The National Testing Agency (NTA) has released the JEE Main 2020 schedule and the application form. Like last year, Joint Entrance Examination Main 2020 will be held in two sessions — January and April. From this year, however, several changes have been introduced to the JEE Main exam pattern. To ace the exam, candidates will first have to understand the new pattern –
Under the new exam pattern, the number of questions per subject was reduced from 30 MCQs to 20 MCQs, and 5 questions with numerical answers. The MCQs still carry negative marking for each wrong answer, while there is no negative marking for the other 5 questions.
This means that you will have to alter your exam strategy. Instead of using the method of elimination to just arrive at the right choice, you will now need to know the correct method to answer those critical 5 questions. You will also need to start timing yourself according to the new pattern.
Read| NTA JEE Main 2020 BPlan: Know exam pattern, sample paper, eligibility of new exam
The NCERT and NTA have given more importance to certain topics in the three subjects. Prioritise these chapters and ensure that you understand every fundamental concept and can solve every numerical associated with these chapters. For physics, the focus has been on Electronic Devices, Optics, Electrostatics, and Thermodynamics.
For chemistry, focus on Organic Compounds containing Oxygen, Equilibrium, Basic Concepts, and Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure. For Mathematics, your focus should be on Coordinate Geometry, Limit, continuity, and differentiability, and Integral Calculus. Read full syllabus here
Quicker calculations and a strong sense of your fundamentals are what help you in the long run. The JEE Main is an extremely competitive exam, and every student is hard-pressed for time. During your stressful preparation days, going back to basics like mental mathematics or physics theorems might feel daunting, but these very basics give you the extra edge.
To ensure that you don’t tire yourself out during a hectic JEE schedule, you can revise your basics by playing fun and interactive edu-games on various e-learning apps. These will help you learn better while ensuring that you don’t feel any more stressed out.
JEE Main 2020 mock test, sample paper
Solving national level mock tests as you get closer to the exam will give you an idea of where you really stand. When you are in a coaching class, you only compete with other students from your class. There are online mock tests to ease your preparation process. Mock tests will show you how well can you deal with stress in a time-bound, exam-like setting.
The JEE Main is an extremely competitive national level exam that is the gateway for IITs, NITs, and other top colleges across the country. Last year, there were over 11.5 lakh unique applicants for JEE Main fighting it out for a few thousand seats.
— The author is VP of Toppr.com