A student should have inquisitiveness to crack any competitive exam. Remember ‘difficult is that which can be done immediately and impossible takes a little longer’ so nothing is impossible. Any student must get the opportunity to the following:
1. Teacher: The most important asset is to have a good teacher. Society needs a good teachers and educators because they are creators of future generation. Quality of teachers decides how much talent, interest and enthusiasm you will develop in that particular subject and this will help score well in that subject.
Luck plays very important role in getting a good, inspiring, disciplined, strict as well as caring teacher. Such a teacher will not only teach you the subject conceptually but also try your all round development required for day to day life. So, try finding such a teacher. Understand the topics from your teacher and do the self- tudy. Not only that try to follow his instructions, as they are very valuable for your results of competitive exams.
2. Inspiration: Seek inspiration. You can get inspiration from your parents, your student friends or your teachers. Make any one of them your role model for the time being and try to become excellent like your role model. Your role model is your goal so try to get as close or even ahead if possible.
3. Practice makes the man and woman perfect: Third and most logical need is practice and we know ‘practice makes the man and woman perfect’. Students need regular practice with lots of enthusiasm, honesty and hard work. Regular practice will make your subconscious mind to develop the new talent in your conscious mind. Biology is 50 % of NEET. If you are thorough in Biology means half way done. Read all std. XI and XII chapters from NCERT books only for Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Also practice such MCQs those have previously appeared in AIPMT / NEET / AIIMS.
One famous instance of scientific practice and enthusiasm: Thomas Edison failed almost about 1000 times before making first ‘Electric Bulb’. When asked about it, Edison said, ‘I have not failed 1,000 times instead I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways which did not make an electric bulb’. The idea is that even if you try and fail, it doesn’t mean that you didn’t learn something for that.
A very well known misconception in the society is that you should be God gifted to clear NEET. Yes, it is true that God gifted people such as Einstein and Darwin are superior to us but everybody, selected in entrance exams, is not Einstein or Darwin.
A normal student can also easily clear NEET like exam but you have to modify some basic strategies regarding preparation for such an exam.
These strategies are listed below:
1. Self confidence: You should have confidence in yourself and your abilities. You should believe that you belong to the competitive atmosphere and you can clear NEET if you perform to best of your abilities. Confidence is everything and everything can be achieved through self-belief. There is a famous quote ‘the thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen’.
2. Knowledge: Knowledge is a necessary element to clear NEET level competitive exam. You should have proper knowledge about your concepts. We don’t have to acquire extra knowledge, as conceptual knowledge is needed for competitive exams. Students can monitor their conceptual knowledge by practicing MCQs based on the concepts in NCERT books. Conceptual understanding of Biology obviously depends on knowledge of Physics and Chemistry. Therefore, try to use applications of Physics and Chemistry for better understanding of Biology. MCQs can be tricky and therefore, can only be solved by gaining in depth concept building.
3. Time Management: A student must spend about 8 hours a day in self studies for NEET like exam. One can manage this time by preparing the time table. When any student is studying regularly for 8 hours a day then obviously there will be a saturation point, when it will be almost impossible to study and understand. During this stage one should try to give as much rest as one can to his or her brain. And after few hours of rest, one can continue again. Further students must maintain the record of weekly tests, which ultimately helps in representing their performance graphically.
Every student must consider inputs such as time for each subject, time for revision, time for solving MCQs, etc. Do not forget to apply ‘law of three’ for MCQs for proper time management. If the MCQ is easy solve it first, followed by moderate and difficult level MCQs. Remember the criteria of MCQs in will be based on ‘knowledge’, ‘application’ and ‘understanding’. To choose a correct answer to such MCQs you must have correct reason and explanation for that option as well as reason for remaining distractors.
4. Perceptiveness: Acuity of mind is a must for competitive exams. A sharp and confident mind has many advantages such as concept building, quick response to a tricky MCQ and speed. Main purpose of these competitive exams is to differentiate extremely intelligent students from others. The best method to sharpen your mind is to do as many MCQs as you can. Try to do these MCQs in minimum time as possible and to achieve this practice daily so as long as you are solving the questions sky is the limit to your confidence.
5. Mock Tests: This is the ultimate solution to perform in any exam. With the help of these mock tests, your mind is able to build so many strategies and tricks about particular type of MCQ, which ultimately will help you during competitive exams. They have huge advantage as you can feel the mental atmosphere similar to that in competitive exams through such mock tests. Attempting so many tests helps in mental consistency during final NEET exam. These tests also help in achieving stable concentration during competitive exams.
Dr. Sameer R. Phale is senior Biology faculty at Dr. Phale Medical Entrance Institute (DPMEI), Nagpur. At DPEMI have been training CBSE,ICSE and State Board students for pre-medical tests (PMT) i.e. NEET-U besides Basic Sciences Tests viz., KVPY, IISc, IISER-AT, NISER-NEST, etc. in the city of Nagpur and Vidarbha region.
