A Decent Guide to Becoming a Decent Engineer (Part 2)

This is part 2 of a 4 part series. This part provides an overview of 11th and 12th grade. In the previous part we covered 9th and 10th grade.

11th Grade

Once again a million dollar question: Is it time to join a coaching now? If yes, then what kind? Here’s a scribbled flowchart I have made for you:

Another question: What stream should I take? 

Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Physical Education and Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Painting are the two best options. It’s not a great idea to take Computer Science unless you are already familiar with it, as it will just be another hard subject that you have to balance on your plate but won’t be asked in the exam. 

Great, now you’re in 11th grade, and let’s say you did your Calculus diligently, and maybe even touched some Trigonometry. Prepare to be barraged by an exponentially large amount of work. Preparing for JEE is NOT like preparing for Boards. You thought you knew Maths? No, you didn’t. You don’t know anything, and you are now expected to know everything. 

This is also a good time to make some book recommendations. Kids who have been trained to be toppers do not require the same support as regular kids. The coaching institute I joined provided study material booklets and it is completely safe to say that I did not study from them even once.

Most coaching study material booklets unfortunately are not designed very well. Instead a book series I swear by for Maths and Physics is Cengage’s series. They had extremely detailed explanations and tons of examples. They also had a practice sheet of questions at the end of every chapter, but I never did them, I found the examples themselves to be good enough.

They go from basic concepts to complex concepts, making them ideal for a student who’s learning at their own pace. 

For Chemistry, just attend lectures, and drink up the entire NCERT. I mean it. Chemistry in 11th will now be divided into Inorganic, Organic, and Physical. For Organic and Physical, simply listen in class/YouTube lectures and make top notch notes. Inorganic requires you to simply dump all the NCERT information into your brain. Don’t bother reading any outside source for Inorganic. It will simply not be worth the effort. 

Try your very best to ONLY make notes ONCE. Your aim as you are learning, is to make notes with the mindset that you will be using these exact notes one month before the actual Mains exam. Making and remaking notes is an absolute waste of time unless you’re the type of person who learns by writing instead of reading. Invest in a whole lot of cheap and comfortable pens, maybe multi coloured if you’re that type of person, one fat register for a whole lot of rough work, and three fat notebooks for the three subjects respectively that will contain EVERYTHING (all important tricks, every concept, and every formula you have ever encountered). Don’t write theory in this, simply write the crux of the information. 

My main aim is to reduce the workload for you as much as possible, and streamline everything to the max of my capabilities. Have your notes up to date at all times, and keep them clean. These notebooks have to last two years, and maybe even more. 

Apart from this, buy this as well: 

1. Previous years questions papers 

2. Subject wise questions asked in previous year exams

These will become your GOD books.

Here is the entire list of all the material I have recommended: 1. Cengage for Maths and Physics 

2. Three fat notebooks for notes (remember: only write the crux of the concept)

3. One fat notebook for rough work 

4. A crazy amount of pens 

5. Previous years question papers (referred to as PYPs)

6. Subject wise questions asked in previous year exams (referred to as SWQs)

That is a pretty tall order. 

Here is your main aim for class 11th: Make top quality notes. Revise as much as possible. The second a chapter gets over and you’ve done some practice questions on all concepts, open your SWQs and obliterate it. Some people will tell you: “oH i Am SaViNg mY PrEvIoUs YeAr QuEsTiOnS, I WiLl dO tHeM wHeN tHe SyLlAbUs iS OvEr.” I call bullshit again. First of all, the syllabus is NEVER over and if someone tells you it is, they are lying. There are always more revisions you can do, or some teeny tiny fact of Inorganic Chemistry that you could have forgotten, or some type of question that was asked 10 years ago and you haven’t encountered it. Second of all, you are aiming to prioritize efficiency of learning above everything else. This means, doing SWQs and identifying as fast as possible what type of questions are a favorite in tests. Some concepts are always more popular, and the faster you reap this information, the faster you will know which concepts to prioritize in your syllabus. 

More Patterns Identified = More Concepts Identified = More Revision of said Concept = More Questions you Manage to Crack 

This is how I managed to do decently in Maths. As I said, not my strongest subject. But with a strong focus on Calculus, and Coordinate Geometry, somewhere I managed to make them work. 

Also, if you are someone who is studying purely online, sign yourself up for a test series and go consistently. Get in the habit of studying for 3 hours and giving tests for 3 hours. 

12th Grade

Great! Now you are in 12th grade. I’m assuming you have managed to survive and are now at the following position: 

1. Top quality notes that you can keep referring to for quick revisions 

2. Consistently giving 3 hour tests to get in the habit 

3. Attempted the SWQs of every chapter you have studied so far. Maybe even multiple times. 

4. You paid strong attention to Organic Chemistry, as more of it is taught in 12th

Additionally, 4. You did Kinematics, but no longer remember it because it was so long ago 

5. You did Inorganic and now it has flown out of your brain

6. There was some formula in Conic Sections but you don’t know what it was

There is only one answer to all your problems: Revision. 

I HATE revision. Absolutely despise it. But it is, in my opinion, the single most important deciding factor of your competitive exam outcome. Revise everything, as many times as you can, whenever you can, for as long as you can. Don’t have any time? Revise on the toilet seat, I honestly don’t care. ALL your hard work will be for nothing, if you don’t revise things a million times and more. 

Also, if you plan to give other exams like BITSAT, start working on logical reasoning and English skills as well. These are portions that are easy to score in, so there is no reason you should miss out on the free marks they give to you. 

Now, even before the syllabus has ended, and way before the pressure of the Board exams has started to mount, start giving PYQs. It does not matter if the syllabus hasn’t ended, or your revision isn’t complete, or if you don’t feel confident in this topic, or that chapter. Start. Giving. Previous. Years. Tests. No national test series, or “Predicted By Kota’s Top Experts” test is ever going to come close to this piece of golden nugget. Start as early as possible, and give as many as you can. 

But here’s the important part: Whenever you get a question wrong, or couldn’t do it, try it again once. If you can’t, go back to your notes, and see if the formula is present there or not. If not, see the answer. The analysis of the test is honestly way more important than giving the test itself. And what do you do after a few days of giving the test? That’s right, you revise. 

Why should you start before the syllabus gets over? 

Because by the time you wait for the syllabus to get over, you will not be left with enough time to properly attempt 20 - 30 PYPs. It’s better to start early, and get used to the exact format of the paper. As more of your revision is done, your marks will improve as well, and at some point stagnate. Don’t stop giving them at this point. They will increase, but it will take time to break that barrier. It’s also a good time to track your progress, and see what marks get you which percentile, and what college you might’ve ended up in the year of the exam you gave.