Role of NCERT books for JEE Mains preparation

Role of NCERT books for JEE Mains preparation

Role of NCERT books for JEE Mains preparation

Introduction

The most famous examination in the country after pre university education or the 12^th grade exams is the JEE or the Joint Entrance examination. It is conducted on an all India basis. Students who wish to pursue their dreams in technical education, in engineering at premier engineering institutions of the country should clear this examination. The JEE is conducted at two levels, JEE Mains and JEE Advanced. Here, we try to find out whether NCERT books alone are sufficient to excel in the JEE mains exam or students need to look further beyond that. 

Insights into JEE mains exam

Students who clear the JEE Mains exam can get admission to NITs, IIITs and other premier engineering colleges of the country. Those who complete the JEE mains successfully and take up the JEE advanced exam and excel in that exam as well can seek admission into IITs. Here our focus is on JEE Mains. Students wait with bated breath to appear in the JEE main exam, which is considered as one of the most competitive and toughest examinations in the country. Around 12 to 13 lakh candidates appear for the exam every year.

JEE mains exam is conducted by the CBSE or the central board of secondary education every year. Though the syllabus is not contained in a single framework, the CBSE sets the question papers based on the secondary plus higher secondary curriculum. Every year, there can be seen a rise in the number of candidates aspiring for the exam and hence, a proportionate increase in the toughness level of the papers also increases. Competition among students is also very high in this exam.

What NCERT books cater to?

Now we come to the most important part of our write up. Here we go in detail as to what exactly NCERT books provide for the JEE mains preparation, what it does not cover and what else to refer apart from these books. It would be very wise if we looked at this topic in question with respect to each subject individually.

Let’s start with mathematics first. The general opinion amongst students appearing for JEE mains is that the maths paper outscores other papers when it comes to difficulty level. Maths is definitely the toughest nut to crack amongst the 3 papers of JEE Mains. So, experts believe that the NCERT text books are compulsorily required for reference. Practice is the key to success when it comes to the mathematics paper. Students are advised to practice exemplar problems in NCERT books from the point of understanding the methodology to solve various problems. That said, the paper obviously wont contain direct questions from the NCERT books as matter of fact. Understanding the basic idea behind solving a problem, the flow in which a long problem is to be solved step wise plus a thorough understanding of the problem is provided in NCERT books. But be cautious that the practice problems provided in the book is not sufficient. Using these problems you should plunge ahead and look out for more complicated problems. Another important addition to your practice sessions should be practicing variety of problems. NCERT books definitely provide you both variety and different kinds of problems. Students have to prepare themselves by practicing them enough. There have been numerous times when direct and straight-out-of-book questions are published in JEE mains paper. So if you’re lucky you could easily solve them without hassles.

Next we take up physics. For physics, NCERT covers most of the basic concepts that you would require for problem solving. Based on the different kinds of problems quoted, you should be able to apply the concepts accordingly. A concept presented in the NCERT book may appear in the raw form straight out of the physics world. This requires lot of further understanding and practice in applying specific concepts to solve different kind of problems. When it comes to specific questions that are somewhat direct, you can find them coming from NCERT textbooks directly. That’s surprising but many times examiners test students ability on these lines too. Familiarizing yourself well with the textbook, for examples, diagrams, illustrations and tables should not be missed out on. If you are studying Modern Physics solely from NCERT books, you are doing the right thing. Many questions and conceptual problems have been asked in the past only from these books, reason being, they are explained and covered extensively in NCERT books. You should also not forget to study up the tricky questions asked in the last section of the individual chapters. It is these kinds of questions that appear in competitive exams like JEE mains. 

We now come to the chemistry paper. This is one paper where majority of questions come directly from NCERT text books. The portion of inorganic chemistry is well explained, fully covered and extensively asked in the JEE mains paper. If you are thorough with the NCERT text books for chemistry then you should cross at least 75% of the required syllabus preparation. Much of the syllabus for preparation is based on conceptual understanding and learning plus a portion of it for application based on concepts in the book.

How adequate are NCERT books for JEE Mains

In mathematics, studying NCERT books undoubtedly builds good problem solving skills in aspiring students. But being able to solve problems, mostly complicated ones in exam in a minimum time frame cannot be achieved by solely relying on NCERT books alone. This kind of practice for developing problem solving skills with time management skills is a crucial factor to see success in exams. Certain areas like complex numbers, co-ordinate geometry, etc are not discussed in detail in NCERT books. Just brushing through the basics and trying to solve problems based on these skills won’t help much in the exam. Concepts are explained to give you a basic understanding with reference to the subject, but a definite hold on the concepts beyond what is provided in NCERT is going to take you up the ladder. 

When it comes to physics, concepts are well presented in NCERT books. But students usually find it difficult to grasp tough concepts and further apply the same for problem solving. In this regard, it is compulsory to refer to related books for gaining confidence in the topics learnt. Some chapters like rotational dynamics and oscillations have tricky questions and concepts that lie beyond the purview of NCERT books. Coverage of details is not bad in NCERT books. But for JEE, you require in depth knowledge to solve problems in fast, efficient and smart manner.

In chemistry, a fair part of the syllabus will help in the JEE mains preparation. But two important sections that need further reading and understanding are the physical chemistry and organic chemistry part. You definitely need to refer to as many possible books for this section. Just sticking to NCERT books alone won’t help you much in this regard. For high scores again, go beyond NCERT text books and cover variations that could appear in papers.

Beyond NCERT Books

NCERT books give you the fundamental outline for your preparation. They set the stage right for your preparation. It is like the basic plan of a building. All the basic concepts, problems, suggestions and illustrations can be found exemplified in one place in NCERT books. But for students aiming high scores, this definitely won’t be sufficient. Just like how a building rises above the basic plan, you must strategize to look further beyond the NCERT books. Here is a quick guide on some of the necessary reference books you should study apart from NCERT books. Take a look:

For Maths:

·        Maths XI & XII by R.D. Sharma

·        Plane Trigonometry Part 1 by S.L. Loney

·        Plane Co-ordinate Geometry by S.L. Loney

·        Higher Algebra by Hall and Knight

·        Problems in Calculus of One Variable by I.A. Maron

·        IIT Mathematics – M.L. Khanna

·        Differential Calculus – A Das Gupta

For Physics:

·        Concepts of Physics Vol I and II by H.C. Verma

·        Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick & Walker

·        Problems in General Physics by I.E. Irodov

·        IIT JEE Physics – DC Pandey

·        Physics for IIT-JEE- Resnick, Halliday, Walker.

·        Problems in Physics- S.S. Krotov

For Chemistry:

·        Physical Chemistry by O.P. Tandon

·        Organic Chemistry by Paula Bruice Yurkanis

·        Organic Chemistry by Paula Bruice Yurkanis

·        Organic Chemistry – Morrison Boyd

·        Modern Approach to Chemical Calculations – R.C. Mukherjee

·        Numerical Chemistry – P. Bahadur

·        Concise Inorganic Chemistry – J.D. Lee

Conclusion

Apart from these reference books it is very essential to keep two things handy as part of your reference material. One is of course the previous year question papers, which you should try and solve them yourself to gain confidence in problem solving and help yourself with an edge in time management. The other part is attempting mock test papers, which will show you variety and assess what you have learnt. These two essentials should be a must in your study routine and one shouldn’t miss out on them at any cost.