JEE Main Topper March session Interview: In conversation with Zenith

# Mar 27, 2021 by Harshita Nandal

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JEE Main Topper  Interview: In conversation with Zenith Malhotra 

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In this interview he talked about the preparation strategies, books,  Previous year papers and mock tests.

Here are the excerpts from the Interview :

Harshita - Congratulations on your performance in JEE Main 2020.What was your reaction upon knowing your score?

Zenith - Thanks a lot. I was of course extremely delighted and overjoyed to find out my result. After I had checked with the final answer key and I was getting 295, there was the wisp of the thought in my head that I might be 100 percentile but to see the result flash before my eyes was truly a great feeling. We celebrated a lot too with my friends, who have also done extremely well.

Harshita - Are there any special books that you feel have helped with your JEE Main preparation? Are the school textbooks adequate for preparing for JEE Main and Class XII?

Zenith - This answer depends on the subject we are talking about. For chemistry specifically, yes I think if you have read the NCERT a lot of times and have a good idea about it, you can do very well in JEE mains, you might even get full marks with just NCERT and the previous year JM papers. For physics, I still consider NCERT a very good resource. Though questions are not directly pulled out of NCERT like in Chemistry, you can learn almost all the concepts needed and problem solving with NCERT. To improve though, consider doing "Concepts of Physics" by HC Verma sir and a lot of mock tests and papers. Also prepare well for the topics which are only in Jee mains. For maths, I think NCERT does not hold much significance. It should still be done, but you need to do more challenging problems than that to score very well in JEE Mains. I personally used my coaching sheets and modules. Use the same if you are in a coaching too. If not, go for as many papers as you can, timed at 1 hour and that should give you a good taste. Concepts of Physics in Physics and SL loney (trigonometry and coordinate geometry) are the extra books I used, and they do help refine your score, but still NCERT is supreme.

Harshita - Why do you want to study engineering? When did you decide to study engineering?

Zenith - I do not actually want to study engineering. At the moment I am writing this, I am personally more inclined towards studying pure sciences and researching it from IISc Bangalore. I did opt for the JEE Adv preparation because IISc takes admissions from JEE(Main) and JEE(Advanced) too, so I did not have to go out of my way for it. I will be giving JEE(Advanced) though, to keep my options open for a decision if I believe IITs are the places I want to be later.

Harshita - When did you start your JEE Main preparation? Tell us something about your preparation strategy and daily routine for JEE Main?

Zenith -  I started my JEE prep from class 11th, when I took admission in Allen Kota. So that is when I started preparing for both JEE mains and JEE advanced. I believe regularity is the most important factor in JEE preparation. Everybody starts full of fire and enthusiasm in class 11th, but not many last 2 years. I used to do whatever we were told to do by Allen, around 4 to 5 hours a day. I gave out the last month before my february attempt just for JEE mains though, in which I solved all the JM 2019 and 2020 papers and also read all NCERTs.

Harshita - Which subject was the easiest and which was the toughest in JEE Main? What do you think is a tough thing to manage during the JEE Main exam?

Zenith - - I believe physics is the easiest in JEE mains. Very straightforward questions from easy, basic formulas. Not much needed to be done. On the other hand, I find maths is the most difficult JEE Mains subject because it sometimes goes to a good, challenging level even for a JEE(Advanced) aspirant. The most important thing in JEE(Mains) exams are definitely time management. Maths can be very long if the formulas are not directly in the back of your head, and you can lose track of time. It is thus very beneficial to have done a lot of papers beforehand, timed as well so that you can get a taste of what actual examinations are like.

Harshita - Did you give the February Session Exam? If yes, then how different was your result?

Zenith - I did give the February attempt, yes. In Fact I got a pretty strong NTA score of 99.9951787, which I was very satisfied with. I was not like- "I need to get a 100". That was good enough for me, but since I had already applied for the march attempt beforehand and I thought it would at least be an exam experience, if not anything more, so I gave the march attempt as well. Turns out I got 100. Well, I am not complaining

Harshita - What is the ideal time to start taking mock Tests & What role do mock tests play in JEE Mains Preparation? What was your strategies in particular towards mock tests?

Zenith - You should probably start giving mock tests a month before your exam if you can. Better even than mock exams, give real JM papers from all shifts and previous years. But keep a thing in mind. Giving papers is only helpful if you have already prepared the theory very well. If you give papers just because people who get good ranks say give papers, that is not very beneficial. Make sure before giving papers that you have full read all the theory you need for the exam and give them like actual, real papers, with a mask on if possible, and time them as well. Then they serve excellent purpose and aid your preparation immensely. Also remember to make sure you analyse your mistakes in the papers and work on it, or the papers are useless.

Harshita - What advice would you like to give the future JEE Main & share with us the strategies you used to stay motivated in your exam days.

Zenith - The best kind of motivation is the one that comes from within. You know you have spent two years of your life on it, sometimes more than that. You could have done so many things instead. You missed out on all the fun everyone else seems to be having. I know. I understand, I am an aspirant as well. We sacrifice so we can fare well for this. All the hours studying for this. All the parties missed for this. Can we all give it our best shot then? Don't we all wish we were all 100 percentiles today? If we do, let's work towards it. Let's battle with all out time in it, and then we WILL win. Peace.

About Author

Harshita Nandal
Harshita Nandal

Harshita Nandal has worked as a Creative head in Mitrakshar, University of Delhi. She has done her Graduation from the University of Delhi in English Honours. In her free time, she prefers to play the guitar, take short walks in between work and loves to watch Korean dramas. Currently, she is an author at Educere India to fulfil the desire of her passion for writing.