Class 11: should I start NEET prep seriously now, or focus on school?
Aarav Kulkarni11th Sample
26 Sept 2026 · 2 min read
I'm in class 11 (PCB, Pune) and I have a full-on list-making problem. Everyone around me is already doing something. A few friends have joined a weekend coaching batch, one is solving NEET PYQs, and my cousin in class 12 says "if you don't start now you're finished". Meanwhile my school has its first term exams soon and my teachers keep saying "NCERT is enough, concentrate on school".
Right now my routine is: school till 2, tuition twice a week for Physics, and about 2 hours at home. I made a plan that has 6 hours a day on weekends and 3 on weekdays, and I broke it in 4 days. I also read the NEET syllabus and it has so many chapters I felt dizzy.
What I'm trying to figure out:
- Is it better to just study school well in class 11 and start "real" NEET prep in class 12?
- If I should start now, what does that even look like without wrecking my school marks?
- How many hours a day is realistic for a class 11 person?
- Does it matter whether I do mock tests this early?
I have tried: following my class notes and NCERT Biology chapter by chapter, which feels okay, and a few Physics MCQs, which feel terrible (I got 6 out of 20 in one set). I don't know if that's normal at this stage or a warning sign. Any plan from someone who did class 11 and survived would help a lot.
11 answers & replies
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[+][–]Nisha Verma12thSample· 23d ago
Class 12 here, so I can say what I wish I'd done. Don't separate "school" and "NEET" in class 11. They're mostly the same syllabus. NEET covers class 11 and class 12 NCERT, and class 11 is where a lot of the base is built. So studying NCERT properly for school IS NEET prep. What you add is MCQs and a small revision routine.
My version for class 11: school NCERT first, then 10 to 15 MCQs per chapter after you finish it, a fortnightly revision of old chapters, and a mock only at the end of a term, not every week.
[+][–]Aarav Kulkarni11thSample· 23d agoAuthor
Thank you all. Nisha didi, quick one: when you say "a fortnightly revision of old chapters", how long should it take? I'm scared it will eat my time as chapters pile up.
[+][–]Nisha Verma12thSample· 22d ago
Short. 20 minutes per old chapter, using only your one-page summary, then do 5 questions from it. Every fortnight you revise whatever you finished 2 to 4 weeks ago. So you're never revising everything, just a small rolling window. If it grows past an hour, drop the questions and only use the summary.
[+][–]Yash Tiwari11thSample· 23d ago
bhai NEET sirf class 12 ka hota hai na? toh class 11 mein relax karo, wahan sab basic hai
[+][–]Nisha Verma12thSample· 23d ago
Nope Yash, that's a trap. NEET covers both class 11 and class 12 syllabus. In the full mocks I give, a huge chunk comes from class 11, like cell, plant physiology, mechanics, thermodynamics. If you relax in class 11, you'll have to learn it from scratch in class 12 when you're also doing boards.
[+][–]Yash Tiwari11thSample· 23d ago
oh. ohhh. ok that changes things 😅 thanks didi. rip my weekend plans
[+][–]Siddharth RaoDropperSample· 23d ago
Dropper here. I'd say: the 6 out of 20 in Physics MCQs is completely normal in class 11. MCQs test application, and if you've only just learnt the chapter, you can't yet apply it. Don't read it as a warning sign. Read it as "I'm still learning this".
On hours: 3 on weekdays is fine only if you don't have a big tuition load. I'd aim for 2 solid hours at home on weekdays and 4 on a weekend day, with a free evening. Your broken plan of 6 hours on weekends failed because it was a punishment, not a plan.
[+][–]Meera Patel11thSample· 23d ago
Same class as you, Pune/Ahmedabad difference, but my approach is simple. I do school first because I think marks in school are also a foundation. For each chapter I read NCERT once, make a one-page summary, solve 10 questions, and revise the summary after a week. That's it. I haven't joined any coaching and I'm managing. My Physics MCQ scores were also in the 6 to 8 range for the first two months and are 12 to 14 now.
[+][–]Kavya NaikDropperSample· 23d ago
Adding to siddharth bhaiya. I wasted two years because I thought class 11 was "free time". It isn't. It also isn't a race. I'd say your goal in class 11 is to understand each chapter well enough that you could explain it to a friend. That's the entire target. Mocks can wait till the last term of class 11, and even then once a month is plenty.
[+][–]Sara Fernandes11thSample· 23d ago
Also, don't drop everything else. I play football on Sundays and I'm okay. A tired brain doesn't remember anything. If you give up your hobbies you'll burn out by March.
[+][–]Ishita GoyalDropperSample· 22d ago
One thing from my planning side: write down, for each term, which chapters are in school exams. Do those first. Then add the rest. It makes your school marks safe and still moves your NEET prep at the same time.
