NEET UG 2024: Jahnavi Banotra bagged all-India rank 51 in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET UG) 2022 by scoring 700 marks out of 720. Banotra is now pursuing her MBBS from AIIMS, New Delhi. 

Eighteen-year-old Banotra appeared for the Class 10 exam in 2020 and scored 488 marks out of 500. She got 490 marks in Class 12 exams in 2022.

The NEET UG all-India rank holder wanted to become a doctor since her childhood. Her interest in biology increased due to the right guidance from her school teacher. “My teacher motivated me to take medicine and pursue an MBBS. The idea of helping people also fascinated me to pursue this subject,” she said. Speaking to the indianexpress.com, Banotra shares how she prepared for NEET UG. 

My NEET UG preparation started when I was in Class 11. I was enrolled in an offline classroom coaching program at Allen Institute however, due to the Covid restrictions, my classes were held online. 

I mainly relied on the coaching materials and followed the NCERT books religiously. During the last six months, I solved a lot of questions in physics, read the NCERTs and took the test modules given by the coaching institute.

I used to put up sticky notes and posters in my room for the topics I forgot and the ones that seemed important. I had them posted for the entire duration of my preparation. The sticky notes helped me do a quick revision. 

I did not make notes for all the subjects. However, for physics, I made notes of the formulae.

For me, it was not that difficult. For the Class 12 board exams, I only prepared only one or two days before the board exams. The only difficulty I faced was with mathematics. My optional subject was maths and I did not practice the subject properly in Class 11. Therefore, during the last month of my preparation, I devoted one hour to mathematics for a year. Thankfully, I ended up scoring 98 marks in maths in Class 12.

– Do not put pressure on yourself. As the preparation phase is a long one, putting pressure will only make the preparation harder and a daunting task

– Have faith in yourself in whatever you are doing

– Read the NCERTs thoroughly. Follow it like the Gita

– Do a lot of questions in physics and chemistry

For physics and chemistry, I would recommend NEET UG aspirants practice previous years’ JEE Main questions for the physics and chemistry sections. Those helped me a lot. It also built confidence in me to solve questions. I also used DC Pandey book for Physics.

After living a protected and sheltered life at home, Banotra said, AIIMS New Delhi has taught her a lot and is also preparing her for the challenges in life.

“It hasn’t been easy adjusting initially but things are better now. The people around are brilliant and fun to be with and I’m grateful to be able to experience this phase of life with them,” she said.

The NEET UG topper is a trained Kathak dancer. She also likes to paint in her free time. After her graduation is over, Banotra plans to do her MD but she has not decided on her specialisation yet. Although research interests her, she is sure to enter clinical practice.