• How to prepare for JEE Mains and Advanced Exams

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Published 22nd July, 2025

How to prepare for JEE Mains and Advanced Exam

By Publisher Raisoni

The syllabus of JEE Mains and JEE Advanced is pretty much the same except for a few additional chapters in JEE mains. But the main difference lies in the quality of questions. JEE Mains focuses on testing good conceptual clarity and mild calculation skills; however, JEE Advanced tests your conceptual clarity, analytical skills, and ability to think out of the box.

JEE Mains is based on your basic understanding of concepts, solving speed, accuracy. In contrast, JEE Advanced is based on your deeper understanding of concepts and consists of problems of a slightly higher difficulty level.

The effective strategy to prepare for JEE Main and JEE Advanced is to concentrate solely on gaining a clear understanding of concepts and their applications. When you solve JEE Main and JEE Advanced sample tests and previous year papers, you'll notice a change.

Studies show that many people who have scored 250+ in JEE Mains have failed to clear JEE Advanced. At the same time, you will find many people who don't do too well in JEE Mains but then shine in JEE Advanced. Some differences between the two are:

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Effective Study Tips

1. The difference in their syllabus

Mains strictly follows NCERT. Many topics, such as parallel topics (optical instruments, EM waves etc.), are in mains but not in advanced. Similarly, many topics are in JEE Advanced and not in JEE Mains. Depending on which exam is your main goal, you'll have to make sure you cover the entire syllabus.

2. Difficulty level

There is no doubt that the difficulty level is anywhere near 1-5. JEE Mains asks surface-level questions. JEE Advanced goes much deeper and tests your concepts. You cannot just know the chemical reaction for advanced, you need to know the mechanism also. This is why JEE Advanced requires so much more practice than JEE mains. You need to train your mind to solve these questions and think logically. Your basics must be rock solid. This takes time and cannot be done in the last week. This is why advanced preparation should go hand in hand with JEE Mains preparation. Make sure you challenge your mind and solve difficult questions for every chapter you finish.

3. Time crunch

In my experience, time isn't as big of a problem in advanced as it is in mains, but this may vary from person to person. Mains has a greater number of questions, about 2 minutes per question. If you want a good score, you need to attempt most of the questions. This is why you should have good speed and great accuracy because you can't cross-check your answers. In JEE Advanced, not all questions are to be solved. Choose the ones you want to do carefully and spend time on those.

  • Use a singular source to study for your JEE Mains and JEE Advanced exams. One source is more than enough to cover the entire syllabus of the exam. It will also cease the confusion and save students from the hassle of rechecking and cross-checking.
  • This exam demands a lot of concentration and dedication, which means putting in many hours. You have to put in a minimum of 4-7 hours of your day into studying and use your time wisely for every subject. This is essential as it helps you make a schedule and adhere to it.
  • The tip here is that learning and memorizing the concepts will not help you to a great extent. Rather focus on understanding the concepts and their basics. This will help you in the long run.
  • Once you start your daily studies, try solving mock tests by yourself using a timer. Note down the amount of time it takes for you to solve one paper. Time management is important, and you'll be able to understand how to do that once you start practising on a regular basis.
  • Be consistent. Nothing beats routine and hard work.
  • Make several important notes to help you memorize the difficult equations, formulas, definitions etc.
  • Use HC Verma, DC Pandey, NCERT books, Problems sets for Physical Chemistry by Narendra Awasthi, Organic Chemistry by Morrison and Boyd for Organic Chemistry for your JEE mains studies.

Lastly, it's advisable to join a coaching institute to fast-track your learning experience and practice and learn in a fast-paced study environment. Students can also prepare without coaching classes. Regardless of additional help, this exam needs dedication, consistency and hard work to crack. Wishing all the aspirants all the very best and hope you have fun learning!