JEE Main Topper Interview: Insights from JEE Main 2024 Topper Arjun Avinash Shinde, Scoring 99.98 Percentile

Arjun Avinash Shinde, the JEE Main 2024 topper who achieved a remarkable 99.98 percentile in the exam shares his preparation strategy, college he wants to get into and the course...

Arjun Avinash Shinde, the JEE Main 2024 topper achieved a remarkable 99.98 percentile in the exam. His extraordinary performance has garnered attention nationwide, and today, we have the opportunity to delve into his journey, strategies, and aspirations.

Q: Congratulations on your result! What was your reaction when you came to know about your rank?

Arjun: I was elated, as I was expecting good marks, but this was elating. I scored 285 out of 300 marks, which is the 99.986th percentile.

Q: When and how did you decide to pursue B.Tech?

Arjun: So, the first thing that came to my mind was that I would like to take up science for my future and then I decided to join FIITJEE as it was the most appropriate coaching institute. Also, I had a knack for Physics, which also led me to engineering.

Q. Tell something about yourself, your family, and the school from which school you study.

Arjun: I studied at Ahlcon Public School, located in Mayur Vihar, Delhi. My father is an architect who runs his own company, and my mother works as a dentist, but now she has been a housewife since I reached class 12, as she prefers to look after me rather than continue her job.

Q: When did you start preparing for JEE and what was the strategy?

Arjun: My 10th-grade result was the main factor in determining that I should go for the science stream. I started preparing for JEE in the 11th grade itself, but before that, I had been attending various coaching institutes. So, you could say that 10th grade was the major turning point.

Q. And what was the strategy of your preparation?

Arjun: My strategy had never been solely for JEE Mains; I was a sole aspirant for advanced, and my dream is to get into IIT Bombay. So my major focus was on solving tough questions from various books and various test series. So now, I guess, for the JEE Main exam, you need to change your strategy a little bit. Practice, solve previous papers, and develop the speed and consistency required to ace the exam.

Q. What were your strong and weak areas?

Arjun: Oh, my strong and weak areas, basically, my strong point was memory because I tend to remember most of the things I study and my weak point was my mental aptitude for mathematical abilities. So because of it, my chemistry was a little bit like other subjects. But I would like to say that this was kind of surprising because the percentile in chemistry was a bit lower than my percentile in physics and math, even in JEE Main Session 1, so that was a little bit surprising.

Q. Which Books did you refer to for JEE Mains preparation?

Arjun: I just bought so many books, but I never really studied from so many books, I thought that my coaching material was just quite sufficient in itself, but other than that, I practised NCERT books really, sincerely. I thought they were the main books that helped me prepare during the last month of the JEE Main exam because this exam is known for asking direct questions from NCERT. And I say it has helped me a lot, in various subjects like modern physics, like you can see other subjects like chemistry, but I would say that in maths the NCERT doesn't really help much.

So for math, you'd have to refer to various study materials, like the AITS by FIITJEE or some other books.

Q: When did you start taking full-length JEE mock tests?

Arjun: This started in December after December 25, approximately around the time of the new year, I decided to go for two or three tests a day, so I could develop the speed before session one, I was like studying like 10 hours a day, that was a thing was like I was not in a mood to give them to the full length, I just gave two hours for one paper and then submitted it, because I wanted to get like develop the speed.

Q. So how did you balance your JEE Preparation with the board exams?

Arjun: I don’t think there is any special necessity for preparing for the board exams, you can just go on preparing for the JEE Advanced exam, and in the last 10 days, you can do it for most of trading. But I don't really recommend it to anyone who's not really interested in going to some very high ranks. So the boards can be balanced. It's not as difficult as they tend to say.

Q: During your rigorous preparation journey, how did you unwind yourself?

Arjun: I used to play a lot of sports, Badminton and also Swimming, even now I go swimming with my brother in the morning and play Badminton in the evening.  These sports activities used to make me more energetic and active.

Q: Which is your dream engineering college and branch? What do you want to do after your Engineering?

Arjun: I am aiming for the IIT Bombay Computer Sciences course. My dream is to become a Billionaire. But before that, I want to develop a phenomenal understanding of the subjects in computer science because like from my childhood, I had a deep interest in the subjects of computer science, because machine usually tends to fascinate me. So I think IIT Bombay is the best-known college for this.

Q. And last thing is what would be your suggestion for students who are going to take JEE Mains next year?

Arjun: Actually, I don't think I'm really fit for this. But I would say that you should not spend your time on mobile phones and various other social media platforms. The main thing that helps most toppers is their ability to control themselves and control themselves of distractions. And this is what has helped me and I will say most of my peers even I've never seen them, like get addicted to mobile phones or playing games. So I think that's pretty necessary to control yourself.