Akanksha Singh, an 18-year-old native of Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh had become the first female from  Uttar Pradesh’s Purvanchal area to top the medical entrance in 2020. Singh not only scored topped the exam but also scored full marks – 720 out of 720 in the medical entrance test.

Currently pursuing medicine in AIIMS Delhi — a dream college for medical aspirants, Singh told news18.com that her preparations began from class 10 onwards. Like with the 2021 batch, last year too there was a lot of uncertainty around the medical entrance exam. Akansha, however, says the key is to maintain inside of your mind calm despite the turbulence outside. “I took the preparation gap last and the delay in examination dates as an opportunity for revising concepts. Irrespective of the atmosphere outside, I followed my passion and took necessary precautions while appearing for the exam,” says Akanksha.

To maintain on track and calm, Akansha prepared a timetable. She claims that she focused on all the chapters equally and concentrated on understanding concepts better. “For me, the priority was to complete the basic syllabus and gain maximum knowledge from it rather than getting confused by referring to multiple books,” she told news18.com.

Strengthening concepts and revision are a must along with taking mock tests, according to Akanksha. Further, “sample questions, along with discussions and notes shared by my mentors helped me understand the topics contextually,” she added. She took coaching from Aakash (now BYJU’s Aakash).

Physics is her favourite subject as it is problem–based and has great marks weightage in the exam while the toughest was biology.

NEET exam attempting strategy

Not just practice but while attempting the exam too one needs a strategy more so this year as the number of questions has increased and the time allotted is still the same. While giving the exam, she says she attempted the simple questions first, followed by the difficult or theory-based questions. “I completed physics-related questions first because of my inclination towards the subject and then attempted others. I ensured that I had 30-40 minutes in the end for revision.”

“It is tough to track yourself as per the exam pattern and the allowed time frame, so, I practised through a lot of mock papers and tried to solve them within two hours, which helped me in managing time better during the main exam,” she adds.

A timebound approach while preparing for the medical entrance helped Akanksha secure second place in the exam, she claims. “Follow the timetable, do smart work, and define the boundaries of preparation. I would dedicate time to completing the course of the subject and the revision. This time-bound approach helped me a lot to allocate more time for revision,” she concludes.

Her father, Rajendra Kumar Rao is a retired IAF officer, and her mother, Ruchi Singh is a primary school teacher in the Kushinagar. Akansha is the first in her family to become a doctor. “I always wanted to be a doctor. Since my younger days, I have always been drawn towards helping people and my ambition to pursue medicine draws inspiration from many role models of the medical industry as well. I aspire to bring significant development in the near future in the capacity of a doctor,” says she.

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