With over 18 lakh applicants every year, National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET-UG is considered to be one of the toughest entrance exams in India. And while only a few percent of these applicants get admission into their choice of top-tier medical colleges across the country, the demand for more seats of the highly competitive medical exam increases every year.
Following the previous year trend, NEET 2023 is expected to take place in the month of June or July (Official confirmation on NEET 2023 final date is still awaited) but as the competition is very high among the students, many of them have already started to prepare for the exam.
Along with Months of preparation, Execution of a well thought-out strategy is also of prime importance to qualify and crack the medical exam.
Exam Pattern
The NEET UG Exam covers three disciplines: physics, chemistry, and biology (Botany & Zoology). A total of 200 questions will be there for the aspirants out of which 180 questions must be solved in the span of three hours with the total number of achievable marks being 720. The syllabus covers the entire NCERT curriculum for Classes XI and XII and includes Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, and Biology.
Each objective question will be of 4 marks and for each correct response the aspirant will receive 4 marks, while each incorrect response will result in a negative marking.
More than the hard work, entrance exams are more about patience and effective time management shown by the applicants along with strategies for mastering important topics which hold the maximum weightage.
Important Topics
Physics – Waves & Sound, Thermodynamics, Kinematics, Gravitation, Capacitors & Electrostatics, Magnetics, Electromagnetic Induction, Fluids, Heat, Optics & Modern Physics
Chemistry: Chemical & Ionic Equilibrium, Chemical thermodynamics, Electrochemistry, biomolecules and polymers along with the periodic table, Coordination Chemistry & Chemical Bonding in Inorganic Chemistry, Mole Concept in Physical Chemistry and Organic Chemistry, chemical kinetics.
Biology – Photosynthesis in Higher Plants can be of high weightage, Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants, Morphology of flowering plants, Biotechnology and its Applications, Biodiversity and Conservation, Cell Cycle and Cell Division, Human Reproduction,
Preparation tips for NEET 2023 Aspirants:
Mastery over NCERT syllabus – NCERT covers a huge chunk of the NEET exam and any applicant having mastered the NCERT books will easily be able to answer the majority of the exam questions without much difficulty. NCERT books help teach fundamentals of any particular topic and provide a clear idea about the specific topic.
Planning and Making a well scheduled timetable- Learning time-management will not only help you prepare for the entrance exam but in the long run, it will help you crack and finish the exam faster. Giving ample amount of time to every topic right from the beginning helps to cover the entire course with enough time left for revisions and rectifying the errors if any.
Review mistakes and overcome them– It is a fact that while preparing for such high competitive exams, aspirants will sometime make mistakes but it is also important to learn from your mistakes and overcome them. If a someone is finding any topic hard, they should look out for other sources to get clarity on that particular topic, take help from your teachers or peer groups to understand and improve but never let your mistakes kill your motivation.
Solving Mock Tests and Previous Year Question Papers– It is important to prioritize solving mock exams and the previous year question papers because it gives an applicant the general idea about what to expect in the highly competitive medical exam along with getting a clear idea about the level of preparation needed and what topics to focus on.
Focus on higher weightage topics- Time-management has always been key aspect in cracking any competitive examination but knowing what questions to attend first to secure and achieve the maximum number of marks is important for every applicant.
( Author Saurabh Kumar is Chief Academics Officer (CAO), Vidyamandir Classes (VMC). Views expressed here are personal.)