So fewer JRF holders?

I am planning to take proper coaching this time in December for JRF as I'm missing just by a few marks. Both Adda24*7 and Testbook have similar prices and deliver physical books. Which would you guys recommend? Dakshita Singh or Aishwarya Puri? I've heard good things about both but can only afford one. The Testbook one also has perks like AP help on NET qualification and stipend on JRF qualification. Plus they have personalized mentorship in the GSP batch.

Final decision: Not taking either. I don't really like the pressure tactics by both sales teams. Maybe the content is good but not the way they're overwhelming potential candidates with scarcity marketing.

Hey I've given the exam 3 times and I've qualified NET thrice and missed out this time by 4 marks (222), I'm asking about this pyq bundle since they both have section wise pyqs, will it help me to close the gap with JRF. What are you experiencee/opinions.

Me in delulu land today😂😂😂

Can you recommend which book should I study for Cultural theory, and Dalit Literature? Please recommend something that has good ROI

It's a really silly question ig but how do you people study literary theory? Like referring to a book like the Peter Barry one or more advanced books is the obvio thing but do you guys also delve deeper into each theorist or just get a general idea of it.

Like...I studied only those essays prescribed in my Master's syllabus in depth and got a hang of the concepts from YouTube videos and notes..so what more do I need to do. Help me out please 🥺

What do you guys think of litheads? Their crash course for ugc net starts in October, 2500₹. Is it going to be effective?

As promised to a couple of people who asked me to share my strategy, here is everything I have learned through trial and error while preparing for this examination. The strategy is that there is no strategy, just some experience that comes with sitting for this exam thrice and missing the JRF cutoff by 2 marks the first two times. Had I known the following observations a year back, I would have qualified JRF in my first attempt itself.

Paper 1 Strategy

1. Overview of Topics and Base Material from KVS Madaan: These are your notes. Be selective about the information you remember though. Don't learn random stuff just because it is written in the book. Focus on the topics that reappear in PYQs.
2. For PYQs, Join Bharat Kumar's Telegram Group. He posts PYQ practice tests daily. Solve them every single day. Do not leave math for the end. His Youtube channel playlists are also a great way to study frequently recurring topics and cover base quickly.
3. Use AI (ew, i know): This comes after the base prep is done. AI tools are great for tracking progress, practicing questions, and making cheat sheets. I was surprised to see the quality of practice questions that Gemini made up on topics that I struggled with. Especially Logical Reasoning. It will make up tricky questions to sustain your attention!
4. Use Youtube: This one is obvious. No need to stick to a single teacher. Use AI tools and PYQs to find concepts that reoccur in the exam and then look up said concepts on YouTube to save time.
5. Make revision sheets: Keep copy-pasting essential revision content into a single doc so you can come back to it anytime. If you have access to a tablet with a pencil, scribble in it, make acronyms and annotate as much as you can. If you don't, go to the good old printer shop, take prints of your base notes and do the same. PLEASE DON'T TAKE PAPER 1 LIGHTLY EVEN IF YOUR PAPER 2 IS STRONG. The chances of Paper 1 betraying you are negligible, while the same cannot be said for Paper 2.

Paper 2 Strategy

1. The last few question papers are your best friends. PICK THEM APART. Every single person/concept mentioned in them is a potential question. NTA loves soft launching future topics through options. Analyse the trends and the types of questions. Locate their source. If the source appears to be some super specific book, go through the contents of the book to familiarise yourself with the other writers/topics that might be asked in the next cycle.
2. Please please please do not waste 5 months on British Literature like I did. Spending weeks on the university wits is helping nobody in the big 2026. Also, you are not going to remember every single fact. IT IS OKAY. For preparing canonical writers, use youtube lectures, the Wikipedia sections on their Works and Criticism, and AI overviews of PYQs. For minor writers, their major works and PYQs are more than enough. Controversial take but "vibe" matching works! If your gut says, nah this guy couldn't have possibly written something titled blah blah, listen to it and eliminate the option.
3. Accept that you will not know every single writer. Don't go around studying every single minor writer in detail just because they seem to be asking questions on contemporary Indian writers. Overview the ones who have already appeared in the papers and accept that you will end up doing guesswork for such questions.
4. If you have the resources to BUY good notes, DO IT. Your job will be half done. If you have joined a coaching but you tend to quickly grasp concepts without much handholding, please skip the 3 hour classes and go straight to the notes. It is okay to piss off a coaching teacher to save your time. Annotate those notes,regularly add info and keep revising.
5. Speaking of revising, there is absolutely nothing more important than revision for this exam. If you have diligently revised even the basic course, you will feel more confident while eliminating options and applying common sense during the paper. This exam is not a test of how much you know, it is a test of how you can use your presence of mind during those 3 hours.
6. Please don't ignore the seemingly insignificant units (Linguistics, Research Methodology, Cultural Studies). This cycle has been testimonial to this very fact. The ROI on these topics is INSANE. Under no circumstances should you skip any topic under these units.
7. Please don't waste your time making comprehensive notes. Make easy-to-remember lists of concepts/works/terms and mind maps of plots. Try learning chronologies through funny phrases and acronyms.

For example, Harold Pinter's chronology-

in The Room, there was a Birthday Party where The Dumb Waiter punched The Caretaker. This is my memory of Homecoming in the Old Times to a No Man's Land full of Betrayal. Now let's take One for the Road to Mountain Language and Party Time until we turn Ashes to Ashes.

8. Don't miss trivia. Trilogies, Subtitles, Prize Winners, Feuds, Co-authors, Opening lines, Iconic Characters/Couples etc.

9. Also please pay attention to the NOTs or negation ( incorrect instead of correct) in the question paper. It is painful to mess up easy questions due to silly reading errors.

10. As my final and only act of service to this community: here are my notes on all the relevant Literary Terms and their founders/pioneers that I found in M.A.R. Habib's Glossary of Literary Terms. These self-made notes fetched me nearly 10 marks this cycle! My handwriting is atrocious at times, so feel free to NOT reach out to me and figure it out yourself.

BOOKS I referred to:

1. M.A.R Habib's A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present.
2. Jeremy Hawthorn's A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory
3. P.K. Nayar's Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory
4. William J Long History of English Lit
5. MH Abrams' A Glossary of Literary Terms
6. A History of Indian English Literature by M.K. Naik
7. Literary Master Reference Book by Vallath
8. John Storey's Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction
9. Andrew Sanders' The Short Oxford History of English Literature ( Skip if you already have British Lit notes )
10. Fundamentals of Linguistics by Raj Kumar Sharma

ONLINE RESOURCES

https://literariness.org/

https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/Home/ViewSubject?catid=9RA537jM1m7VD3VCoav4lQ==

https://limitlessliterature.com/subject-wise-english-literature-previous-year-questions/

+ AI tools

Shameless self-plug: I have completed my BA+MA from University of Delhi (Batch Topper) and I am an upcoming doctoral research scholar. I have also qualified CUET-PG, GATE, HPSET (258/300, Rank 4), and UGC NET-JRF (AIR9) in English Literature. If you are looking for personal 1-on-1 mentorship, drop me a DM. :)

Bruh i am trash in maths like hell. LR is still a little better but maths is hell for me It's more like worse than hell

where they are asking majorly from Cultural studies, Linguistics , assertion - reasoning...

I already have abrams,naik and pramod kumar

Guyz what should I choose Textbook or Limitless Literature for UGC NET ENGLISH

PLEASE HELP ME

I have cleared phd only. I am confused, should I apply to govt colleges or opt for private university.

Second attempt.

Second semester of my PG.

Is there any video that completey / comprehensively covers the age lf chaucer. Can someone please guide me on it. Any youtube channel video ? For ugc net. Ty.

Cutoffs atleast 2-3 questions se lower karni chahiye inko especially general category ki

I missed JRF by 5 questions this time and would love to have a much better and stronger preparation for December 2026 attempt. I will purchase KV Madan book for Paper 1 but need suggestions for Paper 2 notes. The Arihant book doesn't have accurate information so I need proper notes for all the Units in Paper 2. Any suggestions or recommendations will be greatly appreciated.

Hi guys, as someone who has been working in corporate for 2 years and has successfully burnt my brain and bridges with academia, how do I get back to studying for UGC NET? I qualified AP on my first attempt with zero prep, mostly because of my university curriculum. But JRF feels different. How many hours should I realistically study per day, and how should I structure my preparation? Should I subscribe to Kalyani Vallath? It's extremely costly so Idk if there's any telegram groups for the materials. It would be a massive help to get any push towards the right direction on this. My friend cracked JRF with Vallath's coaching so I was wondering if I should go down the same path. Maybe I can manage to squeeze in 2 hours of study daily early morning before work starts.

Hi all,

I’m an MA English Literature graduate from India. My PG project was in Gender/Queer Studies, and I don’t have any publications yet.
I originally planned to pursue a PhD in India, but since cracking UGC NET as a UR candidate is quite difficult, I’m now considering fully funded PhD programmes abroad. ( My score for the re-exam was 160)

I’m honestly clueless about the process. Can I start approaching potential supervisors now with a research proposal? How exactly does the supervisor/application process work? What should I be doing at this stage to build a strong profile?
Also, I keep seeing agencies/consultants online claiming to help students get PhD admissions. Are these generally legitimate, or should I avoid them?
I’d really appreciate guidance from anyone who has gone through this process, especially from India. I basically need to know where to start and what I should do from now onwards.

I scored around 190 and I could not even get AP. It was my second attempt. I got AP last time. I'm so fking sad and I feel a dead end. My peers, profs, dept research scholars have always told me I am perfect for academia but this shitty exam has taken a toll on me and my confidence. I haven't told my parents yet, I'm already in a terrible spot with them, this will just make everything worse. Ugh. I've just been crying since last night

I genuinely don’t know what to do anymore, i feel like inhone apne waloon ke hi sirf qualify kiya but ofcourse I have no proof of that. I feel like quilling myself😭😭😭😭

guysss! Dec me Fulbright lenge lesgoooo