Part I: Focus on these subject areas

How can you avoid negative marking in IIT-JEE 2007? IIT-JEE is the qualifying exam for admission to IIT and is scheduled on April 8.

According to IIT-JEE trainer Ajay Antony from T.I.M.E: "You cannot totally avoid it. It is a function of your risk-taking ability. But nobody has cleared JEE just by taking risk alone. Your subject knowledge should score over the fears of negative marking. Also keep in mind that questions will require you to bring together concepts from different chapters."

Ajay answered queries related to IIT-JEE during a chat on March 16.

• Sizing up the IIT-JEE

For those of you who missed the chat, here's the transcript:

sezwan asked, In chemistry which section has more weightage Organic or Inorganic?
Ajay Antony answers, The split between Physical, Inorganic and Organic Chemistry is 40:30:30.

Malvika asked, Hello Ajay, how many hours dya need to study to crack IIT entrance?
Ajay Antony answers, Four hours a day from the start of XI Std itself - this is other than classes and coaching classes.

sundeep asked, Sir, what is the eligibility/percentage required to appear for iit-jee
Ajay Antony answers, 60 per cent in XII Std.

deepak asked, i am feeling tensed and least intrested in study
Ajay Antony answers, Tension is a mental phenomenon. On a ligher side, it is also a physical property, related to elasticity. You can take everything in the right perspective, if you want to !!!

dhruv asked, sir is there any individual cut offs this year as all subjects will be tested in both papers
Ajay Antony answers, There are individual cut-offs in the JEE 2007. The cutoffs will be based on the combined performance in both papers.

Kalaga asked, What was the top mark in IIT JEE last year in Open Category?
Ajay Antony answers, All India Rank 28 scored 357 marks in JEE 2006. That is what I can quickly recall now....

Vijay asked, Is there a cut off in each subject that you need to clear in Mains?
Ajay Antony answers, There is no mains. but there are individual cut-offs for different papers

faizan asked, sir, can we avoid rotational motion in physics, as its very difficult
Ajay Antony answers, Not at all. It is one of the most important areas -- last year, 18 marks out of 184 came from this topic alone.

priyadarshini asked, With just a few days to go for IITJEE, what kind of preparation strategy should we follow from now onwards?
Ajay Antony answers, Take many model papers and study the difference in the suggested solution and your approach.

jimmy asked, how do I build up my fundamentals?
Ajay Antony answers, That will take time. Assuming that you will target JEE later than 2007, we can do that.

sayan ganuguly asked, sir, I stay in chennai. Do you think it is wise idea to shift to Hyderabad just to crack IIT-JEE. My friends often keep saying that Students from hyderabad have a better chance to get thru JEE
Ajay Antony answers, Not at all. there are good coaching programmes available in Chennai.

Kalaga asked, Is there any website that gives information on the cut-off marks of IIT JEE v/s ranks obtained under various categories?
Ajay Antony answers, Not in the various categories. Our analysis is that Maths, Physics, Chemistry was 47, 52 and 56 for JEE last year. The total marks for each subject were 184.

dopes asked, now that only 20 days are left for the exam to go, is it a good idea spend more time on problem solving techniques and brushing up concepts?
Ajay Antony answers, Ideally, you should now just do model papers and study the best possible ways of solving the questions as suggested by the solutions.

Samar Ahmed asked, is tmh enough for jee maths
Ajay Antony answers, Any one book is not enough. You need to bank on different publications.

nk asked, Which is the of IIT Importance.
Ajay Antony answers, All IITs have a brand value that is recognised all over the world. Let's focus on that issue afer the All India results are out.

katarla asked, hi My brother is in xth standard... Please tell me how to plan for next two years to target IIT...
Ajay Antony answers, Immediately after the X std exms, he should start preparing for JEE 2009. There are good training programmes that stretch for two years, focussing on JEE 2009. Sustain the initial enthusiasm over 24 months and you are there.

priyadarshini asked, What should we do to avoid negative marking??
Ajay Antony answers, You can't totally avoid it. It is a function of your risk-taking ability . But nobody has cleared JEE just by taking risk alone. Your subject knowledge should score over the fears of negative marking. Also keep in mind that questions will require you to bring together concepts from different chapters.

albert asked, Should we try mock test or concentrate on study?
Ajay Antony answers, Now do one mock test every two to three days. And do seriously go though the suggested solution to see where your thinking and analysis digressed from the ideal critical path of problemsolving.

VV asked, does online question series by some of the institutes is a good proposition to attempt during these 20 days.
Ajay Antony answers, Definitely. Any amount of practice with good quality material backed up by what we will call "post mortem" analysis after the test whould do you good.

priyadarshini asked, What should be the strategy while attempting questions during the exam??? attempting 100% questions or devoting time to answer them???
Ajay Antony answers, You should not attempt 100 per cent. definitely. Even a 65 per cent net score should get you an AIR that will land you in a college of your choice.

Pooja asked, how much time do you think v should take to complete physics paper
Ajay Antony answers, Separate time limits is not mentioned in the brochure. Ideally, one hour each. A little more for your weakest subject, while taking a little time away from the subject where you are strong. This is to ensure clearing of cut off.

Kalaga asked, IS there any question bank that gives fusion questions in Maths, Physics and chemistry alongwith solutions?
Ajay Antony answers, If you mean combining PCM together, no. If you mean application of maths in physics etc, yes.

sunilparikh asked, Which is the best book to prepare for Chemistry? And, also problems in Chemistry? very little good problem literaure is available in Chemistry. Could you suggest some good books?
Ajay Antony answers, That is not a correct assessment. comparatively, the problem solving area of che is lesser that math and phy. But in physical chemistry, you do get a lot of numericals. The books in the market definitely cover these...

Gaurav asked, how do one find that which is the right career for him?
Ajay Antony answers, If you mean, which branch, let's worry about it afer the All-India result (AIR) is out.

sunilparikh asked, SIR, PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION: Which is the best book to prepare for Chemistry? And, also problems in Chemistry? very little good problem literaure is available in Chemistry. Could you suggest some good books?
Ajay Antony answers,  Arihant is good.

Pooja asked, is the syallabus for bits same as aieee and IIT
Ajay Antony answers, The areas are the same. Good luck.

Ajay Antony says, All the best, my dear friends. Do well in the JEE. God Bless. Bye.

Part I: Focus on these subject areas

-- Ajay Antony is the Vice President of T.I.M.E., which trains students for competitive exams like IIT-JEE, CAT, NIMCET and AIEEE.