I cleared JRF in History.

I was always an average student, but knew one thing I love history, I chose it and I'll make the best out of it. Idk what the future holds, but it is definitely the first step. It'll be chaotic, messy and full of perpetual struggle. But one must imagine Sisyphus happy. Congratulations to me, best birthday gift ever (it's on 31st). 😭💖

When it comes to UGC NET preparation, many aspirants swear by solving previous years' papers, while others believe regular mock tests are just as important for improving speed, accuracy, and time management.

If you had to prioritize one, what would you choose and why? Have previous years' papers been enough for your preparation, or did mock tests help you identify your weak areas and perform better under exam conditions?

I wasted my whole year preparing for it, finally cleared jrf only to realise it's just useless you again have to prepare a research proposal study give interviews and still they will reject you and there are no jobs at all. DO IT ONLY IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN RESEARCH not because it pays you or anything. It's a PAIN and a sweet trap, because after 5 years when you're gonna finish your P.hD you are going to realise there are no jobs if you have no money or source. You will have to work at a guest faculty 1500rs per lecture and that's also for 11 months, after that god knowss. It's so so shitty i don't know how to say it. I am not demotivating or anything it's just not that easy. It's very draining and will rob you of your happiness to the core. If you want to actually contribute to research you can go abroad and do your research and live your life. In india it's just useless to put so much effort for nothing. It's only for those CREAM CROWD PEOPLE.

Okay fair it's a bait title. I needed your attention. Sorry xD.

I saw the question paper for the recent UGC NET exam. I felt I was being introduced to psychology (my paper 2 subject) for the first time. I cleared it in January. It was easier then. One thing I noticed was how the exam pattern for Paper I was the same. Same old questions, same old answers. I strongly believe that paper I is a low hanging fruit and to get your score from 60 to 80 in it is easier than improving your paper 2 score (psychology in my case) score by 10. Let me explain how to approach this.

PART I: LEAD (What the hell does this even mean? I have no idea. I just wanted to divide this in parts and I couldn't think of names for them.)

First up, we'll talk attack. These are the parts of the paper you should go all in on, because they are predictable. If you prepare these units well, you gain a strong edge over the competition. This involves four units: Comprehension, Data Interpretation, Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude, and Logical Reasoning.

The rule of Comprehension (only applies to UGC NET paper 1) is to never overthink it. The answer that seems like the answer is the right answer. It's so easy that it feels fake and wrong and you think the examiner played a googly and the real answer is actually not even in the options given. Bullshit! It is actually simple. Read it well, take your time and get that 10/10 here.

Then, Data Interpretation. Can you add, subtract, multiply and divide? Can you do percentages? What about ratios? If you answered yes to all, you'd secure 10/10 here. If you said no, it's fine. Mathematics is like that dog that knows you're afraid of him so he barks at you even more. Just practice it, and you'll soon find the fear evaporating. It's a sick feeling: seeing yourself do what you thought you couldn't. Don't deny yourself that. And PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DOUBE CHECK YOUR ANSWERS.

Mathematical Reasoning and Aptitude is the most fun part of the paper for me. The only fun part actually xD. One of the positives in recent years has been no annoying questions from this unit. Four of the five questions are simple, generally. One is for the well prepared. If you get a blood relation question, make a diagram. Do the same for direction sense questions. Learn the formulas for speed, distance and time. Also learn the formulas regarding simple and compound interest. Solve questions. They are NOT tough. And if look tough, know that your competitors might give in to fear and not study them. You already know fear exaggerates. You'll be fine. Coding and Decoding is ridiculously easy. I've no advice for Number Series. Sometimes you solve it, sometimes you don't, but it always eats your time. I hope the luck be with you on this one. You should definitely get 8/10 here.

Then, Logical Reasoning. This is the toughest of the scoring units. Don't study from books is what I'll suggest. They make it look so daunting, and also boring! Watch videos by Kumar Bharat on YouTube for this. This are the easy parts of the unit: Structure of Arguments, Deductive vs Inductive reasoning, Syllogisms, Major Minor and Middle term, Moods and Figures, Square of Opposition. Watch lectures. Make notes, revise from time to time. You'd secure four to six marks here. And then we move to the hard parts: Conversion Obversion and Contrapositives, Formal and Informal Fallacies (they are of medium difficulty tbf), Indian Logic (BLOODY HELL!) The good news is: most people will just leave these topics, you (hopefully) won't. And also, Questions repeat like crazy. My theory is people setting the paper don't even understand Indian logic so they just ask the same questions again and again. You can literally cram Indian Logic. Obviously, understanding helps. Search Kumar Bharat UGC NET. Go to his channel, check out his playlist on Logic. Then, search Kumar Bharat Indian Logic unacademy. Watch those videos. Note them. Study them consistently or study them one day before exam. Ten out of ten is feasible in Logic.

So in summary: Aim for 40 marks from these units. Don't settle for less than 36. You'll find all the Previous year papers on the internet. Solve them till you consistently score 40/40. That's the way. PYQs are the magic ingredient man. I know everyone says it. Such a cliche, but cliches are cliches for a reason.

PART II : MAINTAIN LEAD (Nah this is too funny)

Okay so we have 6 units left now. 30 questions. The goal is to make sure you know the answer of 18 of them at least. Then we play the guess game.

First up, Teaching Aptitude. Go to Bharat Kumar's YouTube channel. Watch the teaching aptitude playlist. Now you'll have a foundation in place to add more concepts to. And finally, PYQs. Analyze them. Let me give you an example. Question: The principle of 'the child, the school and college education itself are shaped largely by social and cultural forces was enuncited by:

1. Reconstructionism

2. Existentialism

3. Pragmatism

4. Perennialism Even if you know the answer (It's 1 btw), you may not have understanding of other options. Do you know what Perennialism means? Who are the proponents of this philosophy? That's something you can search and make a note of. The likelihood the same question will be repeated is low. But there is a chance a similar question is asked. Analyzing options helps you answer questions you haven't come across. And with AI, it's easier than ever to do so. So in summary, study the basics, and do PYQs. Should be enough to get 8 marks from this.

Next up, Research Aptitude. Same, Bharat Kumar UGC NET. Topics you'd need to study : Research ethics, with major focus on Plagiarism, Application of ICT in Research, Modernism vs Post Modernism. And then, PYQs :) Analyze them, rinse and repeat. 8/10 is usually possible from this unit. Aim for that.

Next, Communication. My advice for this unit would be to never open a book to study this. It took me more than a month to finish it. And guess how many questions were asked from the hundreds of facts i memorized? ZERO! You could watch the videos by Bharat Kumar if you feel like it, but the way to score in this unit is PYQs. It just is. Study, analyze, repeat. You may even get 10/10 from this. I've never had a question wrong from this unit.

Next up, Information and Communication Technology If there is a unit you'd wanna study thoroughly it's this. The ROI on studying ICT is great. There is a boundary to the unit, there are topics that always get asked, and if you study them sincerely you score well. One thing I noticed is they have started asking questions about AI so if you're familiar with current events in tech it helps. Study the book (assuming you have KVS Madaan) or watch the videos (you know the youtuber by now.) Then, PYQs. xD It should be obvious but when doing PYQs start with the latest question papers. Don't be an idiot who begins with papers from 2012 i.e., don't be like me 😭 The last 5 years should be more than enough.

Then we have People, Development and Environment. And why do we have people, development and environment? My advice: don't study for this. Just don't. You can't (well maybe you can, don't listen to me, I know nothing). Have you watched Kota Factory? There an episode where the protagonist shouts an intense monologue complaining about Inorganic chemistry. I could do the same for this. This is something that actually happened to me: I solved a previous year paper. Got 5/5 correct in PD&E. Then I solved another. Got a whopping zero! The funny thing was the latter was conducted on the same day in the evening shift. This January, I went with this aim that I'll just mark B for every question from the unit. Luckily I knew the answer to two questions (paid attention to my geography teacher in school) and guessed one right. Couldn't be happier with 6/10. So yeah, just solve PYQs, and pray that the force be with you. If you must, study all environmental summits and acts.

Finally, Higher Education System So people on YouTube will tell you this is the unit you should leave but I won't since I've already told you to leave the previous one. Here's the kicker, it's a long ass unit. And yet it's predicable. There is a boundary to the syllabus (unlike the previous one!) and if you go through all the major topics, you might just get 6-8/10 from this. This is what you MUST study : Institutions of Higher Learning in Ancient India, Education acts in Pre Independence and Post Independence India, and NEP 2020. Then, do PYQs. As many as you can. Go back ten years even. Analyse them.

In summary: Teaching and Research Aptitude are scoring. Communication and ICT can be scoring (put in sincere effort). Environment and Higher Education are to be survived. And if you do everything well, you should be able to get 18-20 questions right.

PART III: DEFEND LEAD (Yeah I should find shame)

January 2026, exam centre somewhere in Mohali. I'm done with paper 1. I leave some questions blank. And I marked every single one I was sure shot about. 38 questions I could guarantee were right. 12 left. I used a simple trick to mark them. I scored 88 in paper 1. That's 44 questions that I got right.

Guess work is my secret weapon, I guess. But how did I guess 6/12 questions right? The probability of getting a question right with four options is 25 percent. If one applies this to 12 questions, one should be able to get three right, probabilistically speaking.

Here's what I did. I noted down my markings for each question I knew I did right. 38 questions, 38 markings. And I noticed I'd rarely ticked A for these questions. It was 4 times I marked A. Only 4 times!

So assuming that the questions are divided in a manner that all of A, B, C and D are correct close to equal times (Obviously a wrong assumption, but a useful one nonetheless), A should be marked 12 - 13 times in 50 questions. A had only been the right answer 4 times till now. That's ridiculously low. So I marked all of my remaining questions A.

Usually your answers will be divided in a more balanced order. You won't get a chance like I did. So, it's wise to pick B or C and stick with that for the questions you don't know the answer to. You get 3/12 right let's say in my case. That's still 41/50. Solid score.

But usually, you can create some advantages for yourself. For example, if there is a match the following question and you know that A is to be marked to III and only two options show this, you have now increased your odds of getting that question right to 50 percent. If you only remove one wrong option, the odds still go from 25 to 33 percent.

I've a rule that when I'm confused between two options I go for the latter. I can't defend this logically, but this has worked well for me. Usually in paper 1, an option that is very long is also the correct one. Reason? If it wasn't correct the examiner could have found an less lengthy distractor. Find ways you can have the odds in your favor. It really helps.

And avoid being crazy with guesses. If you guess BBBBBBBBBBBB for 12 questions, you will likely get 3/12 right. If you guess DBCDBAACDBCB you invite variance. You shouldn't need the gods of fate to be kind to you. You should seek and be content with less. And it's easier to do so if you have a strong base (solid sure shot score.) Get 3-4 right and you put your score around 40. You have won paper I.

Summary: You got this! :) Okay thank you for reading. All the best!

I had my Interview at Dept of Geo for PhD admissions.

They took the interview for a grand total of 4 mins 😂

3 questions were asked :

Why did you chose this place as part of study area ?

What do you mean by a particular terminology?

Why did you changed your subject after graduation?

I cleared JRF with 99.94 percentile and all they gave me was 4 mins.

A sincere advice to all : Clearing JRF is a good achievement to put on your resume but what matters more for pursuing PhD from a central University is your college/uni of the post grad and connection with the prof.

Shared my true experience for you to consider if you are keeping this as the foremost career path.

I'm sharing whatever I have witnessed after clearing NET with JRF. If you're an aspirant and don't want any "negativity" then please stop reading.

So having cleared the exam, I had 2 options. Further studies or job. But this choice is an illusion. There aren't any options. To get a job, the current market price varies from 30 Lacs (Rajasthan) to 50 Lacs (Maharashtra). So yeah, you need to have money. They do select 10-12% candidates genuinely, but the majority of the jobs go to those who can afford that sort of money OR they have some brilliant connections (with connection too, money is still required).

Then, maybe you'll think, okay why not just get admission into a decent institution and further your studies. Yeah.. it's the same there too. Sounds absolutely insane but in order to study, you'll have to kiss people's arse, follow up multiple times, beg and pray and try to impress the interviewers (who themselves know what's going on behind the scenes, the candidates who had already been shortlisted). Chappal ghis jaengi..and for what? To study more.

And the worst part is.. there's no class solidarity among students. Every single student is facing the same issues. Cut offs increase to moronic levels, exam levels getting absurd, NTA being incompetent, even in the private sector people are treated like cattles. You have to apply to 100 companies everyday for months to get one decent job which will give you bare minimum wages and exploit the crap out of you.

And what are we doing? Getting high on the crack of post-modern identity politics.. religion, national songs, fighting holy wars, leading sectorial crusades against each other. Why? We all belong to the same broken, beaten, downtrodden class. While the top 1% of Indians own about 40% of India's wealth. And bottom 50% (which includes all of you and me) own just 6%. Why? Does my father or your father not "work as hard"? Does a farmer not work hard? Does he not "take risk" when he gambles all his family's future on monsoon? The "risk" taken by a farmer, by a middle class father, is greater than the "risk" taken by the top 1% in their businesses. If their businesses go bankrupt, they NEVER go broke. They live brilliant lives and start another one. But if a small farmer's crop is not procured at fair prices he'll die, his family will be on the streets. (At least 20 farmers die EVERY DAY) If a family-man/ woman, working in a company gets laid off, his whole life shatters. (13 people die EVERY DAY due to unemployment in india)

These aren't just numbers. These are our brothers and sisters. Our comrades.

Indian proletarians need to wake up, stop fighting ourselves and see who the real leaches are. ☭

Hey everyone,

I finally reached the goal a lot of us here are grinding for: I cleared the exam back in June and recently started my journey as an Assistant Professor. But to be completely honest, the transition has been unexpectedly tough.

I had to relocate for the job, and life has quickly turned into a monotonous loop. Living in a place like Greater Noida right now feels like a paradox—the city is physically sprawling and full of people, but it feels incredibly empty when you have zero attachments or roots here. The hustle of the prep days is gone, replaced by a very quiet routine.

Instead of just sitting in my flat letting the isolation get to me, I’ve decided I want to channel this downtime into something productive. The struggle of the prep is still very fresh in my mind, and I know exactly how overwhelming the final stretch before the exam can be.

So, if you are targeting the December 2026 attempt, I want to help. Let’s use this space. What are you struggling with right now?

Are you stuck on specific units or literary ages?

Having trouble balancing Paper 1 and Paper 2?

Need help with revision strategies, resource hunting, or mock test analysis?

Drop your questions, doubts, or even just your study rants in the comments. I've got the time, the recent experience, and I'd love to help guide you guys across the finish line. Let’s do this together.

Nearly 600 names on the list. I walked into the interview hall, where five professors were waiting. They questioned me about my research, methodology, literature review, academic background, and what I had been doing all these years.

It was quite an experience, almost like defending a thesis before even getting admitted. Honestly, I wasn't expecting such an intense academic interrogation.

But what really stayed with me was the sheer number of applicants. Nearly 600 people competing for limited research opportunities. It makes me wonder what is happening to higher education in our country. Are we producing more aspiring researchers than our institutions can accommodate, or are we simply failing an entire generation of intellectually curious people?

Perhaps the problem is much deeper than we think.

Anyway, I have a weakness for people who can hold a genuinely stimulating conversation. History, philosophy, politics, literature, intellectual disagreements — I'm all in.

Although, I must confess, I'm not always as academically well-behaved as my research interests might suggest. I appreciate a sharp mind, a wicked sense of humour, and conversations that occasionally wander into rather inappropriate territory.

Credits

Qualifying UGC NET opens up several career paths, but not everyone has the same goal.

Some aspire to become Assistant Professors, some want to pursue research through a PhD or JRF, while others plan to move into industry or corporate roles using their subject expertise.

If you qualify UGC NET, which path would you choose and why?

Would love to hear what you're working towards and what influenced your decision.

Wrote about DU experience. Now sharing my JNU experience.

The interview duration was about 10-12 mins.

Questions focused mainly on the topic of the Proposal and basics related to it. Few questions about choice of methodology and statistical methods

For ex - Why have you chosen these 3 cities ? ; What is urbanization as per census ? Are the cities in study area comparable ? What is Ecological fallacy ? What is Local moran's I ?

I think i didn't do enough bcoz i was not able to defend my city choices well.

Also i defined "urban place" instead of urbanization which the panel pointed & then berated me left right & centre.

My performance was poor as per me & there is no hope of selection, however the chance was fair unlike DU.

State university ke forms bharta hu ab 😭

For more mind maps of paper-1, comment the topic name..

I gave my interview on 27th oct 2026, so it's basically a formality for insiders, and for outsiders it's difficult to get in there. I had to give two rounds of interview in which round A consisted of questions regarding ”research methodology” and round B consisted of your core subject knowledge and the proposal you have prepared”. It went well. It's very basic knowledge check nothing special or difficult but that's not all, some one from the staff told me that you need to be an insider and also you should have prepared your research proposal under the guidance of someone from that particular university you wish to go to, otherwise it's a waste. The professor has already selected their candidates so all of this interview drama is a formality. And even the students who were in touch with the teacher told the same. Good luck everyone!

Maybe next year.

Having cleared UGC NET in my very first attempt and qualified for JRF in my second, I want to share one piece of advice with all the aspirants preparing for this exam.

**Focus on solving as many Previous Year Questions (PYQs) as possible for both Paper 1 and Paper 2.**

Don't run blindly after completing the entire syllabus. Instead, study PYQs so thoroughly that you understand not only the correct answers but also every option—why it is correct, why the others are incorrect, and what concepts they represent.

Keep practising PYQs alongside your preparation. If you have notes or recorded classes, make sure to revise them regularly to strengthen your conceptual understanding.

Remember, it's not just about how much of the syllabus you complete, but how deeply you understand what you've already studied.

You can ask me If you have any doubts regarding your preparation.

please seniors can you guide me about future prospects ,