Engineering Dreams: How to Prepare My 8th Grader for JEE Success, Mumbai Edition

Ans: Lengthy answer (applicable to All Self-studying Students for JEE/NEET/Other Entrance Exams). Please DON'T force him to join any Coaching Center as he prefers Self-Study. However, here are some questions he should ask himself & strategies he should definitely follow: (1) Does he have the syllabus of JEE of 2024 in hand to always refer (as syllabus hardly changes every year or changes minutely)? (2) What all sources he has / will have for his self-study? NCERT Books? Watching YouTube Videos for each Chapter? Does he know the important Reference Books for each Subject - PCM like HC VERMA for Physics? (3) Does he prepare his own short-notes? (4) How may hours he studies every day & how smartly he studies (not hardly)? Has he planned how he can manage both school syllabus & JEE preparation? (5) How he will come to know how he has prepared, in which concepts / topics / chapters he is weak and what improvements needed? (6) How is practicing questions and from where? (7) Has he at least joined DLP (Distance Learning Program) with any Coaching Center to get their study materials & self-study? These are some illustrative examples of questions he should ask himself. Now COMING to important strategies he should definitely follow (1) It is highly advisable (if not joining any coaching center) to join at least DLP with Allen / AhaGuru or online classes. (2) To give more importance to Maths, as JEE Rank is allotted on the basis of Scores in Maths first, followed by Physics & Chemistry. (3) Should prepare his own short-notes and revise regularly. (4) Keep on practising Online Test Series Chapter-wise / Unit-wise and note down the wrongly answered questions for reference later. (5) Instead of easy questions, should always try to attempt very difficult / complicated / tough / lengthy questions as these type of questions will disturb him a lot during his actual JEE Exam. (6) MOST IMPORTANT: To attempt All India Test Series of any top Coaching Center's Online Test Series to know where he stands among 1000s or lac of students and where he has to move? (7) Should be thorough with basic concepts (beginning from NCERT Books) of all Chapters of PCM. Again, these are just some illustrative important strategies he should follow.

All the BEST for your Son's Bright Future.

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Ans: Mehul Sir,

Thoroughly read your question Sir. Here-below are some Options / Important Suggestions & Why?:

Option-1

After he finishes his 8th Standard, you can get admission for him into any CBSE-School (or) Maharashtra State Board School which also has an integrated Program.

As far as I know, there are very less number of CBSE Schools. If you can get into any CBSE School, well and good.

If he joins any State Board Integrated School from the 9th itself, it is highly recommended to thoroughly go through the NCERT Books of 9th to 12th Standards which is most important for JEE preparation.

It is preferable to start early for JEE (from 9th standard to cover NCERT basic concepts), but not mandatory.

Option-2

If you decide NOT to discontinue from IGCSE till 10th standard, you will have to put him in any JEE-Integrated School for 11th/12th Standard.

However, it is advisable to go through the NCERT books of 9th/10th, whenever time permits for your son as the quantity of subjects/syllabus of IGCSE will be more, compared to CBSE.

Option-3

As you prefer Home Tutors, please note, highly experienced Home Tutors (especially for JEE-Advanced preparation) charge on hourly-basis and depending upon the subject (for example, tuition fee for Maths will be higher, compared to Physics & Chemistry).

Please choose the best option, suitable for you/for your son out of the above 3-options.

Some other value-added tips:

1) Please give more importance to Maths, followed by Physics, as JEE Rank is allotted on the basis of highest marks in Maths.
2) If you prefer an Integrated Program, make sure the School/Integrated Class is not too far from your home. Travel consumes/wastes lot of your valuable time.
3) For other PRACTICAL Strategies / Steps / Tips, please go through some of my answers below, related to JEE preparation.

All the BEST for Your Son's Bright Future.

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Ans: Mehul Sir, First recommended book is HC Verma for Physics of 2-Volumes which has the basic concepts of Physics of JEE that he should be thorough with and it is available online to order. Secondly, you can get any top coaching center materials by joining DLP (Distance Learning Programme) for self-study or with the help of home tutors from 8th itself.

It is suggested to get hard copies of Coaching Materials instead of downloadable ones as Coaching Center Materials contain not only the concepts in detail but also contain good quality questions to practice both offline and online.

One important point which I forgot to add in my initial answer to you Sir i.e. It is good to prepare well for JEE, but instead of relying only on JEE Exam, your son should also appear in 5-7 Entrance Exams as back-ups to have a lot of options open for him to decide the best and most suitable one. All the BEST Sir.