NEET UG Toppers’ Tips: After clearing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2023 with a score of 715 marks out of 720 and bagging the AIR 14, Shashank Kumar is pursuing MBBS from AIIMS Delhi.
Hailing from Bihar’s Nawada district, Kumar’s mother is a lecturer in a government training college and his father is a zonal manager in a pharmaceutical company. It was his father’s profile that made him take an interest in the medical field.
Kumar did his Class 10 from Don Bosco Academy Patna, ICSE board and obtained 99 per cent marks. He switched to CBSE in Class 12 as many advised him that the NEET UG syllabus is based on NCERT textbooks and CBSE follows NCERT. He scored 96.4 per cent marks in Class 12 board exams.
Kumar took coaching in medicine from Kota. He said that the competition in the city was a healthy one and that is necessary to succeed in any field. “A positive pressure, combined with healthy competition is in fact necessary to clear an exam like NEET,” he added.
He further said that talking to his parents daily over the phone in the evening did not make him feel alone while he was in his Kota hostel.
Speaking about his preparation strategy, the 17-year-old said that he studied from the notes provided by the coaching institute and NCERT textbooks. Kumar did not take any help from online materials available on the internet.
During his NEET UG preparation, the topper said that he used to wake up early and study from 8 am to 12 noon. After having lunch, he used to head towards coaching classes between 2 pm and 8 pm. After that, he used to have dinner and revise what was being taught in the coaching and sleep by 11:30 or 12 midnight.
“Sometimes there would be deviations in my normal schedule, but throughout my preparation, I tried to maintain this routine,” he added.
– I never considered the NEET UG syllabus a concise one. After CBSE reduced the syllabus in 2020, it was seen that the NEET UG paper had questions from the deleted portions. I made sure every topic and every chapter of NCERT was read and revised many times.
– The tendency to copy the NEET toppers should not be a norm. Prepare a strategy for yourself and stick to it with dedication.
– The last five months of the NEET UG preparation is a crucial one. Losing out anything during this period could be a game-changer.
– Try making a daily, weekly and monthly planner for the last five months to keep track of what is being read and what is left.
– Take as many mock tests as you can.
– Re-read NCERT textbooks. I did not have track of how many times, I read the NCERT textbooks from the start of my preparation, but during the last months after coaching classes got over, I read it three-four times.
“You be yourself and not try to become anybody else. Ultimately, the strategy that will work for your benefit will be your original one which you will prepare after considering your capacities and conditions,” the NEET UG 2023 AIR 14 said.