How to prepare for neet at home without coaching

NEET is one of the most popular medical entrance examinations that provides an opportunity to kick start your career in the field of medicine. And I promise this is not going to be an easy task. In a year over 15 lakh students appear in the examination for about 1.65 lakh seats out of which 80000(approx) are government seats. 

The aspiring students who are hard working and dedicated will bring out the results no matter how you prepare yourself for neet at home without any coaching or with coaching.

It’s alright if you can’t afford expensive coaching, believe yourself you can do this if you got the secret ingredient for preparing at home. So what’s the secret plan for neet preparation? Follow the points given below to get the answer.

What is the syllabus and pattern for neet?

The rule number one for planning is to have a proper understanding of the syllabus and pattern of the examination especially if you are preparing at home. The next rule is to know the topic wise weightage and select the topics which have the most weightage and cover them first as priority.

Syllabus with weightage

Syllabus of biology for NEET

The list given below are topics of biology with their weightage after analysing the last 10 year questions.

sl.no	units	Chapter	Questions	Weightage
1	Diversity in the living world	Living world	1	1.11%
		Biological classification	3-4	3.8%
		Plant kingdom	3	3.3%
		Animal kingdom	3-4	3.8%
2	Structural organisation in plants and animals	Morphology of flowering plant	3-4	3.8%
		Anatomy of flowering plant	3	3.3%
		Structural organisation of animals	2	2.2%
3	Cell structure and function	Cell: the unit of life	3-4	3.8%
		Biomolecules	2	2.2%
		Cell cycle and cell division	2	2.2%
4	Plant physiology	Transport in plants	1-2	1.6%
		Photosynthesis in higher plants	2	2.2%
		Mineral nutrition	1-2	1.6%
		Respiration in plants	1	1.11%
		Plant growth and development	1-2	1.6%
5	Human physiology	Digestion and Absorption	2	2.2%
		Breathing and exchange of gases	2	2.2%
		Body fluid and circulation	2	2.2%
		Locomotion and movement	1-2	1.6%
		Excretory products and their elimination	2	2.2%
		Neural control and coordination	2	2.2%
		Chemical coordination and integration	3	3.3%
6	Reproduction	Sexual reproduction in flowering plants	3-4	3.8%
		Human Reproduction	3-4	3.8%
		Reproductive health	2	2.2%
		Reproduction in organism	1-2	1.6%
7	Genetics and evolution	Principle of inheritance and variation	5-6	6.1%
		Molecular basis of inheritance	4	4.4%
		Evolution	3	3.3%
8	Biology and human welfare	Human health and disease	3-4	3.8%
		Strategy for enhancement in food production	2-3	2.7%
		Microbes in human welfare	3	3.3%
9	Biotechnology and its application	Biotechnology: principles and processes	2-3	2.7%
		Biotechnology and its application	2	2.2%
10	Ecology and environment	Organism and population	2	2.2%
		Ecosystem	2-3	2.7%
		Biodiversity and conservation	2-3	2.7%
		Environmental issues	3	3.3%

From the above data we found that out of the 10 units 6 units covers almost 80% of whole biology questions. These topics are Human physiology, Genetics and evolution, Diversity in the living world, Reproduction, Biology and human welfare, Cell structure and function. Consider these topics as your top priority in your preparation plan.

Chemistry syllabus for NEET 

Given below are the list of topics from chemistry with their weightage

sl.no	chapters	questions	weightage
1	Hydrogen	1	2.2%
2	S-block elements	2	4.4%
3	Some p block elements	1	2.2%
4	Chemical bonding and molecular structure	3	6.6%
5	Classification of elements and periodicity in properties	1	2.2%
6	General principles and process of isolation of elements	1	2.2%
7	P block elements	2-3	5.5%
8	d and f block elements	2	4.4%
9	Coordinate compounds	2	4.4%
10	Environmental chemistry	1	2.2%
11	Organic chemistry some basic principles and techniques	1-2	3.3%
12	Hydrocarbons	3	6.6%
13	Haloalkanens and haloarenes	2	4.4%
14	Alcohol, phenol and ether	1-2	3.3%
15	Aldehydes,  ketones and carboxylic acids	2-3	5.5%
16	Organic compound containing nitrogen	1	2.2%
17	Biomolecules	2	4.4%
18	polymers	1-2	5.5%
19	Chemistry in everyday life	1	2.2%
20	Some basic concept of chemistry	1-2	5.5%
21	Structure of atom	2	4.4%
22	States of matter: gases and liquid	1	2.2%
23	Thermodynamics	2	4.4%
24	Equilibrium	2-3	2.7%
25	Redox reaction	1	2.2%
26	Solid states	1-2	5.5%
27	Solutions	2	4.4%
28	Electrochemistry	2	4.4%
30	Chemical kinetics	2	4.4%
31	Surface chemistry	1	2.2%

The above data provides that in chemistry each and every topic has almost equal weightage. So consider preparing for all topics of chemistry.

Physics syllabus for NEET

Most students preparing for neet found the physics part a little difficult compared to chemistry and biology. But this list will make you prioritize the topics with most importance.

Sl.no	chapters	questions	weightage
1	Physical world and units and dimensions	1	2.2%
2	Motion in straight line	2	4.4%
3	Motion in plain	1-2	3.3%
4	Laws of motion	2-3	5.5%
5	Work, energy, and power	2	4.4%
6	System of particles and rotational motion	2-3	5.5%
7	Gravitation	2	4.4%
8	Mechanical properties of solids	1	2.2%
9	Mechanical properties of fluids	1	2.2%
10	Thermal properties of matter	1-2	3.3%
11	Oscillation	1-2	3.3%
12	Waves	1-2	3.3%
13	Thermodynamics	1-2	3.3%
14	Kinetic theory	1	2.2%
15	Electric charges and fields	1-2	3.3%
16	Electrostatic potential and capacitance	1-2	3.3%
17	Current electricity	4	8.8%
18	Moving charges and magnetism	2	4.4%
19	Magnetism and matter	1	2.2%
20	Electromagnetic induction	1	2.2%
21	Alternating current	1	2.2%
22	Electromagnetic waves	1	2.2%
23	Ray optics and optical instruments	2	4.4%
24	Wave optics	1	2.2%
25	Dual nature of radiation and matter	2-3	5.5%
26	Atoms	1-2	3.3%
27	Nuclei	2	4.4%
28	Semiconductor electronics	3	6.6%
29	Communication systems	0	0

The above data depicts that electronic devices, electrostatics, current electricity, magnetism and magnetic effect of current and mechanics are the most important topics from physics.

Examination pattern best way to manage time

The examination pattern will help you in managing the time. Let’s go with the table.

Subject	Type of question	Duration	Number of questions	marks
Physics	Multiple option questions (MCQ),Each carry 4 marks for	180 minutes	45	180
Chemistry	correct answer,-1 for wrong option		45	180
biology			90	360
Total		180 minutes	180	720

As you observed, you will be attempting 180 questions in 180 minutes. Generally students will make a mistake by planning to attempt 1 question in a minute which sounds good. But they don’t consider the difficulty level of each section. The biology section is comparatively easier than chemistry and physics.

Try to complete biology in 60-70 minutes, for chemistry consider to complete within 45-50 minutes and 60 minutes for physics as it is considered to be difficult. In the remaining 15 minutes for the tricky questions which you might have skipped.

It is recommended to have some sample omr sheet with you while preparing for mock tests at home. This helps you prepare for the neet exam hall environment.

Preparation books for neet

Most of the toppers recommend that ncert is the most important book for neet. And for the biology and the chemistry section almost 100% of questions are coming straight from the ncert books. So, ncert is the best book to prepare for neet. Along with ncert books you need to have a problem solving book for practising the mcq’s.

Ncert is not enough for physics but before going through any reference get through ncert first.

Here are some of the neet preparation books that experts recommended.

Physics: concept of physics by H.C. Verma, objective physics D.C. pandey, Fundamental Physics by Pradeep

Chemistry: It is recommended that students must not study any book other than ncert. But ncert exemplar or any other objective book is best for practice.

Biology: only use ncert exemplar or complete neet guide biology by mtg for mcq practice.

How to read ncert for NEET

Most of the common mistakes made by the student while studying the ncert book is they skip the diagrams, tables and important points where the examiner brought the questions. If you are serious about neet then go through each line of the ncert book. This is how most of the toppers prepare for neet, and some toppers prepare without any coaching classes.

Self study time table for neet preparation

Time is precious and it’s more precious for you especially if you are preparing for neet without any coaching. Because it is easier to procrastinate than staying productive. Break the whole year into weekly goals and try to complete the topics before the weekly deadline. The goal that you set must be attainable. 

Your goal should be like completing one chapter from each subject in a week, which sounds pretty attainable.

Practise revision and mock test

No matter how well you prepare yourself for neet, and how well you studied the ncert. But without practice and revision you are nowhere close to success. Each chapter needs to be revised 3 times a minimum. First revision is done after a week, second revision is done after a month and third revision to be done in an interval of 3 months. 

Including revision you need to give some mock tests. Many coaching institutes provide the mock test at nominal price. The students who are preparing without any coaching must give a mock test. Mock test will help you in checking whether you have a strong hold on a particular topic or you need to improve that topic. And working on these weak points will make you completely prepare for neet.

Give mock tests as early as you can because you will have much time to work on your weaknesses. If you join the mock test the month before the exam then you might not get a huge room to work on the possible weak topics.

General tips while preparing for neet

These are some general tips other than the strategy which will help you to stay motivated. Most students feel demotivated, this happens when you prepare from home and are unable to track where they are going and try to over do and panic. When you come over such a situation, talk with the teacher, classmates or senior. They will help you back into the track.

Don’t overdo it by studying extra reference books, it will waste your time and kill your motivation. 

Stick with the same books and notes from till the examination.

Keep yourself away from distractions like social media. It seems you just use it for 30 minutes but you find yourself using it for 3 hours.

Take some relaxing sections in between the study hour. This will refresh you and is the best way to improve concentration.

Conclusion

The secret ingredient in neet preparation is to manage your time, build a proper plan for self study and be consistent throughout the year.  Being consistent will beat the talent. All the preparation strategy will be wasteful if you are not able to execute. Always remember success is not the process of strategies and planning they are just 5% of the whole process it is all about execution. So, start today if you aspire to become a doctor.

If you want to know more about neet exam visit the official NEET website

Check out the article for JEE if you want to be an engineer.