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🎓 Education❓ Question

Dropper on a budget: can I learn Python for free without wrecking my NEET prep?

Farhan ShaikhDropper Sample

16 Oct 2026 · 1 min read

Hi, I'm a NEET dropper from Mumbai, second year of prep, and money is tight, so everything I do has to be free. I've been reading Kabir's and Tushar's posts about building small things in Python and I got curious. My reasons: (1) my cousin says coding is a safety net if NEET doesn't work out, (2) it looks fun, (3) I want to automate the sheet where I track my mock-test marks.

My questions:

  1. I only have an old laptop with 4 GB RAM and a phone. Is that enough? Someone told me I need a 16 GB laptop to code.
  2. A friend gave me a tutorial series, but it's for Python 2. Is that fine to learn from?
  3. How many minutes a day is okay without messing up NEET prep? I don't want to become one of those people who only watches videos and never writes anything.
  4. What's a good first project for someone who knows nothing?

What I tried so far: installed Python on the laptop, wrote print("hello") and a loop that prints the table of 7. It took 40 minutes, mostly because I forgot the colon after the for line.

I'm asking because I don't want to waste time or money. Straight answers are fine, I can take it.

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12 answers & replies

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  • [+]Dev Agarwal12thSample· 4d ago

    Yes you need a good laptop, 16 GB at least, otherwise everything will be slow. Programming is heavy. Save up for a proper machine before you start

    • [+]Tushar PawarDropperSample· 4d ago

      Not true for learning Python. I've done everything on a 4 GB machine, including the flashcard script. Python itself is tiny. Heavy stuff like video editing or training big models needs a stronger machine, but a beginner writing scripts doesn't. An old laptop is completely enough. Don't spend money.

      • [+]Dev Agarwal12thSample· 4d ago

        okay fair, I was thinking about serious software. For learning basics you're right

  • [+]Kabir Joshi11thSample· 4d ago

    Python 2 was retired a few years ago and a lot of it is different from Python 3, even print works differently (print "hi" in 2, print("hi") in 3). Use Python 3 and a recent tutorial. Free resources exist, the official docs have a beginner tutorial and there are plenty of free video series. Search for one made in the last couple of years.

    • [+]Farhan ShaikhDropperSample· 3d agoAuthor

      ok will switch. the tutorial series is gone, thanks for saving me from that

  • [+]Ishita GoyalDropperSample· 3d ago

    Since you asked for numbers, here's a plan that I've seen work for a dropper:

    • 30 min a day, same time, after your main study block, not before. Treat it like a cooldown.
    • Max 3 days a week at first. Skip it in the week of a mock test.
    • Every session ends with something written, even 5 lines of code. Not just watching.
    • Hard cap: if you notice coding eating into your biology revision, cut it to once a week immediately.

    Keep it in your study sheet as a normal row so it doesn't feel like a guilty secret.

  • [+]Siddharth RaoDropperSample· 3d ago

    I'll say one honest thing from my own drop year. A safety net is a fine reason to start, but it shouldn't become a way to avoid the exam. Last year I met people who "started coding" in month 6 because they were scared of the mock results. Ask yourself the real reason. If it's curiosity and a bit of fun, it's healthy. If it's fear, talk to someone first.

    • [+]Farhan ShaikhDropperSample· 3d agoAuthor

      fair. honestly it's about 70% curiosity, 30% fear. I'll keep an eye on the ratio. Thanks for saying it straight

  • [+]Rahul DubeyDropperSample· 3d ago

    Third attempt here and I learned this late: small, finishable projects are good for your head during a drop year. They give you a "done" feeling that mock tests don't. Your mock marks tracker is a perfect first project. Start with this and see.

    marks = [412, 455, 430, 478]
print("Average:", sum(marks) / len(marks))
print("Best:", max(marks))

    That prints Average: 443.75 and Best: 478. Then you can read marks from a file, then draw a small graph. Each step is small.

  • [+]Kavya NaikDropperSample· 3d ago

    I'm not a coder but I loved reading this thread. Amma already thinks I'm "always on the phone", so I'd have to explain that it's revision 😂 Farhan, you sound sensible. Do the 30 minutes after study, and give yourself permission to stop if it becomes stressful. We're here.

  • [+]Yash Tiwari11thSample· 3d ago

    I'm PCB class 11 and just asked a computer doubt here, so a tip from a beginner: write the code yourself even if it's 3 lines. Copy-paste doesn't stick. And the "colon after for" mistake happens to everyone, I did it with an if statement today 😭

    • [+]Farhan ShaikhDropperSample· 3d agoAuthor

      saving this thread. day 1 of Python 3 starts tonight, 30 min, after the bio revision block.

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