Mon Jun 11 2018

SELF-STUDY HELPED MORE THAN COACHING, SAYS NEET TOPPER

Bihar girl Kalpana Kumari is a habitual topper who devoted 13 hours to prepare for NEET exam

By Utkarsh Rampal

Kalpana Kumari from Sheohar, Bihar, who did her schooling from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya was pleasantly surprised when she was told that she topped the NEET 2018. Hailing from a small district, and growing up in a non-descript town, all that she knew was that first step towards success is hardwork.

Her brother, who is currently studying in IIT Guwahati has been her inspiration. "My coaching in Delhi lasted for a short while, as I would frequently visit my native place. I used to visit my relatives in Delhi and was lured to go to one of the prominent coaching centres. I wasn't regular there as I realised that selfstudies would help me more. I used to study for 12-13 hours daily and practiced previous year exam papers in my free time," says Kalpana.

Kalpana, who studied in CBSE board till X, switched to Bihar Board in XI-XII, which she felt offered her more time to study on her own. NCERT books, she says, were far more useful than any other fancy preparation material. As a young student, she wanted to be a doctor, as shortage of good doctors in remote places pained her.

"Most people in the interiors face health related problems, due to lack of medical treatment and facilities available in big cities are way too expensive. There are not many doctors in my family too and this is the reason I want to become a doctor and do something meaningful," adds Kalpana.

At this stage, Kalpana is not sure of the specialisation she wants to pursue in future, but she is inspired by cardiologists.

Her strategy was simple. "I started answering the paper with Physics but found the questions to be lengthy, so I switched to Biology which was much easier and NCERT based. I completed the Biology section in 30 minutes and then finished the rest of the sections."

Kalpana's family is academically-oriented, with her father being a lecturer in a training college in Sitamarhi and mother working as a teacher in her home district. The parents have been involved with the studies of their children, and do everything possible to motivate them. Kalpana wants to study in AIIMS, New Delhi and plans to take decision after the AIIMS 2018 results are declared on 18 June.

Adding another feather to her hat, Kalpana has also topped class XII examinations from Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), the results of which were declared on 6 June, 2018 with 86.8%.

The top 3 ranks were secured by Kalpana Kumari, Rohan Purohit and Himanshu Sharma. Kalpana scored 691 marks out of 720 and bagged AIR1. She secured full marks in Biology while she scored 171/180 in Physics and 160/180 in Chemistry. Rohan and Himanshu scored 690 marks out of 720 and secured the second and third spot respectively. 

 

 

Source: https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/#

• 7 May 2018 | Mumbai | Shreya Bhandary

NEET: Delay due to biometrics, lengthy Physics section irk students

MUMBAI : The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) to get seats in medical colleges was conducted smoothly across centres in the city on Sunday. A few latecomers were denied entry to exam centres and in some places, there was an initial delay in finishing biometric process. 

Most students also complained that the exam was difficult and lengthy in some parts. “We saw two students reach the school gate at 9:32am, but the security did not allow them to enter the campus. Both students said they were travelling from far and got stuck in traffic,” said Aarti Mhatre, parent of another NEET candidate whose centre was in Colaba.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the authority organising the exam, had made it clear that all students need to enter their respective exam centres before 9:30am to take the exam at 10am. Maharashtra witnessed the highest registration by candidates for NEET this year with students appearing from 345 centres. 

As per the procedure, biometric finger prints of all students were taken at the time of entering and leaving the exam hall. However, at some centres, students were unhappy about finishing the biometric and videography process during the exam. “The process of checking biometric finger prints of students should be done before the exam. We wasted 10 to 15 minutes on finishing this process in the middle of the paper,” said Janhvi V, who took the exam from a centre in Malad. 

The paper was a mix of 180 questions divided between physics, chemistry and biology sections. Many found the physics part the toughest. “Physics section had many questions based on calculations which is why many found it lengthy. Chemistry section had a mix of questions from National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and state board syllabi. Biology section was easiest as compared to other sections,” said Subhash Joshi, a teacher. 

Source: http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx#

NEET candidates find physics tough; latecomers lose a year

Mumbai:
Barring a few incidents, the National Eligibilitycum-Entrance Test (NEET) went off peacefully in the city on Sunday. At several NEET centres in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, one to three candidates lost a year as they were late for the exam, while many complained of the lengthy attendance process during the exam leading to wastage of ‘precious’ time.

Overall NEET-UG 2018 was a mixed bag for over 1.8 lakh medical aspirants in Maharashtra. Most found the physics section to be tougher and lengthier than chemistry and biology. “Of the 180 questions, 110 were easy, 45 were of medium difficulty, and 25 were very difficult,” said Sudhanshu Sinhal, MD of a coaching institute. Teachers expect the cut-off for qualifying in NEET to be at 130. For government colleges, the cut-off could be between 510 and 530, said Subhash Joshi of Science Parivar.

The stringent policy, followed by CBSE, asking centres to videoshoot the closing of gates sharp at 9.30am sealed the fate of latecomers. “A student who was coming from Colaba met with a minor accident and reached at 9.32am was not allowed to take the test,” said Kalpa Raichura, who was at a centre in Powai. At a centre, the videorecording of candidates and thumb impression and signatures were taken during the exam, making it difficult for the candidates to concentrate for 10-15 minutes.

An official statement by CBSE said candidates were informed about the timings and other rules every day through text messages. “Nearly 1.3 crore SMSes were sent to candidates. A radio programme was also organised to remind them about the last-minute preparations and the timings,” mentioned the statement. TNN 

Source : https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/#