NEET is one of the most competitive exams in India mainly because of the highest number of candidates sitting for the exam every year. What skills are required from NEET aspirants to crack the exam? What should be the qualities of a NEET aspirant?
In this post, Ankit Kumar (MBBS student of MAMC, Delhi), one of the NEET toppers, is sharing the top 10 qualities that a NEET aspirant should have to crack the exam.
Top 10 Qualities of a NEET Aspirant
The skills and qualities required from NEET aspirants to crack the exam :
1. Positive attitude
A NEET aspirant must demonstrate that he/ she is ready to work hard. You are not applying for NEET just to clear the cutoff; but to secure a decent rank and grab a seat in a reputed government college. Have a mindset that you will try your best to achieve your aim despite all the setbacks. Just keep in mind that ‘Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement’.
2. Focus on end result
A NEET aspirant has to deal with a lot of distractions and temptations. These could be social media , personal crisis, weddings, parties, etc. Try to refrain yourself from all these things. They suck out the passion and dedication from within. Here we need to channelise our focus, time and energy solely on the objective we are trying to achieve.
Apart from that, scoring low in mock tests also induces frustration. It’s okay to have fluctuations in your marks but the entire focus must be on the D-day. You should commit to avoid any mistakes on the NEET exam day.
3. Punctuality / Regularity
This is the most important quality that the majority of NEET aspirants lack. Even I was not an exception. After putting considerable time and hard work to make a flawless study schedule and diligently trying to follow it, a majority of aspirants end up not following the timetable after a week or so; thus putting all your efforts in the drain.
Reason for this is – not being punctual. The aspirant should really try hard to stick to the schedule and should allow modifications in it so as to accommodate any changes in circumstances i.e. making a realistic and flexible schedule for NEET.
4. Avoiding Procrastination
You are not able to follow a prescribed schedule. Well, one reason behind this could be the devil called – Procrastination. Yes! the habit of postponing or delaying things for tomorrow. But always remember that : ‘Tomorrow never comes’.
Whenever you try to sit down and study and you feel not up to the mark, what do you do? Study without interest! Well only a few can do that. Majority do the same old thing – Put it on hold, schedule it for the next day. And do you know where it eventually leads you ? The answer is backlog.
As your unfinished tasks get pile up, you find yourself helpless and frustrated and screw up your schedule as well as your preparation. So never put things for the next day – do it today itself, even if it takes some couple of hours more.
5. Self Awareness
Be thorough with your strengths, but more than that you should be well aware of your weaknesses and vulnerabilities. I have seen a lot of people focusing more on things that they are well versed or comfortable with (i.e. their strengths) and playing Hide and Seek with their incompetencies and shortcomings.
Remember your weakness will be the first one to pull you down in this race. So it is better to tackle them head on and make them your Ally, rather than neglecting them till eternity. Work on your weak topics so that you no longer need to call them as your shortcomings.
6. An inquiring mind and pursuit of knowledge
Everyone has some sort of weakness – Physics or Chemistry or some even find it hard to memorize Biology. So don’t hesitate to ask someone who knows that topic or subject well. If you have enrolled in a coaching, confidently ask the teacher all your doubts; after all you have paid the fee for this purpose.
Remember that not knowing a single concept can cause you your seat. We all are well aware of the fact that even a single mark difference causes such a huge shift in ranks.
7. Smart work and Efficiency
The whole concept of entrance exams is to Reject rather than Select. So you must know how to get yourself filtered in the section of the successful ones. The market is flooded with all kinds of books and study materials, you should be aware of what suits you the best.
In spite of knowing what to read, the aspirant should know exactly what not to read from the existing plethora of knowledge. Efficiency and productivity also matters. You are wasting your time if in spite of putting several hours of input, you are getting a mere output. Focus more on achieving high results with sufficient input.
8. Patience
Patience is the most crucial thing required to crack NEET. There will be times when you will be running late in your schedule, not getting good results, forgetting important concepts during exams. At that time my friend, all you need is a pinch of patience to make your dish of success a hit.
Just try to keep calm and patient even if you commit a mistake. This attitude of yours can help you survive the panic attacks and their after effects as well.
9. Never getting intimidated
“Hey, you know that guy! He always scores the highest marks in each test, he will surely get a seat this year” – said one of my friends in my coaching. Well that’s intimidating for sure. One starts to doubt his own potential, thereby giving a major blow to his self esteem. But I always tried not to feel intimidated by these kinds of stuff.
Although I am totally aware of the magnitude of competition; but I want to grab a seat for myself and not for any other random person. I find my biggest competition to be myself. So why should I care if he scores really well, we are two different individuals and we both are fighting for ourselves.
A healthy competition is indeed beneficial, but don’t let it intimidate you to the point that it even lowers your self esteem. Keep your head high and fight for it.
10. Avoiding overthinking
I have received messages from aspirants regarding how they are uncertain about their selection and thinking about this makes them lose their focus and dedication while studying. Well it’s natural! All credit goes to the cut throat competition and to the wiring of our mind.
Every time we try to do something that is difficult or uncertain, our mind tries to sabotage our efforts in order to make us feel safe from things that it assumes to be a threat to us. The best way to tackle this is by eliminating the chances of the brain to interfere with your decision making process. I personally tried the 5 second rule (by Mel Robbins). Every time you encounter such a situation, just count 5-4-3-2–1 and get to work. And get up only when you are done (say after 15 minutes in a 1 hour study period and then take a 10 minutes break).
Don’t just sit there, pondering over something. Snap out of it because overthinking would surely not gonna take you close to your medical seat.
Learn tricks and strategy required to crack NEET from the top faculty and experts in Mystudycart NEET Online Courses.
Ankit Kumar
Cleared NEET 2018 with 99.91 percentile
Related Posts :
Daily Routine of a NEET Aspirant
Tips to Crack NEET in First Attempt
NEET Preparation From Class 11
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