Study Resources for NEET - Biology by Vishwajit

There is an abundance of information regarding study resources already on the web. 

Till the day before the exam, I was clueless about the effectiveness of the study resources I used.

But the instant I stepped out of the examination hall, I had suddenly become a professional who could hand out all the advice in the world.

It comes down to how you adapt your resources to your needs. There's no 101 solution. You need to find your own perfect solution.

I would suggest taking in multiple inputs, creating an amalgamation and arriving at the plan most suitable for you.

Grade 11

• Biology NCERT
• MTG Biology MCQs

• Test Series 

This section has the potential to fetch 360 marks. It is of average difficulty. Reiterating what I had said earlier. It all about building on the NCERT using the reference books. 

In 11th grade, I was clueless about what reference books to use. Therefore, I stuck with the 11th grade Bio NCERT. This was very inadequate for the online test series, hence my marks were around the 375/720 range (Physics and Chemistry were even more hopeless).

Instead of learning and solving, I was solving and learning.

But I would not recommend this completely as it is very time consuming (The 6 month period of holidays allowed me to make up for all these errors ).

An advantage and disadvantage with the coaching institutes is that : They save you a lot of time, but they do not give space for you to learn from your own mistakes. But have to admit that, coaching institutes do give you an edge.

As much of this info, that I was gathering was not present in the NCERT. I happened to note down each and everything in the NCERT. (At the end of 2 years, it was pages of biology rather than a book on biology). 

This brings my attention to a very important topic. DO NOT GET SCAMMED

During the 11th grade summer holidays, we found a chemistry tutor for NEET. He charged me 30000 rupees. Just to take basic NCERT chemistry, there was nothing new that was taught. It ended up with me slogging, over all the chemistry text book exercises. Yet my concepts were not clear. To prevent such incidents, please stick to the reputed institutes. They maintain a certain standard of education, with proper follow up doubt clearing sessions.

Grade 12

• NCERT Fingertips Biology

               

• Trueman Biology for Class 11 and 12

                  

• Daily tests by Akash Institute
• Test Series by Akash 
• Test Series by Allen (Cont. from 11th)

After going through a number of videos on books needed. I finally reached the conclusion that these were the ones I would be using. 

Truemans biology are a set of very large books, hence I utilized my entire summer vacations to give it a thorough run through. Its humanly quite difficult to remember all the information. Therefore its important to keep revising the chapters.

Using the daily tests, I was able to revisit every chapter atleast twice. Yet information kept slipping out.

The Biology NCERT at your fingertips is also useful in familiarizing yourself with the contents of the NCERT, along with strengthening the basics.

The key is being consistent throughout. Its vital to attempt and more importantly assess the tests. 

Dont focus on the marks. Focus on the mistakes. 

Its better to make a mistake than to tick a question correct by fluke. As every mistake made, is an opportunity for an extra mark in the exam.

Around the end of the year, my marks had increased to the range of 475. These were chapterwise tests.

My marks hit the 500 target, in the full portion tests.

Keep in mind that 'Full portion Tests' are easier than chapterwise tests. Chapterwise tests can sometimes be very discouraging, as the chapter is scrutinized in detail, making it quite challenging. They also ask multiple low weightage questions ( these questions are not asked much, hence their method of solution is not stressed upon). 

As my school is not NEET integrated. The pressure to perform in the board exams increased towards the end of the year, particularly from teachers.

For the school teachers, their board exam is important. For coaching institute teachers, their entrance exam is important.

Just a few months before the board exams, the existence of NEET had been forgotten. As I had never stressed upon the question- answer format properly, that was required by the CBSE board.

The stress was overwhelming at a point of time. This is not only for me. but faced by all students in India. 

Post Board Exam (6 month period)

I would have never done it without this time.

The NEET crash course by Akash continued for a month. As I had already read through Truemans, much of the information provided by the institute was similar. Hence I could allocate more time for tests rather than studying new material.

I was able to score 650+ in my first crash course test. No No, dont get deceived here. The crash course tests are substandard difficulty, Its important for confidence building but can give you a false sense of preparation.

I had made many time costly mistakes. Which required 6 months for me to make up for. Please avoid these mistakes.

• Making unnecessary notes : Note making is all upto the individual. For some it works but for me personally it was a huge waste of time. I spent hours making notes for 'The Animal Kingdom' Chapter. It was all over the internet, making notes is one of the most useful preparation strategy. But I was greatly deceived. I preferred revising directly from the NCERT and writing extra points in the text book itself.

I eventually ran out of space so had to, move in to the front page of the book.

How my typical page in the NCERT looks like.

• Do not fixate on questions : Move on. Do not fixate on an MCQ you are struggling to solve. Resort to a 3rd person for help. It saves time. Do not have an ego issue with the question. " I PREPARED SOO MUCH, HOW CAN I NOT SOLVE THIS. JUST SOME MORE TIME AND I WILL CRACK THIS". This is the perfect recipe to waste time and disturb you mentally. The question is not about trying, the question is about not obsessing over a question.

• Finish test corrections quickly : It takes more time to correct than to attempt the test. Hence do not put it for later. Finishing it then and there prevents piling up.

• Revisit old tests: Keep looking through old tests, mainly the mistakes. Most institutes give an option to show a filtered view of only the mistakes in the test report. Focus on those questions and the ones which you ticked correct by fluke.

• Cool downs : I can't stress enough on this point. Do not let yourself saturate. There will be a point when nothing will make sense, the overwhelming feeling of " I just want to stop " and life becomes a blur. That is the point to stop, breathe and take a step back. We shall delve into the importance of mental health in later posts.
  

Make a plan and stick to it. Do not blindly follow the opinion of others. Most importantly have confidence in yourself and don't listen to what previous year students did.

Listen to them, take their opinion, use it to reform your preparation plan, but do not ever implicate it directly.

Goodluck for your preparation !!