"Desire is the key to motivation, but its
determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a
commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."

- Mario Andretti

Life is designed in such a manner that at every crossroad that comes your way, you are faced with a choice. Oftentimes, these crossroads are aplenty especially in your academic life as a student. After you graduate from high school and clear your SSC Exams, the first choice that you are faced with is to choose between Science, Arts or Commerce streams. Whichever stream you opt for, the presence of choices in it remains constant. Especially if you happen to be a student of the HSC Board and are preparing for the second academic milestone of your life.

These choices come in the form of numerous entrance examinations, a few, in particular, are NEET UG, JEE Mains and MHT-CET. All of these entrance exams are extremely competitive in nature and a good rank in these becomes a deciding factor in terms of the college that you will be admitted into. In a way, ensuring a great score in either NEET UG or JEE Mains or MHT-CET will help you get into the country's most coveted engineering and medical colleges. These facts multiply the importance of the exams in every student's life, appearing for HSC Maharashtra Board Examinations.

All of the above-mentioned entrance exams are conducted either once or twice a year. And, mostly their dates are set to be around two to three months after the HSC board examination is concluded. For instance, if the NEET UG exam is going to be held in the month of May, an HSC board student will have only over two months of time for dedicated preparations. This is the reason why many HSC students start preparing for exams like JEE Mains and MHT-CET well before they even enter Std. 12th. At the same time, another line of thought is becoming quite popular lately. Many students have begun to opt for gap years, better known as taking a break from their student life to prepare for entrance examinations like NEET UG, MHT-CET, and JEE Mains.

Read our blog on How to Start your preparation for JEE Main in Std 11th standard

Let's take the case of Rohini Sharma, who is Std. 12th student. She aspires to be a heart surgeon someday and has taken the subject combination of PCMB (Physics, Chemistry, Maths, and Biology) for the same. She has decided that she will appear for the entrance exam of NEET UG in order to get admission into India's best medical colleges. As the year progresses, she begins to realize that one year for the preparation of both HSC and NEET UG would not be sufficient. For the same, she contemplates taking a gap year so that she could double up her efforts and be able to give her undivided attention to preparing for both exams. While she has made the decision, she still finds herself in a dilemma about the correctness of it. She begins to wonder whether she is missing out or will fall behind her peers.

Sounds familiar? This is quite a common dilemma today with more and more students opting to take gap years for better preparation. Regardless of whether you want to prepare for NEET UG or JEE Mains or MHT-CET, it is important to look at the Pros and Cons of taking a gap year. This you must do in order to determine whether the option, in its entirety is really worth the bet. It is said that gold medals aren't really made of gold. They're made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts. If you think you have the guts to actually take a gap year then there are many benefits to it. Firstly, you get an ample amount of time to study. This will not only streamline your preparation but also help you gain better insights into your strengths,

Looking for the best books to refer to for JEE Main entrance exam? Well, then read our blog to know about the best book for PCM. Also, read How to tackle Physics for NEET UG 2019? Tips to Study and Preparation Strategy

You will be able to recognize your weaknesses and work on improving them. This will allow you to effectively turn them into strengths. The end result of taking a gap year? You will be able to get excellent scores in both HSC Boards as well as entrance exams. Just like a coin has two sides, taking a gap year also has a few downsides in addition to its upsides. This year if you choose to go ahead, will put you in the position of being entirely accountable. It becomes your responsibility to ensure that you study and not let the efforts go to waste. Additionally, it also offers you a big challenge in the form of your peers who will move on ahead of you, academically.

This blog post has been penned down with a biased focus towards all the students of Sciences just like you. The year of HSC is one of the most crucial years of your academic life. This is the case not just because of the fact that it will become the deciding point for the rest of the future of your career. It is more so important because of the many entrance examinations that you will be expected to attempt as well as excel at, in order to cement a better foundation for your future. The choice of taking a gap year or not and whether it is worth the bet or not is an extremely subjective one. The rewards here are enormous, but only if you happen to be ready to face the storm that comes with borrowing some more time.

Preparing for two entrance examinations simultaneously? Then, do read our blog on How to Simultaneously Prepare for JEE MAIN & MHT-CET Exams? | Tips & Planning

While the decision is entirely your own, we at Target Publications ensure to stay right by your side, every step of the way to your success. In keeping with the same, we offer you a world of valuable educational resources and reference materials in the form of the following:

Whatever you choose at this important juncture, our good wishes for your success will always be with you!