Preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination is no easy feat. After all, with your career at stake, making it to one of the most prestigious institutes in India requires nothing less than painstaking effort.

To begin with, a good coaching institute will provide the right platform to pursue your dreams, arming you with the ideal preparation, training and mentors to successfully shape your future.

You cannot just settle down with any ordinary coaching institute. The right coaching centre will help in maintaining a balance in both school examinations and entrance exams simultaneously, which itself is a challenging task.

A dedicated coaching institute of repute will provide the right guidance and hone the analytical skills necessary to tackle such highly competitive examinations.

If you are on the lookout for coaching centres, this checklist will help you sift through the credible and the not-so reputed ones.

Excellent track record: One of the biggest differentiators of an experienced coaching centre is their track record. For example how many students were enrolled for the course, how many were successful, what percentage of students secured ranks within the top 1,000 or 500.Success trail and testimonials are a testament of an institute and a consistent record speaks volumes of their exemplary infrastructure, methodology, teaching faculty and good study material. A coaching institute with higher success record is more likely to give you the best training and guidance for achieving your goal.

Experienced and trained faculty: A top coaching institute is known by not only its alumni but also its faculty. Teachers and mentors play a crucial role in the learning process. Check out the achievements of the alumni, the admissions record and the qualifications of the faculty members. The best faculty has years of experience, augmented acumen, pedagogical skills, necessary expertise as well as practical working knowledge of the sector.

Proximity: Time is of essence when prepping up for such competitive exams. You want to spend minimal time on travelling to and from a coaching centre. Therefore, select one which is in proximity to your home, to save time and energy that can be otherwise utilised doing more important tasks.

Personalised coaching and monitoring: The strength of students in each batch should be in limit to ensure excellent concentration and attention from both sides, enabling better interactions with teachers. Also, reputed coaching centres have a strong academic operations team to monitor progress by conducting periodic tests, quick copy checking and results, and also providing timely feedback to parents.

Study and practice material: A top performing institute works on a student’s IQ enhancement with focus on improving their analytical thinking. They ensure that students have sound understanding of fundamental concepts. When you make the right choice for a coaching institute, you are taking a major step towards your goal. The preparation for JEE Main and Advanced calls for a lot of effort and dedication, and a good coaching institute can inarguably help you at every stage. In addition to the above parameters, the best coaching centres execute a planned study programme for students and create a motivational and competitive environment that is conducive to learning. They consciously work to not only ensure that every student fully unravels his multi-dimensional talent and potential but also harnesses the power of technology to collaborate and facilitate better communication.

(The writer is a Fiitjee expert)