Many students are saying the JEE Main [specific session/date] paper was very tough/easy. How should I interpret this?

It's very common for students to discuss the difficulty level of the JEE Main paper immediately after an exam session. Here’s how to interpret these discussions thoughtfully:

• Subjectivity: The perception of difficulty is highly subjective and depends on an individual's preparation level, strengths, weaknesses, and even their state of mind during the exam. What one student finds tough, another might find manageable.
• Normalization: JEE Main is conducted in multiple sessions and on different days. To ensure fairness, NTA uses a normalization process to convert raw marks into NTA Scores (percentiles). This process accounts for variations in difficulty levels across different shifts. So, a "tough" paper might lead to a higher percentile for a moderate score, and an "easy" paper might require a very high score for a similar percentile.
• Focus on Relative Performance: Your NTA percentile score, when released, will reflect your performance relative to all other candidates who appeared in that session. This is a more accurate measure than subjective feelings about difficulty.
• Avoid Panic or Overconfidence: Don't let widespread opinions about the paper's difficulty cause you undue stress or make you complacent. Your individual effort and accuracy are what matter most for your raw score, which then gets normalized.
• Actionable Insight: While it's natural to discuss the paper, try not to get too swayed by initial reactions. Wait for the official answer keys to estimate your score and then for the NTA percentile for a true measure of your performance. Focus on your own preparation for future attempts or next steps.