We don’t get long enough to make and correct the mistakes we ought to. So, I guess it’s not such a bad idea to start learning from others’. Hello all of you. I’m Naba Farooqui AIR Rank 32 AIIMS 2014. The day my result was put up, I couldn’t believe that I actually did get selected. I remember desperately looking up the website every single day from 1st of June until one evening at dusk at around 6:30 in the evening, I saw this pop up that flashed MBBS entrance 2014 results. I remember scrolling through the list and hoping somewhere deep down that even a 37 would do, but please dear God, just try getting me selected. I saw my name. I checked my roll no. And then there was some extreme form of solidarity that gripped me and has been there as such.
Much more secure now, mentally, now that I look back, I still remember how I used to imagine and practice giving interviews aspiring a single digit rank in these national entrances. I was extremely happy with my selection into AIIMS but somewhere deep down maybe I did sometimes wonder what might have been the flaw during my preparation that I couldn’t make it to the top 10.
I was that girl in school who always was one of the toppers of the class (like most of the people reading this article might be 🙂 ) And even if you’re not, don’t worry. Because as long as you’re not a prey to insecurities, and have enough faith in yourself, you’ll crack it.
NCERT- The Ultimate key to victory in AIIMS
The AIIMS entrance is a 200 mark paper with physics, chemistry, biology and GK. So,read on and follow whatever you choose to gather out of this religiously.
First of all make sure that you have NCERT textbooks of 11th and 12th standards from day 1. Day 1 means day 1. I did not have them. Just because of the silly reason that I did not want to spend money on them because like thousands of others, I had this misconception that National entrances asked questions from inaccessible sources and not a mere 11 or 12th standard textbook. That was the biggest folly of mine. Because all of the assertion reasoning statements of physics and chemistry were direct statements from NCERT textbooks. Causality was difficult for me to establish, almost always. So, I used to struggle a lot with assertion reasoning questions. For that, you have to read NCERT textbooks of physics and chemistry at least 4-5 times. So much so, that the causality relations highlighted in that textbook are crystal clear so that when a slightly twisted question comes, you can still solve it.
The next most important thing is to solve the example problems in NCERT physics and chemistry textbooks of both 11th and 12th standards. Those models are the ones which feature in the paper with modifications like slightly complicated values. I realised this after coming back from my entrance when I was preparing for my JIPMER entrance (in which I managed to secure a single digit rank. ☺) from NCERT and I realised how most of the problems and assertion reasoning statements in the AIIMS’ entrance paper were from here. I repented a lot! And for days together I even rebuked myself for not having taken NCERT seriously but luckily I managed to get selected because of my other subjects.
Let me tell you one more thing. Sometimes, there are a lot of portions that might be difficult to grasp or uninteresting.
In case you attend coaching, clarify it from your teachers there. Don’t leave anything in doubt. Or try looking up on the Internet. But don’t waste time on the Internet. I’m going to repeat again. DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING FROM the 11th and 12th NCERT TEXTBOOKS.
A couple of months from our joining, the institute releases the marks of the students. I scored well in biology, chemistry and GK. My physics score was horrible. It was 35. And that is precisely why I missed my top 10. My GK scores compensated for my physics marks. While most of the ones in top 10 has 6 as the average score, I managed a 12. Most of the people in top 10 had 43-45 as their physics scores.
It was slightly disheartening and difficult for me to take this. But nevertheless, you only get wiser with each mistake. So, I really want all of you out there, who deeply and genuinely wish to come to AIIMS, don’t make the same mistakes as I made and work hard. Trust me. Even if it’s hard, work hard, because the moment you get selected, 2 years’ worth of turmoil vaporises in a split second. Personal experience. It’s okay to sacrifice some time. You’ll get a disproportionately load of happiness and a very different life in return besides self satisfaction and tad bit of beaming at your own self.
BIOLOGY FOR AIIMS
To do well in biology, which is absolutely essential to get selected, you have to read both the NCERTs. You can read a little more regarding topics in NCERT but, trust me, NOTHING extra apart from what’s been mentioned in NCERT is asked in the section on biology. Purchase Arihant’s previous years question papers of AIPMT and AIIMS and solve every single question of biology asked in the last 7-8 years from it, focussing more on last 3-4 years’ papers. You have to analyse what kind of questions and what pattern and trend is being followed. Like, which diagrams are being focused on, which chapter has more number of questions, any question frequently repeated. When you’re familiar with the questions repeated, you’ll save time in the exam because you’ll spend relatively less time on the question. But do remember that the question might NOT be exactly repeated. So READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY.
If you do these two things thoroughly, you’ll easily score 55+ in biology. Practice assertion reasoning from past years’ papers. Don’t be scared of assertion reasoning questions. Solve them and overcome your doubts. However, there will always be some ambiguity. But don’t worry, that will be a problem for everybody.
PHYSICS FOR AIIMS
Now, biology done, let’s come to physics. Apart from NCERT ( which is absolutely essential. I can’t emphasise more) you need to be solve every question from past 7-8 years’ papers. Again, Arihant’s subjectwise for physics AIPMT and topic wise for AIIMS. Be thorough and crystal clear with the concepts asked. Because, once you do that, you’ll be able to solve any problem of that sort which is beneficial since there is a high likelihood of it being repeated. In order to be clear with the concepts, you can check the solutions from the book or consult your teachers. I know that sometimes, one might not be able to understand the concepts but you have to work hard to make sure you do.
Practice problems again and again. Try to solve as many questions as you can. I remember purchasing Arihant’s DC Pandey for physics. I started that in April 2014, i.e. 2 months before my entrance. Bad decision. If you can purchase it right in the start, it’ll be great. So, for physics, one requires NCERTS ( read 4-5 times), past papers and DC Pandey. Many problems in DC Pandey might be of an IIT entrance level. So don’t waste time over that. Be more concerned about the problems based on concepts asked in previous entrance papers of AIIMS AND AIPMT.
CHEMISTRY FOR AIIMS
Coming to chemistry, apart from NCERT, previous years’ papers along the same lines as I mentioned above.
Named reactions are important. As for any extra book, I don’t think there’s any need for that. But, in case you feel a little less confident from the material ( considering that entire NCERT IS ON YOUR TIPS ) you’re already reading, you can purchase Pradeep for organic mainly. Can go through inorganic as well. For inorganic, make sure you know what sort of questions are asked and revise repeatedly because it is demanding of your memory. Physical chemistry does not require any extra book.
GK FOR AIIMS
Lastly, but not to be ignored is the section on GK. Newspapers are not a must. What’s a MUST IS TO KNOW THE CURRENT AFFAIRS and ISSUE which is best possible when you watch news channels and discuss with somebody in your family who is very good with it. In my case my family was very helpful in keeping me updated on the then important current issues. Focus on India and the Indian national movement. As always, the past papers are very important and more so because they’re the only clue to localize and predict questions to some extent. There’s no specific book for reading entrance based GK from. What you can do is to read up on and around the topics asked in past papers. For that, you can use any book that you like from the market or to cut confusion, the Manorama yearbook. You can use the Internet too, provided you don’t “waste” time on it.
Good luck. I hope this helped. And I also hope you can do better than what I did by NOT making the same mistakes as I did. Although the strongest of realisations occur when we ourselves make mistakes I’d like to reiterate “We don’t get long enough to make and correct the mistakes we ought to. So, I guess it’s not such a bad idea to start learning from others“.
Biology : NCERT 11th and 12th
Arihant’s Past papers
Physics : NCERT 11th and 12th
Arihant’s DC Pandey
Arihant’s past papers
Chemistry: NCERT 11th and 12th
Arihant’s past papers
Pradeep’s for organic and inorganic chemistry
Lastly, do get past years’ papers to solve full papers in 3.5 hrs’ time as if you were giving the exam. This you can start doing, once you completely your syllabus. I’d recommend, you start solving full papers from at least 4 months before the final entrance.
Good luck!
