How is the preparation for jee mains different from boards

JEE preparation and boards preparation are completely different, and require very different skills. Here are some of the major differences:

• Curriculum width: JEE syllabus includes the curriculum for two years (Class 11th and Class 12th), while the boards only has the curriculum for Class 12th. By the time you are at the end of Class 12th, you still need to be very well prepared with Class 11th syllabus for JEE, while it does not matter at all for the boards. Some topics included in JEE syllabus are not even a part of the school curriculum.
• Curriculum depth: JEE curriculum goes into much more conceptual depth compared to the boards. While you can do well in boards by just learning a few formulas, JEE preparation requires you to have a very good insight into the concepts involved.
• Preparation time needed: JEE aspirants need to study almost everyday for at least two years if they wish to perform well in JEE. Boards, on the other hand, does not really need more than a month of preparation.
• Similarities with previous papers: When it comes to the boards, many questions are either the same or very similar to the questions from previous years. This is because you cannot really come up with drastically different questions every year. So mugging up the answers of previous papers helps in the boards preparation. For JEE, while some of the questions might be similar to previous years, hardly any question is repeated. And you need to really understand the concept very well even for the questions which are similar.
• Perseverance: JEE is a marathon. You need to be very motivated to consistently keep studying and performing well for two years! Boards, on the other hand, do not require such a huge amount of perseverance.

In my opinion, if someone is very well prepared with the JEE syllabus, boards are actually a cakewalk. I had not touched the NCERT books till one month before the boards, and still managed to score 94.2% in the boards.