NEET 2019 on May 5: Three months preparation hacks

NEET 2019: If you are a grade 12 student, you are probably studying long hours, gearing up for your board and competitive exams. Most board examinations including CBSE, and other state examinations have started, making it even more difficult for medical aspirants to continue preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). The NEET exam is the gateway into MBBS and BDS courses in many government medical colleges.

However, it is an extremely competitive exam. In fact, last year, over 11.5 lakh students were battling for seats in 60,000 government colleges. The NEET exam syllabus is quite vast too, and the format is quite tricky. Unlike JEE Main, NEET will be held in the pen and paper mode, on only one day of the year – Sunday, May 5, 2019.

You must answer a total of 180 questions, distributed equally between Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Each question is worth 4 marks. Every incorrect answer will cost you -1 mark.

Studying and cracking NEET is quite a challenge. Last year, the top 10 ranks had scored above 668 out of 720. If you have taken it up, here is a 3-month plan to help you along the way.

How to prepare for NEET 2019: Timeline

First month: Revise key NEET concepts while balancing board exams

Why focus on board exams?

Even though NEET is a very critical exam, do not ignore your board exams at this point. Marks that you score in grade 12 go a long way when it comes to higher education.

Moreover, if you chose to do a BSc course instead of pursuing MBBS, your board exam marks will be the deciding factor.’

What are the key topics from the NEET syllabus?

The best way to do this is to use the breaks between your board papers to study the three subjects.

At this stage, you don’t have time to revise the entire syllabus. Go back to the short notes and flashcards that you had made to revise all important concepts.

Remember, NEET gives a lot of weightage to particular topics. Study these first. The following topics have seen importance over the years:

Physics: Mechanics, Electrodynamics, and Optics

Chemistry: Chemical Bonding and Co-ordination Compounds, General Organic Chemistry and Carbonyl Compounds, and Chemical Kinetics & Thermochemistry

Biology: Human physiology, Genetics and evolution, and Ecology

Second month: Take subject wise tests and get your doubts resolved instantly

Solve at least 200 questions of a subject on a daily basis. This means that you solve at least 400 questions of each subject in a week.

Answer them in a time-bound, exam-like setting. Answer them on an OMR sheet so that you are accustomed to filling in your answer.

Once you have completed the questions for the day, go back and analyse your incorrect answers. Revise necessary topics. This will boost your scores in the next test.

If you have any doubts, resolve them instantly. Use ed-tech apps like Toppr that let you ask your doubts on chat and resolve them in under a minute, even if it is the middle of the night.

Third month: Take mock tests and all India level test series to know where you stand

This is when you start taking one mock test every day. Spend 3 hours on the mock test at the same time as your NEET exam. This helps train your brain to concentrate for a longer duration of time.

Focus on answering as accurately as you can. It isn’t important to attempt every question, but ensure that you don’t lose marks on incorrect answers.

Take all India level mock tests to find out where you stand as compared to lakhs of other students.

Once you take the test, spend the rest of your day analysing your mistakes and revising weak concepts.

You don’t have time to revise the entire syllabus – just ensure that with every paper, you don’t repeat your mistakes.

When you start taking tests, you might not directly hit a very high score. Remember, you have close to two months to work on your weaknesses and improve your score. With more practice, you will manage time better and develop answer strategies that suit you best.

News Source (Indian Express)