Interview of Arvind Sarraf AIR 1 in 1997

Q. Arvind, how you used to relax you after continuous study for long periods?

 ”Walking around in fresh air…..”

Q. What were the things you used to keep in mind before taking any exam?

 I used to formulate a strategy of order of solving problems - What level of hardness of problems I should start with and how to schedule them. Also an attempt to analyse all previous exam papers and keep track of silly mistakes one is likely to commit…

Q. What mistakes you commited during your prepartion?

A.
1. Related to course : During earlier stages of prepartion, I tried to flood myself with lot of problems  from lots of sources without even having my basic concepts clear.Clarity of concepts is absolutely important before solving problems.

2. Related to exams: Must go into exams after proper rest.
   
3. Related to revision: Trying to cover a lot of new material & ignoring those done long time ago.
  
Q. What is your view regarding revision… By what time students should be able to finish their prepartion and should start revision ?

A. I think revision is best done by taking a mix of new or untried( by self) problems from all topics of a subject and working them in timed exam like condition. In my opinion there need not be any hurry for starting revision, whenever started, the entire subject should have been completed.   

Q. How many hours you think one should devote daily for prepartion ?

A. I won’t like  to suggest number of daily hours of study -as long as one is gaining enough confidence in solving problems.

Q. What was your idea about IIT before entering and what is your idea about it now ?

A. There is too much of hype surrounding IIT and IITians , in my case, all after all are human beings.

Q. When exactly you had started your prepartion ?

A. Soon after  my class X examinations.

Q. Any thing you want to share from yourside that you think would be helpful for  students preparing for IIT ?
 
A. Before jumping to problems ,pay full emphasis on concepts. Emphasis must be given to mock examinations to develop proper paper tackling approach.

Q. Which books you consider are must for prepartion ?

 A.
1. Mathematics
      a. S L Loney -trignometry & coordinate geometry
      b. TMH- IIT Mathematics(esp algebra)
      c. M L Khanna -IIT Mathematics

2. Physics 
      a.Concepts of Physics(H C Verma)
      b.Problems in Physics (Abhay Kumar Singh) (the problems need to be selected)
      c.IIT Physics - Oswal Publishers (for problems)
      d.Resnick & Haliday ( for conceptual clarification in some topics)

3. Chemistry
       a.IIT Chemistry -O P Agarwal
       b.Schaum’s series -Organic Chemistry
       c.Solamons(don’t remember book name) (for organic chemistry)

Q. Any comment regarding the various correspondence coaching materials available ?
 
 A.
    a. Brilliants Y G Files for years 1989-1993 
    b. FITJEE GMP package
    c. Apex Academy (esp mathematics)

Thank you Arvind!