Srajan Garg Got JEE Advanced Rank 21, Tells You How He Aced JEE

Srajan Garg, JEE Advanced All India Rank 21 in year 2014, talks about his JEE Preparation and how he aced the JEE Advanced exam.

JEE preparation is a herculean task. Or at least so the students of class 11 and 12 think. What does it take to score high in the toughest engineering entrance exam JEE Advanced? How to balance school and coaching? How to score more than 300 marks in JEE? We ask all this, and a lot more, from Srajan Garg.

Srajan Garg: AIR 21 in JEE Advanced Rank

The Delhi boy topped the coveted IIT JEE exam from Delhi. He scored 303 out of 360 in the exam and got the All India Rank of 21.
This young man did his schooling from Lal Bahadur Shastri JAVM Senior Secondary School in Delhi.
JEE Advanced score – 303. He scored 113 in Physics, 92 in Mathematics, and 98 in Chemistry.
Srajan is now studying Computer Science at IIT Bombay.

To help out the future JEE toppers, Srajan shares some JEE Preparation tips and strategies.

How did you prepare for the exam?

My focus was to prepare for JEE Advanced. Frankly, I did not look much towards scoring high in JEE Mains. From the very beginning, my aim was to get a good rank in the IIT JEE Exam. Thus began my JEE Preparation for which I eventually worked hard.

How many hours in a day did you devote to studying?

From what I have learnt, the amount of time is not critical. What matters is how well you study in the time. I studied for 5-6 hours daily apart from school. In this time I made it a point to honestly study. I made short term and realistic goals. It is important that once you set these goals, you stick to it, and I did.

Students are often confused and worried about managing school, coaching and time. What do you have to say to that?

I did my schooling from Lal Bahadur Shastri school in Delhi. I do owe a lot to my family, teachers, and friends. They have been there for moral support whenever I needed most.

In a way, yes, school and travel does take up time. But this has to be managed somehow. I utilized my time well.

Is JEE coaching necessary.

I did my coaching from FIITJEE in Delhi. What I felt was that the guidance was essential. They gave a very good outline to the study material and study plan. The mentor-ship was good and helped me. It depends from student to student as to how important coaching would be for them.

What was your JEE Main result?

I scored 292 in JEE Main exam and got 92.2% in my CBSE board exam. My JEE Main AIR was 2148. I believe I under performed in the Mains exam. But that is I suppose because I was more focused on JEE Advanced. Also, I scored low in the Physical Education exam in boards which led to lower board scores. I am not really worried about that.

Between online mode of JEE and offline, which one do you prefer and why?

Nowadays students are pretty well practiced with computers and online exams. So it is not a big issue. But for an engineering entrance exam, especially JEE, sometimes we need to make diagrams. In Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, all the subjects, diagrams are often needed. In such a situation an offline mode of exam is more comfortable.

JEE Preparation tips and strategies you want to share?

Hard work is essential. There is no success without absolutely giving your 100%.
It is better to understand early on that knowing stuff and applying are two different things. You may know a topic, but may not be able to solve questions on them. But to score high in JEE, you need to know as well as apply.
Set realistic goals and stick to them.
Stay motivated and do not give up.
Practice mock tests and solve as many questions as possible of JEE exam level.

How did you prepare in the final days? What was your JEE Revision Strategy?

There is hardly any time left after the JEE Main exam. My focus was to solve JEE mock tests and test series. The last month should involve revision as follows.