The JEE Advanced Examination of 2019 concluded two years ago on June 2019 when the results of the examination was announced. Precisely 1,61,319 aspiring candidates from all over India gave the JEE Advanced Examination in hopes of getting into India’s most prestigious engineering colleges like the 23 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) colleges, as well as the Indian Institute of Space Technology (IIST) or the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). 2019’s JEE Advanced examinations was hosted by IIT Roorkee, and out of the 1 lakh candidates who appeared in both papers, a total of 38,705 students qualified the JEE Advanced Exam (and 5356 of the qualified candidates were female!).

Out of the 38k plus students who qualified, there were toppers who stood out among the rest. Gupta Kartikey Chandresh of Maharashtra was the AIR 1 topper of JEE Advanced from the male section, and Shabnam Sahay of Ahmedabad was the AIR 1 topper from the female section. 

It is common routine for candidates who top the hardest exams like JEE Advanced to be given a celebrity status whenever the results of these exams are declared. News channels, the coaching institutes of the toppers, relatives, and especially aspiring candidates who also wish to ace the JEE Advanced papers all have a plethora of questions to ask from the toppers. These questions include questions on how they prepared for the examinations, how they maintained their lifestyle while simultaneously preparing for the exam, what their secret to succeeding in such a demanding exam is, and the list of questions keep going on and on and on. 

This experience was also shared by the toppers of the JEE Advanced 2019 examinations, and one of the toppers from the male section, Himanshu Gaurav Singh of Allahabad, had a lot to share regarding his experience before, when, and after giving one of India’s toughest examinations, which serves as a golden ticket to India’s most reputed engineering universities. The AIR 2 topper, like the other toppers, was flooded with media coverage and news outlets wanting to ask him questions regarding his JEE Advanced success. Himanshu had a lot to say himself too, and he happily shared his thoughts and also gave advice to aspiring candidates too.

What he said….

• The AIR 2 topper shared that he had been preparing for almost 2 years to give the JEE Advanced exam, saying that it was ‘a dream’ for him to excel in the exam. Himanshu realized his dream of wanting to give and pass the exam ever since he developed an interest for Science as a subject (adding that he was also proficient in the subject) in his childhood, the topper started preparing for the exams as early as his time in Class 11 & 12 too!
• Just like most JEE Advanced toppers, Himanshu started off his JEE exam preparations by joining coaching institutes. He first joined a FITJEE coaching institute in his hometown of Gorakhpur before transferring to a South Delhi based FITJEE institute, he did all this during his high school years.
• The AIR 2 topper attributed a huge part of his success to his determination, hard work, and the consistent drive & energy he kept in himself every day during his preparation. The topper cited that he kept himself motivated to study everyday by simply believing in himself, also saying that his friends led him on to study every day.
• As for how to properly practice problem-solving books, Himanshu advised that candidates should properly cover a book without leaving any questions behind, he further shared that students should do every question at least once.
• An important thing that Himanshu noted was that despite his hard work, he also prioritized taking breaks too. He shared that he would spend at least an hour walking outside, emphasizing that listening to music & using your phone while walking should not be done.
• Himanshu also advised that one should also improve their reading skills too, this is because reading trains the brain to analyze words quickly, and this can in turn help a student quickly analyze questions in the exam.
• An interesting fact that Himanshu shared was that he spent a mere 3-4 hours studying just 2 weeks before the JEE Advanced exam, contrary to popular belief that students should put in more hours as the exam date gets closer!
• Remembering formulas, concepts, and reactions (from chemistry) is a lot of work for the brain to do, Himanshu suggests that students should keep on practicing everyday regardless of the amount of content a student will have to remember. The AIR 2 topper explains that reading through the formulas & concepts just once isn’t enough because students will not be able to apply these when the time actually comes to use them.
• A lot of students are tensed up the day before the exam, and it just gets more stressful for them. Himanshu tackled this advice by not studying the day before the exam at all! He explains that recalling everything he learned the day before would just make him more stressed, so he did not bother and he just “fooled around the house”. He also shared that he started reading novels just a week before the exam, so it is advised to loosen up on the last day before the exam.

Conclusion

Himanshu’s amazing feat during the 2019 JEE Advanced exams is applaudable. Candidates who also aspire to not only pass the exam but also become one of the few AIR toppers can do it too! 

An ever-lasting advice for students is to always revise and make notes of what they studied so that they can develop their retention span. Students can either make these notes by themselves or take the help of ready-made notes too. The benefits of using ready-made revision notes are plenty, students are provided with top quality study notes, well-detailed tables about hard concepts, numbered topics, coverage of important topics etc. IIT aspiring students can also get study notes of all the important JEE syllabus subjects, this includes Chemistry study notes, Physics study notes, and even the Mathematics study notes.