Common Mistakes Made by Students in JEE (Main) Examination | Tips for JEE (Main) Examination 2016

As per an official notification by Central Board of Secondary education (CBSE), Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main 2015 is scheduled to be conducted in the month of April 2016.

JEE Main is conducted in two modes, that is, candidates can give this engineering entrance exam either as a pen and paper test or as a computer based test (CBT) as per their preference. JEE Main pen and paper test is scheduled to be conducted on April 3, 2016 whereas the JEE Main CBT will be held on April 9 and April 10, 2016.

I know all JEE Main 2016 aspirants must be working really hard to complete the syllabus for both – their board exams as well as JEE. However, I would like to point out here, that even though being thorough with the syllabus is a must in JEE Main but candidates also need to keep few things in mind while attempting the entrance exam question paper. This is necessary because it is ultimately your sharpness and intellect during those three hours which is going to help you crack the entrance. 

So, beware of the below mentioned common mistakes made by aspirants while appearing for JEE Main:

Discussing questions right before the exam

Most of the students have a tendency to discuss questions, formulae and concepts right before the commencement of JEE Main. I would suggest that this is one of the worst things you can do right before the exam. Yes, it is good to revise your formulae before heading out to give the exam. But, once you reach the examination centre, it is advisable that you stop going through your test papers and avoid attempting difficult questions because if at that point of time you get stuck in some or the other question then there is a likely chance that you would head inside the examination centre feeling less confident about your preparation.

So, refrain from doing this and discussing about the syllabus and different types of questions with your friends right before the exam because doing so you are treading on the path towards your own doom!

Going to the washroom

Some students make it a habit to visit the rest room once or twice during their examination. If you consider my advice then refrain from doing this because doing so you may end up wasting around five minutes each time you head out to the washroom. You may not realize this at that moment but your call of nature may result in you not being able to attempt 5-6 questions which in the long run would prove detrimental for you.

Apart from this one should eat dry fruits right before the examination as this would boost their energy levels and ensure that they are able to focus their attention on only giving the exam.

Opting to do questions based on their length

Many students have the habit of going through the entire question paper once, after which, they start attempting those questions which have lesser words or appear smaller in size. I do not know why they do this but I am putting my bet on the reasoning that they feel that reading a longer question would cost them more time or they assume that longer looking questions are more difficult. However, the truth mostly is quite different from this.

Most experts share that short questions are trickier and there are more chances of candidates solving them wrong. On the other hand, longer questions are mostly easier to solve.

So, next time you think of going past a longer question just think about this once – do you want to simply attempt more questions in your exam or do you want to attempt questions in such a manner that you score more in an exam?

Inadequate time management

Students who have not appeared for many mock tests as part of JEE Main 2015 prep end up making the mistake of not allocating adequate time to different sections of the question paper. 

Most of these students are known to start the exam on a very calm note, spending more than required time on the first five questions they attempt. However, as the examination progresses they realize that they have a huge chunk of the question paper remaining but do not have sufficient time to attempt all the questions. Well, this obviously leads to the candidate panicking and thereafter rushing through the remainder of his/her examination paper. 

Well, my advice is that strictly refrain from doing this, chiefly because the JEE Main paper is tricky and if you rush through a question you will most definitely solve it wrong and that my friend will not help you in any way.

So, try and stay focused right from the beginning of the exam and manage your time well. After all, scoring more in JEE Main is all about managing your time well.

Getting stressed if you are not able to solve few questions

Well, a huge majority of students become nervous wrecks as soon as they are not able to solve one single question in JEE Main. The downside of this is that, the candidate would not only end up solving that specific question wrong but due to losing their confidence, they are sure to make silly mistakes in the rest of the examination as well.

My advice here is that keep calm if you are not able to solve a particular question or even a series of question. Leave that section of the exam and start attempting the next section. You are not going to gain anything by getting nervous. 

The thumb rule while attempting JEE exam is that solve as many questions as you can and even if you are not able to attempt a question it is not the end of the world. Also, there is a high chance that others are also finding the questions you attempted difficult. So, do not fret, and be confident while attempting JEE Main 2016 exam.

Marking answers right at the end

Some students follow a policy of solving all the questions first and after solving the entire question paper they head back to marking all the answers.

My word of caution here – Strictly refrain from doing this.

Yes, you will get more time to solve questions and you may even solve all the questions. But is there any surety that you will have enough time to mark all your answers at the end. Worse still, what if you have solved all the questions correctly but when you start marking the option, you mark them out of order.

Think this through and then only go forward with such a mission while appearing for JEE Main 2015.