Firstly, calm down. Take a deep breath before you read this blog. Just sit down peacefully, straighten your back, close your eyes and take a very deep breath. Then release it. Read further only when you’ve done this.
Now let’s talk.
I understand your problem, it is very very valid. My best friend (who is in a very good MBBS college now) faced the same problem during her preparation. She used to score 600-650 in her mock tests, and suddenly in the last few months her score dropped. She started scoring 400 and even 300 in some. She couldn’t handle the shock and just broke down in front me. We figured it out together, and so, I know that I can help you figure this out.
Firstly, If you have fluctuating marks with 600+ in one or two mock tests, 200-300 in others: which means a very wide range of marks then this blog is not for you. Go to ‘Why Are My Mock Test Scores Fluctuating?’
If not, if you had a steady score of 580+ then you’re preparation is good enough, there are other reasons for this drop.
First step is to make this clear that you are not facing a problem due to poor preparation. I hope that relieves some tension from your head.
Now, with a slightly clearer mind, let’s approach the actual problem.
Understanding the Reasons Behind the Drop
There can be a lot of reasons for a sudden drop in marks. I have written them down below with a solution to tackle them too.
Burnout
The first and most probable answer is exhaustion. Your brain is very very tired, it needs a break. Sometimes when you feel like you are being lazy and procrastinating it’s not actually laziness, sometimes you’re just too overwhelmed.
If you have come this far in the journey with years of preparation, it is valid to feel this way. You might be feeling a lot of inertia to even attempt a mock test and when you sit down after a lot of convincing, you try to get it done as soon as possible. You might also feel nervous and irritable. Low appetite, sleeplessness or excessive sleep, inability to study: these are all signs of burnout.
Identify the difference between being burned out and being lazy.
Inadequate Mock Test Analysis
If you are asking this question, it shows that you are lagging in your analysis at some point. How do you not know where you are losing out marks? If you have a complaint of not being able to solve the questions that you have practised and know too, then skip this part. If you have no idea where you are losing marks, you’re just not analysing your tests properly.
You might be committing silly mistakes and calculation errors which are going unnoticed due to poor mock test analysis.
Lack of Revision
When you reach the last few months of education, you tend to forget what you have learnt during the last few years. It can also happen that you are giving so many mock tests per day that there is no time left for revision. Not revising leads to performing poorly in the next mock test.
This can negatively affect your score. You might forget concepts that you have understood. You might not remember the formulas. This is another common reason for sudden marks drop.
Exam Anxiety
Another important aspect of the last few months of preparation is anxiety and performance pressure. Every test you attempt comes with a lot of pressure to perform well. It can be your parent’s expectations, coaching’s expectations or maybe even your own expectations from yourself that make you anxious.
You become so scared to even attempt mock tests that you cannot focus. It then makes it difficult to solve questions and thus can make your score drop.
Identifying the Root Cause
So the first thing to do when you are facing such a situation is to understand the root cause. Is it anxiety? Are you feeling like you are forgetting everything? Do you just feel like you don’t want to do it anymore?
Please consider burnout too. We tend to ignore this problem and just invalidate it. Burnout exists too and if you do not identify it and deal with it, you will just increase your stress.
Strategies for Recovery
Once you have identified the problem, you can move ahead and try to solve it. Here are the solutions.
Take a break:
This is the one and only way that you can solve a burnout or a stress problem. I want you to take half a day off, spend it doing whatever you like most, I would bake/ paint because it helps me feel calm. Then after that activity, sit down with the small dopamine rush and try to detangle your mind.
Try to push the negative thoughts away and give a more methodical and logical approach to your last few days.
Try to understand that you cannot let stress and anxiety mess up with two years of hard work. You need to pull yourself together and work a little mechanically for the last days. You can do it! After the exam is done, cry out all the angst and anxiety. Abhi, just hold yourself together for these last days.
Mock test Analysis.
You need to analyse your mock tests to understand the root problem. I would recommend the tally register method of mock test analysis. It is a strategy that I used. It will help you identify if you are making silly mistakes or conceptual mistakes.
Lots of silly mistakes call for a better paper attempting strategy and a little more focus during mock tests. It can also be a sign to take a break and calm yourself down, this will help you focus better.
If you are making conceptual mistakes then you really need to schedule more revision sessions and revise your syllabus thoroughly.
How to revise when you are forgetting everything?
When you analyse your mock tests using the tally method, you will understand exactly the chapters that you are going wrong in.
See, even if you feel like you have a lot of weak chapters, schedule only 2-5 revision sessions per day. (Apart form you revision sheets) If you are making mistakes in a chapter do not revise it without actually understanding the chapter. And do not overwhelm yourself with a lot of chapters too, this can also backfire. Remember, take small steps to avoid stressing yourself.
Cannot handle the anxiety?
Can’t cope with the anxiety even after trying a lot? Take help, talk to people. Talk to your parents, you teachers or anyone else that is dependable. Go to a therapist. Seek mental health, do anything that helps. Do not underestimate your mental health. You are more important than the NEET exam.
Maintaining Consistency
I hope you can now identify and deal with the problem that you are facing while attempting mock tests. Let me repeat what I said earlier, you are not facing a preparation problem. Your preparation has been very good and you will definitely get a good score if you just hold yourself together for these last few days.
Note: Do not stop giving mock tests because you are scoring low. You can reduce the number of mock tests that are given but do not stop entirely. Be consistent in mock test practice. These tests are the only method to identify the gap in your preparation, if you take these away, you will be left with no direction to study. Be smart and be confident.
As I said, these last few days are very crucial. Do not sabotage your years of preparation due to some unclearness in the last days. Get to identifying the problem right now. You can do it! Comment a ‘I will crack NEET’ to manifest it.
ALL THE BEST!
How to Motivate Your Self to Study
Revision: How To Fit It Into The Schedule?
