Students' Speak: Check out NEET preparation tips

By: Sachin Kumar Singh

For preparation, start with Biology and solve all the questions from NCERT and do the complete revision at least twice or thrice before appearing. And at the same time also make notes of the topics which needs some more attention.

National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test known as NEET is conducted every year particularly in the month of May for admission into various medical and dental colleges across the country. Also, top-notch private institutes and universities also accept the NEET score for admissions. I will be sharing my experience and how I tackled the pressure of both boards and competitive entrances at the same time, which I think will be beneficial for you.

The question paper comprises of 180 questions, 90 questions from Biology, and 45 each from Physics and Chemistry which you need to attempt in the allotted time of 3 hours, and the maximum marks is 720. There is a negative marking of -1 for every wrong answer and this is a pen-paper based test.

As the syllabus is vast you need to be hardworking and focused all the time and you should not waste your time at all. The number of aspirants is much more as compared to other tests. For preparation, start with Biology and solve all the questions from NCERT and do the complete revision at least twice or thrice before appearing. And at the same time also make notes of the topics which needs some more attention. Read the complete chapters from NCERT as the questions come from both 11th and12th class textbooks. The syllabus is more and go for year-wise preparation. Follow Trueman’s Elementary for reference as this is a good textbook and illustrations are quite better. As questions will be MCQ so if we read the textbook carefully twice or thrice it will set in your mind. Also, keep solving practice papers simultaneously and the most important thing is that you should keep a better track of time as there will be 180 questions and just 3 hrs. So, if you are confident with Biology you can save time for Physics and Chemistry questions.

For Physics, go with NCERT textbooks and for your reference, you can follow H.C. Verma and S.L. Arora. For Class XI you should not skip topics such as Kinematics, Gravitation, Thermodynamics, Oscillation and Properties of Bulk Matter. For Class XII -Magnetic Effects, Optics, Electrostatics, Dual Nature, Atoms And Nuclei, Current Electrostatics.

For Chemistry, first of all, complete NCERT textbooks and mock tests as much as possible. Class XI- States of Matter, Chemical Bonding, Thermodynamics, Equilibrium, Hydrocarbons, S-block and P-block. For Class XII- Chemistry in Everyday Life, Biomolecules, Coordination Compounds, ‘d’ and ‘f’ block, Chemical Kinetics, Nomenclature.

For Biology, do not skip a single topic as the entire course is important and is the deciding subject. The important topics are Plant Physiology, Cell Structure, Human Physiology. And for Class XII you need to give more attention to topics such as Reproduction, Evolution, Ecology and Environment.

For formulas, keep a separate note and revise it twice in the initial days and later on once a week, it will get memorized. Especially don’t pick any new topics while you revise as you may get confused. Practice sample papers, mock tests with difficulty level from moderate to high and keep a track of time as that will help you increase your speed and accuracy. For last minute tip, concentrate only on your strengths at the time of revision and avoid discussion with your friends regarding preparation. While appearing for the test, in my opinion, you should start with Biology first and attempt all the questions which you think are correct only. As that will give you some more time as the question in Physics are a bit difficult as compared to Chemistry and Biology.

And I will insist that you should not neglect your preparation for the boards, as I have seen cases where one aces the competitive test but fails to perform even average in boards which ultimately puts you in pressure at the time of admission. And if you have scored more than 85% in boards, you have a fair chance of getting admission in a good college.

About the Author:

Sachin Kuman Singh recently completed his Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from KIIT, Bhubaneshwar. Currently, he is working with Simplex Infrastructures Limited as a Graduate Engineer Trainee. He is also a state-level athlete.