How Do NEET Toppers Study?

How NEET Toppers Study – Habits of NEET Toppers

NEET, one of the most coveted national level entrance examinations is just around the corner and aspirants are leaving no stone unturned in their preparation. Every year lakhs of students participate in this exam, some students get through while the vast majority of others do not make it on the final list. In 2020, the number of NEET applicants stood at  15.97 lakhs; 16.14 lakhs in 2021 and more than 18 lakh candidates for 2022. Unsurprisingly, competition is fiercer than ever, and with every passing year, it is only getting tougher.

However, one must understand that having the right attitude is paramount. Candidates must aim high, as high as topping the exam with scores never attained. As they say, ” Aim for the sky and you’ll reach the ceiling, aim for the ceiling and you’ll stay on the floor” – rightly justifies the context.

Through this article, we collate and bring to you some of the best set of tips and tricks that NEET toppers over the years followed/practised and reached the pinnacle of success.

NEET Preparation Tips By Toppers

Understand the End Goal

With NEET, one must know everything about the exam, right from the syllabus, format, duration, marking scheme, topic-wise weightage, and such metrics. Additionally, aspirants must know their weak areas and continuously work on converting them into strengths. Doing so will help you attain your end goal – clearing NEET 2023.

Check more: NEET Quiz videos

Toppers Strategise and Follow a Disciplined Plan

Remember, all these tips are coming from toppers. That being said, one common streak that has been noticed in such candidates is the uncompromising and staunch levels of discipline they possess. After having set goals and gathering all the material, one must carefully and conveniently set up a plan regardless of the time frame. While designing a plan, ensure to cover these points:

• Balance and manage time between board exams and NEET preparation. Allocate dedicated time for NEET separately
• Divide equally time for all 4 subjects – Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology. However, if you think you are weak at a particular subject, it is imperative that you spend more on that.
• Study for at least 13-15 hours a day
• Include breaks
• Set realistic daily, weekly, monthly targets, and achieve them. Prepare a schedule for topics that would be covered from all 4 subjects on a daily basis
• Stick to your plan and track your progress

Master the Syllabus

Most often, students, while starting to prepare or when already into the preparation are in a fix regarding the books and stumble upon thoughts like “which book to follow for NEET?” or “which is the best book for NEET”. The answer to this, as recommended by toppers is, NCERT. It is often neglected or undervalued. Instead of juggling between multiple sources, candidates are advised to stick to NCERT.

NCERT syllabus for class 11 & 12 serves as the ultimate source for students, as paper setters mostly target questions from this syllabus only. There is no substitute for this, master the NCERT syllabus, be crystal clear with your concepts, as it sets the tone for your preparation. We have provided the link to the detailed syllabus along with paper analysis here, take a look: NEET Syllabus

Apart from this, students must go through and solve online questions, previous years’ question papers and refer to online modules to ace exams.

Trending: NEET 2023 exam

Importance of Smart work over hard work

Toppers are smart, they know how much time to dedicate to which concepts. Avoid referring to multiple sources for topics and overloading with points. Know to an extent to have your concepts cleared and what could potentially be asked. If you have gone through question papers, you would have noticed that questions are always tweaked while the concept remains the same.

Most of the students have studied the topics, it is the same book, but what differentiates a topper from others is the knowledge of applying learned concepts that comes only with rigorous practice.

Practice and Revise Thoroughly

“Build upon concepts and master them” – this is the phrase we get to hear from toppers. This comes only from dedicating time to learning, and understanding, if required seeking assistance from experts/seniors/online, etc. sources.

Aspirants must aim at solving at least 150 questions a day, trying to tackle new questions each time. Take up different topics, learn, understand it, and solve as many questions around it. For this, you can go through added information related to the questions, examine each question and also the options provided, solve formula-based questions to assess your own abilities.

This helps widen your understanding, gain conceptual transparency, enhances logical thinking abilities, and boosts confidence in making decisions with respect to the answers. Therefore, take up as many mock tests, practice papers, sample papers. Also, always ensure to practise papers under ideal exam scenarios.

Pick the Best Books

NCERT books must be your go-to for NEET. Do not refer to multiple sources and get confused. A topper confessed about having gone through confusions at the exam hall as a result of preparing for a concept from multiple sources and hence the difficulty in answering. Avoid being in this situation. You can refer to the best set of books for NEET here, where complete information about the same is provided.

Learn more: Best Books for NEET

NEET 2019 Topper, AIR 1 – Nalin Khandelwal from Rajasthan suggests mastering these three things only to ace NEET:

• NCERT Syllabus for Class 11 & 12
• Coaching notes (if you have undertaken any coaching)
• Solving previous years’ question papers (as many as 20 previous years’ question papers)

Just with these 3 resources, one can definitely crack NEET with great scores. He also suggests that self-studying is the best form of studying. Most of the students, due to various reasons, cannot take up coachings. Such students can simply stick to mastering the NCERT syllabus and solving sample papers, question papers, and modules.

Also See: NEET Study Material

Resort To Online Assistance

Remember, NEET is a time-based test, where what rank you get is decided by the application of the knowledge you acquired by understanding concepts, and for this, what’s most important is getting your concepts cleared. For this, you can seek online assistance which is a better and economical way to have your doubts cleared. These online coaching centres render all the required guidance, preventing students from wasting time on unnecessary facts. Some also provide you with shortcuts, tips, and tricks beneficial to NEET.

Subscribe to Test Series Schemes

Take up these schemes offered topic-wise on a regular basis to outdo the exam. Once done solving the paper, tally your answers, arrive at a score, match this with the NEET cut-off score. Solve more papers aligning to this pattern and notice the progress. It is also suggested to make note of your mistakes, examine weak areas, and hence working on them.

Subject-wise Time Allotment

Split time, subject-wise, where you focus on subjects you think, requires more of your attention. But that does not imply that you take it for granted and ignored it since you are good at it. Set limits and finish subjects within the stipulated time. Physics requires time, solving numericals, understanding and remembering formulae during the exam time, and recalling it within seconds comes with practice. Chemistry is the most scoring subject and less time consuming, whereas Biology is vast, hence time must be allotted with these metrics in place.

Also Check: NEET Biology MCQs

Prepare your own Notes

The importance of preparing notes cannot be stressed enough. Here candidates make note of highlights of chapters, important formulae, mapping different concepts, diagrams, use mnemonics, and much more, further fueling their learning.

Alive and Kicking

Maintaining the well-being of self is equally important. For this, a healthy, well-balanced diet, active lifestyle, and sound sleep are key. Avoid junk, keep fit.

Some Other Important Tips Suggested By Toppers

• Align your system according to the afternoon session, i.e., when the exam would be conducted. For this, schedule your day and orient your study plan in such a way that you are the most active from 2 pm – 5 pm. Inculcate this when you are preparing for exams. Avoid sleeping in this window
• Wear comfortable clothes on the day of the exam
• Use the washroom before entering the exam hall
• When approaching a topic, read it fully, revise a couple of times, only then move to solve questions on it
• Set a timer while solving questions, even during preparation time
• During the NEET exam, attempt the Biology section first. Biology is a scoring subject. Dedicate a maximum of 45-50 mins to solving this section. Chemistry is less time consuming, the least amount of time must be spent here, as less as 35-40 minutes. The physics section preferably should be attempted last for the numericals it has. It is time-consuming and requires at least 90 minutes. Practice to ensure you have these windows set for each section
• Do not input the answer without having read the complete question. NEET 2019 topper confesses that he missed out on completely reading one question and hence lost out on those marks.
• Download sample OMR sheets available online and practice regularly. Sometimes students tend to panic and hence the incorrect bubbling
• Avoid silly mistakes such as missing out on reading questions fully, missing out on options, bubbling the wrong circles, overlooking questions and skipping to the next, etc
• Focus on your preparation rather than thinking about the rank
• Stick to NCERT and notes, avoid multiple sources
• Try solving a minimum of 20 previous years’ question papers
• Avoid social media, it can be a distraction
• Take breaks periodically
• Have confidence in yourself and your preparation. Avoid panicking

Good Luck!

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