NEET 2024 Last Minute Preparation Strategy for Candidates Also Appearing for CUET UG 2024
NEET 2024 and CUET 2024 were scheduled just two weeks apart. This article of Shiksha brings last-minute preparation tips and strategies for both exams. NEET 2024 and CUET UG 2024 are scheduled for May 5 and May 15-31. Approximately 20 lakh candidates appear for both exams. Read on to know more.
Last Minute Preparation Tips for NEET and CUET
NEET 2024 will be conducted on May 5 for over 20 lakh candidates across India and abroad. Several NEET candidates will also appear for the CUET UG 2024 exam, which will be conducted from May 15 to May 31. After appearing for NEET, students will be left with around 10 days to take the CUET UG 2024 exam. To ease the anxiety of the students appearing for both NEET 2024 and CUET 2024, this article of Shiksha brings last-minute preparation tips and strategies.
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There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.Students must plan the last-minute preparation strategy in a systematic and thoughtful manner. By now, candidates must have completed the exam preparation and taken a number of mock tests. It is time to brush up the syllabus through regular revision. Let us take a look at the last-minute preparation strategy for NEET 2024 and CUET UG 2024.
Q: What is the total number of NEET 2024 exam centres?
The exact numbers of NEET 2024 exam centres was 4,750, for the original exam date of May 5, 2024. The NEET 2024 re-exam was conducted in seven exam centres located in five states across India. It is expected that the total number of the NEET exam centres in 2024 will be above 5,000. Last year, the total number of exam cities was 4,097. The number of exam cities in India has also increased this year.
Q: What is the date of NEET 2024?
NTA announced the NEET 2024 exam date on September 19, 2023. NEET 2024 exam was conducted on May 5. The result of NEET 2024 was declared on June 4, 2024. After the result declaration, several irregularities and anomalies were found in the result and the scoring system. Hence, NTA is reconducting NEET 2024 on June 23, 2024, for 1,563 candidates who were awarded grace marks. The result will be declared on June 30, 2024. The NEET 2024 counselling process for the 15 per cent All India Quota (AIQ) seats is likely to be conducted from July 6, 2024 onwards.
The NEET 2024 application process was conducted from February 9, 2024, to March 16, 2024. The last date of application was extended from March 9, by a week. The application and correction windows were reopened in April. While the NEET exam dates were scheduled in September and July a couple of years ago owing to the pandemic situation, it took a toll on the medical admission schedule. To bridge this gap, NTA conducted NEET in May last year. The trend is being continued for NEET 2024 as well.
Q: When was NEET 2024 conducted?
NEET 2024 was conducted on May 5, 2024, from 2 PM to 5.20 PM (IST). NTA conducted the exam in 571 cities across India and abroad. Around 20 lakh candidates appeared for the exam. The difficulty level of the exam was moderate to tough. NEET is a paper-pencil based test (PBT) consisting of a total of 200 multiple-choice questions (MCQs). Out of this, candidates had to attempt 180 questions. The total marks of the exam is 720.
How to Balance Last-Minute Preparation for NEET 2024 and CUET 2024
First things first, you must not panic or fret about the clash of these two exams as these are scheduled 10 days apart. Secondly, the syllabus for CUET and NEET are pretty much the same, where the syllabus of the former consists of the Class 12 portion of the NCERT syllabus and for the latter, you have to prepare both Class 11 and Class 12 chapters and topics. The only difference in the exam would be in terms of appearing for the Language section test, which we will discuss in this article eventually. Here we bring to you 10 tips to balance your last-minute preparation tips for NEET 2024 and CUET 2024.
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1. Know the exam pattern and syllabus of both exams: The exam pattern and structure for NEET and CUET are different. If you are appearing for both exams, you must be aware of the difference in the exam structure. The below table brings the highlights and differences between the NEET 2024 exam pattern and the CUET 2024 exam pattern.
| Factors |
NEET 2024 |
CUET 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Duration |
3 hours and 20 minutes (200 minutes) |
Slot 1 – 195 minutes Slot II – 225 minutes (Total duration to vary as per number of subjects applied for) |
| Mode of Conduct |
Offline/Paper-pencil-based test (PBT) |
Online/Computer-based test (CBT) |
| Number of Slots |
One |
Two per day |
| Number of Days |
One |
10 |
| Number of Subjects/Sections |
Three (Physics, Chemistry and Biology) |
Three (Language, Domain-specific subjects, General Knowledge) |
| Number of Questions |
200 (180 to be attempted) |
Slot I - 175 (140 to be attempted) Slot II - 100 (80 to be attempted) |
| Marking Scheme |
+4 for each correct answer -1 for each incorrect answer |
+5 for each correct answer -1 for each incorrect answer |
| Languages/Mediums |
13 languages - English, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu |
13 languages – English, Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Odia, Punjabi, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu |
In terms of syllabus, the NEET 2024 syllabus is the same as that of the NCERT or Class 11 and Class 12. However, the CUET 2024 syllabus consists of the units, chapters and topics for Class 12 only. Hence, if you have been preparing for both exams, you must have already covered the syllabus. Moreover, there are no extra areas to prepare unless you are appearing for other subjects apart from Physics, Chemistry and Biology. In that case, you have to schedule your revisions accordingly.
Q: What is CUET UG exam slot and timing?
CUET 2025 will be held in two/three slots. The timing for the same will be released with release of CUET 2025 date sheet. Candidates will be able to know the exam centre and timing along with the release of CUET 2025 admit card. Tables below will be updated on release of the CUET 2025 date sheet:
CUET UG Exam in Pen Paper/CBT Mode | |||
|---|---|---|---|
CUET Exam Date 2025 | Shifts | Slot Time | CUET Subject/Code |
| To be updated | To be updated | To be updated | To be updated |
Q: When will CUET UG notification release?
CUET UG 2025 notification will be released at exams.nta.ac.in/CUET-UG. The dates for the CUET 2025 exam subejct wise will be declared online. CUET 2025 will be held tentatively in third week of May 2025. In CUET UG 2025 notification candidates will be able to check the important details pertaining to:
- Exam important dates
- CUET eligibility criteria
- Steps to fill application form
- Reservation criteria
- Admit card
- Exam centres
- Syllabus
- Exam pattern
- Results
- Normalisation Process
Q: What is the timing of the NEET examination?
The duration of NEET exam is three hours and 20 minutes. The exam will commence at 2 PM and conclude at 5.20 PM as per the Indian Standard Time (IST). The timing for the international centres varied as per the local timings. NEET is a continuous test with no breaks allowed in between. Candidates needed to report to the exam centre at least one hour prior to the exam timing. Moreover, candidates were not be allowed to leave the exam hall before the stipulated duration as well.
Q: Will NEET 2024 be delayed?
NEET 2024 was conducted on May 5, 2024. NTA announced the exam date on September 19, approximately eight months in advance. NTA has decided the exam date after much deliberation and assessing situations such as Board exam schedule, other exams, etc. Over the past few years, NEET exam date was delayed owing to the pandemic situation, which affected the overall academic calendar. To bring back normalcy, NTA conducted NEET UG 2024 in May, similar to the pre-pandemic era after much brainstorming and assessing other entrance exam dates. Howrver, NEET 2024 will be reconducted on June 23, 2024, for 1,563 candidates who were given grace marks. The Supreme Court of India has asked NTA not to delay the admission process. Hence, NTA will release the result of the retest on June 30, 2024, and the counselling process will begin in July 2024.
Q: What is the schedule for NEET exam 2025?
NEET or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test involves various stages or events. The dates for each event are announced by the exam conducting body, National Testing Agency (NTA), in advance. The following table brings the sequence-wise upcoming events and the dates (official and tentative) of NEET.
Events | Dates |
|---|---|
NEET 2025 exam date announcement | Second week of November 2024 |
NEET 2025 application form release | First week of March 2025 |
NEET 2025 application form last date | Fourth week of March 2025 |
NEET 2025 application correction window | First week of April 2025 |
NEET 2025 city intimation slip | Fourth week of April 2025 |
NEET 2025 admit card | First week of May 2025 |
NEET 2025 exam | First week of May 2025 |
NEET 2025 provisional answer key release and objection submission | Fourth week of May 2025 |
NEET 2025 result and final answer key | Second week of June 2025 |
2. Know the topics with high weightage by heart: By now, you must have gone through the previous years’ NEET question papers and noted the chapter-wise weightage. The previous years' CUET question papers are also available which will give a broad idea of the question types and topic-wise weightage and question distribution.
3. Revise: Revision is key for any exam. As far as NEET and CUET are concerned, it becomes all the more critical since there are several important chapters and topics which you must regularly brush up on. The last few days before the examination should be a mix of revision, doubt solving and mock tests.
Also Read: How to Make Revision Notes for NEET
4. Take separate mock tests for both exams: Taking mock tests in a proctored manner, i.e. writing the test in the exact timing and duration of the exam, without any break, will acclimatise your body for the actual day of the exam. Not only that, but mock tests also give much-needed exposure to the question types, topics and difficulty levels. NTA released mock tests for both NEET and CUET. You must leverage the opportunity to be familiar with the exam pattern and navigation process (for the CUET exam, which is conducted in computer-based mode). Analysing the performance is equally important as it gives you the correct evaluation of your strengths, weaknesses and areas to improve. In the last week before the exam, you should not take more than two mock tests.
Also Read: Why NEET Mock Tests Are Important
5. Deal with the weak areas: By now, you must have identified your areas of weakness and have been working consistently to improve those. However, you may not have been able to succeed despite honest efforts in a few of your weak areas. Do not lose hope if you are facing a similar situation. Check the weightage of these topics in the past years’ NEET question papers and analyse your preparation level. If your weak areas carry high weightage, then try to attempt a few questions on those areas accurately. You can try to brush up on these topics to have conceptual clarity and practice so that you can gain some marks by solving questions on those topics. On the other hand, if your weak topics do not bear a high weightage, you may leave out those topics and focus on your weak areas.
6. Do not start any new topic: At this stage, it would not be wise to start a new topic which you have not touched on yet. You should rather focus on the other areas or topics and revise. At this stage, starting preparation on a new topic would not help you as it would be difficult to grasp a new topic completely, revise and practice. This process is time taking, and time is something that you don’t have. Hence, utilise the last few days before the exam wisely.
7. Prepare time management strategy for both exams: Time management and exam-taking strategy are crucial at this stage. Since the exam structure and duration for both exams are different, you have to have a strong exam day strategy with a foolproof time management strategy. In NEET, you have to mark your answers in the OMR sheet and there is no specific duration for the different sections.
On the other hand, CUET will be conducted in computer-based mode and the sections will have separate time durations. Moreover, in CUET, there will not only be domain-specific sections, but also a mandatory Language Test and General Knowledge test. Hence, along with preparing for the core subjects, do not forget to brush up on your language skills and General Knowledge.
8. Focus more on NEET: Since NEET is scheduled for May 5, you must prioritise this exam as it is scheduled much before CUET. Since CUET 2024 for subjects such as Physics, Chemistry and Biology will be conducted after 10 days, concentrate only on NEET. Revise, practice and plan specifically for the NEET. Go through your previously solved question papers and mock tests and remember the tips and advisories from your mentors. This would help your mind to remain more projected and focused on cracking NEET.
9. Keep mandatory documents and forms ready for the exam day: Amid the rigorous study regimen, do not forget to prepare yourself for the practical aspects of the exam. These include downloading and printing the NEET 2024 admit card, pasting a photograph in the space provided, filling up the self-declaration undertaking, getting your parent’s/guardian’s signature on the admit card and selecting the photo identity card to be carried to the NEET exam centre. You must also check your exam centre location and make the necessary travel arrangements.
10. Take care of your health and stay motivated: Last but not the least, do not ignore your health and well-being at any cost. You are undergoing a stressful time, but that does not imply that you would not care for yourself. You may spend a long duration of your studies but don’t forget to eat on time, take at least six hours of sound sleep and take a regular break to go for a stroll or play some sport to recover from fatigue. The key to staying calm in the last few days of NEET 2024 preparation is to believe in oneself. Have faith in the hard work that you have put in and do not go on a self-doubt spree.
Read More:
NEET 2024 Last Minute Preparation Tips by Experts and Toppers
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.