CUET Topper Tips: Know How NCERT Books Helped Chetna Rani To Get Admission In Hindu College
Common University Entrance Test 2026 ( CUET )
Registration - 3 Jan '26 - 30 Jan '26
CUET Topper Tips: Stick to NCERT while preparing for the CUET entrance exam, says Chetna Rani who scored 800 in CUET and currently studying in Delhi University's Hindu College.
Born and brought up in Delhi, Chetna Rani, a CUET 2022 Topper, scored perfect marks to secure her dream course in one of the best Delhi University colleges, The Hindu College. She says "coaching isn't important for CUET because the exam is entirely based on NCERT which is already taught in the Class 12th CBSE board syllabus." Chetna started her CUET preparations after her board exams. She used to dedicate 7-8 hours regularly in the preparation for CUET 2022.
Also Read: NTA CUET UG 2026 exam
Q. When did you start preparing for CUET Exam? What all books did you refer to?
A. I started preparing after the board exams ended in April. I focused on the NCERT syllabus and tried formulating MCQ objective-type questions from that.
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Q. Tell us about your family and educational background?
A. I was born and brought up in Delhi but my native village is in Bihar. My mother is an insurance advisor and my father is a lawyer. I have an elder sibling. My alma mater is Presentation Convent Sr. Secondary School, Delhi. Currently, I am pursuing BA(Hons) in Political Science from Hindu College.
Candidates seeking admission to MCom at the University of Delhi are required to apply via CUET PG exam. Interested students can follow the steps given below to apply for CUET PG 2023.
- Visit the official website of CUET PG 2023 – cuet.nta.nic.in.
- Read the instructions and select the agreement checkbox followed by clicking on the tab ‘Click Here to Proceed’.
- Enter personal details such as name, parents’ name, date of birth, gender, nationality, identity type and number followed by present and permanent address.
- Choose a password and security question and enter the captcha.
- Once the application number and password is generated, log in with the credentials to complete the application process.
- Complete the CUET (PG) 2023 application form by adding the information around personal details, paper selection, exam cities, educational details and upload the photograph and signature.
- The photograph and signature should be in JPEG format. While the photograph size must be between 10 KB to 200 KB, the signature image size must be between 4 KB to 30 KB.
- The application fee has to be paid in online mode through credit/ debit card, net banking or UPI.
After registration, candidates must fill in the application form and pay the registration fee which is as follows:
| Category | Application Fee (in INR) (For upto three test papers) | Application Fee Outside India (in INR) (For upto three test papers) |
|---|---|---|
| General | 1,000 | 5,000 |
Gen-EWS/ OBC-NCL | 800 | |
SC / ST / Third Gender | 750 | |
| PwD | 700 |
For each additional paper, candidates will have to pay the following application fees.
| Category | Application Fee (in INR) | Application Fee Outside India (in INR) |
|---|---|---|
| General | 500 | 1,500 |
Gen-EWS/ OBC-NCL | 400 | |
SC / ST / Third Gender | 400 | |
| PwD | 40 |
Candidates seeking admission to Jamia Millia Islamia for MBA can apply online on the official website. Admission to this course is offered based on the entrance exam conducted by the university, i.e. JMI Entrance Eest. Interested candidates must have a relevant bachelor’s degree with at least 50% aggregate in the subject concerned. Followed by application filling and before application submission, candidates are also required to pay the application fee which ranges from INR 550 to INR 700. A step-by-step process of application is mentioned below:
- Visit the official website and scroll down.
- On the Admission section in the left corner of the page, there are multiple links for course-wise application forms.
- Click on the desired courses' application link, fill out the application form and pay the application fee.
Q. How much time did you devote to self-study? What do you feel is better, coaching or self-study?
A. I studied for almost 7-8 hours, when CUET Exam 2023 got closer, a bit more. Self-study has always worked best for me. Coaching isn't important for CUET because the exam is entirely based on NCERT which is already taught in the Class 12th CBSE board syllabus.
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Also Read: CUET 2022 Topper Tips: Know How Elimination Method Helped Prisha Khandelwal Get Into SRCC
Q. How did you prepare for CUET UG, just a month before the exam?
A. I formed possible questions from NCERT books and referred them to Oswal, Arihant, and other publications. These books boost your confidence when you practice the sample papers given in them but are not always accurate.
Q. Which subject is your strong one and which is the weakest? Are NCERT books sufficient for preparations?
A. I feel the most confident about political science and the least about economics, which is why I didn't choose it as one of my domains even though I studied it in my 12th CBSE syllabus as a subject. Yes, NCERT books are sufficient for CUET.
Q. When it came to exam day, what was your strategy? According to you, what was the toughest and easiest section?
A. My exam strategy was to mindfully choose the 40/50 questions to attempt, questions I felt confident about. I was careful about the time limit.
Q. Which all universities did you apply for? What was your dream college?
A. I applied to Ambedkar University, Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University. My dream was to get into Hindu College.
Q. To whom do you attribute your successful CUET topper journey? What would you suggest to future CUET aspirants in terms of preparation, attitude etc?
A. I attribute my CUET journey to my sister, she has always been my constant support and source of comfort and joy. Stick to NCERT. When you read a particular paragraph( in theoretical subjects), try to formulate your own set of MCQs that could possibly be asked from that paragraph. Assertion Reasonings can be tricky as opposed to straightforward questions, so try to get your hand on as many of those as you can.
Do not panic if you are unable to find sample papers, NTA releases the official sample papers sometime before exams. Do not trust the judgment and news shared by YouTubers. Only rely on official NTA notifications for official updates.
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She has over 10 years of experience in the education and publishing sectors. She specialises in exam coverage and content creation. At Shiksha, she writes, analyses, and presents information for students preparing f
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered Yesterday
No, CUET is not mandatory for Jindal School of Languages and Literature admissions. While the institute does accept CUET scores, students can alternatively submit other exam scores as well. The other accepted exams include JSAT / SAT / ACT / UGAT / LSAT-India.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
No, CUET scores are not compulsory for admissions into the BA course at Jindal School of Environment and Sustainability. The college accepts other online entrance tests/ national or international level entrance tests, such as JSAT/ SAT/ ACT. Thus, CUET is one of the accepted entrance tests for enrol
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 5 days ago
To prepare for CUET Mathematics exam effectively, students must ideally give two to three hours practice. Students must focus on previous year qiuestion papers and mock tests to prepare well for exam. Daily practice and consistency will help candidate score 250 marks in exam.
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Contributor-Level 6
Answered 5 days ago
Yes, NCERT is sufficient for conceptual clarity while preparing for CUET exam, but MCQ practice and CUET mock tests are important for scoring high. Students must not only focus on preparation books, they must solve CUET previous year question papers for Mathematics to know important topics or repeat
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Contributor-Level 6
Answered 5 days ago
No, a valid CUET score is accepted for admissions to both BA (Hons) in Liberal Arts & Humanities and the BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics & Economics at JSLAH.
In the previous year admissions, CUET was only listed as an accepted exam for the BA (Hons) in Liberal Arts & Humanities admission.
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Contributor-Level 10
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No, candidates who wish receive the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities BA (Hons) scholarships must provide a valid score in the JSAT. Those candidates who appeared for the CUET during BA (Hons) admissions can still appear for the JSAT after getting admitted into the Jindal School of Libera
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Contributor-Level 10
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For admission to Delhi University, candidate must have passed or appeared for class 12 examination. There are no minimum marks requirement in class 12 for DU admission through CUET UG. DU may use the class 12 marks or percentage for tie breaking criteria.
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Answered 5 days ago
Class 12 marks are important for fulfilling the admission criteria and tie breaking criteria (if any) during admissions. Admission to Central Universities are conducted through CUET scores, however, candidates must fulfil the minimum marks requirement for admissions.
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The minimum marks for CUET class 12th is prescribed differently for accepting universities. CUET universities like DU and Allahabad University does not prescribe the minimum marks in class 12 for CUET UG. However, universities like Banaras Hindu University, BBAU has prescribed the minimum percentage
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There are a total of 157 subjects in the CUET PG exam. The subjects are segregated into six streams. The table below shows the number of papers in each stream.
| Stream | Number of Subjects or Papers |
|---|---|
| Science | 30 |
| MTech | 12 |
| Language | 41 |
| Humanities | 26 |
| Common | 22 |
| Acharya | 26 |
The CUET PG exam pattern is the same for each paper. The language of the CUET PG question papers is English and Hindi. For the Language paper
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Beginner-Level 5
The admission process for MCom at Delhi University up until 2021 was offered across two categories: Direct Admission and Through Entrance Test. Also, along with the entrance exam, interview rounds were also conducted for admission to Delhi University PG programmes.
There was no minimum age limit to take admission to the MSc programme offered by the university. However, DU PG admission 2022-23 was subject to a valid score in DUET as announced by the University. Starting 2023, the admission process of DU for its postgraduate courses, such as MA, MSc and MCom will be subject to the CUET-PG exam conducted by NTA.
After the results, qualified students will be required to appear for the seat allocation process conducted by the university for final seat allotment. While there is no information on direct admission on the official website of DU or its affiliated colleges students are advised to visit the admission office for more details on the same.