NEET demands the best out of aspirants. While doing the NEET preparation, students leave no stone unturned to score well. Strategic thinking, hard work, and patience go into preparing for the NEET exam.
However, despite the dedication and willpower to excel in the NEET paper, you may fall prey to preparation mistakes. A major problem is that NEET preparation mistakes often go unnoticed, simply because students are busy preparing and have no time to reflect. Many students realize their NEET mistakes when it is too late.
There is no point in putting in the hard work if your approach to NEET preparation has flaws. You may waste your effort if there are problems with your NEET preparation strategy. To ensure that students don’t commit preparation mistakes, we have created a list of 10 mistakes to avoid. Make sure you are not committing any of these mistakes while preparing for NEET.
There is a plethora of books to prepare for NEET paper but the NCERT textbooks remain the most important resource for preparation. Many students stick to the study material provided by the coaching institute and ignore the NCERT textbooks completely. Other students find a NEET preparation book believing that they are a comprehensive resource to prepare for the NEET paper. You need to understand that most of the NEET preparation books are based on the NCERT textbooks. Therefore using the NCERT textbooks as the main resource for NEET saves resources and avoids confusion. These books cover all the essential concepts and they should be the first reference while preparing any topic. Use the study materials from coaching and other reference books as supplementary resources but always begin by preparing from NCERT textbooks.
In the fear of missing out, students pile up reference material. This can be a mistake. Too much reference material can be repetitive and difficult to manage. You may end up studying unnecessary stuff. Multiple preparation resources can cause confusion and distract you from focused preparation. While collecting the study material to prepare, make sure that each resource has a specific purpose. Separate the primary study resources from secondary resources. Determine the resources to use for practicing questions. Using multiple resources for developing an understanding and memorizing can cause ambiguity in your mind. Stick to one main resource for covering the topics, possibly the NCERT textbooks.
NEET preparation requires effective planning. Lack of planning is the worst mistake you can make while preparing for the NEET examination. Without planning you will not be able to keep track of your preparation. Not knowing the time required for preparing each topic in the NEET syllabus can overwhelm and demotivate you. You may also end up under-preparing some topics due to lack of time. With a proper plan, you will be able to devote time to all the topics in the syllabus. You will also be able to divide your time between studying, revision, and practice. By planning wisely, you can devote the right amount of time to weak areas.
Many students think that NEET paper is all about Biology. Even though you may not like Physics and Chemistry as much as Biology, they are still a part of NEET syllabus and important for NEET success. Laying unequal emphasis on the subjects can hurt your chances of getting a good rank in NEET. In your preparation strategy, you should give equal importance to all the subjects. You should mix the study of strong and weak areas to balance your preparation. Biology alone can help you crack NEET, but studying Physics and Chemistry with equal dedication will help you secure a good rank in NEET.
Many students fail to realize that revision is as important as studying the NEET syllabus topics. Regular revision is necessary for NEET success. Revision helps you retain the information you have studied and develops a long-term memory for the subject matter. Another mistake made by many NEET aspirants is irregular revision. Without regular revision, you will not be able to retain the vast NEET syllabus in your memory. Do not hurry to complete the syllabus and intersperse your schedule with revision sessions to remember all the topics before the NEET examination.
Leaving no time in the study schedule to practice what you have learned is another big mistake. Remember that you are studying the NEET syllabus to crack an exam so just learning the topics and revising them is not enough. Practicing previous years’ questions, doing topic-wise tests, and mock tests are extremely important. Practicing helps you understand the exam pattern and gives you insights into the difficulty level of the exam and the relative importance of topics. It will also help you understand the question types for the NEET examination.
Mugging up information can be helpful for a few Biology topics and can help you in the short run. However, it will harm your NEET preparation. NEET examination requires conceptual clarity and a deep understanding of the topics. Therefore trying to learn too much in a short span is seldom helpful while preparing for the NEET paper. Rote memorizing the syllabus can be a waste of time while you are preparing. Instead, you need to develop an in-depth understanding and test your problem-solving skills by practicing previous years’ questions and mock tests.
You may be doing various tests in the coaching classes. However, it is a mistake to measure your preparation for NEET based on scores in the coaching tests. These scores provide an idea about your preparation but hardly reflect the NEET preparedness. Doing consistently well in coaching tests is a good thing but it should not lead to overconfidence. Coaching tests are not NEET examinations and the environment of the two differs. Depending on coaching test scores to measure how well you are prepared for facing NEET is not a good idea.
NEET preparation is a long journey and it can get stressful. To ensure that you maintain your consistency, leaving time for breaks in the schedule is important. Many students start well in their preparation journey but they find themselves demotivated after some time because they leave no time in their schedule for rest and recreation. It is good if your schedule has time for hobbies, friends, and family. Taking regular breaks while studying relieves stress and reduces the chances of anxiety.
There is a huge difference between your study room and the examination hall. Many students fail to realize that the exam environment is much different than the environment in which they have been studying or doing tests. Trying to do tests by simulating the exam environment is one way of avoiding this mistake. You should practice some tests according to the NEET time. The NEET examination takes place in the afternoon so should practice tests during the same time of the day.
The NEET preparation journey is not straightforward. While it demands sincere efforts from students, it is equally important to avoid preparation mistakes to succeed. Many dedicated students commit common preparation mistakes and don’t get a NEET score that reflects their efforts. It is important to have the right study resources, plan effectively, and prepare strategically to ensure NEET success. Students should also revise and practice well, study all subjects, and focus on conceptual clarity while preparing for NEET. Maintaining a balance between studies and rest and simulating the exam environment can also help in NEET success. By avoiding the preparation mistakes discussed, you can foolproof your NEET preparation strategy.
