Harshal Dev shares his success story for cracking UGC NET 2020 for JRF & Assistant Professor

Harshal Dev qualified the UGC NET 2020 exam for JRF and Assistant Professor with a score of 184/300. Know what preparation strategy he adopted to crack the UGC NET exam for History subject.

Harshal Dev, a resident of Agra, has cracked the UGC NET 2020 exam in History subject for both JRF and Assistant Professor. He has scored total 184 out of 300 marks. His paper-wise scores in the exam include 80/100 (paper-I) and 104/200 (paper-II).

Currently working as a part-time guest faculty at a college in Indore, Harshal has completed his graduation in Science and post-graduation in History subject. His hobbies include reading books, surfing internet, listening to music and travelling.

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Shiksha got talking to Harshal to know what preparation strategy he adopted to crack the UGC NET 2020 exam. Go through the complete interview with Harshal Dev below.

Although I studied hard to qualify UGC NET with good grades, my exam did not go up to the mark and I was in doubt whether I will qualify it or not. However, after checking the UGC NET answer key, I was satisfied with my marks but still was not sure. At last, I qualified the paper with good grades.

Due to COVID-19 pandemic, my preparation for UGC NET exam got disturbed. After UGC NET exam dates were declared, I had very less time for preparation. So, I opted to do some smart things like giving more preparation time to paper-I as History is very vast to read and revise. For preparation of paper-II, I only revised my hand written notes.  

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I read NTA UGC NET/SET/JRF for Paper 1 by KVS Madaan. I strongly recommend every aspirant to read this book and revise it two to three times. For my History subject, I read the following books:

No, I did not enroll in any coaching classes. I prepared for all subjects by myself.

My weakness is that I forget facts easily, especially in History. Therefore, I made my own notes and revised them often. For UGC NET paper 1, I referred some online material, which helped. Solving previous year UGC NET question papers is also the way to know about your weaknesses and to analyse the trend that UGC and NTA follow. The only thing you need to do is work smart not so hard.

One should avoid too many books for preparation, go for limited resources, and revise them repeatedly. Remember there is no shortcut to qualify UGC NET. You need to make your own strategy and follow that strictly.

My only advice to manage time while preparation is that avoid long hours and study in short shifts. Make your strong points stronger.

As far as I am considered, the most difficult part of the exam is the vast UGC NET syllabus. The exam authorities want deep knowledge from every aspirant on their subject.

On the day of exam, I advise students to keep calm, be happy and not to take much stress. Take the exam with free mind and it will increase your performance for sure. And, a special advice before the exam is that since it is held in many shifts, you need to keep a keen eye on questions coming in paper 1 (as paper 1 is common for all subjects) and just follow the trend.

Yes, clearing UGC NET was always my first preference, as I want to pursue PhD from a good institution and do my best on research part.

Keep in mind all the strategies for the exam mentioned above. Remember, the exam is not tough; however, revision is the only way to success. Do not ignore paper-I as it will help you clear JRF easily.

My plan is to get admission in PhD in a reputed institution, as I want to see myself as a professor in coming times.