New Delhi: Amaiya, who secured AIR 143 in JEE Advanced 2021, is bullish on securing a spot in his favourite college – IIT Delhi. Earlier, Amaiya made his family proud by getting AIR 1 in IIT-JEE Mains. He was one of the 18 students to have achieved this distinction this year. Instead of celebrating this feat he kept his head down and cleared the final hurdle. In a candid chat, Amaiya spilled the beans on his success mantras, the battle with Covid, future plans, and much more. Edited excerpts
What was your first reaction when the results came out?
The results came out on October 15, but the unofficial answer key was realised much before that. I used that answer key to calculate the probable scores obtained in the exam. So, I was pretty confident that I would get a good rank. I am sure I will be able to pursue a five-year dual degree program (B. Tech + M. Tech) in Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Delhi, which is one of my favourite colleges.
Who inspired you to pursue engineering?
My father and grandfather studied Electrical Engineering from IIT BHU, whereas my elder brother is an engineer from IIT Guwahati. He is working in the US for a start-up. He is 7 years older and I have observed from close quarters the hard work put in by him to crack the IIT code. This strengthened my resolve to clear JEE Advanced.
What’s the role that your school played in JEE Preparation?
I feel my school Apeejay Noida played a very important role in my preparation. While preparing for JEE the role of school is quite oftenly neglected as usually the method of solving the problems is different in JEE compared to school exams. The CBSE focuses more on the theoretical proofs of the commonly used formulas, whereas JEE is more inclined towards asking questions of varying levels based on those formulas. But I would like to say that the support of my school teachers throughout the 14 years I studied here at Apeejay was immense and cannot be neglected at all. Even before I started preparing for JEE, my teachers were always very supportive and always helped me in When I had to take a few holidays from school due to tests or classes at my coaching, my school teachers used to understand and granted me leave. Overall I feel whatever success I have achieved in the JEE exam would not have been possible without the constant support and the amazing foundation the teachers at Apeejay built in me throughout this very long journey. I would forever be grateful to all my teachers.
What advice would you give to an IIT aspirant?
There’s no substitute for hard work. Take constant feedback from your teachers and study consistently. . Also, take plenty of mock tests and learn from your mistakes. Lastly, have the belief and confidence in you that you can take on any challenge head on. For instance, during April this year my family and I got infected with Covid and my father had to be admitted in the hospital for 3 weeks. I too had to battle high fever, but I tried my best to keep my focus on my studies.
Tell us about your future plans?
My goal was to get into IIT Delhi and now I want to pursue B. Tech and in the fifth year I will have a better idea as to which field to pick. If everything goes well, I would like to start my own start-up. I don’t want to get stuck in a normal job.
