The NEET 2021 is scheduled to be conducted on September 12, 2021. During this remaining time, students are now gearing up for their final stage of preparation. An important subject for NEET 2021 is Chemistry. Hence, to help them develop an effective strategy, this preparation guide can be useful.
Students must first familiarize themselves with the paper pattern. The Chemistry section is divided into two parts namely A and B. The first section or Section A comprises of 35 questions while Section B contains 15 questions. Note that out of the 15 questions, candidates have to attempt any 10 of them. Each question carries 04 marks and hence the total marks for the Chemistry paper stand at 180. The duration of the examination will be of 03 hours and students have to answer 45 Multiple-choice Questions (MCQs). Combining all four subjects, they have answer a total of 180 questions. Candidates can select the medium of the question paper from any of the 13 specified languages.
The Chemistry section of NEET 2021 covers topics from both classes 11 and 12. Some of the topics from the 11th standard include Structure of Atom, Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure, Thermodynamics, Redox Reactions, etc. Similarly, from the 12th standard, the syllabus includes Solutions, Chemical Kinetics, General Principles and Processes of Isolation of Elements, Haloalkanes and Haloarenes among other important topics.
An analysis of the last five years’ question papers shows that the maximum number of questions were from the units on Organic Chemistry 1 and Hydrocarbons. From these units, around 4 to 8 questions are asked every year. The next important unit is Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure which covers around 3 to 6 questions. The third unit is Equilibrium which has a weightage of 2 to 4 questions. Other important topics like Thermodynamics cover at least 1 to 4 questions. Nonetheless, candidates can expect 44% of questions from Class 11 and 56% of questions from Class 12.
Before framing a preparation strategy, students must understand the most important of all chapters in the Chemistry syllabus. Some of them include Co-ordination Chemistry, Thermodynamics, P-block elements, d and f block elements, Hydrocarbons, etc. Therefore, candidates must focus and devote more time to these chapters. The next step is to start from the basics. For instance, if one is studying the S, P, D and F-block elements, then they must be very thorough with their periodic classification lesson. The same is the case for Inorganic Chemistry.
Similarly, before studying Physical Chemistry, students must first brush up on topics like Mole concept, Atomic Structure and Chemical Bonding. Lastly, for Organic Chemistry, they must have a crystal clear idea of General Organic Chemistry. While studying the periodic table, students should write down the exceptional orders and revise them time and again because many a time, questions do get asked from the exceptional orders.
The remaining time is ideal for students to solve previous year questions and attempt as many mock tests as possible. The benefit of doing this is that candidates will get into the practice of solving problems quickly and also hone the incorrect ones. However, students tend to focus on either Organic or Inorganic or Physical chemistry and leave out the other ones. This isn’t a healthy practice as three of the branches have different roles. Physical chemistry can boost one’s confidence as it is formula and definition-based while Inorganic Chemistry can improve one’s speed. Likewise, Organic Chemistry becomes more scoring as it is equation-based. However, if one is good at a particular branch, then it is advised to start with that first. This will help in boosting their confidence and also improve their concentration power. After that, they can switch to the other two branches.