It is a universal truth that Engineering is one of the most common career choices. Almost every school student aspires to join IIT, Indias top engineering college, for a bright future. With IIT being the top ranked Engineering college in India, there is tough competition in the world of IIT JEE. Every aspirant wants to crack it in the first attempt which is not an impossible feat. It can be a moment of pride for the students and the parents at the same time.
Students face several challenges while preparing for IIT JEE while they are also studying in school or college. This problem can be tackled by smart planning and time management. A good plan can help you ace both your school/college examination and IIT JEE. So here are the preparation tips:

Start it early: Students make the mistake of starting the preparation late. This way, they lose on precious time. Utilise time by starting your chapters even before they are taught in your school or college. If you start early, you will have more time later to buck up and revise. This is the first tip every student serious and determined to crack IIT JEE should follow.

Concept: Dont be embarrassed to ask a question in the classroom. You need to be crystal clear with every concept. If you postpone clarifying your doubts, you may have a number of them accumulated. As a result, you will get confused with which to ask and you may also miss out on important topics. Ensure that you clarify your doubts instantly.

Regular to class: Missing a class means missing six lectures. If you miss even 10 a year, you will miss 60 lectures which mean that you will miss at least 50 topics taught. How will you cover up for it? Covering up for the loss will consume a lot of time. Instead, be regular and be on track.

Duration: You have three subjects for IIT JEE. Divide the time among the three subjects and spend two hours on each subject. This way, you will be able to balance all three instead of speeding up with one subject and lagging behind the others. You should spend at least 6 hours in total in the evening after classes. Morning time can be utilised for the board examination. Preparation for IIT JEE can simultaneously help you in preparation for board exam as the curriculum is the same. The only difference is multiple choice questions in the entrance and essay type in the boards.

Join online crash course: If you have followed the first four tips, you will be able to complete every chapter and topic three years before the entrance. You can then join anonline crash course for IIT JEE . Besides helping you prepare well, you will also know your calibre because you will be compared among thousands of students from various parts of the world. You will know your batch rank and AIR if applicable. This will also keep you motivated. Joining an online crash course will help save your time and money.

Cover mock tests and previous papers: While you have joined your online coaching, make some time for mock tests too. You should collect the question papers of previous years and start solving them at home. You can set an alarm and close the door. This will help you cover the questions within the time frame without being disturbed.

Eat well and exercise effectively: It is important to manage and balance time for your IIT preparation. Similarly, two other things that are very important are food and exercise. You need to eat good nutritious food and be engaged in some physical activity – not necessarily exercise. You can go play badminton, cricket, jogging, Yoga and meditate.

One last thing to remember is covering your reference materials for PCM while you are revising. Reference materials can be bought earlier too but they make more sense after covering NCERT books. Dont forget this step as you will be doing advanced problems and questions from these reference books.

Time management doesnt mean you wake up early and utilise every minute of your time. All you need to do is be regular with what you do and avoid the last minute panic attack that aspirants who are not regular usually get. Being organised and persistent with your regular studies, you can crack any entrance apart from IIT JEE. These tips can go a long way in helping you ace IIT JEE so make the most of your time.

The author is Aditya Singhal, co-founder of AskIITians,an online coaching platform for IIT JEE, medical and school entrance exams.