Medical aspirants who wrote the undergraduate test conducted by the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMED-K) on Sunday said Chemistry paper was easy, while Physics was lengthy and tough. Physics is said to have had 15 problem-based questions out of 60.
“Chemistry was easy as questions were mostly drawn from Class 11 and 12 syllabus. I found Physics tough. COMED-K papers were a lot easier than the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) question papers,” said Ranjani from Tamil Nadu, who wants to study MBBS.
Jazna J from Palakkad, Kerala said she attempted all the 120 questions as there was no negative marking.
“Physics was difficult as it had many problem-solving questions,” she said.
Jazna added that she prefers the state-based exam, which is less competitive than the NEET.
“Besides, I have performed very well in my state exam.”
J S S Prasad, a parent from Hyderabad who accompanied his daughter for the entrance exam, said the last six months have been a “period of agony for students and parents alike.”
When asked his preference, his choice was NEET as it is “centralised and transparent.”
‘Mistakes in Paper’
Engineering aspirants said they were surprised with the mathematics paper that had “wrong and incomplete questions.” Mangalam, an aspirant from Patna, Bihar, who wrote the test at MES College in Malleswaram, said Mathematics paper was lengthy and pointed out at the mistakes in the question paper. “There were three wrong questions and one incomplete question,” he said. Some students went as far as demanding bonus marks for the mistakes in the question paper. Shwetha Singh, an Assamese student, said, “No one seems to understand the stress students undergo. Either the paper is tough or filled with mistakes. It is only fair for us to get extra marks in Mathematics.”
A S Srikanth, chief executive, COMED-K, urged students to challenge the answer keys for Mathematics. “We are helpless about this issue as our question papers are based on the existing syllabus,” he said.
COMED-K is conducted for nearly 20,000 seats in 12 medical, 25 dental and nearly 150 engineering institutions in the state.
Nearly 83 per cent out of 88,726 students wrote the test. As per the instruction of the Supreme Court, which has reserved its judgment over the validity of NEET for medical and dental courses, only answer keys for engineering subjects will be announced on the website www.comedk.org.