What it takes to crack JEE

If you are in the age group of 16 to 19 years and an Indian national, chances are that you might be preparing for either Engineering or Medical Entrance Exams. Among those exams, I guess JEE is the one which is well - let us say hyped up a lot. Till two years back, it was supposedly the most difficult exam to crack. At least now, it isn't. So what does it take to crack JEE. Let us list them down.

Intelligence?

Preparation? (aka Coaching)

Confidence?

Family Support?

What is it that separates a fellow who has cracked JEE & one who hasn't. Having cracked JEE not once but twice ;) I can say with confidence that you must add one more factor to this list

Luck

This is an often overlooked factor when an aspirant goes to give the JEE. No matter how good your preparation may be, no matter how much ever intelligent you may be - I think no IITian can deny having luck on his side on the day of the JEE. He may have made his share of silly mistakes - that everyone does. But without good luck, (s)he would not be in IIT.

You have to be in your best frame of mind & in good mental as well as physical health. If the question paper has more questions from a topic which you are very good at, you have luck on your side. On the other hand if the questions are from the topic you hate the most, well then - Better Luck Next Time(BLNT)

Then comes

Intuition

In the limited time of 6 hours one has to solve a mammoth 130 odd questions, which is very exhausting mentally. Here comes the role of intuition. Leaving out certain sections due to lack of time, preparing topics that by chance is asked thoroughly in the paper & a few odd guesses here and there it is all intuition.

Confidence? Important but not imperative. I guess luck & intuition automatically result in a confident aspirant. If you don't have them on your side, then as I said BLNT.

Family Support? Well if it is about letting you do a late night or leaving you till the exam centre on the day of the exam - lots of books & all, I guess it really counts. But if its about pressuring you to give JEE for the heck of it - I guess it doesn't help much.

Intelligence? Nah, JEE is very much trainable. The very intelligent may be (rotting away?) outside IITs. All you need is some luck & a little a bit of intuition. Coaching, intelligence & preparation are all secondary

Best of LUCK!