Class 10 board exam marks the end of a student’s school life. Once students appear for the class 10 exams, they start thinking of a career they would want to pursue in the future.
Class 10 can be a good time to think about what the students are interested in. They should think about what they would love to do as a profession.
A proper assessment of their interests could help them start the preparation for the entrance exams that they would have to appear for in the future earlier.
If you wish to pursue a career in medical sciences, you must start preparing for the only national-level medical entrance exam, NEET. An important exam like NEET requires the maximum possible time to prepare for achieving a great score. Therefore, it is a smart move to start preparing as early as possible to achieve your goals and have the career of your dreams.
What is NEET?
NEET(National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) is a national-level entrance exam for conducting the admission process for undergraduate programmes in medical colleges in India.
The score in the NEET exam decides which college and course the students can get admission to. NEET is the entrance exam conducted by the NTA(National Testing Agency) once a year for the admission to earn a bachelor’s degree in medical(MBBS), dental(BDS), and other government-approved equivalent courses like BAMS, BHMS, BUMS, etc., in both private as well as government institutions.
The exam aims to assess candidates’ knowledge of science subjects Chemistry, Physics, Biology. The exam duration is 180 minutes, and the question paper comprises 180 questions, out of which 90 are related to Biology and 45 each to Physics and Chemistry.
The exam has a negative marking system that reduces 1 mark for every wrong answer and awards 4 marks for every correct answer.
The exam seems to be tougher to crack due to fewer seats than the number of aspirants. The competition gets tougher with an increasing number of candidates, and therefore you must start preparing for the exam as early as possible.
Reading this article will help students build a strategy for themselves to start preparing for NEET when they are in class 10th. Check out the NEET 2022 Eligibility Criteria for a better understanding.
A complete NEET preparation strategy for class 10th students
Usually, students start preparing for the NEET in class 11th, and a few also start preparing when in class 12th. However, if you are sure of your decision to pursue a career in medicine, you must start preparing for NEET as early as class 10th. Remember, the earlier, the better.
While there might be a few changes in the exam in the next two years, still the basics would remain the same. The students must, therefore, start preparing according to NEET 2022.
Students must follow the below-mentioned strategy for effective preparation for the NEET-UG 2022.
- Understand the syllabus: To start preparing for any class or exam, first, students must get acquainted with the syllabus. Getting to know the syllabus will help students understand the complexity of the course that is to be studied. It will also lead to a clear understanding of the correlation between the NEET 2022 Syllabus and the concepts the students are learning in class 10th.
- Be clear with the concepts: It is understood that NEET focuses on the subjects of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. The students must focus on the concepts part of class 10th Science. You will notice that what you learn in class 10th is the basics of the NEET syllabus. You will just be diving deep when you prepare for NEET.
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses: Once you get started with the learning part, it will be easy to identify your strengths and weaknesses. When students are aware of their weak areas, they can spare more time for those areas. Knowing the strengths results in a confidence boost. Students can plan a schedule accordingly.
- Focus on the important chapters: Students must be aware of the important chapters from the NEET 2022 Syllabus. Having an idea of the NEET 2022 Important Chapters can make the students decide on the time allotment accordingly. Also, students can concentrate more on the related concepts of these chapters.
- Assess yourself: Clearing the concepts and being thorough with the syllabus is not enough until students do not solve questions on every topic. Do not wait for covering the entire syllabus. Try to solve questions on every topic after studying. When you study a topic for your board exams and solve the questions at the end of the chapter, go for solving NTSE/ Olympiad level questions.
- Improve time management: Time management plays a vital role in clearing entrance exams like the NEET 2022. Time yourself when you solve questions. Try to solve the questions maintaining accuracy within the stipulated time.
- Choose the right books: The NEET 2022 Syllabus is about 80% similar to the topics covered in the class 11th and class 12th NCERT textbooks. Therefore, NCERT textbooks must be the go-to books while preparing for the NEET.
- Be aware of the entire process: Preparation for the NEET UG 2022 might be the most important part of cracking the exam. However, students must also be well aware of the entire NEET process, from the registration process to the NEET Cut-Off. To better understand this process, students can keep track of NEET 2022 notification, NEET 2022 Registration, NEET 2022 Eligibility, NEET 2022 Result, NEET 2022 Counselling, etc. There might be a few changes in this process by when you appear for the exam. However, an idea of the basic process will avoid any panic situations.
Preparation for NEET after Class 10
Starting with the NEET preparation from class 10th is the students’ best decision. However, it is necessary to keep the pace of preparation consistent in class 11th and class 12th. Here are a few NEET 2022 Preparation Tips to be followed in classes 11th and 12th.
- Begin with knowing the NEET 2022 Syllabus and NEET 2022 Exam Pattern.
- Plan a schedule for preparation so that you can follow it consistently.
- Get thorough with the NCERT textbooks first, and then go for other reference books that will help you with appropriate preparation for the exam.
- Try solving the NEET Previous Year Question Papers to get clarity on important questions and boost your self-confidence.
- Attempt to solve the NEET Mock Tests 2022 for getting used to the exam pattern. It will also make the students habituated to handling the pressure of solving tests.
- Be well versed with the NEET 2022 Important Chapters for scoring better.
Conclusion
An entrance exam like NEET requires all the time available for preparation. No time given for the preparation would be sufficient to ace the exam. It is, therefore, important that students start preparing for the exam as early as possible.
If the students are confident about taking up medicine as their profession, what better than starting the preparation for NEET when they are in class 10th. Doing so will help them get some more time to prepare for NEET and help them ace their board exams.
When students start preparing for NEET in class 10th, they have the upper hand over other aspirants who would start working in class 11th or 12th. It is a competition, after all.
It would thus be a great decision to start preparing for the most important exam, NEET.