Despite being from a family of doctors, Samarth Patel chose to be an IITian. The journey to convince his parents was not easy, but being a sportsperson, he did not give up and convinced them. “I was not a bright student till Class 8, but I had a knack for physics and mathematics and with my parents' support, I decided to pursue engineering,” said Patel who scored 99.9986 percentile in the JEE Main 2023. Patel's preparation for JEE started from class 9 where he practiced and attempted various olympiads. “Having a particular interest in physics, I enjoyed solving numerical,'' he said, adding that by class 10 he opted for coaching to align his preparation with the needs of JEE. “By the time I was in class 11, I excelled in both physics and mathematics. My focus then turned towards chemistry,” said Patel. Dedicating eight hours daily to self-study, he allowed breaks and made a flexible schedule to adjust according to school examinations, leisure and social activities. The balanced approach allowed him to study efficiently and grasp concepts thoroughly. He started his dedicated preparation from class 12 by incorporating time for all subjects with a special focus on chemistry. Solving the previous year's questions followed by coaching material helped him significantly improve his preparation, claimed Samarth. “Relaxing and reducing study hours a few days before the exam helps to stay calm and perform well,’’ said Patel who ranked AIR 77. Sharing an incident that put him under pressure, Patel said that he reached the examination hall late due to rainfall. The delay caused him some unwanted mistakes in paper one. “Nevertheless, I performed well in Paper two” he said, adding that before his exam, he prepared the strategy to attempt chemistry first, followed by physics and mathematics. An aspirant needs NCERT books, previous year questions, and mock tests to clear the JEE, said Patel. “I prepared so well for the exams that during JEE Advanced preparation, my syllabus was covered. So I focussed on mock tests. I used to analysis high-quality coaching material to solve the questions,” said Patel who was among the five students to visit Australia for an International Science Call. With inputs from Josh Talks (joshtalks.com)
