NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) exam has always been conducted in the offline or pen and paper format. In retrospect, the NEET exam was always meant to be a pen-and-paper test. However, with the occurrence of the recent set of events, including COVID, Social Distancing, and the upscale of technological advancements; there was a cloud of doubt lurking over the nature of the examination. If they would be conducted online or offline. In this article, we talk about all these questions and let you know exactly what is planned.

Why the doubt?

The NEET examination has been conducted in a pen and paper format, since its very inception. The major reason for this is its anti-cheating concerns and to conduct the test in a fair and square manner. However, with COVID, all of this changed. In fact, the examination was postponed twice, before being finally held on the 13th of September. There were major doubts looming over the method of the examination, once it was reinstated. Especially with the new COVID protocols in place.

What has been decided?

In the wake of COVID, the NTA decided to expand its examination centers to accommodate the COVID restrictions. The sanitary condition of the examination centers was drastically improved. The exam, however, was still held in person, i.e, in pen and paper format abiding by its general procedure. Thus, while the NTA (National Testing Agency) has made claims to conduct Computer Based Tests (CBT) for all National Examinations, this is still a far-fetched idea. Rest assured, for now, the examinations will be conducted in person.

The same is followed across multiple NEET Coaching Institutes in Bangalore and across the country. This is to simulate the exact examination environment and give the aspirants a proper mock examination.

What does this mean for the aspirants?

There was a lot of confusion and chaos about the nature and if the exams would be conducted at all or not, during COVID. Those confusions have since been cleared and resolved. What we understand now is that the examinations will be held in person, with proper COVID protocols in place. This means that the aspirants will have to undergo the same procedure, as before COVID, adhering to the COVID protocols. This would mean they would need to be vaccinated and would have to practice social distancing while at the examination centers.

How to prepare?

While there is little that will prepare any aspirant to take up the examination, there are quite a few things, any aspirants can do to re-create the scenario at an exam center. For instance, mock tests and test series conducted at Institutes across Bangalore can be a good way to practice and let go of all the nerves. There are many coaching centers in Bangalore, like, Parishrama NEET Academy, Aakash Byju’s, and Allen, that help prepare students for the real deal.

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What will happen when you shake oil with water? Will oil dissolve in water to form a homogenous solution? The answer to this question is an absolute no because we have seen how oil forms a separate layer over the surface of water when we are boiling spaghetti in our kitchen. The same happens when a chemist shakes oil and water in a separatory funnel in his chemistry laboratory. This clearly means that oil and water don’t mix together. Rather, the two are immiscible chemical compounds. What’s the secret behind it? Let’s find that out through this article.

Why don’t oil and water mix?

Like dissolves like. This means for chemical compounds to interact well with each other, they must possess a similar chemical nature. Oil and water don’t mix with each other because of the difference in their polarities. Oil is a non-polar molecule while water (H2O) is extremely polar. There are no oppositely charged regions to interact with polar H₂O molecules neither can the oil molecules develop hydrogen bonds with water. It’s really important to know if the given molecule is polar or nonpolar.

Why are water molecules polar?

A water (H₂O) molecule is polar due to the difference in electronegativity between the covalently bonded oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H) atoms present in an O-H bond. Oxygen more strongly pulls the shared O-H electrons. A non-uniform charge distribution develops in the molecule which is further endorsed by its asymmetric bent shape and molecular geometry. Thus, each H₂O molecule in water is polar which makes it a polar universal solvent as a whole.

It is a universal solvent because it can dissolve a diverse range of chemical compounds such as ammonia gas (NH₃ ), ethanol (CH₃CH₂OH), methanol (CH₃OH), table salt (NaCl), glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆), etc. But, all these compounds are essentially polar in nature. They use their negative and positive poles to interact with oppositely charged H^δ+ and O^δ- ends of water respectively.

These molecules are highly water-soluble also because of their ability to form H-bonding with water.

However, non-polar molecules such as oil neither have polar ends nor can it form H-bonding with water, so it stays immiscible with water.

Why are oils non-polar in nature?

Oils are organic compounds made up of a large number of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms covalently bonded to each other. Traditionally oils are fatty acid esters for e.g., triglycerides which are made up of covalently linked fatty acids and glycerol molecules. Glycerol is a tri-alcohol, it has 3 OH bonds present but the OH bonds get consumed in chemical bond formation. Thus, the overall oil molecule is non-polar with ester (COO) bonds sandwiched between numerous non-polar alkyl chains.

What happens when we mix oil with water?

Here again, we can take a clue from the like dissolves like concept. When we mix oil with water, similar polarity oil molecules attract each other. Similarly, the water molecules get attracted to their own family members i.e., the other water molecules. Polar water molecules cannot break the bonds present between non-polar oil molecules, so the latter stays dissoluble in the former. In this way, the two chemical compounds form distinct separate layers. As water is denser than oil due to the extensive hydrogen bonding present among H₂O molecules, so the oil layer appears above the water layer.

What is the importance of water-oil immiscibility in chemistry?  

The water-oil immiscibility factor is often used in chemistry laboratories to separate a mixture into its constituent chemical compounds and the technique is known as liquid-liquid partitioning. Polar organic compounds from a complex sample mixture become a part of the aqueous layer while non-polar molecules are extracted in the oil layer.

Can we mix oil with water through an external force?

The interesting fact is that nothing is impossible when it comes to science and especially chemistry. So, yes we can force water and oil molecules to interact with each other by adding a surfactant or an emulsifier. An emulsifier has both polar and non-polar ends. So, it can interact dually with water and oil molecules. In this way, water although don’t actually mix up (in the literal sense) but interacts to a large extent with oil. This results in an emulsion.

So, the next time someone asks you how you can wash off grease stains from your clothes using water if water and oil do not mix, you know the answer to this question. That is, we can do so by using detergents.

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JEE Mains is conducted by the National Testing Agency two times every year. With the first session in June and second session in July (JEE Mains 2022), the students need to prepare dedicatedly for it. Qualifying the JEE exam with top marks requires good preparation and the right strategy. Moreover, the preparation needs right planning and execution. Forming the right preparation strategy requires more than just a plan, but needs the right strategy, books, mocks, study materials and more. Students need to know how to prepare for JEE mains 2022 before preparing a JEE main preparation time table. Here are important points that students should know about their IIT JEE mains preparation:

How to prepare a Time Table for JEE Mains?

The IIT JEE mains time table should be prepared according to the time left for the exam, syllabus left and time available after school. The students preparing for JEE mains are different, some of them are school students while some are drop outs. The time table differs for every student and needs personal contribution, analyzing IIT JEE mains syllabus  before making one. Both IIT JEE mains advanced syllabus should be considered while preparing the time table. 

Study Plan for JEE Mains

Students look for the right study plan for IIT JEE mains which includes a subject wise preparation plan, strategy and books. Before a student starts preparing for the exam, students need to check the IIT JEE mains advanced syllabus. The experts suggest not to go beyond the syllabus as the course itself is too exhaustive and includes diverse topics. Once a student is done with the syllabus, they can head on to other aspects of preparations like giving mocks and solving previous year papers. The sectional mocks should be solved while a student is done with a particular topic while full length mocks should be started when a student. Along the study plan, students should keep revising the concepts to keep a hold of what they have learnt. For the exam point of view, the exam pattern needs to be understood which can be done through solving previous year questions and mock tests. 

Books to prepare for JEE Mains

The IIT JEE mains syllabus primarily consists of 11th and 12th standard course. The Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics NCERT is best for understanding the concepts. Besides following the NCERT, some other books that can be helpful for the students are:

• Concepts of Physics Volume 1 and 2 by H.C. Verma
• Organic Chemistry by Morrison & Boyd/ Solomon and Fryhle
• Concise Inorganic Chemistry by J.D. Lee
• Differential Calculus for IIT-JEE and Integral Calculus for IIT-JEE by Amit Agarwal

These books cover the IIT JEE mains advanced syllabus adequately.

The exam strategy for IIT JEE Mains

While planning the right strategy to follow during the exam, a lot of analysis is needed. And a good way to do this is through full length mock tests and analyzing their answers afterwards. This would help them work on their strengths and weaknesses to give the best during exams. Every student approaches the question in a different way, and the strategy they should follow depends on the same. Giving full length mocks and solving previous year question papers in a timed setting can help the student in finding the best strategy to increase the score. 

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Recently, there has been a lot of buzz around CUET for admissions into central universities after Class 12. After the introduction of CUET, there has been a lot of confusion among the 10+2 students with the overall changes in the admission process. With a lot of hype around entrance examinations for professional courses like engineering, medicine, architecture, pharmacy, entrance exams for degree courses has raised a dilemma among the students whether to concentrate on XII board exams or entrance examinations. Read on to find out more details on CUET UG 2022:

What is CUET?

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has declared that admissions into Undergraduate courses for all the central universities will be through the CUET (Common University Entrance Test) and there will be less or negligible consideration given to the Class 12 Board examination marks. Formerly known as CUCET (Central University Common Entrance Test), CUET will be conducted in the first week of July 2022. All the 45 centrally funded universities including popular central universities like Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Central University of Karnataka, Central University of Rajasthan Central University of Punjab, etc.  will enroll students as per their score in CUET. The UGC iterated the Class 12 board examination marks can still be a part of the eligibility criteria, raising doubts over the weightage of the marks. Conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), CUET is a Computer Based Test (CBT). 

Not a novel concept

With the implementation of National Education Policy 2020, CUET has been strongly recommended and is not a novel concept. The test was primarily conducted in 2010 by 7 central universities for admission to 1500 seats covering undergraduate, postgraduate and integrated courses. A total of 12 central universities including Assam University, University of Kerala, University of Haryana, University of Karnataka had taken admissions via CUET till 2021-22. 

Exam Pattern – CUET 2022

The CUET examination papers will have three key segments. The first part comprises language, the second part constitutes specific subjects which the students want to pursue in graduation and the third part includes general ability. 

The language section is segregated into 1A with 13 language papers and Section 1B with 19 language papers. When a student is aspiring to study a specific language in graduation, the language needs to be selected in 1B section. The student can opt for a total of 3 languages collectively from section 1A and 1B. 

The domain-specific part will comprise 27 subjects from which the student can appear for a maximum of 6 subjects. For any subject devoid from the list, the student may opt for the subject which is meticulously related to the 27 subjects. For instance, to study biotechnology, one may opt for biology. The curriculum followed for the domain specific subjects will be adhering to the NCERT framework. 

The third part of CUET, the general part, will have assessment questions on general knowledge – current affairs, logical and analytical reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and mental ability. 

Quick Tips to prepare for CUET:

• Opt for the language and domain-specific subject which the student has studied for class 12 board examinations.
•  Prepare for class XII along with CUET given the changing criteria of universities
• Apart from the subject-learning, the students should prepare for General Knowledge and Awareness, Language, Logic and Reasoning.
• For the students who want to study a different subject from the class XII subjects, start preparing by studying the NCERT of the specific subject. For instance, if a student’s major subject is Science and wants to pursue psychology in graduation, the student should start reading class XI and class XII NCERT books of psychology. 

Key Benefits of CUET:

• The exam will be held in 13 languages (includes English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Odia, English, Assamese), which will be an advantage to the students to give CUET in their preferred language. 
• CUET will now consider students from different boards on the same level, inducing uniformity among providing marks to class 12 students and will provide equal opportunity for students who want to pursue a degree from eminent universities. 
• CUET will alter the conventional academic structure by increasing the inclination to aspects like critical thinking, conceptual understanding and comprehension over subject syllabus. 

Cons of CUET:

• The “One nation, one Test” concept appears to be ideal, but blatantly neglects that not everyone can have equal access to resources. 
• There will be a surge in the ‘coaching culture’ and only those who can manage the fees for the same will be at the receiving end for the benefits. 
• The admissions to UG courses with the help of CUET will invoke an absolute erosion of the XI and XII grades. 
• The autonomy of the colleges, particularly the minority colleges will be affected. 
• Implementing CUET for the academic session of 2022-23 is a problem for the present batch of students having an online mode of learning induced by COVID-19 pandemic and may have academic pressure.   

Focus Points:

Duration: 3 hours and 30 minutes

Type: Multiple Choice Questions

Format: Computer based Test

Syllabus: Class 12 NCERT (National Council for Educational Research)

Pattern: 3 Sections, Part 1: Language, Part 2: Subject-specific domain, Part 3: General Knowledge and Aptitude

Official Website: https://cuet.samarth.ac.in/  

Edustoke has been the best companion to parents in searching for the best school for their child, be it play schools, day schools, PU college or best boarding schools in India. Extending our services, Edustoke is launching TestPrep for competitive exam courses and coaching center searches. Stay tuned for more!

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The 21st century world needs not just hard work but smart work too. The preparation for entrance exams is never easy. From a lengthy syllabus to a huge competition, preparing for any one of them requires rigorous efforts, right guidance and smart work. For students to get into a good college after school, the right preparation strategy is needed right from the school years. The following content pieces addresses how students can prepare for competitive exams with school:

Know the exam first!

But before one starts preparing for an exam, one needs to know the domain they are going into. Here is the list of entrance exams for respective streams and careers:

Major entrance exams after School

• Engineering: JEE
• Medical: NEET, AIIMS
• Bachelor of Science: NEST, IIT JAM, JEST
• Accounting and Commerce: ICWAI, ICSI, ICAI
• Designing: NID, NIFT 
• Law: CLAT, AILET, LSAT
• Mass Communication: IIMC, JMI, XIC- OET
• Hospitality: NCHMCT JEE
• Agriculture: ICAR AIEEA
• Foreign Universities: SAT, TOEFL, IELTS, PTE, LSAT, MCAT

Once the student has decided the entrance exams they are going for, they can start off with the syllabus. It is better to refer to the official sites of conducting bodies to get the right syllabus rather than referring to any third party websites. 

For the preparation part, the students have two options. They can either opt for self preparation or get enrolled into a preparation course. While self study is also a good option, managing school studies without any guidance can make things tough. Here are a few ways how students can prepare for competitive exams with school.

How to prepare for competitive exams with school?

Joining courses to prepare 

There are various institutes that offer courses for competitive exam preparation after school hours. Whether aiming for engineering, law, or a doctor of medicine program, students can attend both school and coaching sessions. While it may be tiresome at first, effective time management helps them balance both. These courses can be both online and offline. 

Courses in Day Schools

Another way of getting enrolled in a competitive exam course is along with the school. There are many schools who have a tie up with coachings who teach students within the school campus. In such a setting, half of the school hours are dedicated to the school syllabus and the rest to the competitive exam syllabus. 

Preparation in Boarding Schools

Boarding Schools are known to provide students with the best environment for holistic development. Boarding schools can serve as the right place to prepare for competitive exams with self preparation as well as if the student is preparing by taking a preparation course. Some boarding schools also offer competitive exam preparation facilities. Some of the best boarding schools in India offering competitive exam preparation are:

• Career Point Gurukul School, Kota
• Rishikul Vidyapeeth, Sonepat- Haryana
• Satluj Public School, Ellenabad
• Meluha International School, Hyderabad
• GR international, Bengaluru
• BGS International, Bengaluru

10 Tips to prepare for competitive exams with self preparation

If the student is opting for self preparation, he needs to adapt discipline and consistency. Here are a few tips to help:

1. Prepare a proper schedule for study.
2. Divide the course into parts and then prepare. 
3. Give time to revision and practicing.
4. Solve topic wise and full length mock tests.
5. Stay away from distractions.
6. Take small breaks while studying for better memory retention.
7. Use the free resources by institutes like lectures and tests.
8. Refer to YouTube for studying complex topics but always refer to genuine channels.
9. Join a discussion forum for doubt solving.
10. Don’t be stressed and believe in yourself. 

The students who are opting for any additional course should also follow these tips as only practice, consistency and dedication can help anyone ace the competitive exam successfully. All the best!

Edustoke can help you find not just the best boarding schools in Karnataka for your child but also the best coaching and courses to enroll in for competitive exam preparation. Stay tuned for more!

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