Every engineering student is aware that IIT - JEE and AIEEE are the toughest entrance exams to crack in order to get a seat in the 17 IITs and 30 NITs in India. These exams have been designed in a manner that only the cream of students survive the tension and stress of the gruelling hours to crack the exam. Out of the 1.4 million candidates from 81 cities that took the IIT - JEE in 2013, only seven percent were accepted. Approximately the same number of candidates attended for AIEEE with an acceptance rate of less than 10 percent.

Erasing the Myths

The general misconception is that it is impossible to crack these exams and the statistics indicate the same. However, the toughest exams can be cracked if the candidate plans out every detail and is dedicated. In order to clear the exam, one must follow a structure and plan, and attend classes regularly along with doing the daily assignments. Students find it difficult in spite of the syllabus being the same as CBSE 12th standard portion. Rather than understanding the problem students should look at the amount of time, they spend on practicing questions and ensuring that they are able to crack the problems within the given exam time frame. Students basically miss out on these factors which are highly essential.

In order to train the students, the trainers should firstly check the syllabus of the exam which has to be covered. Secondly the students should attend constant weekly assessments or tests. The tests are based on each and every small topic. Students are also made to do a full length test which covers the entire syllabus and also time frame experience. After the students write the tests, a thorough analysis is conducted to assess whether the students were right and where they went wrong. The mistakes are then analyzed in depth. The analysis determines if the candidate is aware of the answer, understands the issue, has enough time or is careless. Ensuring that candidates prepare for the exam in a structured manner is the trainer's role. In order to increase their confidence students are given full length mock tests multiple times prior to the actual entrance test.

Time management skills are also very important while preparing for any entrance exam especially for candidates writing IIT-JEE and AIEEE. In order to save time, students are given multiple tests with the same pattern. This helps them make calculations quicker, find short tricks to save time and help them with methods like elimination of wrong answers in multiple choice questions.

The coaching institutes should have a good level of teaching and there should be a constant test series running throughout the year. At Aakash IIT-JEE the tests are conducted weekly and monthly. Tests are also conducted batch wise. Sometimes all the students from the institute across different centres are asked to give tests. This method helps the student know his or her performance level.

Students should be exposed to good content, teaching, assessment and be motivated along with discussing their weak areas by the coaching centers just as it is done at Aakash IIT-JEE. This allows the student to understand his/her weak spot and improve upon it.

Having the right mindset and tackling stress in the right manner is very important for students who are preparing for the IIT-JEE and AIEEE entrance exams. It is essential to put students through a lot of motivational lectures and counselling sessions to help the students get a moral boost when they are feeling disconcerted.

In order to crack an exam with such extreme levels of competition, one has to maintain his/her focus at all times and work towards the goal.