Biology For MHT-CET

Alertness is a quality that is required in many occupations. The doctor’s job is one among the many ones where it is needed. As you may already know, I am conducting a test-series for MHT-CET that focuses exclusively on strengthening the student in the subject of Biology. Simple questions are twisted around core concepts to make them appear difficult to the student. Every attempt is made to confuse the ‘weak’ student and trick him into marking the wrong answer. An average student may choose the correct answer by chance, but over time, only the truly strong student will win consistently. A combination of paper-setting tricks ensures that the weak will be bowled out very early in the game.

Coming back to out topic of discussion – Alertness – is equally needed in MHT-CET exam. In a tough and competitive exam where over 2lakh students compete for just 2000 seats in MBBS & BDS, even a slight edge over others can be your “Seat-saving medicine”. There are a no. of MCQ practice books available in the market. To add to it, your coaching class may also burden you with “20,000 MCQs question bank”. My experience is that not all students who attend CET coaching programmes are serious about it. On an average, less than 25% of students, or even less, are self-motivated. Other do so under pressures from teachers, students, peers, etc. Those self-motivated ones will not restrict themselves to just one or two books. They will go much beyond it. These “hard-working” students will have read all the 9 sanctioned textbooks and also practiced MCQs from atleast 3 MCQ books.

This article is directed, or, written for the benefit of those “self-motivated and hard-working” students. The human brain has a property by which it responds subconsciously to habitual things. You get into the “habit” of it without thinking about it actively. Similarly, when you solve the similar kind of MCQs repeatedly, you are likely to answer it subconsciously because you feel that you already know that answer. This is the “side-effect” of over-practicing MCQs. I have myself committed such an mistake in my actual MHT-CET exam. Hence, take my words without a doubt that you too are susceptible to this.  this For ex, consider the below question:

100 DNA molecules are are replicated for two generations in medium containing 14N isotope. In the third generation, percentage of DNA molecules containing 14N isotopes is

a) 20 %

b) 25 %

c) 33.33%

d) 100 %

The above seems related to the Meselson-Stahl experiment which proved that DNA replication is semi-conservative and you would then proceed to the calculations. However, you must notice that the question here says that we have used “14 N” isotope, which is actually the “normal” or common isotope. Hence the answer for this question is 100%. You may have been a victim of over-practice if you failed to notice and differentiate that the questions mentions 14 N, whereas the experiment used 15 N. MCQs based on this are very common, so you may have developed a “habit” of it.

The best way to avoid this would be patience. Read the question statement twice, word-by-word, with eyes and mind wide open. In Biology, you will have ample excess time unlike physics and chemistry. So there is no need to hurry. Always be double-cautious when you feel “super-confident” about an twisted question/answer. When we are super-confident or over-confident, we fail to see things that are right in front of our eyes. Let that not happen with you.

There is no shortcut to success. If you want to crack the MHT-CET exam and make it to a medical college, you need to work hard-and-smart. In a world where we have instant coffee and fast-food, some students are looking for fast-marks without putting in the required efforts. I get emails from students asking me for “important chapters to concentrate for MHT-CET“. Needless to say, I never reply to such emails.

Dear students, let it be known that all the 100 MCQs in MHT-CET biology are compulsory. You cannot afford to leave any MCQ unattempted. Ofcourse, there are some chapters which hold more weight in terms of MCQs asked from them, but that certainly does not mean that the MCQs asked from the smaller chapters are easy to solve. In a situation where we have almost 9 sanctioned textbooks for MHT-CET biology, it becomes increasingly difficult to compile and remember all the facts about any given concept from all the 9 textbooks. Also, there is no restriction as to from which part of a chapter the MCQ can be asked or not asked. A MCQ may be asked from any corner of any sanctioned textbook.

Please do not look for fast-marks. For students who carry the attitude that they can fare well at MHT-CET exam by focusing on “important chapters”, I wish to tell them that there are hundreds of students who have been sincerely preparing for MHT-CET for more than 12 months, leaving no stone unturned – there is no way that your “crash-course” of “important chapters” can beat their year-long hard work. So if you are planning to focus on important chapters and sideline the smaller chapters, please drop that idea – its gonna fail! You need to master almost everything to be successful at the MHT-CET exam. Winners look for long-term solutions, losers look for quick-fixes!

We all commit silly mistakes in our exams. This article focuses not on study-related mistakes, but on other “technical” mistakes.

1. While darkening circles, please be careful that you are darkening the appropriate circle. Sometimes, students darken the circles in the line above or below the appropriate circle.
2. Do not write anything on the question paper, except in the space provided for rough work. Some students are in the habit of ‘ticking’ the correct answer on the question paper or doing rough work just besides the question. Please be warned that this is not allowed as per rules of MHT-CET. If the supervisor notices it, you could be in trouble.
3. Pay close attention to bells. The supervisors are not teachers but staff of local Municipal Corporation. They are not so well-versed with the examination system. Sometimes, they might confuse one bell for another and this may lead to late distribution or early collections of question papers/answer sheet. If this happens, please bring it to the notice of examination centre authorities immediately. Is such cases, there is no use of doing a court representation because there is inadequate proof that such irregularity occurred.
4. For boys, please try to bear the look as in your photo on your MHT-CET admit card. An extra-cautious supervisor may else waste your valuable time in confirming your identity.

The syllabus for MHT-CET is same as that for H.S.C. of Maharashtra Board. All the questions are objective, multiple choice(4 choices) with one correct or most appropriate answer.

About 40% MCQs are easy(E level), 30 % are medium level (M level) and remaining 30% are difficult(D level). All these questions are asked only from the textbooks santioned by the Board. No question which is beyond the scope of sanctioned textbooks is asked in MHT-CET exam.

The preparation for H.S.C. and MHT-CET exam is different, through you basically learn the same concepts and facts. However, in MHT-CET, better understanding of concept and indepth knowledge of facts is required. If the student is well prepared for H.S.C. exam, he can expect to score 92% in the 40% E and 30% M level MCQs.

For scoring well in 30 D level MCQs, diligent preparation is required. D level MCQs are often those demanding bit-more-thinking, manipulation, strong knowledge of formulas, knowledge of unique content from various textbooks, and common-sense and a lot of practice.

The best source for practicing E and M level MCQs is those given at the end of each chapter in sanctioned textbooks, MCQ practice books, tuition study material, etc. For D levels MCQs, no standard source can be identified as there is no limit to how creatively, manipulatively a paper setter can think. Some of these D level MCQs can be found the reference books too. Many private tutors create such D level questions but do not publish them publicly. They are available only to their students.

In MHT-CET exam, the answers are to be marked on a special type of answer sheet called Optical Mark Reader (OMR) sheet. This answer sheet is evaluated by a OMR scanner machine. It is very important that you handle the OMR sheet very carefully because the scanner is very sensitive to errors and has very less tolerance. An almost replica of it is given in the last pages of MHT-CET brochures.

The MHT-CET OMR answer sheet is very thin — as thin as a newspaper sheet. So do not use much force and handle it gently. It can tear easily. While darkening circles to mark roll no., answer, or while writing other information such as MHT-CET question paper no, be careful not to exert much pressure with the pen. Else, the pen might poke through the OMR answer sheet and the sheet may be not be correctly evaluated by the OMR scanner.

While darkening the circle, first carefully darken the border of the circle and then shade the interior of the circle. If you simply scratch or graze without drawing an outline/border, it is very likely that the marking may leak out of the circle. Such marking may not be read by the OMR scanner. Also, be careful that the marking does not touch another circle.

Do not make any marking on the left and right border of the OMR answer sheet where small black rectangles are arranged in stacks. These markings are utilized by the OMR scanner to position its reading. Any unexpected marking may interfere with the scanning process and its very likely to produce incorrect evaluation.

Make all the markings with black ball point pen only. Do not use gel pens or fountain ink pens. Do not use a pointed pen. Do not use Cello gripper because its too sharp to poke through the OMR answer sheet. Instead go for blunt types. Do not carry leaking pens. If it leaks while marking answers, it may spill ink and may produce markings which will interfere with the OMR scanner. Carry more than one pen of the same brand. Many times, the tip of the pen becomes hot and thus the ink does not flow smoothly.

“Latur pattern” is a popular marketing gimick among book publishers. It was inspired by the original and genuine Latur pattern under which the chapters were given in the “question and answer” format akin to a guide or digest. Those answers were very detailed and comprehensive, much more than expected by the Board. Latur pattern quickly gained popularity as students from those regions topped the Board exams.

These days, most of the books which flaunt their “Latur pattern” tag are nothing much different than those who do not. There is not much difference between their content either. Infact, some of the publishers have gone ahead and misused the Latur pattern tag. Under the pretext of “detailed” content, they go overboard the MHT-CET syllabus. The student who is unaware of such tricks falls for the extra infromation and wastes his time working on it. Please do not fall prey to such marketing tricks and waste your MHT-CET attempt.

If you aspire being a topper at MHT-CET, reading from sanctioned textbooks(prescribed by the HSC board) is a must. There are 9 sanctioned textbooks alone for the subject of Biology. The detailed list of those 9 textbooks can be downloads from our Downloads section.

Students feel that reading from 9 sanctioned textbooks is a very tedious and time consuming task. Actually, it is not so. 90-95% content of all the 9 textbooks is common. Only about 5% of the content is unqiue to every textbooks. This 5% unique content can be found in the text of the chapter and the practice MCQ given at the end of every chapter. First of all, strenthen your basics(the 95% common content) from your preffered textbooks or coaching class notes. Then go for the remaining 5% content. Whenever you come across some unqiue or exclusive point, simply underline it with a pencil. This way it will be easy for you to revise from 9 textbooks just before the final MHT-CET exam. After reading the text of every chapter, try to solve the practice MCQs given at the end of the chapter. Most of these MCQs are easy, but some of them are very exclusive to that textbooks. Answer key to these MCQs are also provided in most textbooks. Pay close attention to such exclusive MCQs. It is very likely that some of the most difficult MCQs in the final MHT-CET biology paper may be directly picked up from these MCQs. This has already happened with physics and can happen with biology also. Take a chapter and read it once from all the sanctioned textbooks and only then go to the next chapter. This way, you will be thorough will atleast some chapter from all textbooks just in case you are unable to finish all the 20 chapters from all the 9 textbooks.

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-for the quality of questions it offers.

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.