2. I told them that I had attempted worth about 183 marks or so(out of 200). A few did not believe it, while one boy said I would one of the toppers then. I did not really care and prepared for advanced. Still I gave some time to my boards. For example, before my Chemistry board exam, I studied all of my notes and read the NCERT for the full syllabus in 2 days. I did not touch the ISC Board book prescribed by our school. My reason-It was too thick, like 1000 pages or something and I felt it to be full of useless information.

I did the same for Physics, just looked at the proofs and all. I remember making up the differences between diffraction and interference in the exam- I had never bothered to study that chapter very thoroughly as it was not in JEE advanced syllabus. I even went on a short vacation for a couple of days before my last board exam as I was really bored.

My last board exam, Computer Science was over on June 1. Our CS teacher in school said, "You guys are free now." I ended up blurting out that my crucial exams were left. A few people gave me weird looks at that statement. In hindsight, I would say that perhaps that amount of longing to go to IIT enabled me to go there finally.

Still, I spent most of June preparing for Mains, but my coaching started conducting offline mock tests for JEE Advanced, and I made it a point to give those. WBJEE results were released on June 17. I had matched my responses with the answer key, and was getting around 165, so I felt I would be in top 10(based on previous year's trends, again I didn't really care). My coaching organised a mock Advanced test on June 17, and I focused more on that. I was 3rd in WBJEE. Now I shouldn't say that I didn't care, but I truly did not let the praise and the media attention get to my head, as I was revising for my first attempt of JEE Main, to be held on 28th June(Shift 2).

I had revised well, but I was sort of under confident in a few topics(Guess which ones? Obviously the ones which are asked only in JEE Mains). Then came the exam day. I won't describe it in detail here, but I found Maths to be tough and lengthy, while Physics and Chemistry were easy.(I still scored highest in Maths lol)

Attempt 1 June 28(Shift 2)

Physics-76/100(99.27 percentile)

Chemistry-82/100(99.71 percentile)

Mathematics-92/100(99.99 percentile)

Total-250/300(99.94 percentile)

Not very pleased with my result, but my aim was Advanced anyway. I revised and solved AITS advanced papers as mocks, got 45-55% marks, with highest in Chemistry or Mathematics and least marks in Physics. This continued throughout July. I just revised NCERT chemistry 3-4 days before my second attempt on July 29(Shift 1).

This time got an easier paper but made a few silly errors. I got 270 after matching my responses with the answers, so was convinced that I would get a worse percentile than last time. Was depressed for a day, then I got back on track. I resumed my Advanced preparation.

I took special efforts to make my Physics better, which was pulling me down in mocks. I remember solving all Physics PYQs of last 10 years 2-3 times and attempting Physics PYQs as test sometimes.I also tried to cram all Inorganic well, improve my Organic(as it was a little weak). I practiced a lot of Mathematics as well, atleast 4 hours a day, sometimes more than 6-7 hours a day also. 

Final JEE Mains results made me happy, as I got more than I expected. 99.96 percentile.

JEE Main July Attempt July 29(Shift 1)

Physics-90/100(99.57 percentile)

Chemistry-95/100(100.00 percentile-surprising to be honest)

Mathematics-85/100(99.93 percentile-messed up here)

Total-270/300(99.96 percentile), with AIR 444.

Last 20 or so days were left. I tried to push myself all out for JEE Advanced, still I wasted an hour or two on unproductive tasks daily as a result of boredom. Gave all FIITJEE AITS, got decent ranks of 50, 63, 83 and 51 in the 4 6-hour tests I gave. I felt I could secure a rank under 200 if all went well on the final day.

Last day before JEE Advanced was epic- it was as though I couldn't believe the fact that finally the real EXAM was here. I tried to be calm, still I managed only 4 hours of sleep that night. 

The Advanced experience was great. I mean, the pressure that day is something else. When I was stuck in the Maths column matching in Paper 1, I thought I was done. Again, in paper 2, the crazy hard AITS level Maths made me really worried. After the exam, I felt a little relieved about the fact that I had solved a lot of Chemistry(fun fact-I got the lowest in it eventually).

I was relieved that the exam was over, but felt I could have done much better. I went for a vacation to Uttarakhand for 4 days right after the exam. I matched my responses with the answer keys of 2-3 institutes(even while on vacation lol). I was getting a score in 180s, which was depressing. After returning home, I was really tensed, with my tension increasing exponentially as the result day approached. Rank predictors predicted terrible ranks(all above 1500). I still hoped to be under 1000 at least, considering all my coaching friends were also getting low scores.

The day before the result- My tension was surprisingly low. I passed my time somehow, going to bed a little late on purpose(so that I have a smaller period of tension in the morning). This did not work, though. I ended up waking up at 4:15 am on the morning of September 11. I just could not sleep after that. I could barely eat my breakfast. Instead I decided to talk to my grandparents for some time, just to pass the time until results.

At 10:00 am sharp, all of my family gathered around the computer screen. I somehow remained calm enough to type my details but the result did not load initially. My sister suggested me to use an Incognito tab. This time, the result page opened.

 

It was all over! Atleast I had got a 3-digit rank, I thought. 

This was my story. Currently I am busy deciding what branch to take up at which IIT.

Thank you for reading this extremely long post.

PS: Tell me in the comments which topic you want me to write a post on.