Tuesday 30 June 2015

Books for Indian National Olympiads

Indian National Olympiads are probably the most competitive examinations in India. A mention of them on your resume surely creates impression and shows your expertise in the subject and so, it becomes important to prepare for these exams with great enthusiasm.

Indian National Physics Olympiad: The most competitive Physics exam in India, with only ~40 people qualifying from all over the country. The preparation for INPhO doesn't require any special skills as such. A deep understanding of the +2 level concepts is more than enough. However, to be able to clear INPhO, one definitely needs an aptitude to solve subjective problems, which isn't that easy to develop.
Seeing a simple harmonic motion in the context of thermodynamics (INPhO 2013) is sure to force you to think beyond the JEE syllabus and so one should really have an in-depth understanding of the subject to ace this exam.
Here are the required books for INPhO


  • The usual God book - IE Irodov



  • Arihant INPhO, old edition



  • Arihant INPhO, new edition



Indian National Chemistry Olympiad: Well, this is also a really tough exam. I scored 56/97 and I was among the top 40 in India to qualify for this exam. With my score, you can easily estimate the difficulty level of this exam.
A deep knowledge of organic chemistry is needed, much beyond JEE syllabus and its worth investing some time here to learn more new concepts (basics of NMR spectroscopy, biochemistry, etc)

Here are some good books to assist you:


  • Organic Chemistry by LG Wade


  • Physical chemistry by OP Tondon



  • Inorganic chemistry by OP Tondon


  • Arihant INChO



INMO: since I never appeared for RMO, I have least idea here, but I heard some people using this book:

Monday 29 June 2015

Must buy books for JEE preparation (Mathematics)

Well, for maths, the biggest problem is that as such there is no HC Verma for mathematics.

Even if you are just aiming for selection, RD Sharma books become a must.


  • RD Sharma Class 11th and 12th


    

If you are aiming for a rank around 1000, you need to be better and just RD Sharma won't suffice.


  • ML Khanna IIT Mathematics might be good for you although its a bit more rigorous so be wise while selecting its problems

If you aim for nothing less than a 2 digit rank, then you must put in some real good effort and buy all of the below books to get a deep idea of concepts involved:



  • Coordinate Geometry by SK Goyal



  • Arihant Differential Calculus




  • Arihant Integral Calculus




  • Arihant Algebra




  • Arihant Vectors and 3D Geometry



  • Arihant Trigonometry




  • TMH Mathematics


Must buy books for JEE preparation (inorganic chemistry)

The most confusing aspect of chemistry - what to study in inorganic and what not?
Don't worry, these books (+ JEE syllabus) will help you

For those who are aiming for just selection - NCERT is more than enough for inorganic chemistry

For those who are looking for a rank close to 1000, you should read a renowned coaching institute material (Bansal/Resonance/FIITJEE) besides NCERT.

For those who are really aiming for an under 100 rank, JD Lee becomes a must have book
  • Inorganic Chemistry by JD Lee

  • Vogel's Qualitative analysis

Must buy books for JEE preparation (organic chemistry)

A variety of books are available for organic chemistry.

For those who are aiming for just selection, NCERT is sufficient for you, you need not buy any other book(s).

For those who are aiming for a rank around 1000 must buy the best book for organic chemistry - LG Wade


  • LG Wade organic chemistry

For those who want nothing less than an under 100 rank, you must buy additionally the book by MS chauhan (which is really a big gun to solve)

  • MS Chauhan
I did not find a proper link on the internet for this book, kindly search in the local store. This book contains just the problems and no theory.

Must buy books for JEE preparation (Physical Chemistry)

Once again, the books are mentioned in the order of rank

For those who just aim for a selection, the NCERT textbooks are sufficient if you use them properly. No additional book is required for JEE in particular

For those who are aiming for a rank around 1000, you must keep the below mentioned books with you:


  • Exemplar problems with solution manual
    


  • OP Tondon Physical Chemistry


For those who want nothing less than an under 100 rank must additionally study the following book:


  • RC Mukherjee


Must buy books for JEE preparation (Physics)

There are innumerable JEE preparation books in the market and every year the pattern is changing. Which books to buy?
Well, you cannot be done with just 1 book per subject. That would surely be too less for JEE preparation. However, below I have tried to mention the minimal set of books which you must have if you are preparing for any competitive examination.

For those aiming just for selection in JEE (even a rank of 5000 is acceptable to them)

  •  Concepts of Physics by Professor HC Verma Part 1


  • Concepts of Physics by Professor HC Verma Part 2

For those who are aiming for not just a rank, but for a decent rank (say around 1000 or better), you must obviously follow above books. Additionally you must keep the below mentioned books with yourself. Note that the ratio of ranks is in inverse ratio of hard work at this ranking level. Meaning, you must work 5 times harder than the 5000 rank guy to get under 1000 rank


  • Mechanics part 1 and 2 by DC Pandey




  • Electricity and magnetism by DC Pandey



  • Optics and Modern Physics by DC Pandey




  • Waves and Thermodynamics by DC Pandey


For those who are aiming for a real good rank (around 100 or less), above books + the books mentioned below are definitely must. At this level, you just cannot compromise with any topic. You cannot afford to lose out even a single standard problem and so, solving all of the books becomes must.


  • IE Irodov




  • Resnick Halliday

Sunday 21 June 2015

Excellent books by MTG

I used to read MTG magazines when I was in school and they were really excellent. In fact, some teachers recommend solving the mock test papers in MTG magazines. In class 10th, I used to try basic calculus problems (limits, differentiation, integration, etc) from MTG magazines and really loved them.

The MTG Editorial board has published an excellent set of books for objective NCERT


        

You must surely give them a try, they will surely be useful :)

Exemplar Problems

CBSE has provided some excellent problems called as Exemplar problems on the NCERT website.
Because these problems are made by the authors of NCERT textbooks, you must do them!
Reason - the authors of NCERT textbooks are none other than the professors at the renowned research institutions including IITs and so, solving them becomes must!

Exemplar Problems

Note that it is also advisable to keep correct solutions to these problems (especially for Physics and Chemistry).
The problems of chemistry Exemplar problems (especially inorganic chemistry) are really important and a serious aspirant should not ignore them!

        


       

The exemplar problems are so good (and relevant for competitive examinations like JEE Main and JEE Advanced) that Arihant has created all new series of Exemplar problems solutions.

Tuesday 16 June 2015

How do I revise class 11th course fully?

That's not only a good question, but also an important one
Note that I am answering from the point of view of responsible students.
So, here we go.
  • First of all, make a list of the chapters you've completed (fully or partially) in class 11th. This way, you can see your progress. This will not only give you confidence, but also motivate you to complete class 12th syllabus with even more energy.
  • Having made the list, you should first tick the chapters in which you are pretty confident.

This is why I mentioned at the top that this answer is written from the point of view of responsible students. A responsible student who has properly utilized his/her 1 year of class 11th will get about 80% ticks done.

  • What now? Well, your focus should be on the unticked ones, because these are the ones that will hit you back in almost all the examinations you face.
  • Now focusing only on these chapters, make a list of specific topics at which you are weak. A simple example of a topic can be: derangements in permutations and combinations or maybe geometric problems in complex numbers, etc.
  • Now comes the important part. Get 2 books - a basic one and a tough one. Solve the basic problems of that particular topic at which you are weak. If after solving 10 questions, you feel that comfortable, move to the tough one immediately without wasting time on the easy one. Solve this tough book religiously. Sit with it, give time to every question. You will surely need more time because this topic is your weakness. But remember that this spent time will help you to overcome your weakness.
  • Having followed the above procedure, I am sure you are no more weak in that topic. However, you still might not feel confident. Don't worry. I wasn't confident with permutations and combinations even after solving RD Sharma, KC Sinha, ML Khanna, TMH, FIITJEE Package, Arihant Algebra and Resonance Package. But I ended up solving PnC questions in JEE.
Well, that was about overcoming weaknesses.
Having done that, an important part remains to be done - revising the entire syllabus.
Let me tell you a secret

For good students, there is nothing called as revision
They keep everything in mind all the time.
Tell them that they have exam in 5 minutes, they will be ready.
This was told to me by my Physics teacher in class 11th, who mentored (Vipul Singh, AIR 5 in JEE 2010).
Fix that in mind and remember it properly.

So, how to develop this habit?
  • Firstly start reading your own notes. They are usually concise and highlight the important points which are required in competitive examinations.
  • You can read entire Physics notes in a day. Same goes for Chemistry and Mathematics. If you are fast enough, you can complete in 2 days or maybe in a single day if you are too fast.
  • However, you should not take more than 3 days. If you are taking more than 3 days, then you are probably weak at a particular topic and you need to read this answer from the starting once again :D
  • Having done this, the only thing remains is to start solving problems. Since you already practiced a number of problems from the weak chapters, you can now focus largely on the chapters at which you are good. Since you are good at these chapters, you can solve say 10-15 tough problems rather than 50 easy ones in the same time. Just do it!
  • You should be wise enough to decide how much problems you need.

Now let us talk specifically about Physics
  • You can revise all the Objective I and II questions of HC Verma to ensure you are strong at theory
  • You can solve subjective problems of DC Pandey (10-15 for each chapter) to ensure you have good problem solving skills
  • You can solve IE Irodov if you are aiming for a better rank
  • Definitely solve the past year JEE papers (1978 onward)
The above 3 will be enough to help you revise.
If you feel that you have already done the above properly and you need something new, purchase a revision package.

Coming to Chemistry:
  • You can try RC Mukherjee for Physical Chemistry
  • You can try LG Wade for Organic Chemistry
  • You cantry MS Chauhan for (very) challenging problems of Organic Chemistry
  • For inorganic Chemistry, the best source is to solve past year papers

Now Maths:
  • TMH is the best book to revise
  • You can solve the solved examples and check solutions as well

Note that if you sincerely follow the above, you can easily revise everything within a month.
Also note that you must study all the subjects daily.
A subject a day is a terrible idea.

To summarize, the best way to revise is to solve a handful of quality problems that involve a mix of concepts to check your ability of assembling concepts and applying them to solve a problem.

Thursday 11 June 2015

Post for those who wasted class 11th (and droppers)

A large number of you ask me what to do when you have fully wasted class 11th.
Well, its not the end. You can study hard and be back in the race.
Rather than wondering what to do, go, pick up the books and study.
The usual books have been mentioned umpteen number of times on the blog. Go through them, read the theory and solve problems earnestly.
Focus more on class 12th concepts. However, you will also have to cover class 11th concepts in parallel because class 12th concepts demand the use of class 11th concepts (for example, an electromagnetism problem maybe solved by energy conservation).
Focus more on problem solving. Try to cover theory from a few books but problems from several books to gain an idea of the type of problems you are expected to know.
The standard text books will teach you almost everything and you should remain restricted to a handful of books.
Put in more hours in studying than in wondering what to do.
Try to complete the syllabus as soon as possible so that you can start with test series and revision packages which are surely helpful.
TIP 1: focus less on school work. It is simply a waste of time if you are aiming to be an IITian. Focus more on JEE preparation
TIP 2: tip 1 above does not mean ignoring NCERT.

Since those who wasted class 11th are essentially in the same boat as that of droppers, this post applies to the droppers as well.

If every question in JEE Advanced is difficult and different from what is in books, how do average students crack it with a lot of practice?

I will break your questions in parts to answer it.


every question in JEE Advanced is difficult


Well, that's incorrect. Since JEE 2013, they have made it a point that 10% of the JEE paper will be made in a way that even those who have studied properly for board exams will be able to do it.
Moreover, a large part of JEE paper is really doable, and every year people indeed do it!


different from what is in books


Are you joking?
JEE has a well defined syllabus and almost all the standard books available in the market cover the syllabus. Give me 1 example of a question which you did not find in ANY book and I will edit my answer accordingly.
In fact, they lift up questions directly from books.
Which books? The books you ignore - NCERT text books.
Now pick up JEE 2013 paper and sit with NCERT and then compare them side by side. Every concept asked in the paper can be found in NCERT text books. Its all about correct assembly of concepts in a question.

Coming to the important part of your question


how do average students crack it with a lot of practice?


Your question contains the answer. They crack it with a lot of practice indeed!
They solve endless questions so that they develop a directed thinking attitude. An attitude which helps them to analyse the problem and to identify the hidden concept involve.
This attitude is not inherent. This attitude has to be developed.
There is no shortcut.
How to develop it? Read below

In general, a JEE aspirant has 2 years
2 years = 365 x 2 = 730 days
Assuming that you are in no mood of studying for more than 5 hours a day, you have a total of 730 x 5 = 3650 hours
Now you roughly have 90 chapters to be done (30 in each subject)
that leaves 3650 / 90 hours ~ 40 hours per chapter.
Now pick up a chapter at which you are weak and do this:
Study theory for 10 hours
Solve easy problems for 5 hours
Solve medium problems for 10 hours
Solve hard problems for 15 hours
That completes your 40 hours.
Come back to me and tell me your status.

Was that a bit more theoretical?

Well, this is what distinguishes a JEE top ranker from a JEE dreamer.
They apply this theory into practice and do it.

5 hours a day is pretty easy to get, provided you have enough motivation.
People think that you have to sacrifice everything for JEE, blah blah blah.
5 hours a day is no sacrifice! And trust me, its totally worth. Come to IIT and you will realize!

Go ahead and apply it and become a topper.
My best wishes to you :)

Monday 8 June 2015

How can I get a mentor for my IIT JEE preparation?

Taken again from Quora

All I can say is that the best mentor for IIT JEE preparation is "YOU YOURSELF".
No teacher is going to help you. Teachers will only show you path. You will have to travel the path yourself.
The famous quote goes as follows - "God helps those who help themselves"

Another good (or rather better) mentor for JEE preparation are "YOUR PARENTS". No matter what their profession is or what their educational qualification is, parents are always the best mentors.
My parents always helped me during my JEE preparation. The most important thing that you need to get into IIT is "motivation" and your parents will always motivate you. They will be always by your side when you need light on the path or when you are feeling low/depressed. They will selflessly help you.

The third best mentor is "BOOKS". Books will always help you. No matter what the problem is, it's solution can always be found in some or the other book. Books are not selfish. They will always be ready to give you knowledge and will never ask you for anything in return.

I hope you got your answer. 
JEE preparation is not about having good Physics, Chemistry and Maths teachers.
Their are lakhs of students who don't have access to any kind of tuition/coaching. They are studying on their own. And many of them even crack JEE (with good ranks)
Once you get into IIT, you will realize that the teaching system is completely different. You will have to guide yourself. People hardly understand anything in the lectures/tutorials and professors will be least bothered about this. So, ultimately you will have to resort to books and of course yourself.

What makes JEE Advanced tough?

Taken from one of my Quora answers:

"JUNTA", the amount of "useless" junta appearing for the exam makes the exam tough.
By "useless" junta I mean the junta appearing for the following two reasons :
1.) parental pressure : "Beta IIT ki tayari kar lo,  life set ho jayegi" (son prepare for IIT, your life will be set)
2.) my friend is appearing/preparing for IIT JEE so I should also do that : "yaar wo IIT ki tayari kar raha hai, Mujhe bhi karni chahiye" (he is preparing for IIT, I should also do)

This "useless" junta has increased the crowd to such an extent that 5 lakh people appeared for JEE 2012
There are other factors too :

Tough paper : You are taught to write long descriptive answers in board exams where the papers are set up from the "past year problems". You just mug up a handful of questions and you get above 90% in Boards. This funda completely fails in JEE because they hardly repeat any questions.
Moreover questions asked in JEE check you analytical skills and your creativity too!

Time boundation : in JEE 2013, we had to solve 120 questions in just 6 hours time and each problem in itself was a challenge.

Change in pattern : JEE paper setters regularly change the pattern of Examination so as to encourage "pattern proof study".

Negative marking : in JEE,  almost all questions involve negative marking so that you can't "blindly" guess any answer and get away. People even got negative marks out of 360 in JEE 2013 only because of negative marking.

Examination temperament : many people are unable to perform on "the day" due to extreme pressure. I know a couple of people who couldn't give their 100% only because of their poor examination temperament. 

Thursday 4 June 2015

Books for Competitive Examinations

I have added an exhaustive list of books for each subject

If you are viewing the blog on a desktop, then you can see the links on your right
Also, a new tab has been added for the link to the books section

Here are the links in case the above 2 did not work for you:

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Were IITians toppers in primary and secondary classes too?

This post has been taken from one of my Quora answers (link): 

I was born and brought up in the city of Kanpur
Kanpur does not have a decent academic background. Most of the people here are illiterate.

I joined a school near to my home. It was an average school and I was a not so good student.
I remember getting 7th rank in class 1st and 13th rank in class 2nd.
In class 3rd, a new section was created and I don't know how, but I managed to get 1st rank. The same continued in class 4th. However, I became over confident in class 5th and I got 8th rank.
Seeing my academic potential, my mother wanted me to get admitted to Dr. VSEC, (probably) the best school in Kanpur.
Now comes the big deal
In the admission interview, the principal told my mother:

Getting a top 10 rank in an ordinary school is no big deal. Let's see how he fares in our school


Well, to my surprise, I ended up with some 70 % marks in class 6th, standing 23rd in my section (there were 3 other sections).
I was very disappointed. I did not take any coaching/tuition. My elder sister used to teach me.
I wasn't much into academics at that time.
However, slowly and steadily, I progressed getting 13th rank in class 7th followed by 6th rank in class 8th.
Next comes class 9th.
I remember in the first term exams, I got 4th rank and missed the first rank by just 7 marks out of 1100.
That was it.
I worked hard day in and day out and managed to top all 4 sections by a margin of 14 marks right in the second term examinations. Since then I never looked back, I kept on moving.
Class 10th board exams result: 97.4%, topped my school.
My mother went with me to principal madam and she told her:

You had told my son on the interview day that topping in an ordinary school was easy, but by your blessings and his hard work, he topped your school as well.

Well, but this victory was not a victory for me.
I was ranked 3rd in the city and the topper was just 2 marks ahead of me.
Why ? Because I made a silly mistake in the mathematics exam. The question demanded calculation of simple interest and I took the time to be 1 year instead of 2 years.

Never mind.
I started my JEE preparation soon after class 10th.
The city topper guy (who is not a good friend of mine) was also in my batch.
The toppers of all major schools were in the same batch as that of mine.

Learning from my mistakes, working hard and being patient finally worked out.
June 21st, 2013: JEE Advanced results announced and I got an All India Rank of 33 :)