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Top 10 blunders made by MDCAT students during their preparation and their antidotes

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Top 10 blunders made by mdcat students during their preparation and their antidotes

It’s good to learn from your own mistakes but it’s better to learn from others mistakes and to avoid them .

As we know most of the  fresher’s in their first attempt make silly mistakes and get their admission compromised in medical college. As a result of their silly mistakes they have to improve. But here fresher’s have a chance to learn from these silly mistake and to avoid them.

Lack of discipline and poor time management

Mostly students think mdcat as a thing out of planet. So they start making out new strategies and routines against their already set routine. They totally disturb their set study routine and end up day doing nothing. Students start studying whole night , wake up early in the morning at  8-9 o’clock, feely sleepy the whole day and can’t work productively. As a result can’t achieve their target of the day and then waste their next 2-3 days in negativity that they can’t complete their target and compare themselves to others. This cycle repeats again and again which leads to depression. Some students join academies , and they waste most of their time falling in relationships and taking no interest in studies which is worst thing. So, Lack of discipline and consistency is a major problem.

Solution:

  • Discipline means If you are working four hours a day…u keep doing four hours every single day without skipping. If due to some reason you skipped one day study you have to compensate it in next  3-4 days by adding an hour of extra study to your routine. Discipline is the best solution to your problems.
  • So fix your study hours and be consistent on them and then gradually increase your study hours. Don’t think that you will study all day. If you do so, you work less productively thinking that whole day and night I only have to study. Just fix your study hours.
  • For time management , make daily schedule of your own and stick to it. Mark your weakness at the end of the day and try to avoid them next day. Remember, without time management , planning and consistency you can never feel satisfied and motivated.
  • Say no to parties, friends, relatives. If you want to achieve something higher develop a habit of sacrifice.
  • If u have joined any Academy and living in hostel , please avoid relationships. Take care of your health, try to eat healthy things. Be focused, these 2-3 months are going to decide your future, please use them wisely. Try to prefer your home town academies to avoid hostel problems and health issues.

 Totally relying on others set plan and strategies:

This the most common mistake done by mdcat student. They try to follow others strategies which actually did not work for them. For Example, if a mdcat topper followed night study schedule ,they try to follow him disturbing their own routine. Some students totally rely on teachers work plan. Teacher has only to provide you concepts. Self study and following teachers instruction is a thing you have to do by yourself.

Solution:

  • Remember, you better know about your comfort zone. You better know how u studied during matric and Fsc and which techniques work for you. I know mdcat is something different from Fsc but it’s not that different , you have to study same Fsc book in a bit conceptual way.
  • Never ever disturb your sleep routine. For Example If during your Fsc you always studied in day time, just keep following same timing for Mdcat as well. If you are night owl, then study at night would work for you. Almost 1 month is required to change one’s sleep habit which is a very difficult task. So, according to me listen everyone but make your own strategy. Don’t make others experience a distraction for you rather make your own study plan and work on your weakness and mistakes.
  • Other major mistake is to follow others in perspective of their daily syllabus covering strategy. Remember, everyone have different IQ level. If someone is preparing 2 chapter a days may be you Are able to do only 1 effectively. So keep in mind about your strength and just don’t blindly follow others.

A lot of cramming but no conceptual study:

Most of the students start cramming books just like Fsc. Cramming Lines without developing concept of the topic is  the most common mistake.

What does conceptual study mean:.

  • Conceptual study mean you read a topic and develop it’s understanding so that if somewhat related question is asked you could easily answer that. Remember, with the passage of time concept starts decaying. So, you must follow these three steps:
  • Understand the topic(comprehend)
  • Create memory(combine things together and revise them)
  • Consolidate memory(revise and practice-by practicing you will gain a lot of new concepts)
  • Conceptual study does not mean you start studying higher level books leaving your own text books or start surfing google , I would never recommend this. If you are not getting concept of ant topic you can consult your teacher or search in YouTube. Be text book focused , like for biology you have to study Punjab as well as federal textbook. Just stick to these books, nothing else but  if you want to get some more information about the topic you can consult kpk as well.

My experience of Step self assessment Test 2022:

  • Let me tell you about my experience of Step self Assessment Test 2022. I just revised all the topics, did conceptual study and assessed step strategy that what kind of questions are asked in their tests. I gave productive time to those concepts. To my luck, almost same kind of questions( concepts were same ) were asked in the test mostly in case of chemistry and physics. I was at top in SSAT Vehari. So, the thing is learn about prioritizing things and paper strategy.
  • Last year Nmdcat was online, general and some out of syllabus kind of questions were asked. Teps was the conducting body last year, but this year pmc will conduct test by itself, so we can’t estimate their strategy right now. But the thing we can do is to register ourselves at the very start so that we can get desired test dates . As test is from 7sep to 30sep so, if we get our dates at last, we can easily assess their strategy and can work accordingly. And the second thing is don’t follow pmc syllabus only. Prepare all the chapters from A to Z mentioned in the syllabus at least from your board book. But for the topics which are mentioned in Nmdcat syllabus 2022, try to consult federal books as well especially for biology

Studying without considering priority order :

Most of the students start studying topics randomly without considering importance of a topic from exam point of view. They revise the things again and again which they already know thinking that the hard topics they have left are not that important and only 2-3 mcqs will be asked in the paper from these topics.

Solutions

  • Make a list of your syllabus in which you have to consider these points.
  • High yield topics
  • Low yield topics
  • Prepared topics
  • Un prepared topics
  • Start preparing from high yield and un prepared topics. Take a lot of practice of these topics and then go toward less important topics from mdcat point of view. For Example, in biology DNA and genetics is a high yield and most important topic from exam point of view and if you review 2021 nmdcat most of the conceptual questions of hereditary crosses were asked so, you have to give your productive time to this chapter( especially hereditary crosses) .
  • Don’t spend most of your time on your favorite subject rather work on your drawbacks and mistakes. If you feel physics as a difficult subject and biology easy , give a major time to it to get a strong grip on physics rather than wasting your most of time studying biology.

Revising things again and again you already know

One of the Biggest reason of failure is to study things again and again you already know( mostly in case of  biology). To avoid this problem categorize your syllabus into three parts.

  • Things you have studied, learned and practiced
  • Things you have studied but not learned and practiced
  • Things on which your extreme focus is needed to make them strong

At first, work on the topics which you feel are weak and then go ahead to other topics

Trying to do consistent study without giving reward to yourself:

Rewarding yourself after the accomplishment of any task is the thing which keeps you going and makes you feel motivated. If you complete your task of the day Allow yourself to do your favorite things .For example, you can talk to your friends and can give time to your hobbies.

  • Never study whole day and night. Remember here is a world out of mdcat. Must spend time with your family members. Study hard but Enjoy your life as well. Researches have proved that if you study in a relaxed and happy mode such hormones are released which strengthen your long term memory.
  • Remember you are going to be a doctor and this life is tough as well as respectful. So enjoy your life and embrace all the difficult things with both arms wide. This profession needs well rounded students who can handle all kind of patients and colleagues with confidence and humility .

Spending too much time on social media just to get instant motivation

This is the most common mistake done by me at students. If they feel demotivated or procrastinated, start scrolling Fb, YouTube, Instagram just to get some instant motivation from any motivational speaker. This thing is justified if you are doing it once in a month or two, But students do it daily which is a worst thing as they are wasting their precious time of study.

Solution

Remember, motivation must be inside your own self. If your dreams are high, yours efforts must be double high. If you want to achieve something big, you have to sacrifice all your favorite things for at least three months and it’s a thing you will never regret after achieving your goal. I have also mentioned mobile apps which are useful to avoid social media in another article named How to focus on studies during Nmdcat preparation. You can check it out on www.expertmdcat.com .

Lack of practice and not having records of test scores:

This is the major blunder made by students during preparation of mdcat . They give their maximum time in just cramming and developing concept of the chapter and then having no time for practice. Students hesitate giving test due to fear of getting low marks. Remember, you have to practice to learn from your mistakes and avoid them. The second mistake is not having record of the test scores you solved which are the means by which you can assess yourself that whether you are getting progress over a subject or not.  Remember only 20% things are retained by reading and cramming while 80% are retained by  practice .So, never neglect the importance of practice .

Solution:

  • What you have to do is to read and develop the concept of a chapter in as minimum time as possible , and then practice that chapter at least from two practice tests.
  • . Note down your mistakes in the 1st test and revise that topics again from the book in which your mcqs got wrong. Then again solve a test and if there are any mistakes, Mark them again and revise those topics again. If you got same concept wrong in second practice test , you can consult a YouTube video about that particular topic and never leave that ambiguity unsolved.
  • Second thing to keep a record of your marks obtained in practice tests. Take a separate register to note down your obtained marks of every chapter so that you can check the progress of your marks. If you got 30/50 in 1st practice test, there is no need to worry but if you got same marks in second practice test there is a thing to be worried about. It means you are learning nothing from your mistakes. So, you need to work on your concepts and weak points. In this way you can easily assess your progress by looking at your record.

Poor strategy of revision or no revision

Most of the students did not revise topics after covering them once and leave them for a long duration. And the duration gets too long that they forget all the things which they have studied. This is not a Topper mindset . As we have to synthesize a lot of information in our mind up till mdcat  so we must have a revision strategy.

Solution:

  • If you have prepared a chapter today revise it tomorrow again it will remain fresh in your mind for a week. Follow this strategy whole week.
  • On weekends, revise chapters you did whole week. Revision becomes easy if you had made a shortlisting. That chapter will remain fresh in your mind for almost 15-20 days. After that you can revise previous chapters again for 15-20 minutes along with new chapters.
  • Must make short notes of your weak points for revision. This will help you a lot.

Leaving a subject due to overconfidence

Most students take biology as easy subject and leave it thinking that I can do it without giving much time to it. But this is wrong. In Nmdcat 2022 you would be assessed on the bases of five subjects , so if you leave even a single subject, you are at risk.

  • You can give priority to a difficult topic / subject or give maximum time to that subject but can’t totally leave easy subject. If u do so, you will regret it later. So, avoid it.
  • If you find physics difficult , you can give it 3 days a week while 2,2 days to biology and chemistry while giving 1,1 hour to English and logical reasoning everyday. Even half an hour is enough for English and logical reasoning as these are low yield subjects.

Conclusion:

Consistency is the way to Success. If you study 4 hours a day never skip studies for even a single day except in case of any serious problem. Remember , slow but steady wins the race.

  • Try to avoid all the mistakes mentioned above specially avoid social media just to get instant motivation.
  • Avoid google surfing just for the sake to prepare those 0.1%out of syllabus mcqs which will come in Nmdcat leaving your 99.9% preparation from textbooks.
  • Avoid negative thinking and never compare yourself with others. You are unique , you are the best.

Remember this quote again :

“It’s good to learn from your mistakes but it’s better to learn from others mistakes.”

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