No TN candidate among top IIT-JEE rank holders

Although Madras Zone came out with good results in the IIT-JEE (Advanced) examinations, none of the candidates from Tamil Nadu could secure ranks in the top 50.

Sooraj Narayanan of Chennai stood first in the State with an All India rank of 54. S Aravindakshan (rank 91) and G Kaushik (100) were the other students who were ranked in the top 100 in the State. Another low point in the ranking this year is that there has been no girls in the top 100.

From Tamil and Pondicherry, a total of 468 candidates cleared the exam. Though the figure falls far below that of Andhra Pradesh with over 3,000 successful candidates, the number is better when compared to the State’s performance in the previous year. Last year, only about 200 students in the state cleared the exams.

Meanwhile, the successful candidates in the State, most of them from Chennai, gathered at Maharishi Vidya Mandir, were they were seen celebrating their success.

Sooraj, the State topper, said the tricks to crack the exam are not always conventional. “During the week just prior to the exam, I reduced my studies. I was only revising. And, two days before the exam I did not study at all’’, Sooraj said.

S Aravindakshan, went on to say a movie a week is good for your studies! “You need to take a lot of breaks between studies, but it shouldn’t be for too long.” But, they are quick to add that clearing the exam is no cakewalk. Sooraj has been preparing for his IIT exams since his 9th standard. “I used to study 4 hours every week day and about 8-10 hours during the weekends,” says Sooraj, who aspires to work for ISRO.

However, one thing all of them agree on is that the new format of the examination, aimed at reducing pressure, has only added to it. “Now, it is so much more pressure. Earlier you had to concentrate only on the IIT-JEE Mains. Now you have to concentrate on three exams, the CBSE exams, IIT-JEE Mains and IIT-JEE Advanced,” says Kannan V, who passed the exam with the 453 rank.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com