Meet JEE Main 2017 Girl Topper Vrunda Rathi

An inspiration for many, Vrunda Rathi from Nashik, Maharashtra emerged as the JEE Main 2017 topper (AIR 1) amongst girls when the exam results got declared on April 27. Securing an overall rank of 71, Rathi outperformed the 46,160 female candidates and scored 341 out of 360 in JEE Main 2017.

According to Vrunda, her preparations for JEE Main 2017 began from Class 11^th. But, unlike a lot of students, she never believed in studying for 12 to 13 hours a day to crack the exam. Her mantra for success was being stress-free and studying at her own pace.

An avid reader and a movie buff, Vrunda aims to get into IISC Bangalore to study pure sciences; contrary to most of the toppers in the country. In a quick interview with Shiksha, Vrunda talks about preparation strategies, future plans, her thoughts about coaching classes and more. Read the full interview below.

Q. Congratulations on your achievement. How do you feel being the JEE Main 2017 topper? Were you expecting it?

A. Thanks a lot. My parents and me are pretty happy. This was unexpected. I didn’t expect to be the topper amongst girls but was definitely expecting a rank within 100.

Q. How long have you been preparing for?

A. I started preparing for JEE from Class 11^th. Nothing before that. People start preparing from Class 7^th these days but I never believed followed this path.

Q. What was your preparation strategy for the exam? What is the minimum time frame needed to prepare for JEE Main?

A. It was mainly the classes that I attended regularly. I did not study for 12-13 hours like other students do. I think regular studies are enough.  I think after a point of time, if you study more than your capabilities, it does not go into your head. I studied how much I wanted to study. I never had a strict schedule of the number of hours that I should study every day. I studied at my own pace.

I think two years are enough to crack JEE. There are people who crack it in one year itself but I guess that’s a bit less. Two years preparations is optimum.

Q. What’s your strategy for JEE Advanced?

A.  I have started preparing for the exam but the major element in my studies are past years papers. They help a lot in your preparations. All the coaching institutes have these papers and they are far too difficult than the actual JEE Advanced papers. They put you in a lot of stress. It helps your prepare in an effective way and it’s better to go with the past years papers.  I have also taken a lot of mock tests at my coaching centre.

Q. What did you do to improve your weak areas?

A. I was weak in Chemistry and questions in JEE Main are mostly based on NCERT. So, I read the NCERT books multiple times. This is how I improved my weak areas.

Q. Which institute are you vying for and which is the course you aim to pursue?

A. I want to pursue a BSc programmes from IISC Bangalore. I am interested in pure sciences and IISC is the best institute in India for that.

Q. Have you taken any other exam/s besides JEE Main and Advanced?

A. Yes. Besides these two, I took Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KVPY) and bagged the  12^th rank.

Q. Do you think coaching is required to crack JEE?

A. I think coaching is a very good support to crack JEE Main and Advanced. There are people who crack the exam without coaching classes as well but it’s difficult. It’s always easier when somebody is guiding you and you are given specific instructions on what to do and what not to do. We are used to this all throughout our school life.

Q. Any tips for aspirants taking the exam next year?

A. The most important thing is to be stress free. As I said, you put in lots of hours into your studies and then forget it all. There’s no point then. Just because your friends are studying for 12-13 hours a day doesn’t mean you also have to. It doesn’t mean you can’t. Study only if you want to study. But, it’s not necessary. You should study at your own pace.

Q. So, tell us something about your family?

A. My mother is an architect and my father is engineer. I have a younger sister who is in Class 8^th.

Q. What plans for the future? What do you want to become?

A. As of now, I am planning to get into the field of research. I haven’t thought much beyond this.

Q. Tell us about yourself and your hobbies?

A. I am an avid reader and I read a lot. I am a movie buff too so I watch a lot of movies as well. I play the flute for relaxation but stopped it few months back due to my coaching classes.

With JEE Main 2017 results, the cut-off scores to appear for JEE Advanced too were released..  Kalpit Veerwal from Udaipur topped JEE Main 2017. Take a look at the JEE Main 2017 topper list here.

Also read:

JEE Main 2017 Results: Reasons behind low cut-offs decoded

JEE Advanced 2017 registrations begin; Check details

JEE Main 2017 Topper Interview: Vedant Raval AIR 4

JEE Main 2017: Students to get 4 bonus marks for wrong questions

JEE Main 2017: Key terms you should know to understand ranks and score cards