Keep Climbing

For no matter how much you know or how hard you try, you will always have to face periodic set-backs. So be prepared for them; and taking them in your stride, keep climbing like the snail in the story mentioned below:

"One cold, windy day in the spring, a snail started to climb a cherry tree. Some sparrows laughed at him and teased, 'You sap, don't you see that there are no cherries on this tree? Why are you climbing?' the tiny snail didn't pause, but replied as he kept on climbing. 'But there will be, when I get there! When I will be at the top there will be lots of cherries"

To succeed at any thing we must keep on climbing, even if we can not see the prize at the top right at this moment.

Similarly, it is applicable to NET aspirants also. Although if you see that there are less vacancies / jobs in the college and universities but you have to keep on trying to qualify NET as if just after you pass the exam there will be lots of vacancies and you will be one of them who tried and deserve to get the desired JOB.

All the Best.

Power of Visualisation

A key part of visioning your dream is the practice of visualization and there are a number of well-known examples of power of visualization. None other than golfing legend Jack Nicklaus is said to have always played a course in his mind before actually beginning a game. In his words: "I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there; its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behaviour on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality."

Brian Tracy also believes that, "All improvements in our life begins with an improvement in our mental pictures. Our mental pictures act as a guidance mechanism that causes us to act in ways that make our mental pictures come true in our life".

As a candidate, you must also visualize the things that you would like to have in your life. You must know why do  you want to pass the NET, what are the benefits you will get after passing it. Create your  own mental picture, visualize everything. Visualize the preparation, the exam and after passing effects. Use your power of visualization to see the POST/JOB (eg. Assistant Professor in a College or a University) you are likely to get, SALARY (around Rs. 40,000/pm  if you start a job of Assistant Professor and more than Rs. 3,50,000/pm at the end  while retiring as a Professor from the post), STATUS, RECOGNITION, the PEOPLE with whom you are going to work with,  the SUPPORT you are going to give to your family & society, the HOUSE that you are going to build with your own money, the CAR that you are going to drive, the LIFE PARTNER (if unmarried) you are going to have in your married life, the PLACES that you are going to visit and stay in India and abroad, Visualize everything. Accordingly plan and take action. This power of visualization will really act as a guidance mechanism to act in ways that will make your mental pictures come true in your life.

So, use the power of VISUALIZATION. It will work wonder.

Understanding of Passage

The main purpose of setting questions on a passage is to test the student’s knowledge and understanding of a particular text/story/event. Thus, to set some reasonable set of questions in a passage is an essentially so as to achieve the purpose of comprehension. To answer the questions on a comprehension passage, you are required to get a good grasp of the passage so that you may understand the objective queries on the passage which you should try to assess accurately. 

Following are few points for the right procedure to tackle the problem of comprehension:

1. Have a good glimpse of the passage before attempting to answer the question. There can be 5 to 6 questions on the passage. For this, read the passage carefully. 
2. Have two or three readings of the passage so as to understand the meaning of different words, phrases and expressions. 
3. Proceed to answer the questions, taking the first question first . For this find out exactly that portion which carry the answer to a question. It is better to underline the relevant portion in the passage. 
4. You must find out the most relevant option out of four choices.
5. The opening and concluding sentences of the passage must be read very carefully. 


One must keep this in mind that for a good comprehension, you must have good reading speed. You can not spend more than 9/10 minutes to solve 5/6 problems on a passage.

Specify Time for Preparation and Know the Syllabus

Ideally the preparation for NET/JRF exam should start three months before the exam, but that means you must stick to a particular schedule/routine for preparation. If you are appearing in the month of December, then I would suggest to start in the month of September.

You must study the syllabus for all the papers (I, II and III) from the point of view of the examiners or paper setters. Suppose you were asked to prepare questions based on this syllabus what would you ask. This will get you in the right frame of mind to understand what you should pay more attention to.

Download all the old previous years' question papers from UGC's website i.e., http://www.ugc.ac.in and try to solve all the papers as much as you can. This is one of the best strategies to be well prepared. While trying to solve these you must get in to the details ( theory part) as soon as you come across a question.

If you are very determined for appearing the exam, then try to co-relate the questions (II & III Paper) from the theory part of your masters degree syllabus. Remember, it doesn’t matter how much percentage or position that your university awards you, rather a JRF Certificate or a NET for Lectureship Certificate would really MATTER. So devote as much time as possible to get in to the subjects & concepts.

Knowing the syllabus is very important to identify the sections which are more relevant /suitable for preparing multiple choice questions.

Improve your speed in multiple choice questions by taking mock tests at your home.

You will have to read, read and read. Jot down points of all that you read. Prepare mind-maps for easy revision and clear the ideas.

You need to develop a mature understanding of your subject through serious reading, deeper
level of understanding for securing high score in II and III paper.

Cope-up with Qualifiers

Qualifiers  are words that alter a statement.  Words like always, most,
equal, good, and bad.  In a multiple choice test, qualifiers can make an option on a test question be a correct option or an incorrect option.  

For example, the following 2 statements are nearly identical: 

It often rains in Shillong.  It always rains in Shillong.  The first statement is true, while the word “always” in the second statement makes it false.  Keep careful track of qualifiers by circling one that appears in a test question or in the answer options. To beat qualifiers you need to know the qualifier families:

• All, most, some, none (no)
• Always , usually, sometimes, never
• Great, much, little, no
• More, equal, less
• Good, bad
• Is, is not

Whenever one qualifier from a family is used in an answer option, substitute each of the others for it in turn.  Then you can tell which of the qualifiers fits best.  If the best qualifier is the one in the answer option, then the option is true, if the best qualifier is another one from the family, then the answer option is false. 

Second-guess

Don’t second-guess yourself. If you make a calculated and educated guess the first time around, don’t go back and start changing your answers.

Rule of Elimination

You always find four Answer options with the question. If your answer is not one of the choices, then read all the choices carefully and start to eliminate choices. Then comes the right option to select. This is the Rule of Elimination. Cross out any answers that are obviously wrong or incorrect. You need to narrow your choices to three, two, then one and tally the option with the question to see if it makes the right sense. Sometimes you'll find a hidden clue, like a subject / verb agreement that gives it away.

If you are faced with "all of the above" and "none of the above" options then they tend to take up too much time. If you are not sure about the right option, best strategy is that you leave all of them blank and go back to them afterwards. These questions have an element of logic to them. You may find that they require a little extra concentration, mark these questions so that you can easily come back and try them again.

To-Do-List

Do you understand what is important and what is urgent? 

State clearly what is important and what is urgent. Urgent should be handled first and then the important. Within the urgent and important tasks, you will again prioritize each task. If a task is at the end of on your priority list, never handle it before a task on top of the list no matter what happens.

So, carry a To-Do-List with you. 
If you use To-Do Lists, you will ensure that:

* You remember to carry out all necessary tasks;
* You tackle the most important jobs first, and do not waste time on trivial tasks;
* You do not get stressed by a large number of unimportant jobs;

This will help you.

Success Stories

Do you know one of the reasons why the United States has reached the height of material prosperity ? It's  because "success stories" are widely published there, through the press, radio, television and other media. These stories become sources of inspiration to the young men and women of America. There are also an abundance of  books and magazines on self-improvement. These encourage the ambitious youth to achieve success and achieve their goals.

Here also, in this platform some of the known success stories will be shared with you. If the NET qualified students share their success stories to pass NET, it would be definitely a very good motivation / guidance for the NET aspirants.

In fact, you are visiting this blog is a proof that you want to succeed. But that is not enough. You must be prepared to pay the price of success. SUCCESS is yours if you have following three things:

1. You must want to succeed;
2. You must learn how to succeed;
3. You must persevere till success is yours.

Be Competitive

Competition is a powerful motivator. Compare yourself with others. Try to learn the secrets of the most successful persons. The Champions do it. Super students do it. Challenge yourself regularly, too. Use your creative powers.

Learn from Mistakes

Learning from a mistake means not to repeat a mistake. 

Failure is not the ultimate end.
When there is a failure, we should accept it and admit it too. We must not be depressed.

If you have failed in the first attempt for qualifying NET, then try to remove all the mistakes that you made and be prepared for the next attempt. Assess the mistakes you made during planning, during preparation, and during exam. Don't repeat the mistakes.

Substitute for Hardwork

Pressure comes from being unprepared. There is no substitute for preparation, practice and hard-work. Only preparation will give you the competitive edge. Pressure can paralyze you if you are not prepared. Weak effort gets weak results.

Preparation Leads to Confidence

Preparation means learning from our mistakes. There is  nothing wrong with making mistakes. We all do. A fool is one who makes the same mistakes twice. A person who makes a mistake and does not correct it, commits a bigger one. 

Preparation

Preparation is necessary edge to succeed in any field. You should not expect 100 % success with 50% preparation.

Preparation for the NET is the combination of 7Ps.
These are:

PURPOSE: What is your purpose? Identify it. Passing NET right?
PRINCIPLE: Follow the principle. There is no short cut to pass NET.
PLANNING: What is your plan of action? Fix it. Finalize everything.
PRACTICE: Revise again and again. Practice makes a man perfect.
PERSEVERANCE: Never give up. Keep on trying.
PATIENCE: Don't be impatient.
PRIDE: Show self-respect. Understand personal worth. Never underestimate yourself.

Multiple Choice Questions: Some Useful Tips

The UGC has changed the pattern of the questions for the 3rd paper from descriptive type to objective type from June, 2012 onwards. It has become easier for the examinee to qualify for the exam. Following tips may help you:

1. Read the question before you look at the answer.
2. Come up with the answer in your head before looking at the possible answers, this way the choices given on the test won't throw you off or trick you.
3. Eliminate answers you know aren't right.
4. Read all the choices before choosing your answer.
5. If there is no guessing penalty (negative marking), always take an educated guess and select an answer.
6. Don't keep on changing your answer, usually your first choice is the right one, unless you misread the question.
7. In "All of the above" and "None of the above" choices, if you are certain one of the statements is true don't choose "None of the above" or one of the statements are false don't choose "All of the above".
8. In a question with an "All of the above" choice, if you see that at least two correct statements, then "All of the above" is probably the answer.
9. A positive choice is more likely to be true than a negative one.
10. Usually the correct answer is the choice with the most information.