CUET UG 2022 Topper Interview: Know How Self-study Helped Pratham Gupta To Get Into Hindu College

CUET UG Topper Pratham Gupta from Dadri is one of the students who scored 100 percentile in the CUET UG 2022. Shiksha.com spoke to Pratham about the preparation tips he followed, and the study materials he referred to, in order to ace the maiden CUET UG 2022 exams.

Pratham Gupta secured a perfect score of 800/800 in his maiden CUET UG 2022 Exams. Dishank in an exclusive interview with Shiksha.com elaborated on his study pattern, tips, and reference material and shared his advice to students who will be appearing for the CUET UG 2023 exam.

Q. Tell us about your family and educational background?

A.  I hail from a town called Dadri, my father is a businessman, dealing in computer hardware & software, while my mother is a school & tuition teacher. I did my schooling at DPS Vidyut Nagar, situated in the NTPC Dadri township.

 

Q. When did you start preparing for CUET Exam? What all books did you refer to?

A. Since there was a lot of confusion regarding the exam, I began preparing for CUET in earnest only after my term 2 board exams were done. But given the fact that the entrance exam was based on the class 12 NCERT syllabus, I ensured that whatever I prepared for my boards, I did thoroughly. As for the books, I primarily used NCERT textbooks only.  For practicing the kind of MCQs that get asked in CUET, I referred to Oswal & Arihant's help books.

 

Q. How much time did you devote to self-study? What do you feel is better, coaching or self-study?

A. It may come out as a surprise, but I didn't study a lot, max 4-5 hours. But I ensured that I studied regularly, every day without fail. Personally speaking, I prefer self-study, partly because I never joined coaching classes in my entire school life and in part because of my belief that self-study allows you to work according to your pace & tailor your schedule as per your comfort. But, again, this is just my experience, I've known people for whom coaching works better. So, it's completely up to an individual to decide.

 

Q. How did you prepare for CUET UG, just a month before the exam?

A. A month before the exam, my key strategy was to go through the notes I had prepared for my boards & thoroughly re-read my NCERT textbooks. Once I was done with that, I started doing MCQs & based on how I performed in MCQ sets of different chapters, I jotted down topics that needed practice. For those topics, read the NCERT again. A week before the exam, I did nothing but focus on reading my NCERT textbooks as many times as possible.

Q. How many domain tests did you appear in the CUET exam?

A. I appeared for 3 domain tests, namely Political Science, History & Economics. 

 

Q. Which subject is your strong one and which is the weakest? Are NCERT books sufficient for preparations?

A. I'd say political science is something I've always been super comfortable with, while history troubles me at times. Yes, yes, yes, NCERT books are more than sufficient for preparing for CUET. Along with that, you need some practice question sets & you're done.

 

Q. When it came to exam day, what was your strategy? According to you, what was the toughest and easiest section?

A. I made sure I was fresh as a daisy on the day of the exam: I had a good sleep the night before, drank a lot of water during the day & didn't read much in the hours preceding the exam. I always get confused with chronological data, so just went through the lists I had made once. Ahh, I'd say none of the sections were that difficult, but if I had to mention, economics proved to be quite challenging because you had to apply logic while solving the questions in that section, simple conceptual knowledge won't do.

 

 

Q. To whom do you attribute your successful CUET topper journey? What would you suggest to future CUET aspirants in terms of preparation, attitude, etc?

A. It goes on without saying that I wouldn't have achieved what I did without the constant support of my parents, teachers & extended family. I share a very good rapport with my mother so she was the person I'd talk to when I got tired of studying & we'd discuss books, watch movies together & of course gossip (lol). But the contribution of others was just as important.

I know it might sound preachy (as it did to me when I was in your place) but remember that hard work always pays off. It can be incredibly difficult to not get tempted by Instagram reels & a new series on Netflix, but try to strike a balance between leisure & studies. Also, study for shorter durations but do it regularly, don't let the flow break.  Wishing you the best of luck, I firmly believe you'll give your best.

 

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