Dropping a year to prepare for JEE/ NEET exam is an option quite a number of students go for. It could be due to dissatisfaction with the preparation or the poor strategy to crack the exam. Whatever may be the reason to drop, the goal is the same: getting enrolled in good engineering/ medical college.
Being a dropper has its advantages. You have taken that big step. The step which your family was apprehensive about. The step you feared would make your friends jeer at you. But You dropped a year to appear for JEE/ NEET again, To peruse your dream career.
Here you are now – at the precipice of another year with nothing to do but study for NEET /JEE again.. You have a lot at stake, and a lot to gain as well. You want to score a whole lot more than you did last year and get into your dream institute. You have promises to keep – to yourself and to your parents.
However, you are afraid too. Several thoughts plague your mind ‘what if I dropped for nothing? What if I score worse than last year? What if I fail again?’
These words hum a constant anxiety-inducing tune in the back of your mind.
I believe you have no reason to feel anxious. No matter what people (including you) think, being a dropper has its advantages and you have it in you to be a NEET topper and get into the medical institute of your dreams.
Don’t lose hope, there are many ways to bounce back from failure .
So here are some preparation tips :
Before you begin, fix your mindset
Drop the fear of failure. Drop the insecurity you might have around being a dropper. Since you are a dropper, you now know first-hand how the final exam actually is and how to tackle it. You have a lot more self-knowledge than someone who is appearing for JEE/ NEET for the first time. This is a powerful position to be in.
Don’t bother about what others may think about your decision. Everyone, right from your parents to friends, distant relatives and teachers must have bombarded you with questions and shown apprehension about your decision to take a year off for your JEE/ NEET preparation. Now is the time to shut out the negativity and focus on your goal. Feed your mind with positive thoughts and belief that you will make it through JEE/ NEET Entrance exam with flying colours.
Take an inventory of where you are now and where you want to go
This means evaluating how you prepared for JEE/ NEET last year, what your strong and weak points were, and setting a goal for this year. It might be a definite number or it might be a range you want to score in. Write all of this down.
Evaluate last year’s mistakes
This is a very crucial step. Here are the possible mistakes you might have made:
• Not being enthusiastic/ motivated/ serious enough.
• Focusing too much on one subject at the cost of others.
• Not practising enough difficult questions.
• Randomly studying with no plan.
• Being too distracted by social media and using it while studying.
• Not solving online mock tests until the last minute.
• Neglecting NCERT because it is ‘too basic’ or ‘too simple’.
• Neglecting 11th-grade syllabus
Be brutally honest with yourself and admit to all the ways in which you messed up. That is the only way you can improve this year.
Make a study plan
• A solid study plan with deadlines written on paper where you can track your progress.
• If you did not study NCERT Books thoroughly last year, include it in your plan along with one advanced book.
• If you did not solve enough mock papers, solve 2-3 each week and solve them twice.
• If you focused too much on one subject, allocate enough time for all subjects.
Practice Previous Years Papers and Mock Tests
As a dropper, you may have already attempted one JEE/ NEET exams for the sake of experience, so you already have an idea about the nature of the examination. If not, then referring to JEE previous years’ question papers will definitely help in this process. In addition to this, you must take online test series and mock tests to analyse your exam preparedness.
After attempting these tests, it is absolutely essential for you to analyze the test and go back to both – the questions you have missed and the questions that you scored negatively in. Based on these questions, all you will need to do is to relook at the concepts and take requisite remedial actions.
Besides this, the benefits of solving online mock tests can also help in revising the entire syllabus within a fortnight, simply by approaching the topics related to the questions posed in these papers and test series. This means you can fine tune the topics or subjects that you may find yourself lacking before the exam.
Practise from the right resources
If you think you will make it without getting the right JEE/ NEET resources, don’t even consider it! It is important that this one year of preparation is spent clearing your concepts through the right set of books.
Apart from the right books, read and re-read from NCERT Textbooks, because many questions in NTA conducted JEE/ NEET exams were directly framed from NCERT books. So, to score good marks in JEE/ NEET you must learn NCERT by heart.
Be consistent
Stick to your plan with no excuses. Include hours for rest in your plan and stick to those as well. Do not abandon your plan at any point. Say no to social engagements if they collide with your schedule. Make a simple policy of ‘no excuses’ when it comes to studying.
It is not easy to crack exam but its not impossible. A lot of factors contribute in studies, keep yourself motivated and work hard for your dreams because this is a race, there are always people out there to take your place.
Say the strongest ‘no’ to all forms of negativity
Get rid of your own mental chatter that includes self-doubt and the concerned looks of others. This is your year because you are preparing thoroughly for it.
Ditch your phone
Reduce the amount of time that you spend on the phone. If you need to relax, choose to exercise, dance, or participate in outdoor activities which will benefit you once you come back to your study desk again.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle and take a balanced diet to stay productive. A healthy mind lives in a healthy body. Physical health is imperative for mental health.
Be your own cheerleader
Before you sit down to study, spend 2-3 minutes amping yourself up. Read Zig Ziglar quotes. Repeat mantras to yourself. Sentences like ‘I am capable’ and ‘I am a winner’ will sound hokey in the beginning. But they will get you in the right frame of mind to study with enthusiasm and motivation.
Most of all, remind yourself why you are doing this. Because once upon a time, your parents and you dreamed a dream for you. Now, you owe it to yourself to make it come true. And truthfully? It ain’t that hard.
You can absolutely do it. All the best.
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