What It Takes: Advice From This Year's NEET Topper

Hey folks, this is Mrinal Kutteri here. I recently wrote NEET UG 2021 and was asked by NDTV to share a little about my journey and preparation, so here goes.

I present to you: Diary of a Hungry Kid.

Before anyone thinks that this means that I'm hungry for success of knowledge or something, let me clarify, I mean it very literally. I'm a huge foodie.

Now that I look back, I can think of the journey to topping NEET as a good memory, but it didn't feel that way when I was actually still on the journey. In fact, it was marked by a lot of dreams about the end of it - I had countless plans about what I'd do after the exam. This kind of dreaming can actually keep you going, especially towards the end of your preparation period. The very thought that there's a nice, comfy vacation for you at the end of all this can itself give you the fuel required to keep going.

When it comes to preparation, I truly believe that conceptual understanding is the shortest, simplest and yet the most honest route to good performance. I look at every topic like it's a puzzle. A puzzle only makes sense when all of its parts fit together perfectly with each other. Memorizing facts is like focusing on one piece of the puzzle at a time. That's simply not the way to do it. Whenever you read something, try and immediately connect it to a related topic. Here's an example: try to learn digestion as a process. Try and visualize the path that food traces as it makes its way through your digestive system. Try and understand all the changes it undergoes on the way. Don't look at changes in the mouth, stomach and intestine as separate events. There's a reason why all of them occur in a sequence. Side note: here again, you can see my obsession with food.

Practising questions is definitely a good way to apply this in real life. I used to refer to NCERT and Aakash material for reading and I solved questions from Aakash and MTG (I followed MTG mainly for Biology and Chemistry). I had bought many other reference books in a fit of energy and inspiration, but that determination took me only as far as the first two or three chapters.

Physics seems to be the undoing of many aspirants. I always tried to understand how a formula was derived, so that I could solve questions even if they were based on some intermediate step in the derivation. Also, try and develop a sort of 3D model of the problem in your head. Try and imagine how the system works, the different parts working together. It helped me quite a bit.

Even in Organic Chemistry, try and understand the mechanism of reactions. I know all this sounds like a lot of work, but trust me, the investment is very minimal compared to the returns you'll get in the long run.

All of this is useless when it comes to Inorganic Chemistry. If there's some way to make sense of that subject, I haven't found it.

I can't stress enough how important it is to avoid stress during preparation and on the exam day. Stress and pressure can totally eliminate two full years of preparation and make you go blank in the exam. Therefore, it's important that everyone comes up with a way to cope with it. For me, my de-stressing routine was a cocktail of Netflix, Prime Video, Spotify and video gaming. But this of course varies from person to person.

Relaxation is of paramount importance during preparation. It is the equivalent of repair and maintenance. If you want your car to run well, you need to give it some Castrol love once in a while.Your computer needs a good cooling system to avoid overheating. 'Chhota Bheem' needs his daily fix of laddoos to protect Dholakpur. You get the idea.

You know what they say about teaching being the best way to learn? Well, it's true. Having a group of friends with whom you can discuss concepts and problems is a big boon. If you're discussing or explaining something you already know, then it further reinforces your knowledge. If it's a new concept that's being discussed, then, obviously, you're learning something new. Even if it's a concept or problem you know, there's a chance that you may be exposed to a different angle of approaching the problem, which may be a shorter route to the same answer, or may be easier to remember and apply. In any case, it's useful for all parties involved. 

However, I would suggest that this practice be stopped a few days before the exam. It's better to enter the exam hall blissfully unaware of the points or topics you don't know.

Everyone has off-days. These may be unavoidable or by choice. Unavoidable ones include days when it feels like nothing's going your way. Your exam had maximum questions from that one chapter that you're not thorough with. Maybe something happened in your personal life that messed up your state of mind. Some days, you don't want to study because something else came up. In my case, I remember there was a day when I did nothing productive the entire day apart from the test that I had scheduled that day, because the rest of the day went by watching 13 episodes of The Office U.S. (it was the last season, I couldn't help myself). There was another day where I made some lame excuse to skip class because there was a party that I really didn't want to miss. And you know what? It's ok to have days like that. We all deserve to have a break from the monotony once in a while. The only thing that we need to take care of is that days like these are aberrations from our routine, and not the routine itself.

Well, I've said enough now. I myself am cringing at how preachy I sound, so I can't imagine how you're feeling after this. I leave you with these last words: you do you. Optimize your study pattern to suit your abilities and limitations, not anyone else's. Good luck to everyone and may the odds be ever in your favour.

(Hyderabad's Mrinal Kutteri secured all-India rank 1 in the NEET-UG 2021. He wishes to pursue MBBS.)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NDTV and NDTV does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.