hi friends, i realise that many people must be in the same position as i
was some year back......... i know that at the start
of prep, there are a thousand questions and even more doubts and
uncertainities ,......... there is an urge to make it in the
very next exam......to use the time available most effectively so that
we dont repent later about how we used the time for
preparation.
i think the min i can for people like me is to speak out, to say
something about what i learnt from 1 yr or prep.
but one thing,........... LUCK DEFINITELY MATTERS.+matters how hard u
study, in the end it all comes down to the D-day and
how u perform on that day.also how much u can keep ur cool on that day
and steer thru the questions well makes a lot of
difference . so right from the first day, AIM FOR THE BEST BUT BE
PREPARED FOR THE WORST. in anycase, a good preparation
definitely is ALL u can do , so forget about the rest for now.
in most exams with mcq type of questions, two type of people are likely
to fare well. one.....those with a great
memory.............two..........those with a good logic and reasoning .
and the ones with both can prove to be lethal. i
think these two abilities are inborn, cant really improve on them but
one can definitely try to get the 100% of the raw
materials one has. also these abilities tend to compensate for each
other to some extent. i.e. a guy with a great logic,
reasoning and analytical skills can get more mcqs correct with less
preparation, and someone with great memory can setup a
huge database with which he can crack most of the questions. these two
types of people are always going to dominate the
initial ranks (upto 300 maybe). so i think there is no method by which u
can ensure a rank up there. these places are already
filled up!!!. so u will eventually be there if u were meant to be there.
WORK FOR it BUT DONT STRIVE FOR IT OR BE CRAZY FOR
IT. and DONT COMPARE THE AMT OF HARD WORK WITH THE OUTCOME. JUST TRY TO
GET THE BEST OUT OF YOURSELF.
realise what type are u. and u will know how much work u need to do.
all thru out the preps, i think the focus should be on GETTING THE MCQS
RIGHT that is what matters in the end . hell with the
facts and figures, get enough practice of SOLVING mcqs so that u get an
idea what is it that they want to know by asking the
question. i think this is a subconscious proccess which develops only by
doing max mcqs.
so whenever u come across any mcq, dont just look out for the ans in
case u have no idea about the topic. try to think
something, try to fit in some logic, try to rule out the options, etc
........ and believe me u will be able to get many mcqs
right in the end JUST LIKE THAT.!!!
i would always suggest retrospetive reading for most subjects. exception
: Pathology (robbins- read the imp chapter whole,
they will be help in many other subject mcqs. in fact , i say robbins is
the best book to begin prep. it will create a good
database that will help all the way)
Psychiatry ( ahuja- small and well written book. worth going thru whole)
for rest subjects best to go retro acc to me ,......... bcos,- there is
such a huge amount of theory involved. every chapter,
ever page, ever line can be framed as an mcq. no end to that. if u try
to read and remember every thing that has been
written, u would never end ur preps. so realise one thing U ARE NEVER
GONNA BE A MASTER OF EVERY SUBJECT OR TOPIC. U ARE
NEVER GONNA BE ABLE TO SOLVE 'ALL' THE MCQS. u are always gonna come
across alien mcqs no matter how much u know. so give up
the greed of knowing any subject absolutely thoroughly........ thats
never gonna happen.
instead ur motto should be to finish a subject swiftly, but covering
most of the imp and freq asked topic. and about the rest
topics......... u would come across many of them as u do more mcqs. and
in no case should u miss a whole subject by the end
of the year- that would be a hangable crime.
summarising - the first milestone should be to cover all subjects in the
first reading by covering most of the imp
topics,..............by JUL-AUG .
study one subject at a time, ........ get any mcq book (ashish amit is a
good one). take a chapter, FIRST GO THROUGH THE
MCQS............TRY TO SOLVE THEM...........THEN SEE THE ANS...... then
read the respective topic from the book.
that would make the preparation lively and interesting. keep ur focus on
playing the game.......... i.e. solving the mcqs (
hell with facts and figures). believe me u will become hungry and
addicted for mcqs in some time.
when u are finished with one subject , u will have a confidence ........
BUT IT WONT LAST !!!!
ur clarity about the subject will fade with time. (esp. applies to
people like me who have memory < 256 MB !!!!!). so the imp
thing is revision..... WILL HAVE TO READ EACH SUBJECT MORE THAN ONCE AT
ALL COST.
hence imp to be rapid in doing any subject........ dont waste too much
time on any subject........... if something taking a
frustratingly long time, JUST LEAVE IT.
so that was about doing the subjects, but there is one thing equally
important which i would like to really stress
upon.............and that is GROUP STUDY.
make a group of 4-6 good friends who are sincere enough and who carry
along with each other well. devote some hours
(preferablly 2.5-3 and at the end of the day) for group discussion.
select a good place without any disturbance (and without
any means of entertainment nearby!!). take a book like Salgunan whre
mcqs are in a haphazard manner (i.e. not topic wise
)............go thru the pages.... try to tell each other what u
know..........share information and imp point u
have.......... and look back into the book where needed... ......... one
person at a time can read aloud imp points from the
topic u come across. etc etc.... devise your methods.
that will really help u cover more topics and theory in shorter
time.....give u an alternate way of dumping database into ur
head........ and at the same time make the preparations a really
enjoying experience.
third equally imp thing is TEST PRACTICE.
after most of the people in ur group have finished the course once
(would be around aug-sept),
..... and once a week sit togather to write a paper..... that
will really help u a great deal to give u the knack of SOLVING MCQS IN
REAL TIME , show ur progress,.....ur weak subjects
.........ur guessing ability.etc. u will know how many difficult
question u should be attempting.
believe me the performance in these papers is very indicative of your
real position. so in the end u will be able to know
what to roughly expect in AI.
really tired of typing by now !.....
so best of luck
bye bye
Dr.ashish mehrotra
