The Union Public Service Commission exam and the Common Entrance Test are completely different from each other and require different approaches, says rediffGURU Mayank Chandel.

• You can post your career related questions at rediffGURU Mayank Chandel HERE.

Please note that the image has been published for representational purposes only. Photography: Courtesy of Adnan Yahya Abdo Alward/Pexels.com

Are you preparing for a competition this year?

How many attempts are allowed in NEET-UG?

Is it advisable to prepare for several exams during your first year of college?

rediffGURU Mayank Chandelthe founder of CareerStreets, has over 18 years of experience in coaching and training students for various entrance exams like NEET-UG and Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Exam (IIT-JEE) .

• You can post your career related questions at rediffGURU Mayank Chandel HERE.

Location: Dear Mayank Ji, My son is studying in 11th standard.
He is not interested in routine computer work and wants to become an aerospace scientist.
Which colleges in India are best for undergraduate studies? What is the cutoff in JEE Mains/Advanced in the open category?

Hello Venu. Your son can choose between two engineering fields: aerospace engineering and aeronautical engineering.

Apart from Indian Institutes of Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology-Vellore, MIT-World Peace University and MIT-Art Design and Technology are good options for aerospace in India.

Jui: In my first attempt without studying for NEET-UG, I scored 302 in 2023.
On my second attempt, I scored 506 after starting from zero.
I’m thinking of taking a drop for another year; This will be my last straw.
But I lack confidence. What should I do?

Hi Jui. Since you have the experience of two attempts and have improved by more than 200 marks in NEET, it will be good to continue.

This year has been very bad for NEET aspirants. Higher thresholds had lowered the morale of many people.

But I must say that if you have it in you, prepare yourself with confidence and zeal. You will get there.

Work on your weak points, avoid the negative points and get the maximum in biology. Don’t neglect physics because it decides the rankings. ALL MY WISHES.

Anonymous: Sir, I am in my academic year and currently preparing for IIT-JEE.
I want to know whether I should target UPSC from first year of college or get work experience and take CAT.
My background – 95.4 percent in class 10, 81 percent in class 12 (PCM) 95 in English.
I want to do well in UPSC because I am good at writing essays and have won two gold medals in the Scholars World Cup for that.
I have always been a good student. My poor grades in class 12 were due to IIT-JEE preparation along with the board exam. I am ready to give everything.

Hi. It’s great to know that you know your positives and negatives well.

You can’t sail two boats, my friend.

The UPSC exam and the Common Admission Test are completely different from each other and require different approaches.

Decide on your goal first, then give it your all.

• You can post your career related questions at rediffGURU Mayank Chandel HERE.
  

Please note: The questions and answers in this review are published to assist the person asking the question and the large number of readers who read them.

While we appreciate our readers’ requests for privacy and avoid using their real names with the question whenever a request is made, we regret that no question is answered personally by email.

All content herein is written and published online for informational purposes only. It should not be relied upon as the sole source of advice.

If you choose to rely on any information provided here, you do so solely at your own risk. The opinions expressed here may not necessarily provide advice tailored to the exact specifics of the problems of the person seeking advice.

Likewise, information received via an external link embedded in an article cannot be considered your sole source of advice.