How many MCQs you need to solve daily for NEET-PG success?
What should you daily MCQ target be during NEET-PG preparation?
When I was preparing for NEET-PG, AIIMS and other PG exams, I was continuously looking for feedback to ascertain if I was going in the right direction, if I was making progress daily towards NEET-PG success.
I would catch hold of seniors who had cracked NEET-PG, AIIMS exams and would ask them all sorts of questions on their strategy, study plans and routines during medical school.
How many hours they studied?
How many grand tests they gave?
How many MCQs they solved daily?
How many pages they read daily?
How many hours of videos they watched daily?
Now, that I am on the other side, having completed ophthalmology residency from an apex institute, I can answer those questions myself. And from my experience over the last 2 years teaching and mentoring PG aspirants, I can tell you that this is a frequently asked question by all medicos.
In this article, I will explain how many MCQs you need to solve daily and weekly for NEET-PG success, and why.
First things first, everyone will tell you that quality is more important than quantity.
Now that is true to a large extent, but isn’t that cliche and pretty useless advice.
Quality is important, yes! But quality cannot be measured.
For a PG aspirant who is looking for feedback, and measurable goals, you need a NUMBER, even if a ball park figure.
The quick answer to how many MCQs you need to solve daily for NEET-PG success is 200!
Let me explain the maths behind it.
Now, over the years the PG exam Question bank has steadily increased in volume. So the total MCQs you need to solve for NEET-PG success, as of today is 36000!
Yes you read it right. 36000 MCQs spread over 20 subjects.
Now some of those subjects like SARPO (Skin, Anaesthesia, Radiology, Psychiatry and Orthopaedics) are short subjects and have around 900-1000 MCQs only.
On the other hand, you have the biggies like medicine and surgery that have 4000+ MCQs each.
An ideal candidate (read topper) would have solved all the MCQs at least once and would have revised them once.
To solve 36000 MCQs at 200 MCQs a day, would mean that you will be able to complete your first reading in 180 days.
That is the ideal duration of your first reading.
That would also ensure that you are able to solve a short subject in 5 days.
Do note that the goal of 200 MCQs daily DOES NOT mean you will only be solving MCQs throughout the day.
This goal requires that you will read the relevant topics from a review book OR watch the relevant online videos, and then solve those 200 MCQs along with their explanations.
So the goal of 200 MCQs goes simultaneously with the subjectwise preparation.
In fact, whatever topics you are reading or watching, you will be able to test them immediately by solving relevant MCQs.
Also note that when you are giving a Grand test, the goal is to solve and analyse 300 MCQs.
So the plan for TEST DAYS is 300 MCQs for the day, as opposed to 200 every day.You need to solve 300 MCQs all in one go, over 3 hours and then analyse your performance and read the explanations of the questions you made mistakes in.
Mostly, you will have to read explanations of 100-120 MCQs after a grand test. However, that number will reduce as the year goes on, and you are better prepared.
I hope that has answered your question.
Remember, NEET-PG is a numbers game. Keep track of the numbers and you will get the number (read rank) that you desire.
Also, remember that there are good and bad days during preparation.
You will study very well on some days, and you might not get much done on those bad days.
The most common reason for bad days is a lack of will-power and motivation, which in turn happens because you start doubting your preparation and chances for success.
When you have daily goals and feeback loops, you will know that as long as you stick to these numbers, you can convert a bad day into a good day.
I hope this article was useful to you. If you have any doubts or comments, please feel free to reach out in the discussion box below.
Happy studying,
Dr PKJ
Hello there! I am Dr PKJ (Pankaj Kamal Jeswani).
I am an ophthalmologist by profession and medical educator by passion. I teach Ophthalmology to medical students, preparing for NEXT, INI-CET and other medical entrance exams. I love mentoring young medical minds and helping them in their medical journeys.
Do check my Ophthalmology preparation group on Telegram.
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