Mumbai students crack the ‘toughest exam’ in India

A recent article by the Indian Express states that IIT-JEE has been ranked the ‘toughest exam’ in India. It is also the second toughest in the world, says the list compiled by Erudera, an online education search platform. The platform also assessed that the acceptance rate in IITs is only 1 per cent.

Unsurprisingly, JEE is the dream of every STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) aspirant. It promises a lucrative career, a stable job and many opportunities across domains. To fulfill their dreams, lakhs of students appear in the said examinations each year and try to deliver their best to bag the highest scores. Kundan Maiti and Arnav Bhate, students of Apeejay School, Nerul in Navi Mumbai, India, are among those who cracked the JEE Main Session – I exam with an impressive percentile. Read on, to know their story:

Kundan Maiti secured a whopping 99.96 percentile. He says, “I am happy about it. I cracked the examinations attaining 255/292. My parents and teachers are proud of me. However, I would like to re-attempt the paper to target a better score. I hope to make my overall percentile greater than this.”

Truly for these achievers, the sky’s the limit. And they are undaunted by the challenges that come in the way of their goals. Maiti says, “In future, I will also appear for JEE Advanced examinations but the big challenge is to maintain a delicate balance with my Board examinations.”

He started preparing two years ago for JEE. His strongest subject is Physics while Mathematics and Chemistry have been quite challenging for him. Interestingly, Maiti advocates taking many study breaks. He ensures to get up from his study table once every 1.5 hours. One of his hobbies include playing the violin. “Music has come as the necessary companion during my preparation. It soothed my mind. Further, I credit all my teachers and parents for the success I have achieved,” says Maiti.  

Arnav Bhate, who scored 99.89 percentile in the exam, strategised his preparation well. In class 10, he decided to prepare for JEE exams. He says, “I look up to my father and grandfather both of whom are engineers. They advised me to understand the theory first. After which, I practiced questions and kept on improving my scores. The most challenging was Mathematics and Physics was easy. Further, I am aiming at IIT Bombay this year.”

When asked if he missed out on personal events and extracurriculars to prepare, he confirmed. “I had to cut down on some social interactions and school competitions. But I never had a dull moment. During my study breaks, I listen to music, read books and self-reflect,” he says.  

His focus has been the quality of study rather than the quantity. According to him, the teachers in the school were extremely encouraging. They helped strengthen his basics in all subjects. A success mantra he sticks to is not to compromise on sleep and maintain a balanced routine.