Tips for Students preparing for PMT
courtesy: Biology @ your fingertips by Rahul Chawla (Refer this book for more such tips, suggestions or log on to www.pmtgurumantra.wordpress.com)
1. While there is no substitute for hard work, supplementing it with the proper study techniques is easier.
2. If you really want to be a doctor, develop qualities that are the trademark of a doctor- hard work, determination, consistency and patience.
3. Develop a feeling of healthy competition with your friends. Don’t be jealous of them if they know more or don’t become complacent if they don’t fare well. Remember, you are not just competing against them but lakhs of other students.
Instead of wasting time in gossip, discuss mnemonics, important facts, numericals with friends; it will make memorizing easier.
4. Use stick-ons and write organic chemistry reactions, physics formulae and other confusing data & tables in biology on walls of your room or even toilet!
5. Manage time properly. Solve mock test papers and time yourself as you do them. Keep the time limit stringent and be honest with yourself. Regular practice of time management by solving practice papers will highly reduce your chances of not being able to complete the paper in the exam or making silly errors.
6. Don’t waste too much time on a question or a topic you can’t understand / solve. It is better to ask them from your teachers.
7. Always highlight important points in your text for quick revision. You cannot read the whole text during last time revision.
8. While you are solving mock papers, you may come across questions whose answers you know. Still, jot down the few extra points, mnemonics, other related facts/terms that come to your mind at that time after reading that question so that the next time you come across that same question, you can also glance across the other points you noted down yourself. This ensures easy and fast revision and the probability of missing out on topics while revising is also greatly reduced.
9. As for the questions whose answers you don’t know, look for the solutions/hints at the back and compare them with your solutions to know where you went wrong. For theoretical questions, learn the answer and also the extra information given along with it. Write it down near the question itself. While solving practice papers, if you come across a question which you are not able to answer, then make it a point to look up your notes, textbooks for that topic then and there. Don’t forget to mark these questions for future revision.
