INI CET 2023 Topper Interview: Aakar Prabhu, AIR 1 says meticulous planning and quick revision of notes worked for me
INI CET 2025
Counselling - 21 Feb '25
Dr Aakar Prabhu, AIR 1 who secured rank 1 in INI CET 2023 July session dedicates his success to consistent efforts right from MBBS days and revision of past year question papers. He also secured rank 16 in NEET PG 2023. In this exclusive interview, he shares how candidates should go for the preparation of INI CET, one of the toughest medical exam.
INI CET 2023 Topper Dr Aakar Prabhu, AIR 1
Dr Aakar Prabhu, AIR 1 has secured rank 1 in INI CET 2023 July session for which result was declared on May 13. With meticulous planning and dedicated efforts, Prabhu also got rank 16 in NEET PG 2023 exam. He says aspirants should start preparing early for the exam right from the 1st year year MBBS. This includes not only to pay attention in the class but also key learning in wards during clinical posting. In an exclusive interview with Shiksha.com, he shares the success tips for INI CET exam.
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Q. Congratulations on emerging as an INI CET 2023 topper! How are you feeling about your results?
A. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I knew I would get some rank in the top 100s, but never imagined that the dream of being INI CET 2023 AIR 1 rank will actually turn into a reality.
Q: What is considered as a good attempt in AIIMS INI CET 2024?
Q: Which part of INI CET syllabus is difficult to prepare?
All three subjects such as clinical, pre clinical, para clinical are equally difficult to prepare. Clinical topics are vast in comparison to pre and para clinical topics. Ideally candidates should focus on understanding the concept. Candidates should keep the fact in mind INI CET is one of the toughest exams so shallow preparation doesn’t work. They should have robust plan and strategy to crack the exam.
Q: Is it necessary to cover all sections and topics from the syllabus of INI CET?
Q. What motivated you to pursue medicine as a career?
A. My parents and sister, all are doctors, so, I feel somewhere deep down in my brain, as they used to talk about medical stuff, I subconsciously got influenced into taking medicine. Another thing is I always liked skill based work and hence was attracted towards surgical branches.
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Q. Did you appear for any other PG medical entrance examination?
A. Yes, I also appeared for NEET PG 2023 where I secured an AIR of 16
Q. When preparing for INI CET, what motivated you the most?
A. To be honest I was actually not going to sit for the exam, since I already had my NEET PG rank which was good enough to let me choose any branch and college I want. But I always loved the quality of questions that were asked in INI as compared to NEET. And also the general opinion that INI CET is tougher than NEET actually motivated me more to give the exam, crack it and prove that its actually easier to prepare for INI CET than NEET.
Q. How did you prepare for INI CET 2023?
A. Since I had already prepared for NEET and had around 2 months gap between my NEET and INI CET exam, I focused more on the previous year topics. I started with a quick revision of all the subjects using the same notes that I had used during the last 2 months of NEET. I had kept the last week before the exam exclusively to solve past year questions of the last 6 yrs and nothing else.
Q: What is the difficulty level of INI CET 2025 January session?
The overall difficulty level of INI CET 2025 January session was moderate. The question paper was difficult than the last time. Most of the questions were clinical based. A good number of questions were from Ortho, Phrama, Pathology, Medicine, OBS Gynae etc. Repeated question were also there.
Q: Was INI CET 2024 July session question paper difficult?
No. INI CET 2024 July session question paper was easier than that of the previous session paper. The overall difficulty level was moderate. Most of the questions were clinical based. Some found Ortho, Radio little difficult. Questions were asked from Ortho, Biochemistry, Medicine, Micro, Surgery, etc. Some Students said there were losts of repeated questions in the exam.
Q: What is good score in INI CET?
According to experts, scoring 160+ marks in INI CET exam is considered good. Candidates who score 160+ have chance to get good college for PG courses. Scoring marks also depends on difficulty level of the question paper. INI CET 2024 question paper was moderate to difficult. More than 180 questions were easy to attempt.
Overall marks | Competitive level |
|---|---|
190+ | Very good |
160-189 | Good |
100-159 | Average |
Q: Which topics were tough to attempt in INI CET 2024?
ENT, Medicine were easy while Pharma, Gynae were most difficult as per students who appeared in INI CET 2024 exam.170 + questions were easy to attempt. Around 10-20% questions were image based which needed complete clarity of concepts. 80% questions were from 1st and 2nd year subjects. The overall difficulty of INI CET 2024 January session was moderate to tough. Question were concept based. Candidates who had done in depth study had good chance to score well.
Q: Which topics were difficult in INI CET July 2024 question paper?
According to students, questions from Ortho, Radio, Medicine were most difficult. The overall difficulty level of the question paper was moderate. It must be noted AIIMS doesn't release the official question paper but some coaching centres release the unofficial question paper and answer key right after the exam.
Q. Did you have any specific exam day strategy?
A. I feel the day before the exam is as important as the exam day. I just went through my 20th notebook in the first half of the day and in the second half I was just relaxing in order to keep a calm mind. On the exam day my plan was to take the question one by one without thinking about anything else. I guess a good rank in NEET actually helped me remain calm in the exam and go ahead with an aggressive approach. Even if I could rule out one or two options I had attempted the question, since I had nothing to lose.
Q. Any message or advice to future medical aspirants?
A. I would like to say that these exams don’t test how much you have prepared in the last year before the exam, but rather how attentive and consistent you were throughout your MBBS. So this actually means that you should start preparing right from the 1st yr. (Not by watching videos/reading notes but by keeping an open eye to whatever is happening around you, be it the classroom or the wards during your clinical postings.)
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered Yesterday
The registration process for the July 2025 session of the Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI-CET) will begin in March 2025. The registration process for the January session is conducted separately.
How to apply for INI-CET?
Go to the official website, aiimsexams.ac.in
Log i
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 days ago
In INICET counselling, if you get a seat in round 1 but opt for round 2 counselling, your seat from round 1 will be automatically cancelled and you will be considered for a potential upgrade based on your choices in round 2, meaning you could be allocated a different, potentially better seat dependi
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
If you participate in the open round after securing a seat in round-2 of the INI CET, you may lose your current seat. It's generally advisable to confirm your decision before participating in any further rounds to avoid forfeiting your allocated seat. Key Considerations Regarding Seat Retention in I
K
Contributor-Level 9
Answered a week ago
Yes, a clinical seat is available in INI CET; you have to fulfill all eligibility criteria and reach the cut off marks for admission. There are 1,479 seats under various postgraduate medical courses - MD/MS at the AIIMS institute along with other institutes participating in January 2025. There will
L
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a week ago
Those who register for the first time for seat allocation, they have to login to the official website and click the link 'Register and Set a new password' on the Online Seat Allocation portal. Candidates are advised to follow the instructions to set new password. It must be note this password is di
N
Beginner-Level 3
Answered a week ago
No. You can't change preferences of choice for round-2 INI CET counselling. Seats are allotted based on already declared choices in round-1. It must be noted, choices have to be declared and locked in the given deadline otherwise it will get locked automatically.
K
Beginner-Level 3
Answered a week ago
In case you are not satisfied with the allotted seats in round-1 INI CET counselling, you have an option to participate in round-2. What you have to do is to choose option 2, providing willingness to upgrade the seat. It must be noted after seat allotment, candidates do have to choose options, provi
A
Beginner-Level 3
Answered a week ago
No. Candidates can't edit preferences of choice for INI CET after closing date. It must be noted choices have to be locked as well in the given deadline otherwise it gets locked automatically. Seats are allotted based on declared choices, available seats in particular course and college and other fa
A
Beginner-Level 3
Answered a week ago
No. Those who have already registered and declared choices in round-1 INI CET counselling, don't need to register again in round-2 for seat allotment. AIIMS will allot seat based on registration and declared choices in round-1. It must be noted candidates do need to register separately for open roun
N
Beginner-Level 3
Answered a week ago
A total of 4 rounds of counselling is held for allotment of seats including mock round. The counselling starts with the mock round followed by round-1, round-2, and open round. It must be noted online registration and declaration of choice of college and course is mandatory exercise to become elligi
A
Beginner-Level 3
170+ questions were easy to attempt in INI CET 2024 January session. As per expert analysis, around 10-20 %questions were image based which needed complete clarity of concepts. Maximum questions were asked from topics such as Pharmacology, Ortho, Medicine, ENT, Biochemistry etc as per students. Questions were concept based which required in depth preparation.