Medical admission test on December 18: last-minute preparation strategies that work
The government and private MBBS-BDS admission test will be held on December 18, 2026. Lakhs of students in Bangladesh have dreamed of becoming doctors since childhood. But as the exam draws near, many suffer from various kinds of uncertainty — after studying so long, it feels as if nothing is remembered, others may have prepared more, some important information may have been left out, or the questions may be difficult. On top of that, nervousness and the lack of the right strategy often force students to leave the exam hall regretting that they could not perform as well as their preparation deserved.
The biggest mistake at this time is to panic and start studying everything anew, chasing new books, new notes, or new question banks. By now, almost everyone's basic preparation should be complete. Now is the time to correct mistakes and prepare oneself finally.
Planned revision, regular model tests, and mental stability — the combination of these can take a student to the final destination. The goal now is not to read the whole syllabus again; rather, it is to revise what has already been studied, identify strong and weak areas, and improve question-solving skills.
The most effective way to assess your own position and plan future study is to take model tests. First, take chapter-wise model tests, then subject-wise ones, and separate out the things you are less prepared for or find difficult. It is best to start revision with those.
You can take exams on a mobile phone now, but without real practice in filling in the bubbles, you may face many problems in the exam hall — taking more time, filling in the wrong bubble, or not finding the remaining questions. So you should take model tests on an answer sheet several times, just like the real exam.
Whatever marks you get, do not become too satisfied or too disappointed. After every test, analyse the wrong and guessed answers. Along with knowing the correct answer to comprehension-based questions, try to understand why the other options are wrong.
Seeing other students' preparation, model test marks, or study hours on social media or at coaching centres makes many anxious. But understand that every student's learning speed, preparation style, and overall situation are different. Family expectations also often create extra pressure on a student. There is no reason to think that one bad model test has ruined the whole preparation.
By now, many have studied multiple books for the same subject. Even for the same topic, different authors' books contain different information, and they have memorised all of them. But trying to remember so much information during final revision greatly increases the chance of confusion when you see the options in the exam hall. So for each subject, you should start revision with a single reliable book as the main book. Reading a topic repeatedly from the same place builds visual memory and increases the chance of remembering it.
Biology carries the most marks, so a little more importance and time can be given to it. But the idea that the medical admission test is mainly about biology is completely wrong. It is not wise to neglect the remaining 70 marks for the sake of maximum preparation for 30 marks. There are examples of students who were not very good at biology but got into medical college through overall results by doing well in the rest.
By now, everyone should have gone through the question bank at least once. If that has not happened, now is the time to look at the questions from previous years. Solving a question bank does not mean only knowing the answer to that question; rather, you must consider which topic the question came from, which chapter it belongs to, and how the options were given, and separate out the more important topics. One thing to remember is that smart work is more fruitful than hard work. A chapter from which several questions come every year and a chapter from which one question has come in five years can never be equally important.
Things that are certain to be common must not be skipped, such as the exercise questions in the physics and chemistry books. Again, too much time should not be wasted on topics with unlimited reading, such as English vocabulary and general knowledge.
You should finish revising all subjects with at least one week in hand. Then comes the turn for full 100-mark model tests. Time management, reducing negative marking, and learning to guess correctly — these must be practised now. First, answer the questions you are 100 percent sure about. Questions that do not require much thought should be answered quickly. For example, what is the name of the covering of the heart? The answer is the pericardium. Reading the question and options and answering it takes 5 to 10 seconds.
It is better not to start with mathematical problems. If a sum does not match, do not waste too much time on it, because there may be an error in the question itself. For questions with a 50-50 chance, think about the risk-benefit ratio. In some cases, apply the ‘exclusion method’ — that is, eliminate the options that cannot be the answer. Then what remains is the correct answer. Questions you do not know at all should be skipped. At the end, with enough time remaining, count whether you have answered enough to reach the cut mark.
The cut mark of the medical admission test varies every year, so it cannot be predicted in advance. For all types of questions, 80+ can be considered a safe zone. But there are records of the cut mark coming below 60. So if you score less on difficult questions, do not panic in the exam hall and fall into the trap of negative marking by answering recklessly. There are 200 marks from SSC and HSC GPA. If someone has a low GPA or is taking the exam for a second time, they must do extremely well in the admission test to make up for the shortfall in marks. In that case, keeping varsity admission preparation as a backup plan is also advisable.
The day before the exam, keep the necessary documents, admit card, pens, and travel plan ready. Have a clear idea about the centre and the time. At the start, check whether the answer sheet or the question paper has any tears, unclear writing, or any other problem. However good or bad the preparation, the deciding factor for success is the performance in the exam hall. The medical admission test is a kind of mind game alongside testing knowledge. Keeping your nerves calm is the most challenging part. Some questions will be of the ‘which of the following is not true’ type. If you are not careful, the word ‘not’ may escape your eyes. Again, the options may each be a complete sentence. They will look difficult and take more time. But if you look with a cool head, you will understand that these are all things you have studied before, only presented in a slightly twisted way. Do not break down if a question looks difficult. Everyone is taking the same question paper. A difficult question means it is difficult for everyone overall. And every time you fill in a bubble, you must match the question's serial number with the number on the answer sheet. There is no need to look at what others around you are doing. To reduce stress, you can do breathing exercises if needed. Without unnecessary thoughts, keep faith in yourself and apply the knowledge you have gained over so many days properly.
At this time, take care of your physical and mental health. Adequate sleep, regular meals, light exercise, and walking help maintain concentration. There is no benefit if studying too late at night reduces the quality of the next day's study. The real player in the exam hall is the brain. So do not exhaust the brain by putting more pressure on it than it can bear. Losing confidence sometimes or having a nervous breakdown is quite normal. Try to stay mentally cheerful with the help of your family, spending some time talking with friends, and doing hobbies. Many times, social media creates mental pressure and destroys concentration. In that case, it is best to take a complete break from social media until the exam is over. The medical admission test is like any other exam. But it is tied to the dream of seeing yourself in a white apron with a stethoscope around your neck, and to the long-held hopes of many families. May the dream come true by sharpening preparation with the right strategy in the final moments. Best wishes to the country's future brilliant doctors. Advice given by Shahjia Shahrin Anika, MBBS (Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College), BCS (Health), Assistant Surgeon, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
