Which are the subjects you must prepare for the NEET

The National Eligibility Entrance Test, also known as NEET, is an exam that is attempted every year by students who wish to study MBBS and BDS courses. These students are expected to appear for the test in person and answer a total of 180 Multiple Choice Questions. Students can earn up to 720 marks by getting all the correct answers, but in order to accomplish this, students will have to put in immense efforts, and dedicate themselves to understanding what the NEET demands.

 

Syllabus

The NEET predominantly expects students to be able to demonstrate the concepts they have learned in Classes 11 and 12. CBSE students have an edge over others since the exam syllabus is framed according to the CBSE curriculum. Students need to know the basic as well as the more advanced concepts taught to them for two years. The NEET tests students on three subjects- Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. It is therefore important for students to keep their textbooks, notes, and any other study material in good condition, as this will make it easier to study for the NEET. Each subject is divided into two sections in the question paper- Section A and Section B. Section A consists of 35 questions, while section B comprises 15 questions. Students are given the internal choice of answering only 10 questions from Section B.

 

  • Biology

The Biology section of the exam comprises two subjects- Zoology and Botany. Therefore, students will find that Biology is the section that has the most weightage in terms of marks. Students tend to think that since physics and chemistry are considered to be more difficult to study, they can neglect the biology syllabus. However, students who make this mistake can drastically reduce their NEET score since the Biology section of the exam can grant students a total of 360 marks. Students should therefore focus on Zoology chapters such as Human Physiology, Human Reproduction, and Reproductive Health, Animal Diversity, Origin and Revolution, Human Health and Diseases, etc. to score better marks. While these are chapters that many questions are based on, students should not forget to study and revise other chapters as well.

For Botany, students should pay attention to chapters such as Ecology, Genetics, and Biotechnology, Plant Physiology, Plant Diversity, Cell Biology and Cell Division, etc., as they are the chapters from which many questions are selected.

 

  • Physics

Unlike the Biology section, the Physics section is worth 180 marks. This is a difficult section to study since the questions are distributed very evenly among the different chapters and concepts. As a result, students cannot prioritize 5-6 chapters while studying and instead must study each and every topic in detail. However, students can still narrow down some chapters as important, since they carry slightly more weightage than the other chapters. For example, Ray Optics and Optical Instrument, Current Electricity, Laws of Motion, Thermodynamics, System of Particle and Rigid Body, etc are some of the topics students should be focusing on.

 

  • Chemistry

While the NEET exam has only one comprehensive section for Chemistry, students often find it easier to divide the syllabus into Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, and Physical Chemistry, for their convenience. In the exam, 34% of the questions are based on Organic Chemistry, 34% are about Inorganic Chemistry, while 32% of the questions are regarding Physical Chemistry. Therefore, it is evident that students are expected to focus on all three subsections of the syllabus. The Chemistry section is similar to the Physics section since it also divides the questions very evenly throughout all the chapters. However, topics such as General Organic Chemistry and Aromatic Compounds can be considered significant in Organic Chemistry. With regard to Inorganic Chemistry, students can focus on Chemical Bonding, p-block, and Coordination Compounds. For Physical Chemistry, it is difficult to determine which topics will help students score more marks since each topic is allotted only 1-2 questions. However, Mole Concept, Ionic Equilibrium, Solution and Colligative Properties, and Chemical Kinetics are topics that can be considered as important while studying for the NEET.

 

Planning your studies

Students must ensure that they give all the subjects, chapters, and topics equal amounts of attention while studying, as focusing on only some of them can cost students their exam score, and consequently a chance to get into their desired education institution. Students often make either of these two mistakes. As mentioned above, some students consider biology to be easier than Physics and Chemistry. These students tend to neglect the Biology syllabus, forgetting that it holds twice the weightage as Chemistry or Physics. These students may score excellent marks in the other two sections, but miss out on a good overall score due to their lopsided focus. On the other hand, some students are so beguiled by the prospect of scoring well in the vast Biology section, they forget to give the required attention to the Physics and Chemistry syllabi. These students often find themselves unprepared for anything except the Biology section, and therefore end up losing marks. The NEET is considered to be one of the most difficult exams in India, and all aspirants need to be willing to invest their time and efforts, in order to get a decent score.

 

Revision tips

One of the most important things students need to remember is that the NEET follows a system of negative marking. This means that while 4 marks are awarded for every question that is answered correctly, an incorrect answer will result in the deduction of one mark. To avoid losing marks in the exam, students should aim to familiarize themselves with all the different kinds of questions that may appear in the exam paper. The best way to do this is to go through exam papers of previous years, as they have been designed specifically for the NEET. Different sets of question papers are available to the students, which provides them with more variety while practicing. For example, students can use the NEET 2018 QP with Solutions Code AA, which will give them questions to solve, as well as the solutions to the questions, so that they can check their work once they are done. This kind of practice is the most effective method of revision, as it enables students to check their knowledge, and revise if necessary.