IIT JEE , AIEEE Forum - Articles Category , Community shelf - Are you ready for IIT-JEE 2008?

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The Joint Entrance Examination for admissions into the seven IITs, ISM Dhanbad and IT-BHU will be conducted on Sunday, April 13, 2008.

In this section we will discuss the structure of the IIT-JEE, and the sectional allocation of marks.

In 2008, the JEE has retained the same overall structure of the examination as was in 2007. The examination is coordinated by IIT Roorkee this year and will consist of two papers, similar to last year, spread over a duration of six hours. The first paper will be conducted from 9 am to 12 pm, and the second from 2 pm to 5 pm.

Both the papers will consist of all three subjects: Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics, with equal weightage given to each subject. The subjects will have an individual cut-off as well as an aggregate cut-off, before the All India Ranks are declared.

To substantiate this analysis, let us look at the composition of the JEE 2007 examination paper. As mentioned earlier, JEE 2007 consisted of two papers. Each paper consisted 22 questions per subject, 81 marks per subject per paper, and hence an aggregate of 486 marks.

There were four sections in each subject, each section consisting four different types of questions namely:

· Straight Objective Type

· Assertion Reasoning Type

· Linked Comprehension Type

· Matrix - Match Type

All sections, with the exception of Matrix-Match Type, consisted of Negative Marking.

The sectional allocation of marks per subject is detailed in the Table-1:

TABLE-1: Sectional Allocation of Marks

Section/ Type	Number of questions	Marks per question*	Total Marks per section*
Straight Objective	9	3 (-1)	27 (-9)
Assertion Reasoning	4	3 (-1)	12 (-4)
Linked comprehension	6	4 (-1)	24 (- 6)
Matrix-Match	3	6 (0)	18

Total	22		81

* (Marks in () represents Negative Marks.

In total, each paper consisted of 66 questions, to be answered in 3 hours. Since each subject has equal weightage, this leaves 22 questions to be answered in 60 minutes, with an average of 3 minute per question.

Considering the importance of time, and keeping in mind the negative marking as well, a strategy can be designed for JEE this year, since the pattern of paper is known.

One look at the table reveals that the maximum marks are allotted to Straight Objective and Linked Comprehension Type questions. One strategy would be to attempt these sections first, but one must note that they also have the maximum negative marks, 75% in total.

Let us discuss the nature of questions in each section, before we identify the most scoring questions and develop a strategy for JEE 2008.

Straight Objective Type has the highest number of questions, the highest share of the total marks, and the highest share of the negative marks as well.

Students are most familiar with this type of questions, and one might feel comfortable to begin the paper with this section. Beware, one might waste too much time in answering all the questions, and not allocate proper time to other sections that may be more scoring. It was seen in JEE 2007, that atleast 4 to 5 out of 9 questions in this section could be answered within 10-12 minutes. One should not waste time in solving other questions in the section, in case they seem tough to answer.

Assertion Reasoning Type has the least weightage. It is the most confusing section for many students, owing to the unfamiliarity of such type of questions.

One might be totally averse to answer question based on reasoning, but that was more applicable in JEE 2007, when this section was newly introduced. Since we already know the pattern this year, and the analysis of last year's paper shows that questions of Assertion Reasoning Type were not very tough, one might answer questions in this section in just 10 minutes.

Since the weightage is less, one should not spend more than 10 minutes to answer questions based on reasoning.

Linked Comprehension Type questions are similar to Straight Objective Type, except that 3 questions are linked to a given comprehension. One must read and understand the comprehension carefully, before answering any questions linked to it. This might be time consuming, as one need to read the comprehension more than once to understand it well.

On comparing the ratio of total allotted marks to the negative marks, Linked Comprehension Type questions seem more scoring than the Straight Objective Type. Also, since 3 questions can be answered at one go, after reading the given comprehension, they can be answered quickly compared to Straight Objective Type.

Matrix Match Type has the highest weightage per question, 6 marks for each question, and no negative marking. This might seem tempting, but one should realize that Matrix Matching is tougher, as more than one matching may be possible.

To get full 6 marks, all options must be matched correctly, which may not be too easy to achieve, as atleast one part of the Matrix was tricky, as seen in JEE 2007. Therefore, in Matrix Matching one has to be very sure before answering any part of it, and this may take a lot of time. One might spend 5 to 6 minutes in answering the question, and yet fail to get any marks, because he/she might have left one option which was part of the answer. Though, there is no risk of negative marks, one might waste a lot of time in answering the Matrix Match questions.

The approximate time that can be allotted to questions in each section is detailed in Table-2.

TABLE-2: Sectional Allocation of Time

Section/Type	Number of questions	Time per question	Average Time per section
Straight Objective	9	2-3 minutes	20-25 minutes
Assertion Reasoning	4	2-3 minutes	8-10 minutes
Linked Comprehension	6	2-3 minutes	12-15 minutes
Matrix-Match	3	5-6 minutes	15-20 minutes

It is evident from the table that Linked Comprehension and Assertion Reasoning Type Questions would take the least time.

One should try to attempt these sections as fast as possible; however it is advisable to spend some extra time while answering Linked Comprehension questions, as they have more weightage.

Straight Objective and Matrix Matching Type questions would take almost two-third of the allotted time. One must be very careful, and not waste too much time, in case it is difficult to answer questions in these sections.

For allocation of marks per section and compare them with average time expected to answer questions in each section, let us look at Table-3.

TABLE-3: Sectional Allocation of Marks & Time

Section/Type	Number of questions	Total Marks per section	Average Time per section
Straight Objective	9	27 (-9)	20-25 minutes
Assertion Reasoning	4	12 (-4)	8-10 minutes
Linked Comprehension	6	24 (-6)	12-15 minutes
Matrix-Match	3	18	15-20 minutes

Linked Comprehension and Assertion Reasoning Type sections, together, consist of 10 questions and have a weightage of 36 marks, and can be answered in almost 20 minutes, i.e., in one third of time almost 50% of marks can be scored.

One must be watchful though, as they also have 50% of negative marks.

Straight Objective and Matrix Matching Type sections consist of 12 questions and have a weightage of 45 marks. It would take 35 to 40 minutes to answer these questions, i.e. two third of time would be needed to score the rest of 50% of marks.

It can be easily seen from the table above, that Linked Comprehension Type emerge as the maximum scoring questions, with the highest marks per minute ratio, 2 marks per minute, also keeping in mind the time limit and the less negative marks as compared to Straight Objective Types questions.

Thus, it is evident that it would help to score more, if comprehension based questions are solved with full concentration, and some extra time can be spend while answering them.

One strategy, thus, would be to first start with Linked Comprehension and Assertion Reasoning Type questions, and later answer Straight Objective and Matrix Matching Type questions.

However, this may not work at all times, the pattern in JEE 2008 might be similar to the one in 2007, but level of difficult might be different section-wise. So a student should review the question paper first before taking a go at it.

Also, the questions asked in the paper, in any section, may not be from the topic one is good at. In such a scenario, it is always advisable to start with those questions in which one is confident, but at the same time keep in mid the relative distribution of marks and expected time to answer questions in each section.

Last Phase of Preparation:

Now let us look at the kind of activities one should focus on during the last phase of the preparation.

Two methods can be used for effective revision.

1. Focus on Concepts:

Rather than looking at the question-answer type of revision for Class XII or HSC or ISC Board exams, look at each topic concept-wise and try to cover as many concepts as possible in one link itself.

For example, while revising Mechanics in Physics, do not look at the topics chapter-wise. Instead, close the text book, but try to build a flowchart of the topics on a sheet of paper and recall all the equations and formulae. Complete this exercise for all the chapters and only then open the text book to see what might have been missed out.

2. Follow-up:

Make sure that enough time has been spent during the follow-up also. The follow-up is where it is clearly identified "why" one missed out a link during the flow of concepts. One must be able to pull out any part from the link and then frame the answers in one's own words.

-By HOD - Mathematics, Aakash IIT-JEE

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