Mridul Manya Anand, NEET 2024 AIR 1 has grabbed the top rank by scoring a perfect 720. Shiksha.com brings the NEET 2024 topper interview of Mridul Manya Anand where he shares his preparation strategy and advice to next year's NEET aspirants. Read the complete interview here on this page.
Mridul Manya Anand, NEET 2024 AIR Topper Interview
Mridul Manya Anand, NEET 2024 topper with AIR 1 had always wanted to be a doctor as Biology and living beings fascinated him. Hailing from Noida, and a student of St. Francis School, Indirapuram, Mridul has also aced several Olympiad exams.
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There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.Mridul is one of the 67 NEET 2024 takers who scored a perfect 720 and secured an All India Quota Rank of 1.03. He started preparing for NEET 2024 right after Class 10 and gives credit to NCERT books, regular revision and mock tests. Read the NEET 2024 topper interview of Mridul Manya Anand here.
Q: Should I opt for sectional or full-length mock test for NEET?
Q: What is the ideal time and method to take NEET mock tests?
Q: What is a good score in NEET mock test?
The total marks of NEET is 720. Hence, a score above 500 is considered to be good. Ensuring a high score in all the sections will ensure an overall high score. Although there is no sectional cutoff or qualifying marks for NEET a balanced performance would be better than a skewed performance. The mentors or experts evaluating the NEET mock tests often set a high difficulty level question paper to help them prepare for a tough test. Hence, students should not be demotivated if their score is low. They must improve their preparation and be prepared and give their best shot to get a high score in NEET 2024.
NEET 2024 Topper Interview – Mridul Manya Anand, AIR 1
Q: Tell us something about your parents.
A: My mother is a homemaker and my father is a software engineer. Both of them are my support systems and motivated me throughout my NEET preparation journey.
Q: What motivated you to be a doctor?
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A: I was always interested in Biology and was curious to know how the human body or living beings work. Hence, with time and after taking suggestions from my parents and teachers I decided to pursue Medicine and appear for NEET.
Q: When did you start NEET 2024 preparation?
A: I started preparing for NEET right after completing my Class 10 Board exam. I joined Aakash Institute to start my preparation in a systematic and disciplined manner from the very beginning. I stayed in a hostel near the institute to save time on my commute as my home was far away in Noida.
Q: How should I analyse my NEET mock tests?
NEET 2025 mock tests must be analysed by the mentors of experts after the tests where they would point out the mistakes and suggest rectifications. They would also help in improving a faster and more effective way to solve a particular question. The analysis will help students identify their strong and weak areas and based on this, a better and improved preparation strategy would be suggested to them by the experts. Abiding the feedback based on the NEET 2025 mock test analysis will help improve their performance. At the last month before the test, there is not much scope left for the preparation. Hence, at the last few days before the exam, after the analysis of NEET mock test, aspirants should focus on finalising the test-taking strategy.
Q: What should I do if I get a low score in NEET mock test or after solving previous years' NEET question papers?
If students are unable to get a good score in NEET mock tests or question papers, the first step is to identify the problem areas and work on those to improve. After identifying the weak areas, they should take help of their teachers to know how to improve the weaknesses and methods of revision and practice. First, they should understand the reason for not scoring well in those areas. It could either be lack of conceptual understanding, or silly mistakes. In case of the former, they should go back to the basics and study each chapter and topics carefully. They must not leave any doubt or query unattended. In case, it is the latter, students should practice more with a better focus and concentration to avoid unnecessary errors. To improve the focus, it is important to have a calm mind, which can be attained through regular meditation. A healthy body and mind is a must for success.
Q: I have 450 marks in mock tests. Can I get 640 score in NEET as only 12 days are left for the exam?
You can definitely improve your marks before the final day comes. Just work on your strong points and don't waste your time on your weaker areas as time is less now. Focus on what you have learned so far and avoid experimenting at the last moments. For the days left, attempt mocks test only as much as you can. Good Luck.
Q: What should be revised in Last 2 days of NEET exam? Should the mock test be given or avoided in the last few days?
Q: When should I start taking mock tests for NEET exam?
NEET mock test should be taken after the basic preparation is over and the entire syllabus has been covered. Taking mock tests after NEET 2025 preparation will help students gauge their preparation level and also guide them on which sections or topics need extra emphasis. There is another pattern of taking mock tests, after completing each subject or chapter. This would help students understand their hold on each subject or section. Generally, students start taking full-fledged NEET mock tests or NEET prep questions around three to four months before the exam, once the complete preparation is over.
Q: How did you balance your NEET 2024 preparation with your Board exam and school studies?
A: It was not very difficult to balance the Board exam with NEET preparation as Physics, Chemistry and Biology subjects were common in both exams. Rather my Board exam preparation further complemented or strengthened my preparation for NEET. For other subjects like English or Maths, I managed my time accordingly. I had set up my timetable to study all subjects, so the preparation for both exams was well-balanced.
Q: What was your preparation strategy for NEET?
A: After the completion of the Class 11 and Class 12 syllabus for NEET 2024, my coaching institute used to conduct mock tests. For the mock test preparation adequate revision for each chapter and topic were done. I followed the strategy of first completing a portion of the NEET syllabus, followed by revision and mock tests. This helped me identify my weak areas and prompted me to revise and practice. April onwards, I took full-length NEET mock tests. Basically, revision and practice were my key preparation strategy for NEET 2024.
Q: How was your experience of taking NEET 2024?
A: For me, the NEET 2024 question paper was easy as I was familiar with all the questions and could solve them easily. However, there was one question on atoms, which took my maximum time. I was confused between two answer options and could not decide whether to mark either of them or leave the question altogether. Then I thought if two answer options were correct, then NTA would give marks to all candidates who attempted the question and mark either of the correct answer options and went ahead with it. In the end, my thought was right and NTA did give bonus marks for this question. I revised the entire paper before submitting it.
Q: What is your take on the NEET 2024 question paper, especially in comparison to last year’s paper?
A: I found this year’s NEET question paper easy and straightforward. There were no controversial questions. As compared to last year’s paper, this year’s questions were easier.
Q: What is your opinion on the NEET 2024 grace marks system?
A: For me, the grace marking scheme for NEET 2024 is not justified. Generally, a candidate attempts the easy questions in the beginning and leaves the tough questions for the end. So probably they solved maximum questions accurately and at a high speed within the time they got. NTA decided the grace marks based on their efficiency. For me, these are not the right parameters to decide the efficiency or quality of candidates. It is unfair for other genuine candidates.
Q: How did you deal with stress during NEET 2024 preparation?
A: There were times when I felt that I forgot the areas I prepared earlier. I went back to my short notes to brush up. But while taking NEET mock tests, I realised that they are in my memory. Later when I used to revise, I could recall everything I learnt. To cope with stress, I used to take regular breaks in between, it helped me resume my preparation with full concentration.
Q: What is your advice to NEET 2025 aspirants?
A: My advice to NEET 2025 aspirants would be to study the NCERT thoroughly and also practice and solve all the exercise questions given at the end of each chapter. Read the NCERT books at least four to five times before the exam. Along with regular revision, you should also analyse the questions you could not solve correctly and discuss them with your mentors.
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Sreetama has over a decade of editorial experience in the higher education beat. A wanderlust by passion, she is also an avid reader and a music lover. Among friends, she is popular for her sense of humour.
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