As he is on his way home, his phone starts ringing. Call after call comes in and everyone is calling him for the same reason. With each call his ecstasy grows making him feel proud of himself. When he gets home, there is a lot of back patting and congratulating going on. He is the star of the show and to show their appreciation his parent gift him a computer! So what was it that Naveen Bhat Y did that made so many call him at once and offer him their congratulations? The answer is simple, he got the 1st rank in CET engineering and 26th rank in CET medical 2009.

Follow up:

CET Rank: Engineering: 1
Medical : 26

CET:
Physics : 57/60
Chemistry: 58/60
Maths : 58/60
Biology : 40/60

PUC:

Physics : 100%
Chemistry: 100%
Maths : 100%
Biology : 88%

He wrote his CET exams from Mangalore after finishing schooling from Sathya Sai Lokaseva Pre-University College at Alike. He confessed to being surprised by his ranks as he did not think he would get such a high rank. Since he had concentrated mainly on the PCM (Physics, Chemistry and Maths) combination, he was of the opinion that he would probably be in the top 20 in engineering but didn't even bother guessing his rank in medical. In-spite of getting the first rank in engineering he, now pursues a career in medicine at Bangalore Medical College. A puzzling thought yes but he was quick to clarify that it was his mothers wish that he become a doctor and since he was also not opposed to the idea he changed streams.

When we caught up with him, he was kind enough to give us a gimps into events that led to his brilliant performance in the CET exams. He began his exciting journey at his school where they were kept on a strict routine. This was no whips and lashes type of a routine. It was simple, relaxed and allowed for substantial studies along with providing venues of cultural and mental development. His day would begin at 5am everyday, when they would get up, get ready and do yoga for 1 hour following which they would have classes for two hours and right after that they would indulge in other activities like singing or listening to traditional music for the next half an hour. The remainder of the morning would again be spent on attending classes. Post lunch, between the hours of 4pm to 6pm they would congregate for games making sure they enjoyed themselves as much as they could and after that it would be right back to singing and music or yoga for the next hour. Once all this was done they would be given time to study by themselves but only till about 9:30 pm because by 10pm they were supposed to be fast asleep.

A most interesting routine, no doubt, but it was not devoid of its own experiences. In an attempt to explain to us the external factors that contributed to his success he told us that the environment around his college, the support of his friends and the bi-monthly meeting with his parents were some of the things that kept his spirits up. The college being in a semi remote area afforded the perfect atmosphere for studying. There was a lot of peace and quiet around, without the regular din and hustle bustle of the city. Apart from Yoga and music the college also took them on 2 tours to temples of Satya Sai Baba in Andhra Pradesh. Apart from this they were taken to Medical camps to see how that particular field is. Apart from all of this he also took lessons in swimming which were provided for by his college.

For the preparation Naveen, accompanied by the other 24-25 students from his batch would sit together during their study time and ask each other for help in various subjects. Naveen himself would sometimes seek the help of his good friend Yashwant Marathe, who stood Second in the CET engineering exams. They would teach each other topics or chapters one of them didn't understand and also help one another stay focused and motivated. As is the case with all students, there were times when he would get bored of studying and would need a break. To facilitate this need he would either go off for a walk or would read a book. When asked what kind of books he read, Naveen happily told us that he was an avid fan of Dan Brown novels and has read all of them except the latest one. He also told us that books were not the only entertainment they had. He and his friends would get movies and watch one on every Saturday since they didn't have classes on the weekends. He also mentioned that when it came to

Moving from the atmosphere to the preparation itself he told us of some of the things that stood out in his memory from his time in Alike. It so happened that on one occasion, in January of 2009, they had a series of maths tests and Naveen was unable to score more than 40-45 in them. The feeling that he was loosing out somewhere kept nagging him but refusing to give into negativity, he kept at it and did finally succeed in bringing his score up. There were people that kept a watch on all of them an made sure that they were getting what they wanted. One such figure that stood out for Naveen was the warden of his hostel, who would personally go to each of them and ensure that they were in the right frame of mind to study, that they got all the material they needed and was always there to provide them with words of inspiration. The rest of his teachers there also were a great influence on him. They would constantly provide him and the others with valuable insights into study patterns and were also there to offer council if anyone required it.

Another incident was when feeling demotivated and dejected about not being able to finish the portions in time and with efficiency he sought the council of his friends. All of them helped him by telling him not to give up and keep at it. He took their advice and sure enough, as is the case with all good advice, not only did his marks start to improve but he was also able to cover more of the topics that were left out. Citing this incident Naveen also mentioned that one thing that gave him a lot of support was knowing that he was not alone in his dilemma. Sitting in a friends room one night, discussing what was left and fretting over how they were going to finish studies in time, he got a sense of how many people were in the same boat as he was in at that time. Drawing on strength from one another they all came to the conclusion that there was no way around their situation and that they were just going to have to keep at it till they finished what they started.

One last incident that he mentioned happened between him and Marathe. Having struggled with a particular topic in Physics, Naveen approached Marathe, seeking his help in explaining the chapter to him. Marathe obliged him but for some reason Naveen still didn't happen. He went to Marathe twice more for the same thing and Marathe, patiently, explained that topic to him. However absolutely at a loss for an understanding of the topic, Naveen started feeling sad. Seeing this Marathe immediately told him of three main points from that chapter. Advising him further Marathe said that he, Naveen, should just memorise these topics so that if they come in the papers, he can write them from memory. Much to Naveen's surprise the questions were present in the exams and he felt more comfortable in the knowledge that he could attempt them if he wanted to.

After regaling us with these anecdotes he moved onto the preparation for the CET exam and he detailed some of the things that he remembered from his preparation and attempt at the exam. The first thing he told us about was his strategy. Refusing to do selective study, Naveen, made sure that he covered all the topics in his syllabus. He emphasised the importance of not regarding any one topic as too small and ignoring it. Even though his concentration was more on physics he did dedicate substantial amounts of time to the study of other subjects. Taking the help of quite a few books he found books like Deepa Publications for Chemistry, MES Publication for Physics, Sudhakar Rao for Biology and finally Bosco for Maths the most helpful. He also mentioned that though the prescribed books for PUC are good, they are not good enough for CET and using reference books becomes a must. Having finished his PUC portions around January he started the extensive revision for CET in February. He also mentioned that the actual preparation for the CET had begun right after he finished his 1st PU. Dedicating about five to six hours a day for the preparation he did depend heavily on the advice he got from his teachers. He also mention having joined a course during the 2 months between 1st and 2nd PU where he was able to get a good idea about the topic that awaited him in the coming year. On the topic of self study, when questioned, Naveen did admit that even though the time allotted for self study came only up to 5 to 6 hours a day it was sufficient and that they did get to study for 8 to 9 hours a day on the weekends. As are most student, even he, sometimes fell prey to the depression about the preparation but the one policy he believed in was to leave it alone since, “whatever happens, happens for good.” stating examples he said that sometimes he did feel bad about not being able to score properly but again drawing comfort from knowing that he was not alone he managed to motivate himself to work harder.

Having studied so much the only challenge he did face was when he had an argument with one his coaching class teachers who seemed to be confused about some of the questions that were posed to him. It didn't affect him too much because that particular teacher was gone in a few days and things did come back to normal after that. He did however learn to guard against incorrect information and decided that he alone will decide if the advice is good or not before taking it. Once the time for model papers came he dove head first into it. In the beginning he was not able to finish the papers in time and would skip parts that he was not to good at but as he practised more and more he managed to get even better at it. Identifying the mistakes was not difficult for him and made it a point to correct it in the next paper. Stating that they are a must he went on to talk of how he had finished questions paper books like Dinesh Publications and Bosco CET question papers.

He also made it a point to improve as much as he could before the exam. Keeping a positive attitude he moved ahead with improving his time management. He did so by identifying and classifying all the questions. According to him, if you just read the paper once and answer all that you know well and all that is straight forward, you can finish about half the paper in just 30 minutes or so thus buying yourself extra time for the remaining. This strategy worked wonders for him in Physics and Maths.

The improvement in the performance was obvious and the results showed the same with every passing test. When asked about the importance of these model papers and coaching institutes he clearly said that test papers are A MUST! THEY HAVE TO BE DONE!! however coaching is good as long as it does not take up more than a month or so of your time. In a nutshell, the only mantra that works for such exams is practice, practice, practice. Citing the fact that even though CET is not as competitive as the AIEEE or the IIT exams, a wide base of knowledge is a must for it as questions can come from anywhere and everywhere. Immediately after this he told us of the time when he went for his physics exam and upon seeing the question papers was completely stumped. He found all of the first twenty questions really tough. Resigned to thinking that the rest of the paper will also be like this he kept on reading ahead till the questions got easier. Once he had answered these correctly he got of his confidence back and was able to finish the rest of the paper without incident. Stating that such things are a common issue he said that they stem from regular thoughts of poor performance he encourages everyone to take it completely easy and not to loose confidence as that is a key factor in success.

When we asked him about the points that he felt were important to success, he with a lot of conviction said that since there are no short-cuts to success there was no point in wasting time looking for one and said that it is best to stick to a routine. Saying that a relaxed routine is the best he emphasised on an extensive study plan rather than an intensive plan. Having said this he also mentioned that some of the things student should avoid at all costs is that if preparation has not begun well in advance then there is no point in trying for last minute mugging. He also told us of times when he observed some of the students taking the tests in groups and what happened was that they ended up discussing the paper rather than taking a test thus defeating the purpose of the test. Expressing his displeasure about this he also said that the one thing that is more important than anything else is not to EVER get into a negative attitude and maintain a positive frame of mind.

As we wound down the chat we asked him what he felt about the current pattern of the CET exams to which he replied that it is absolutely fine except for the fact that they should introduce negative marking again so as to prevent students from guessing and actually indulging in learning. It was at this point that we actually introduced him to Improveyourrank and upon hearing about it he was absolutely supportive of it and even said that he would be as active on the site as possible and would like an opportunity to help out anyone who need help. Having had a very engaging conversation with him for over 2 hours the time came to part ways for the day. Even though our meeting was over, our association has just begun and we wish him all the best for his life and look forward to his cooperation in our endeavour.