JEE Main 2020 topper Akhil Jain: Trusting NCERT books, staying away from social media helped

The National Testing Agency (NTA) released the result of the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) on January 17 night. This year, nine students have scored 100 percentile.

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Son of a business man and a homemaker, Jain will be the first from his family to join any engineering college. Like most science students, it was his love for physics and maths that made him aim for engineering entrance examinations. “I wanted to become a scientist but then my focus shifted towards engineering. I love solving maths problem and therefore everyone suggested to aim IITs as they have good innovation labs and the brightest science students join it,” said Akhil.

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Born and brought up in Kota, Akhil was always inclined towards academics. He remained a topper throughout and was sure about his performance in JEE. “I knew the paper has gone well but once the answer key was released, I was sure that I will qualify for the next level,” said he. Besides JEE, Akhil plans to appear for BITSAT.

This class 12 student did not find balancing between CBSE board exams (scheduled to begin in February) and JEE Main difficult. “There is not much difference between the preparations of both these exams. You need to thoroughly read NCERT books. The only difference is that JEE preparation demands more in-depth reading and analysing,” said Akhil.

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Even for JEE Advanced, the Kota boy’s strategy is relying on NCERT books and study materials that his coaching institute – Allen will provide. “I appeared for mock test and went through previous years papers. It is only when you keep practicing, you will be confident to attempt this exam,” he said.

CBSE class 12 exams are held in pen-and-paper mode and JEE Main online. Do you think it is difficult for students? “Since I know how to use a computer therefore, appearing for JEE Main online was easy. In class 12 exams, our answers need to be presentable to gain more marks. Therefore, I write a lot so that I have a better speed,” said he.

Unlike most teenagers of his age, Akhil believes staying away from social media helped him. He said when there are lakhs of students competing for a few thousand seats, then one has to sacrifice on their hobbies. “I love listening to music but after class 10 I decided to devote not more than 30 minutes. It was the only stress buster,” he said.