INI CET January 2025 Topper Interview - AIR 2, Dr. Soumyaditya

AIIMS, New Delhi declared the INI CET January 2025 result on November 16, 2024. Dr. Soumyaditya from West Bengal, Kolkata secured an All India Rank of 2 in INI CET January 2025 with a percentile score of 99.998. Careers360 brings you important insights on Dr. Soumyaditya’s INI CET January 2025 journey which he shared with the “Marrow”. Read the full interview with the AIR 2 INICET January 2025 topper Dr. Soumaditya in the article below.

Interviewer: Congratulations Dr. Soumaditya

Dr. Soumyaditya: Thank you so much ma’am

Interviewer: Dr. Soumya, You have achieved a rank two which is a dream of many people’s dream. Now that you have achieved that dream, how does it feel?

Dr. Soumyaditya: It’s like a dream come true both for me and my parents. When I checked the result, I couldn’t believe my eyes, nor could my parents. It was a surreal feeling, we all were so happy and excited that we even started crying. Can’t express the feeling in words.

Interviewer: How big a role did your parents play in this success of yours?

Dr. Soumyaditya: This is made possible because of the support of my parents who worked tirelessly and made lots of sacrifices. They wouldn’t let me do anything, always supported me, and arranged everything for me so that I could study a little bit more.

Interviewer: Dr Soumya, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself from where have you done your undergraduate and where you belong?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I was born and brought up in Kolkata only. I have done my schooling from South Point High School and I have studied MBBS from Medical College Kolkata the oldest institution in Asia. I consider myself to be very proud to be a student of the 184th batch of our College which holds such a great heritage in our medical history

Interviewer: Dr Soumya when did you subscribe to Marrow and was Marrow your primary source of preparation?

Dr. Soumyaditya: yes, I subscribed to Marrow quite early in my preparation. I subscribed to Marrow before starting the subjects of Community medicine. I completed some parts of the bigger subjects of the final year. I started revisiting my first and second Prof subjects which I also completed during my internship and then after that, I started giving the GTs

Interviewer: When you were watching those videos were you watching every video and were you making your own notes or did you use the printed notes?

Dr. Soumyaditya: when I subscribed to Marrow, I only got the printed notes. While watching the videos I used to mark the notes and add the extra points which I learned from the videos.

Interviewer: I got to know that this was not your first time in the INICET exam. You got a good rank in INI CET May 2024 too. Can you tell us something about that?

Dr. Soumyaditya: Yes I appeared in the NEET PG 2024 exam and INI CET July session 2024 in which I got a rank of 157 and 76 respectively.

Interviewer: why didn't you take a seat when you got selected in INI CET May 2024?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I was not getting my desired branch and college with their 76 rank so I thought that I definitely had to go for another attempt. For me, it was my last attempt, as I thought that I could not continue preparing like this forever so this was my last attempt.

Interviewer: you got a rank of 157 in NEET PG and 76 in INICET May, that's an amazing rank right? You could have got the desired Branch whatever you wanted right then did you pause in between or you were very clear that I am going to give November INICET?

Dr. Soumyaditya: When I saw my All India Rank of 76 in the INI CET 2024 May exam, I was determined that I will take November INICET with my full effort and will get my desired branch. Also, there was only a gap of around 3 months between the NEET PG 2024 and INI CET November 2024, so I thought why not try more?

Interviewer: Dr Saumya, when you were in your undergraduate and when you were watching the videos were you doing the Question Bank of Marrow also at the same time?

Dr. Soumyaditya: yes after watching a chunk of videos I solved the Q Bank. I used to watch a video of the topic and then the same day solve the MCQs of that particular topic.

Interviewer: How many times did you revise the question bank?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I have completed the entire question bank once and by that time I realised that doing the Q Bank only once will not help, I have to revise it multiple times. If only I can revise my mistakes, only then I can rectify my mistakes in the real exam. I used to bookmark the questions where I felt weak and completed multiple revision cycles.

Interviewer: When you were revising, were you revising the main video notes or were you revising the revision videos?

Dr. Soumyaditya: For the clinical subjects I always read the main videos. I read a bit quickly but I brushed through all the topics in the main videos because I didn't see much confidence in reading. After completing the main videos, I started watching the MSU videos which helped me a lot.

Interviewer: How many revision cycles did you complete during the internship phase?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I have completed three cycles for the main subjects and about two cycles for the shorter subjects.

Interviewer: How did you find the MCQ discussion videos and how did they help you get this rank?

Dr. Soumyaditya: MCQ discussion videos were like a test for me. I used to pause the video in between and make my answer. Then I used to see the explanation for it. This was a very good interactive session for me as it was relaxing for me because when I was studying from the notes, it required a lot of energy but watching MCQ discussion videos was a bit relaxing for me as I could sit back and watch them in a cool manner.

Interviewer: Were you also using the marrow pearls pdf and how did you utilise them in your preparation?

Dr. Soumyaditya: Yes Definitely, I was using the Marrow pearls as they contain selective topics and at the end of each pdf contains related MCQs. I got a very good grasp of the topics in the part and it helped me a lot

Interviewer: As you said you utilised the MCQ discussion videos and Marrow pearls pdf in your preparation. So if I ask you one feature of Marrow which you liked the most, what would it be?

Dr. Soumyaditya: The previous year's questions in the QBank are the best feature because whenever I visited the previous year's question, I found all the recall questions very authentic with an absolutely clear explanation. I utilised the previous year's questions about two to three weeks before the exam in all 19 subjects.

Interviewer: When did you start giving the GTs? And how was your rank in GTs?

Dr. Soumyaditya: From my mid-internship, I completed one cycle of revision after that I started giving the GTS. Initially, my GT rank was between 50 to 60. But after three to four months when more subscribers started giving the GTS my rank dipped and went around 400 to 500. Then I thought that I had to prepare myself more to be more exam-ready. So then I started another cycle of revision and after that brought my GT rank to 20-30.

Interviewer: How did you analyse your GT score when it dipped?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I revised more in the subjects in which my percentile was a bit low. I revised them a bit superficially and I mainly focused on my weak subjects.

Interviewer: How frequently did you give GTs?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I made it very clear that I should give the GTs live. Because if I miss it, then it becomes a liability for me to finish it later. Also as I was doing my internship, it became very hectic to manage time, hence attempting live GTs was the best thing to do.

Interviewer: As you said, an Internship can be very hectic. What did your daily schedule look like?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I used to go to college and do all my duties. Then, when I returned home and then I used to devote my time to my studies. Also, during the internship, you get some free time. I used to utilise that time too.

Interviewer: Did you appear for the INI CET mock test the national mock test which happened just before the exam?

Dr. Soumyaditya: Yes, I appeared for the INI CET mock test and got a rank of 47 in it. The mock tests are an assessment tool and one should not get demotivated or do not get overconfident by their rank in it.

Interviewer: When you were writing the exam and once you came out of the examination Hall, what was going on in your mind at that time and were you expecting a rank like this?

Dr. Soumyaditya: Definitely Not! I was very distressed after giving the exam as I thought that I made so many mistakes and some silly mistakes came into my mind that I could have done correctly.

Interviewer: How many questions did you attempt?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I attempted 190 questions.

Interviewer: You must have cross checked your answers with the recall. What rank and score were you expecting?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I didn't think so much about it. I thought that, okay the result will come let them come. I was not thinking much about the rank

Interviewer: Any advice you would want to give to all those students who didn't do that well in INICET but are now looking forward for NEET PG 2025?

Dr. Soumyaditya: I would say that continue your hard work as it will pay you in the long run because the exam is not about what you studied in the last six months or last three months, it’s more about what you have done through your entire MBBS and the internship. Many questions come directly from the work experience you get during the internship period. That is why attending your internship and gaining experience from your internship is extremely important. No video or book can give you that clinical knowledge, that you can get from the work experience.

Interviewer: Thank you so much Dr Soumya. It was so wonderful talking to you and uh have a very very bright future ahead.

Dr. Soumyaditya: Thank you so much ma'am thank you so much for your blessings and your hearty wishes