Just as everyday, I saw another student referring to a CBSE book. I was astonished so as why so many students bank their valuable time on these books. When I asked them about this, one of the many reasons were that teachers are now saying that ‘Maharashtra State Board syllabus is now like C.B.S.E.’. As a result, students feel that both the syllabi are the same, and they feels its OK to practice from CBSE books.

But is is really OK? Are the two syllabi really the same? There are profound similarities in the syllabi, but I think these are unavoidable. For instance, if I were to study about excretion and osmoregulation in Maharashtra State Board, how could it be different from CBSE syllabus. Does the process differ in Maharashtra and Delhi? No, right?But depth of information, diffculty level matters. Its a very thrilling experience to learn something new or advanced related to your syllabus. In the excited state, the student often steps beyond the limit and drifts away from syllabus. When the student understands the concepts and applications, the student enjoys solving MCQs. Due to this enjoyment, he/she moves into a phase of indulgement into questions beyond the syllabus. Its is not wrong to indulge in learning but indulge in learning only what you know will give 100% benefit. For eg: If you are interested in learning anatomy of the brain, read it from 8 sanctioned text-books instead of CBSE books.

Let us think practically. MHT-CET is based only on syllabus of Maharashtra State Board. So be wise while choosing your books. Choose an inappropriate book and put your dreams at stake or follow the time-tested method of using sanctioned text-books.

Knowledge is like salt-water. The more you drink, thirstier you get.

Who won’t like to be known as ‘brilliant’ ? But how many can achieve and actually preserve their brilliance over the years ? Do you know someone from your schooldays who was very bright in those days but now is nothing above an average student ? Well, there are many such students. The questions that immediately arises in my mind is how did this drastic and undesirable transformation occurred ?

Whatever be the reason on surface, the ultimate reason is that the force driving that brilliance is not internal but external. And the moment external driving force goes brilliance too goes. How sad, but true, many students have been dependent upon external forces for being successful in our studies. I have an interesting case study with me today.

Background:

This is about an boy who is about 17 yrs old, a science student studying in Std.12th. He will be appearing soon for his H.S.C. board exam and MHT-CET. So don’t you expect him to be prepared with atleast 65-75% of his studies ? The truth is that his current performance has been average but not to forget that he would excel at his school exams in early years. What happened to him now ? Is he not that intelligent ? Doesn’t he have good resources ?

Observations:

I observed the student, his activities, his surroundings, his friends circle etc. And most importantly, his aptitude. He had an excellent aptitude for what he wanted to be. He had access to all the resources one would need to excel: good professors, good notes, enough money to buy books, etc.!

The problem:

He had a lot distractions. He had a fully loaded mp3 player, a PC with latest games, etc! But they were not the root cause of his deteriorating. The process started when external force could no longer work. In his childhood days, his parents would constantly be behind him for studying. So, as a child, he had no options but to study. Even though it was forced, he studied and could write well in the exam, scored well. But as happens with everything, he got ‘used’ to it and then the response started to fade. He then needed greater amount of force. By this time, his parents (who were providing the external force) got fed up of constantly reminding him and let him on his own. Did you realize that the external powerful force just vanished ? It also took his academic brilliance away with it and left behind an academically average student. The students was in a ‘mature’ state of mind, which meant he had lot worries about his future. Just as some adults turn to alcohol when they are bugged with worries, this boy turned to MP3s and PC games, unknowingly. Deep in his mind, he wanted an ‘instant relief’ from all his worries, which MP3 and PC games provided. It progressed gradually to addiction. This is where short-sightedness started creeping in.

What do you think would have solved his problem? If I had deleted all mp3 songs on his mobile phones, could it help ? No, that would make him agitated and he would then rebel against me. That would make my job difficult. So what could I do for him? Should I give him a lot of homework ? Never!.. The most simple and effective solution will be to get his internal motivational force into action. I used the following approach with him. I had friendly talks with him and in-between remind him of his goal. I invoked confidence in him by acknowledging his capability to make it big in his dream field. I made him realize that the way his academics are now, he had slim chances of even getting into a ‘decent’ college. I made him realize how his competitors were overtaking him in every possible way. And guess what, the boy was zapped back to reality in a second. The confidence which I had invoked in him earlier made it possible for him to withstand the reality and face it with courage. He could realize. Today he is studying without anyone having to tell him to study. His scoring better marks than what he scored earlier. All this took around 3 weeks time with friendly follow-up on phone.

Incorrect approach (What should NOT be done):

If I had directly told him on his face that the way he was performing now, he had no chances of even getting admission into the field, he would try to avoid me and all my words. Also, he would have never accepted that. Natural, isn’t it. Even obese people sometimes don’t accept that they are obese! They would tell you that they are ‘well-built’ and not obese!

Outline:

See where the problem lies. Many times, its lack of internal motivation. Others distractions such as mobile phones, computer games are secondary. Invoke confidence. Then make him/her realize that he/she is on a descending path. Now you have to be careful. Many students tend to become agitated at this point. So be prepared to cool him/her down. One cooled down, tell them ‘general’ ways of improvement. If they tell you that ‘I know that I must study, there is noting new you are telling me about it.’, don’t lose your temper, but calmly tell them that practicing is more important than simply knowing. Every knows that they should study but not all practice what they know they should do. Keep them motivated from time to time and they are bound to improve.

Caution:

Never tell the student real scenario before invoking enough confidence in him/her. The abrupt realization of reality can be discouraging enough to make the scenario bad to worse!

On the contrary, there are many students were average at S.S.C. but have made to the top-medical colleges in India. When I spoke to one such student who I know, he agreed that internal driving force is the most effective. His parents had never picked up a stick to punish him after a very average score of 64%. Still he managed that great memorable feat. He knew that 2 years of hardwork is going to give him an life time achievement and this drove him through all path. There are many others whom I know have made it from an average to an ‘exceptional’ student. If you want to be one of them, let your 1% inspiration drive the 99% hardwork to make 100% success!

I am aware that the path to success is definitely not as easy as reading or writing this article. You will have to face frustrations, times which every things seems to go against you, your competitors surpassing you, etc. But please don’t get disheartened and suspend the struggle. If you want, rest for a while but don’t stop. Always believe in God. You will face tremendous exam and performance pressure at some point ahead. You may feel helpless even when you have the best professors and most loving parents on this earth. At such time, let these 3 people help you and they will always come to your help, no matter what time day or night it is. These 3 people are God, your efforts and your confidence in yourself. They will never-ever ditch you and I can tell this from my and other peoples’ experience.

Wish you all the best luck!

“Which books should I refer for practicing MCQs for MHT-CET ?”-A very common question and a problem. There are many books available in the market with each claiming to be better than other in some way. After I have gone through all books, I find all the books more or less the same, hardly any significant differences. So it hardly matters which book you refer though be sure that you don’t refer to a ‘unknown books’, refer to well-known books.

My personal favourites for MCQs are Target Biology-for the excellent recapture it provides and Himalaya Publications.[I no longer recommend Target Biology for MCQ practice.]

Then where lies the problem? The problem begins when students ‘rely’ on those books instead of ‘referring’ those books. Many students have made these books or study material from tuitions (which is many times almost same as in those books) as a mainstay of their preparation. There is no harm in referring to them but relying on them is hazardous. But Why is that so?

You may say that by referring to that book, you have learnt how to solve a difficult MCQ and will be able to solve it in MHT-CET. True, I agree. But are you the only person who has learnt that new thing? No, all the students who have referred to that have learnt that and will answer it correctly. And now-a-days books are available easily. So you cannot even say that “Very few people knew how to solve that question, most of them will get it wrong, but I am one of those rare students who got it correct!”

So how shall you score more than others? What unique do you have that will help you beat others in the competition? Not your looks or hairstyle but your BRAIN. Once you have ‘referred’ to the books you must try and use your own brain to make MCQs. This will help you improve every ability needed for solving MCQs. Your creativity, fact-bank, reasoning-analysis, vocabulary,etc. skills will improve. In this process you shall make mistakes, but its better if you make mistakes now. This is the right time to learn from your mistakes and improve instead of committing mistakes at MHT-CET and then waiting for 1 year to appear for the next MHT-CET.

But aren’t Bio MCQs at MHT-CET purely based on facts? Then what brain do I need for it? I just need a good faithful memory? 100% Wrong!.You have taken SCIENCE and are studying Biology. So Biology is a science. And science is made up of reasons. What is made up of only ‘pure facts’ is General Knowledge (G.K.) and not Biology. So DO NOT listen to any person who is telling you that it is made up of purely facts. They are simply misleading you.

How do start at making your own ‘quality’ MCQs? The answer is practice. The procedure to make a MCQ is simple and I don’t need to write another article for it. But what I have done is I have ‘showcased’ some of the quality MCQs that I have created myself. You won’t find them in any other book because I have myself composed them! Click here to solve those MCQs. I have also provided the answer key and explanations for them. That will guide you on using YOUR BRAIN to make MCQs. It does not matter whether you make 4 or 8 MCQs. What matters is the thinking process and development that took place when you were making them.

Students ask for guidance on ‘How to prepare for PMT or AFMC?’ They think that he/she should prepare for PMT or AFMC or any other exam based on CBSE/ICSE/other syllabi? Syllabus for those exams is difficuilt compared to MHT-CET. Someone suggested that if they prepare for the difficuilt syllabus, MHT-CET shall be an easy thing! Rubbish, some have even heard that some questions in previous years CET have been asked from CBSE/ICSE syllabus. And there are some who have heard that MHT-CET questions are based on CBSE/ICSE exams. But how true are they? How authentic are they?

I advice you against preparing for such exams. Remain devoted to MHT-CET for some practical reasons: the syllabus for MHT-CET is smaller in volume and easy to master, the no. of competitors in MHT-CET are much less than that at PMT exam. Obvious,isn’t it? Total no. of students from Maharashtra is very small compared to students from outside Maharashtra! It takes less time to master syllabus of MHT-CET than CBSE/ICSE. Many students preparing for PMT start their preparations 2 yrs in advance. To put it simple, students of Maharashtra State Board and MHT-CET are just made for each other!

For those who still argue that one must prepare for PMT because questions appear from those books, I request them to check a copy of previous years’ brochure. They will find in first few pages of syllabus declaration that it has been restricted to that of H.S.C. syllabus of Maharashtra State Board. As a corollary to this, any question that appears in the MHT-CET will be within the scope of our syllabus. Any question which is beyond the scope of syllabus,if appears in CET is a ‘FREE marks’ for the student.

Another viewpoint: I really respect the ‘practical thinking’ of students who feel that students outside Maharashtra who have prepared CBSE/ICSE syllabus will appear for MHT-CET, score high marks because our syllabus is very easy for them, and ‘eat up’ seats in medical colleges of Maharashtra. Thankfully, the Competent Authority and DMER have made provisions to check this loophole. Sudents outside Maharashtra can enter a medical college in Maharashtra only through All India PMT. Only 15% seats in State Govt./Municipal Corporation run colleges are reserved for them. So almost 85% seats are for you! And you still complain that reservation is taking a toll on ‘our’ seats. To summarize, MHT-CET is easier to crack because you have very less no. of competitors, all of who are more or less on a equal scale(provided you have prepared:)).

Utilize all your energy, time, money and efforts to master the syllabus of MHT-CET rather being disillusioned about PMT. Don’t make your success difficult. Competition is already tough!

When you learn new things for MHT-CET, you will tend to guard that as a top secret. You shall not others even sense that you know something better. If others ask you which books you refer, you won’t tell them but tell them names of some other books. Right? This is thoroughly human tendency. It is very natural to be so possessive about your medical seat in an era where over a lakh students are competing for just few thousand seats.

Then why should one share? Doesn’t that make your competition more tough? Yes, or No, depends upon the person with whom you are sharing your knowledge. At this point instead of using the word ‘share’, we should use the word ‘Trade’. Don’t share, but trade your knowledge with the knowledgeable! Let there be equal give and take of knowledge. If you explain a physics problem to your friend, he is bound to return that in some way or the other, may be as a solution to some P/C/B problem that is troubling you! In this process, neither you nor your friend have lost anything but gained a lot. And what you have gained is much more valuable than what you think you may have lost. So how to trade is the question, or more importantly, with whom to trade.

I agree, Biology for MHT-CET is easy. But is it easy only for you? Ask ten of your friends and probably 9 of them have the same to say.

MHT-CET is a ‘competitive’ exam. It matters less whether you score 95 or 97 out of 100. What matters more is have you scored more than others? Scoring 90+ is easy for other students too because bio is an easy subject! It very much like 10 cars, each moving at a speed of 95 Km/hr. Probably none of them will win the race. One of them must accelerate in order to win.

Moral: You should aim to score more than others, not just 95 or 97%.

The need for CET was greatly argued in early years of CET, and perhaps even now. The inherent disadvantage of essay-type exams and the sheer advantages multiple choice questions offered were strong indications to have a change over. Another practical reason to have this change over is that in Maharashtra, we have two classes of ‘Examination Boards’. The first is the Maharashtra State Board( of H.S.C.) and all others the non-Maharashtra State Boards (Ex: CBSE, ICSE, NIOS). There are differences in the syllabus, examination and scoring pattern of these boards. As a result, there was no common platform to test every student. Relying merely on ‘percentage’ of the student was not sufficient. Hence, the common platform of ‘CET’ was instituted. We very much need MHT-CET today! Admission to health science courses (in Maharashtra) were based upon CET rank of the student. Any student who wanted to enroll for a health science course in Govt./Corp.-run-college is needed to qualify the CET.(We are not considering the 15% quota reserved for All India level Entrance Exams).

It is noteworthy that MCQ are used as a means to asses the student not only in other states of India,but worldwide.It is one the most common forms of question worldwide,especially when cognitive skills of a student are to be assessed.

Just for your info,MHT-CET started as MH-CET in the year 1999,for admission to health science courses(in Maharashtra).It then consisted of 150 MCQs(read 150 marks), had English as an subject and worse,there was negative marking.

However in the next 2 years,the practice of negative marking and the subject English were both abandoned. CET now consisted of 200 MCQs(read 200 marks): 100 in Biology, 50 in physics and chemistry each.

From 1999 to 2007, there is a remarkable improvement in every aspect of CET; from the questions to overall management of processes like declaring of results and cut-off lists and admission procedures.