A question for you readers!

Greetings Readers
I know I have been fairly inactive on the blog, all because I don't want to just push content and make posts on stuff that's actually relevant. So just wanted to ask about one idea I thought about recently that do you guys want to see a Youtube Channel alongside blog for the same content. I am putting a poll here so please do vote and also tell me in the comments if you have anymore ideas.
Click Here to vote

Last 3 months of Preparation - less than 100 days to NEET!

Greetings Readers

Long time no see,huh? That's what you must be thinking for me. Frankly speaking, I am continuing to suffer from the writer's block I mentioned previously and it gets difficult to get the flow to write something that could be genuinely helpful for you. I don't want to write blog posts for the sake of it, and it's my top priority that you really extract something beneficial from these. The blog will continue, and there is no doubt to it. I still love replying to questions and doubts, so those are utmost welcome

To start, the present time, end of January, beginning of February, subsequently March, with Boards for those in Class 12 and the finale month of April, is the most 'rich' or 'high yield' time which can turn how you fare in the final exam, no matter how good or bad you did in the past 2-3 years.

It's January ending and everyone has finished their coaching classes, Preboards and most of people are busy in revision,giving mock tests or preparing for boards. Now, with the subjective pattern of the Board exams and the extra two subjects, things do become tricky for those in Class 12 AND giving NEET 2018(I faced a similar situation, so can understand).

One thing I observed is that most, and I repeat most students get a hell lot confused when the Boards dates come near and they are clueless how to manage their NEET and Board preparations together. With that said, I wrote a blog post last year as Board Exam Preparation along with NEET Preparation : The Way to Do It In this post, I described how someone who is a strict NEET/AIIMS aspirant can crack the Boards in the limited time available, and some resources which are a must. Do read it, it will prove quite helpful to you.
In the month of February, your target should be tackling what needs to be done first,not necessarily what's important. Now why do I say that?
See with regard to Boards, Class 12 Biology and Chemistry are important but you can manage them later as you have ample of gap in between. Where you don't have the gap is Physics and also English, which is the first paper itself. Also, your Board practicals must have been started already, thus the scarcity of time. Also, this is a time where you need to maintain what you learnt in the past 1-2 years, as if you just focus on Board and return to NEET prep in April after Boards, a lot of it will be gone!
Sharing my personal experience is what I did was I focused mainly on Physics, Chemistry and English in the month of February with respect to Boards, as they were the initial papers with quite less gaps in between. I was already done with revising Class 11 Physics and Chemistry and my weak parts of Class 11 Biology till the end of January so had only the Class 12 part to focus on. I did my SL Arora, previous year Board questions and my NCERTs for Board preparation, but what I added was that I made a point to revise my coaching notes of Class 12, after every chapter I did for the Boards. This helped me retain the concepts in mind, also helping with sharpening numerical solving for Boards, in case something different comes. This alone proved to be quite a game-changer for my preparation, as in April, I had all my concepts fresh and it didn't take me along to pick up again.
Also, I did my English properly, in the last 10-12 days before the beginning of the exams, practicing to write long answers and papers. One thing that disturbed me in English was that I couldn't finish my paper in time in the Pre-Boards and some mock tests, although thanks to God, I finished it 5 min before in the Boards. So keep an eye on your writing speed as well, as it's a critical factor too. 

Also, important is how you extract time for your NEET preparation in between the Board exams. As I see the date sheet of CBSE, the board exam which most of students will give, I see opportunities which can be a turn around for those preparing for your NEET 2018. Exams start from March 5 with English and it's initially hectic as Physics is on the 7th itself, which means around 10-12 days before March 5, you gotta focus on Boards only, as you have to give 2 exams in a short interval. Post 7 March, the schedule is quite relaxed with Chemistry on the 13th. 6 days gap, no troubles. The first 1-2 days of this gap could be used in preparing your NEET stuff. 3-4 dedicated days are good enough for acing a top score in the Chemistry exams.
Biology is on 27th, so a big gap of 2 weeks till Biology. This 14 days is the opportunity I am talking about. This time can be utilized to improve weak topics, do revision or whatever you felt was left before you started focusing on the Boards. This gives you the advantage over someone who doesn't utilise this time well, also saving you time before your Mega Revision in April. April is a month where you can't be stuck on topics for long. Sharing my own experience, even I had a gap of 10 days in between Chemistry and Biology, I used it to revise the Biology of Class 12, from my notes, NCERT and coaching booklets too. Also, I managed to brush up some topics of Class 11 Biology as well. Of the 10 days, I just dedicated the last 4 days to the Board paper, doing the previous year questions and revising NCERT, managing a decent 69/70 in theory.
If I, someone who didn't have a clue regarding Board preparations in December, can do it, so I firmly believe, you can too.
Physical Education, the optional for most people in coachings like Allen is quite late being on 13th April. For that my only recommendation would be picking the book 7 days before the exam, reading it thoroughly, then focus on the questions asked and remembering the useful stuff accordingly. You can give 50-50 time to your NEET stuff and Physical Education Paper till 3 days before the exam. Last 3 days, just to the subject, nothing else. Also,you must develop a way of answering the question, in case you don't know the precise answer. It's such a subject where you can write answers by your own thoughts only, and get good marks still.
I hope this gave you an initial idea of how crucial these 3 months are and what you can do to extract the best possible. Will also be writing 3 separate post for managing time and your preparation in each February, March and April, so stay tuned.
Do share the blog with your friends, juniors or those who plan to prepare for NEET/AIIMS. It will prove a great asset to them I assure you.
You can message me in my Quora inbox if you have any personal queries or if you want in the comments section below.
Till then
Bye!

For future NEET aspirants - How to prepare post the NEET 2017 havoc?

Greetings Readers

We all saw,heard and experienced what NEET 2017 results and counselings brought for us. Drastically changed marks v/s rank ratio, new cutoffs for every college, a real all India single NEET exam for all states, results of giving an easier level paper. Also seen were shattering of many expectations, confusions regarding probable colleges one would get amidst the new ranks and cutoffs and many more probelms.

Although if you see this scenario from another perspective, it was a ‘reality check’ for a lot of aspirants out there. All previous trends, cutoffs, prediction were outdone by this change in difficulty level of paper and introduction of NEET as the single exam for students from all states of India.

The important thing is that one must be prepared for any difficulty level or type of questions that come, as nothing is certain here no matter how much it looks like. In NEET-1 2016, we had probably the toughest Physics section in NEET, till then. A lot of people lost their cool, ending up in a lot of negative marking in Physics and less time left for the other two sections. No matter how difficult the paper is, you got to give your best and avoid wasting time in questions you believe( this instinct is something to develop) are not worth your time.

Similarly, in NEET 2017 we all know the level of the paper went quite easy that a lot of people were getting 550+ easily as compared to previous years. JEE Advanced 2017 had a similar trend as well. Then came the results which were a shocker to a lot of aspirants. Easier papers, though seem good can prove disastrous because even a few marks can change your ranks by hundreds. So no matter how easy the paper seems, accuracy and good attempting is a must.

As for individual subjects it can be said that NCERT book keeps it dominance in the Biology questions and 80–85 questions come directly from it, so better try understanding each line and concept from it rather than rote learning some irrelevant stuff mentioned in coaching institute modules.

For Physics and Chemistry stuff doesn’t change much and one must be prepared for whatever the examiner’s throw at you, with difficulty level changing every year.

After a long time - Some thoughts

Greeting Readers
It sure has been a long time since a 'proper' blog post came out on the blog and even my 1st year MBBS exams finished last month and I am in 2nd year of MBBS as of now. First of all I apologize for that. 
Actually to say it out genuinely I have been suffering from what you call a 'writer's block' after all that hectic preparation of 1st year MBBS exams and am trying to get back with good content on Quora and the blog. Quora is easier as you have specific questions to reply to, but the blog holds more importance and I need a good topic and a certain 'flow' to write good posts that will be helpful to you, and not just for the sake of writing.
Those reading this, I request you to keep patience and I surely will be coming up with some good post in near future. Also, do spread and share the blog with your medical aspirant friends as our aim is to help the maximum aspirants we can.

ThePMTBlog completes one year!

Greetings Readers
Exactly one year ago on Wednesday,6th July,2016 I posted my first post on the blog and since then it has been a great journey. Inspired by people helping aspirants with exams like JEE and UPSC CSE, I too started the blog to give out my experiences and knowledge about NEET and AIIMS UG exams, to help out many who have the potential but are stuck with some or the other things.
Replying to comments, Quora messages, writing new posts and Quora answers has been a great experience. It has even given me a platform to express my passion of writing.
Have received messages from some of you who did great(Happy to see you succeed!) and others too who nevertheless were helped by the blog. Sometimes this makes me feel how could I execute all this, but it's the grace of God that helps me to continue with it.
I am busy right now with 1st MBBS Prof exams preparation so won't be active before September.
After August, will return to actively writing posts, again. Even thinking of expanding the concept of the blog, with maybe Unacademy videos or a basic YouTube channel. Give your suggestions if any, in the comments.
Till then, all the best wishes for future, to those who will be going into medical colleges and for those who are preparing, keep up the commitment, don't lose hope and you will succeed one day for sure!
Bye

NEET UG 2017 results are out!

Greetings Readers
Just about an hour ago the CBSE has released the long awaited results of the NEET UG exam on the NEET website. You can check the same on NEET 2017 Result
The marks v/s rank ratio has shifted drastically, even beyond my own expectations, seeing an increment of about 50-60 marks to be scored for getting the same rank as compared to last year(in 2016). 
Don't get panicked in this situation and try to remain calm,even if your rank is way different than expected. With the easy paper it was bound to happen, as it happened in JEE Advanced. You gave your best that day, so it's better to explore the current options rather than regretting about anything.
If you have any issues do post it in the comments section or message me on Quora.

AIIMS UG 2017 Results are out!

Good morning readers
As you may have seen yesterday on websites of newspapers like the Indian Express and the Hindustan Times, AIIMS authorities denied the paper leak claims and have declared the result of the 2017 AIIMS UG examination. You can check it on :
Rank wise result of AIIMS-MBBS 2017 session Entrance Examination held on 28th May, 2017.
Roll Number wise result of AIIMS-MBBS 2017 session Entrance Examination held on 28th May, 2017.
Although this time they have not disclosed the name of the candidates with their ranks and have given only roll numbers. Most probably this is to save the privacy of individual candidates. But, this does take out the fun and excitement of seeing your name come as you scroll the list!
If you have any counseling or college related queries, do comment below in the comments section.
Congratulations in advance if you have got a good rank!

Update on NEET 2017

Greetings Readers
Sorry for not being able to post for a longtime. My MBBS First Year Professional exams are near and I am quite busy in studying for them.
Nevertheless, today the Supreme Court finally heard the NEET case, and has allowed the CBSE to declare the result of the May 7th paper.
CBSE has declared a notice for OMR and Answer Key challenges. Do read at Display of OMR and Answer Key - 12.06.2017
Check your OMR sheet very carefully. Although any error in OMR reading is rare, but still do have a good look and save it properly for any future reference or record. Challenge the answers you feel controversial, but with strong facts, like giving references(page number, chapter etc.) from NCERT or some standard books of the three subjects. Last year, I did give a reference to JD Lee Inorganic Chemistry in a Chemistry question,but NCERT reference, if available, is best.
All the best wishes for your results. It will be indeed a unique experience for you when the result flashes in front of you!
Till then
Bye!

NEET 2017 - The Paper

Greetings Readers
Finally today on 7th May, 2017 the NEET 2017 paper was held from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. A lot of you readers must have given the paper.
Leaving the paper aside, first stay calm, however good, average or bad your paper went. You have given the best you could give and that’s what is important.
Now talking about the paper, from what I analysed after seeing the paper for about the past 30-40 minutes as I got it online, I felt that overall the paper was on the easier side as compared to both the papers of NEET 2016 and also RE-AIPMT 2015.
In Biology most questions were looking as directly picked from NCERT. Around 8-10 questions were not directly from NCERT text, but could be solved if one has attended NEET coaching and read coaching modules. The trend was in line with the last 2 year's papers.
Physical Chemistry wasn't that tough in calculation and the questions were of common types, not anything new. Organic Chemistry was pretty easy as compared to NEET-2 2016 Chemistry paper and anyone having done NCERT and coaching modules faithfully can get cent to cent marks. Inorganic Chemistry was also average, not easy not tough, just like it is.
Physics was a section I hoped after the papers of NEET 2016 and RE-AIPMT 2015 would remain of pretty good level, as compared to pre-2015 papers. It may seem moderately difficult for the average student, but for a well prepared student it was somewhat easier than both of 2016 papers. Questions may have got a bit tricky with the language but studying from standard coaching modules, books and notes, along with solid practice would have definitely got one through them.
For detailed topic wise distribution you can see the Full Paper Analysis on websites of coaching institutes like Resonance, Allen or Aakash which will arrive in few hours from now.
The cutoffs are expected to move up although no need to panic or worry. You have given your best and the paper is done now.
Better focus on the AIIMS UG exam now, which is an excellent opportunity as you have already covered the syllabus once and also are free from the NEET exam itself. You just have to improve your weak areas, keep up with practice of questions especially the Assertion and Reason ones, control negative marking and AIIMS is not a difficult thing to get through. 
Calm done today, talk to your friends and family, have a good sleep and start fresh from tomorrow as the AIIMS dream can’t wait!
Will write a post on AIIMS last month preparation too. Stay tuned.
Also, for those in Class 11 and 12, here is the link for NEET 2017 Code ‘P’ paper - 
NEET 2017 Question Paper Code - P
The answer keys will be also uploaded on few hours by various coaching institutes. I will add their links as they are uploaded, too.
Edit :
 Resonanace NEET 2017 Answer Key and Solutions
Allen NEET 2017 Answer Key and Solutions
Aakash NEET 2017 Answer Key and Solutions
Those who gave the exam today can post their marks and also discuss regarding the today’s paper in the comments section.
Once more, all the best for your preparation!

Expectations, Procrastination, Disappointments and Depression : What to do ?

Greetings Readers

Finally my 1st semester exams at college have finished and now I am quite free to dedicate some of my time to the blog and helping you all out with your problems.

March is here and it's a decisive month for many. 

• Those in Class 12, and aiming for NEET/AIIMS 2017 are busy preparing for the Board exams as well as trying to cover their NEET syllabus simultaneously. Covering up big courses in short time is definitely taxing on their minds, so stress and nervousness is natural to occur.
• Students of Class 11 have finished one year of their NEET/AIIMS preparation and they are also giving Class 11 Final exams(although these hardly matter a dime, still they have to pass it anyways) and most of them must be in a state of confusion or uncertainty regarding the status and level of their preparation and what to do in Class 12 as only one year is left before they face NEET/AIIMS themselves.
• Also, not to forget those in Class 10, are also giving their exams and are simultaneously faced with the weight of one of the biggest decision of their lives - Choosing a stream, leaving other subjects behind, forever.

You now why I have put in bold the words 'stress', 'confusion' and other similar words?

The answer is that you all are facing some of these issues at some point or the other in this phase of life. You are now no longer studying all subjects and just going to the next standard. Stuff has changed, as you have chosen a stream to aim for your career, of which you should be passionate about(Can't say everyone is passionate about as many take up a stream for other reasons too).

To tell the truth, expectations have surrounded you. People expect you to study hard and ace every exam. They expect you to get in good college, study hard again and later on get a good job. For doctors, people expect that they start earning(maybe even get a 'Sarkari naukri') after doing their Residency/Post Graduation, marry and settle in life, earning,working,earning,working and that goes on. Escalated pretty fast,no? 

Actually that's not the way life works and be thankful it doesn't work that way. Each one of us, being humans, has got his/her talent, excels in those areas and so do we have have our weaknesses, our cons and areas we feel difficult to toil through. This is the most beautiful thing life has given to us. None of us is perfect, but life has given us the power to chase excellence, improve our skills, learn from mistakes. Tell me has anyone learnt riding a bicycle without falling? "Girte ho to tabhi to sikhte ho, ki agali baar aise nahi chalana hai, sambhal ke chalna hai"

This reminds of a famous dialogue from "Batman Begins"( Any guesses, Batman fans?)

This is what your spirit should be while studying or doing anything in life like chasing your passions or goals.

You go to your school, you go to your coaching classes, attend the class, listen, make notes and study them going back home. You feel you have doubts, you ask them. Sometimes the teacher isn't able to convince you and you are still left with residual doubts and stuff not understood well. Over time, if you don't focus on these shortcomings then these get accumulated, they can become a hindrance to learning future topics. Sometimes the backlog becomes so much that you can either focus on the new topic, leaving the old one unresolved or vice-versa. Either of the case, you are losing something out. As such the speed of the course is so fast, with the vast syllabus and the highly uncertain pattern of these exams having objective questions,a feeling of stress or fear originates. Already the expectations are behind you and to add to it stress and fear have joined too. 

This combined situation of expectations, study load, stress and fear makes the mind's of many students completely tired out. Many students start to feel bored out and start procrastinating. They begin to think that they will study tomorrow, today they will enjoy. Such is the vicious cycle that tomorrow never comes. Again the same backlog, expectations, stress fear and this thing goes on. Then a phase of depression ensues. Students start thinking what will happen if they don't get selected, what will they do if they can't become a doctor, did they waste their parent's money and even the most bad - suicidal thoughts.

I am not saying this thing out of anywhere, but this is what I have heard from many friends and other students whom I have interacted with on Quora and the blog.

Each student is trying to give their best, I don't doubt their efforts, but somewhere they are going wrong with what is the 'essence' or the 'motive' or the 'aim' of their preparation. Many students say,"I am scoring so and so in this test series, what will be my rank in NEET?". Some people comment on these topics and say so and so marks will get you to this and this rank. Then if some student falls short of "those so and so marks", he/she gets depressed and asks questions like,"What do if I am getting lower than "those" marks in test series?"

Having been through all this experiences, having given "those test series" myself, having got depressed over "those marks of these test series" and most important, "having got a good enough rank in both NEET and AIIMS", I can say that these scores don't matter. I have quoted the same thing in detail, with appropriate reasons in one of my Quora answers at Should I care about AIATS scores? 

Swami Vivekananda used to say that you, the individual, the youth are a thing have infinite power. If you make a resolve to work, not thinking if you succeed or not, you are capable of winning even if the whole universe is against you. Such is the power you, the human being,possess. 

I am not saying that feeling sad, getting stressed out or feeling depressed is anything 'abnormal' or 'bad' to be hidden behind a fake sense of being normal. With our lives becoming more stressful each day, these are prone to occur and it's in our best interests that we accept them. But, this doesn't mean that these are permanent. Their is always something that can be done. Even I have faced stress and depression , have struggled to learn things and get stuff sorted out as you must have read in my blog posts and Quora answers. I am no superior, you are no inferior. Even those toppers you must be having in class are no superior and sure of success in life. They just are better than you at one skill, which even you can master with a strong resolve and hard work. My father,himself a doctor, used to tell me in my preparation days, that there are doctors who topped in their medical colleges throughout but still aren't able to get the style of treating patients correctly, thus people don't go to them for treatment. Will you call this success? 

My main message to you all(those in Class 12,11, 10 or even droppers) is that first of all leave all expectations behind. Expectations set a 'bar' or a 'limit' to how much you can succeed, whereas those who have actually succeeded in doing something in life, never expected it to happen, neither did their success had any limits. 

The lives of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Jack Ma(Alibaba.com founder) , Elon Musk(Tesla and SpaceX founder), our own honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mahendra Singh Dhoni( MS Dhoni : The Untold Story to dekhi hogi), Yuvraj Singh(cancer survivor), Lance Armstrong(cyclist,cancer survivor), JK Rowling(Harry Potter Author) and many more people tell that no matter how things went bad at some point in their lives, what drove them to success was that they refused to give up. They refused to bend down against the odds they faced in life, no matter how much other people bashed them. They knew their potential and had a strong resolve to succeed. No matter if they succeed today or not, but they knew their talent, their hard work, their patience, their faith will someday pay them back.

For those giving the exam this year, I can say that you have studied continuously for the past two-three years. You have solved the most trivial questions. You have sacrificed lot of stuff to achieve your goal. You continue to put efforts so that you can see a smile on your parents face, when you succeed. Then why continue to fear, stress out, or get depressed? Just remember one line,"This too shall pass". Whatever you are going through will pass one day, time won't stop. So rev up your efforts and give the best that you can give, not thinking of what would happen or what people expect from you. Just set the date of the exam in your mind and don't think what will happen after that. Just focus on improving yourself each day. Focus on becoming better each day, rather than being the best on one day and bad on the other day. Only thing in your mind should be how to give your best and get the best output possible on the day of the final exam. Don't think what college you will get. If you score good, you will have the power to chose what you want, anyways.

For those in Class 11, I suggest you all to be optimistic. One year is still left between you and the main exam, and as such the lighter Class 12 syllabus allows you to revise simultaneously the Class 11 part, reinforcing your concepts. To be honest, I myself have completely understood and finished 60% of the Class 11 topics in Class 12, not in Class 11 itself, be it Biology, Chemistry or Physics. Forget what happened in the past, whatever it was and start at this very moment. There is always room for improvement.

Now for those in Class 10, I can say that chose whatever you want, but only if you have some though, some resolve and some passion to pursue whatever goals you want to achieve in that stream. Meet people working in those fields, be it Doctors, Engineers,Lawyers, MBAs, Business people, Sports persons, Journalists,Artists or anyone else. Know about the field you are going to join and don't just take it because your friends are taking it or your parents are forcing you to do so.

This surely has been my longest post on the blog, but I still feel being short of words to describe the problems we students face in life and what to do to sort them out. 

My aim now on the blog is not just helping you with the academic stuff of the preparation, but also helping you 'prepare' for the problems that life will pose you during the preparation. Even if I can help one of you succeed,leaving depression and fear behind, my happiness and satisfaction would be no bounds.

With this I wish you all the best for whatever you do in the upcoming time.

Till next time

Bye!

ThePMTBlog crosses 10000 views!

Greetings Readers
I have not been able to post for a long time, since my 1st Semester exams are going on in college and I am pretty busy with them.
Keeping that aside, we have some great news - 

ThePMTBlog(thepmtblog.blogspot.in) has crossed the 10000 views milestone and it’s certainly a great moment for me as a Blogger, who has been trying to help Pre-Medical aspirants since the past 7 months. 
I started the blog in July 2016, inspired from people like Aman Goel and Roman Saini, who helped JEE and UPSC CSE aspirants,respectively,by using internet as a medium to share their knowledge and experience. The first post came out on 6th July, 2016, and the journey hasn’t stopped since then. Starting with hardly 5-10 views per day, the response and the growth has been amazing, with I getting a chance to interact with so many medical aspirants, and having helped them with my experience. 
It’s been a quite satisfactory thing to help you all out, as once I had been in your place and know what’s the importance of getting proper guidance and tips at the right time.
Wish to keep blogging in future, and interacting with you all via Blogger and Quora( have crossed 50k views on my answers there). Thanks for all the support and faith you have shown in the blog.
Do post your suggestions for the blog and for any blog post you want me to write. Will work on that once my semester exams get finished and I get free time.
Till then
Bye!

Motivational Video by Roman Saini, AIIMS Delhi alumnus

Greetings Readers
While I am working on my next blog post, I would like to share a quite motivational video posted by Roman Saini on Unacademy’s YouTube channel.
Chanakya Neeti (चाणक्य नीति) for students - Shlokas for studying/knowledge acquisition - Roman Saini
In this video, Roman Saini Sir, through the shlokas of Chanakya, the well known strategist of ancient India, encourage those preparing for competitive examinations to keep continuing their efforts and emphasises on gaining true knowledge, as success will automatically comes behind those who are chasing knowledge.