JAIPUR: Jaipur boy Mridul Agarwal has topped the IIT entrance exam — JEE-Advanced. Results were announced on Friday. Agarwal created history by achieving the highest-ever percentile in the test — 96.66%. He is the first in history to top both JEE-Mains and JEE-Advanced. Agarwal scored 348 out of 360 in the JEE-Advanced. A total of 41,862 candidates qualified in JEE-Advanced, of whom 6,452 are female candidates, according to officials.
“Self-motivation, hard work, approach towards mistakes, and blessings of all are the factors behind my achievement,” said Agarwal. “Like other successful individuals, I too had put in effort, time and energy. Achieving the goal gives me a feeling of satisfaction,” he told this newspaper.
Celebrations started at his Jaipur home soon after the results were out. Mridul scored 300 out of 300 in the March attempt, after achieved 100 percentile in the February attempt as well. The topper said he likes to study systematically for 6-8 hours a day other than the coaching hours. “I made good use of my time during lockdown and was constantly getting guidance from teachers. My mother and teachers motivated me a lot,” he said.
Agarwal did schooling from Jaipur’s St Xavier’s. His next goal is to join B Tech at IIT Bombay and a world-class institute in the future for advanced studies. “I am planning to do B Tech in computer science from IIT Bombay. I want to go to one of the world’s top universities such as MIT,” he said.
Sharing his long-term plan, the JEE-Advanced topper said he wants to contribute to the tech development and education sector in India so that the potential of future generations can be utilised in India itself. Kota institutes have once again proved their supremacy. Seven of them made it to the top 15 and 25 in the top 50. Among female candidates, Kavya Chopra from Delhi zone topped with 286 out of 360.