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It is that time of the year again. Across the country, students sit hunched over their desks, fingers tracing formulas, eyes lingering over diagrams, each page carrying the stubborn hope of donning a white coat.
Rooms glow under dim lights, walls crowded with revision sheets, while the ticking clock grows louder with every passing hour. A student pauses over a biology diagram, willing it to stay etched in memory.This is not a scene from Kota Factory. This is real life.For lakhs of NEET aspirants, the days leading up to the examination are less about learning something new and more about holding on to everything they already know. And somewhere in that relentless rush of what to do and what not to do, many begin to falter, under the sheer weight of expectation.
With the exam scheduled for May 3, 2026, the pressure has reached a crescendo, and for many, the battle is now as much mental as it is academic.In an exclusive conversation, Rohit Gupta, Chief Academic Officer at PhysicsWallah (PW), offers a deeply human lens into this decisive phase. Having spent years closely observing aspirants navigate pressure and performance, Gupta’s insights move beyond textbooks—they speak directly to the fragile, determined mind of a student standing on the edge of one of India’s most unforgiving examinations
“This is the last moment, don’t start anything new”
The apprehension and urge to do more, to squeeze in one last chapter, one last concept, one last formula can break the chances.
As Gupta advises students that, “This is the last moment for the students for their preparation. I would say that in this time, they should not, you know, start up anything new. They should focus on what they have already learned. They should spend a good time in doing the revision.” At this stage, preparation shifts from expansion to consolidation. The familiar must become flawless.“NCERT should be their Bible right now, especially for biology, they should read each and every line of NCERT once again.”There is something almost ritualistic about this advice, returning to the basics, grounding oneself in what is known, rather than chasing what is not.
The invisible weight: Expectations, fear, and the ‘blank moment’
Ask any NEET aspirant what they fear most, and it is rarely a difficult question. It is the moment when the mind goes blank after the question paper. They see their fond hopes of white coat drowning. Gupta calls it what it is, a classic symptom of stress. “This happens mostly with the good students because they carry a very high expectations with them.
They have the targets that they will score 700 out of 720.”It is a paradox. The better prepared you are, the heavier the burden becomes.“When they go into the examination with those high expectations and if two questions in a row they are not able to solve, then they get blank. They feel like now whatever target they have made, you know, they are not going to be fulfilled.”In that moment, the exam ceases to be about knowledge. It becomes a battle against one’s own thoughts.
Hence, it is important to stay calm, and focus on what you know rather than calculating your scores.
Rewiring the mind: From pressure to performance
So how does one fight something as intangible as panic? The answer, Gupta suggests, lies in simulation and simplicity.“They should definitely attempt at least one paper every day,so that they are in the habit of, simulating that environment of the final examination.”Mock tests, in this sense, are not just practice, they are emotional rehearsals.
But perhaps the most striking advice is this: “They should not go with lots of targets in their mind. They should go and simply attempt the paper.”
The first 30 minutes that decide everything
Inside the examination hall, strategy becomes survival. Gupta points to a subtle, often overlooked detail, the mind takes time to settle.“Even mind takes time to get habitual of that particular environment. So if you pick up anything challenging in that first 15–20 minutes.
it is very natural that you will not be able to solve that efficiently.”His advice is clear, almost counterintuitive in its simplicity: “You should attempt biology first, in the first 20–30–40 minutes, you will be able to solve the biology and will gain a lot of confidence.”
The art of letting go
One of the biggest mistakes aspirants make is holding on too tightly to a single question. “If they are finding something challenging, they should mark it and then move ahead.
Sometimes, what happens is that a student takes a lot of time in solving a couple of questions because of which they are not able to complete the paper.”And then begins the most dangerous race, the race against time. “Once they spend like 10–15 minutes on one single question, then the stress comes in. And then the race begins with the time, and in that case they make more mistakes.”In a high-stakes exam, knowing when to move on is as important as knowing the answer.
The day before: Silence over struggle
If there is one moment that defines the emotional arc of a NEET aspirant, it is the day before the exam. Gupta’s advice is almost radical in a culture of relentless studying: “Before the examination, one day before, you should not study anything. You should take a good sleep. You should eat healthy. You should do a little bit of meditation, keep your stress levels down.”It is a reminder that the mind, like any instrument, needs rest before performance.
Subject strategy: Where marks are won and lost
On the academic front, the guidance is sharp and specific. For Biology: “Read the NCRT line by line, practice assertion-reason and statement-based questions, students tend to make more mistakes in those.”For Physics, the warning is clear—do not ignore the “easy” chapters. “Units and measurement, every time questions come from that part. Modern physics, optics, and thermal physics are important chapters.”And perhaps the most pragmatic strategy of all: “Play on your strength, try to have at least 80–85% of the chapters in your confidence zone.”This is not about perfection. It is about optimisation.
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