Seventeen-year-old Avik Das is one of those few candidates who cracked the NEET UG 2024, JEE Advanced 2024, and West Bengal JEE 2024 in a single attempt. Das wants to take admission to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru and aims to be an astrophysicist. The 17-year-old boy wants to pursue a BS-MS in Physics programme and is also keen to pursue research in astrophysics. “Since my childhood, I have been interested in celestial bodies, space, stars, galaxies, supernovae, and black holes. It was in Class 5 when I used to read Stephen Hawking's books that inspired and attracted me to become an astrophysicist,” said the boy was also a WB HS state topper in Class 12 with a percentage of 99.2. NEET UG 2024 Result | Result highlights | What led to 67 AIR1s? | 67 AIR 1, but 1 topper? | Increase in cut-off | Amina Kadiwal | Tathagat Awatar | Lung disease survivor Divyansh | “My goal was to get admission into IISc and the process to get into the BS-MS course has four gateways primarily —JEE Main, NEET, JEE Advanced, and IAT. Most of the students prepare for JEE or NEET but I thought that if I clear both the exams then I will have maximum chances to get admission into IISc,” said the ranker who achieved AIR-7 in WBJEE. The preparation for JEE, NEET and WBJEE is not an easy task. Initially, his parents too hesitated considering that it can put "additional burden" on him but later they trusted his determination to get admission in IISc. “I opted for Allen online coaching programme for the preparation and followed a strict routine. I took studies as my first love so I had no issues covering the subjects. For biology and chemistry, I made sure that every concept and words from NCERT are clear in my mind. I solved thousands of previous years' questions. This helped me gain confidence,” said the boy who cracked the JEE Advanced with a CRL of 69. “In the morning I used to get up at 7 or 7:30 am and then study followed by mock tests, coaching, and self study. I used to sleep at 12 midnight," added Das who has no social media account and was using his parent’s WhatsApp to get stay connected with friends. “Both JEE and NEET require different skill sets. Like in JEE, one should have logical, numerical and mathematical capabilities to solve problems while in NEET, numerical problems are tested with physics while the main role is for memorisation of facts. So for me neither was easy,” said Avik who scored 705 out of 720 in NEET UG 2024.
