NEET exams: In medical entry exam, physics is casualty

After much ado, including political posturing from leaders, medical aspirants from Tamil Nadu appeared for the national eligibility cum-entrance test (NEET) on Sunday. Appearing for the first time, students said the exam -inclined more towards the NCERT curriculum and conducted by CBSE -was moderately difficult, with the physics paper, with more application-oriented problems, being hard to crack.
Educationists said most students found the physics paper tough because nearly 40% of the questions were based on Class XI lessons which many schools in the state, particularly those in the western parts, skip. While the Class XI syllabus covers concepts, the Class XII syllabus deals with the application of these concepts.
While a few boarding schools, known to churn out toppers in the state board exams, took organised coaching for NEET, it remains to be seen whether this style of preparation will fetch them ranks or not. Also on test will be the mettle of students who score centums in pure sciences. Coaching institutes said the exam was both more difficult and longer compared to last year. “Physics is generally considered to be the toughest of the three subjects. This year's paper was of moderate difficulty and length with a lot of calculation-based questions,“ Toppr.com vicepresident Rajshekar Ratrey said.
Chemistry, Ratrey said, was as difficult as last year. “Most questions were conceptual and application-based. Students strong in both factors would not find it too lengthy either. It was also observed in set R question 87 (chemistry) did not have any correct option,“ said Ratrey .
G Subha, who travelled from Kumbakonam to write the test in Trichy , found the physics paper difficult. “I didn't go to a coaching centre but followed NCERT books, which were of some help,“ she said.
“There were a lot of calculations to perform in the physics paper which made it lengthy . However, the practice of model question papers helped me complete the paper on time. Problem from chapters like ray optics were tough,“ Eashwar M, a student from Coimbatore.
While physics and chemistry were tough nuts to crack, the biology paper was easy . “Botany was easy compared to zoology ,“ said Eashwar.
“Most of the questions were based on NCERT but some were not directly from the curriculum. If a student had read NCERT textbooks well, he or she would have fared well. A few questions required analytical ability,“ Aakash Educational Services Pvt Ltd director Aakash Chaudhry said.
Some writing the exam in Tamil found the going tough.A Kabilan said he went clueless while answering chemistry and physics papers as the key words were different from those he revised from books.
(With inputs from Sambath Kumar)