Disclaimer:

• The following write up is not a prescription of what you have to do.
• Rather, it showcases some ideas, makes you aware of certain pitfalls (definitely there will be more) to avoid. You can pick something from here or on your own.
• At the end, if you realise that your preparation journey is unique from others and you take responsibility of it (in planning and in action), then this letter is of any use.

Table of Contents:

What state are you in right now?

• Most common state: You have studied and solved some problems in each chapter, and mostly have forgotten most of that.
• Each of you will be standing in your own unique place with respect to each chapters — Not knowing anything / remembering something / revised & having a mini notes / solved so many PYQ problems in this chapter / Fully confident (!!).
• I am aware that I have to come up a lot with my preparations. Now, that the board revisions are on, and how to properly make use of this time?
• If I am in your position, I would do the following things

  1. First become aware of where you stand chapterwise and note down what all steps needs to be done to become fully confident about that chapter. It might not be one step, but many steps. Like, revising the chapter/making mini notes/formula collection, clarifying conceptual doubts and gaining understanding, ……

     • [ ] Take your syllabus sheet. Spend some time going through the topics in each chapter, and get an understanding of what more you should do to completely feel confident about this chapter.

       • [ ] Write it down next to the chapter, and note down how much time do you think it’ll take to do that step approximately.

       For example: Let me take a lesson A. I’ll note down the following things,

       What to do?	Resources needed	Time
       Quick revise	YouTube summaries/ Classnotes/	3 Hrs
       Short Formula notes		45 minutes
       PYQ (3-5 years)	Chapterwise PYQs	2 Hrs

       • Revision (read the synopsis / my prev. notes / …..) and gain concept clarity (discuss with friend B / clarify teacher C / internet summarisation video D / …..) — 3 hours
       • Make a quick notes for myself — 1 hours.
       • Solve 5 years of PYQs — 3 hours

       How much total time is required for covering xxxxxxx.

       • [ ] Syllabus as a checklist — Template.

     MindSet: No matter where you stand (too low or too high), neither do not become panic nor overconfident. The last two/three months is the time you work hard towards pushing yourself up one chapter at a time, and one step at a time.

  2. Secondly, before each study for board revisions starts, sit down with the detailed syllabus sheet, and figure out how much time you have and what all can be done. You don’t have to completely complete a chapter at one go. The primary focus is for the boards. Consider the schedule for the boards and bring along the JEE prep steps & chapters that are easy to cover within the given time.

Let’s recall what we did together so far.

• The above process is not useful unless:

  • the recalling and expansion, and
  • analysis part

  are done effectively.

But is this all enough? Definitely NO. There are some misconceptions that you all should be aware of. Let’s discuss them one at a time.

Let’s burst some misconceptions that you should be aware of it.

1. First misconception:

   Now, many of you might think that the above process of mock test → Analysis → Recall & Expansion is sufficient to get the score you want. But it is a BIG NO. You CANNOT. So, what else to be done??

   • The above process will actually help you identify your gaps, and then YOU have to figure out what needs to be done to fix it. Some times analysis is sufficient. Some times not. Some times, you have to revise all the formula from the chapters, and at other times revising the whole chapters, sometimes solving so many PYQ and gaining confidence, and so many other things….. You have to figure what you can do to strengthen yourself in a chapter.
   • Chapter coverage Strengthen — Completely Covering a chapter is never going to happen, even if you get a whole life time. All you can do is strengthen as much as possible within the given time constraint. What needs to be done is highly personal (where you stand) and chapter dependent(what kind of questions are asked: memory,formula,concepts,…). Talking to friends and teachers, and browsing internet can help when you don’t know what exactly to be done to strengthen a chapter. But, It is you, and only you who has to understand where you stand chapter-wise and to make the decision of what all needs to can be done within the time constraint.

2. Second misconception(s):

   If we do whatever the school has asked you to, then you’ll clear the exam.

   If we do preparation completely on our own plan, then we can definitely be more productive.

   • Again a BIG NO to both of these.

   • What school gives you is a basic schedule that is common for your class, and even if you follow 100% of that, it may not put you in your best possible position.
   • When you try to be totally independent?, It is very highly likely that you’ll end up way too less than what is done in the school.
   • So what to do?
     • Make use of the school’s schedule and support system whenever you need it. But you have a plan on your own independently.
     • Remember that this independence is a responsibility. Your decisions can equally lead you to success and failure but the responsibility of the decision is on you. Don’t panic. But, be very cautious and continuously keep asking yourself whether your work is going effectively. If not, feel free to correct yourself, and make changes to your plan.
     • You are the best judge of where you stand, and to figure what needs to be done to move one step forward in each chapters. Talking to teachers, mentors and friends might help you gain insights on how to plan or replan your plans.

3. Third misconception:

   I am getting a decent mark above 150 and easily I’ll get above 180 or 200 in the final exam. No, this is a biggest mistake you can make.

   • Even if you are getting above 200 in a mock test currently, it is very much possible that you end up getting less than 130 in the final exam. The questions’s focus area this year might change, your mindset, time management on the day of the exam might affect you, cut-off for 2025, your session’s difficulty and normalisation process and there are infinitely many other factors that you are not aware of.
   • So, what to do. Now, you should keep your final goal as 250 to 280+ and work. Only, when you keep such target and work, you’ll start identifying more gaps that you have to fill during your preparations.
   • If your marks are low, don’t panic. Try to figure out, what you have to do to get huge jump in your marks — Low hanging fruits.

4. Time related misconceptions:

   1. You might think that there is very little time and you can’t do it, and drop your preparations. No, you shouldn’t. Until you gain confidence, don’t (over)think much about the exams, rather work on one chapter at a time, and gain confidence.

   2. You might think that you’ll cover a chapter completely and eventually end up spending too much time for it. Remember there is nothing called a 100% complete preparation, as there is always a question that you can’t answer. Things might go wrong in two ways,

      1. You can be spending too much time for a few specific topics and then not have enough time for others.
      2. Or in the other case, spend too little time and then think, oh I have completed the chapter and actually haven’t done what is needed (If this is the case, during mock tests you’ll realise how big your knowledge gap is in this chapter).

      The biggest problem to solve is finding an optimal way to cover chapters within the TIME constraints that you have, and you have to find your balance that works for you.

      Listing down what needs to be done for each chapters (along with time that it’ll take), and then going over it right before the study to gain an idea of the volume of work to be done. Then picking the things that can be done during this time. This way, I am keeping myself conscious of the total work that I have, and continuously try to cover them along with my regular schedule.

   3. Solving problems during prep without time constraints. — You know what to do to avoid this. {Timed practice}.