JEE Advanced 2017 Topper Interview: Sarvesh Mehtani AIR 1

JEE Advanced 2017 Topper Sarvesh Mehtani

Sarvesh Mehtani from Chandigarh bagged an All India Rank (AIR) 1 in JEE Advanced 2017 results, which got declared on June 11. More than him, the results left Sarvesh's parents surprised for they never expected their kid to top one of the most competitive engineering exams in the country for admissions to the premier IITs(Indian institutes of Technology).

A student of Bhavan Vidyalaya School, this topper secured 339 marks in JEE Advanced 2017 and bagged an AIR 55 in JEE Main 2017. According to him, Aamir Khan's 3 idiots and the dream to study engineering from one of the top engineering institutes of India motivated him to pursue engineering.

I was very happy but my parents were pretty speechless. After the exams, when JEE Advanced 2017 answer keys got released, I was quite sure that I would end up in the Top 5 list of JEE Advanced toppers. But, when the results got declared, my happiness knew no boundaries. 

I am from CBSE board and have completed my schooling from Bhawan Vidyalaya, Panchluka. 

Class XII Boards Marks: Physics – 95; Maths – 95; Chemistry – 97; English – 92; Physical Education – 98. My percentage was 95.4%.

JEE Advanced 2017 subject wise score: Maths: 120/122; Physics – 104/122; Chemistry: 115/122.

I had been preparing for the exam for almost two to three years. For one year, I went to school and then went ahead and joined Lakshya Coaching Institute. Once, I joined the institute, I studied for 5 to 6 hours a day with appropriate breaks till the completion of the syllabus.  

Once the revision started, we had to begin studying at nights too – from 8 pm to 11 pm. This included long breaks and sleep too. So, this amounted to 10 - 12 hours of study a day effectively including revisions.

I don’t think there is a minimum time frame to prepare for JEE. But, I guess two years are enough. Three years is better if you want to score the best.   

The preparation for both exams is different in 2 - 3 ways:

1. The paper pattern of both the exams is different.

2.  The level of difficulty is higher in JEE Advanced as compared to JEE Main.

3. There are some questions which are not given importance in JEE Main but are given weightage in JEE Advanced and vice-versa.

I took the exam in offline mode and got a rank of 55. My marks was 325 out of 360.

For my weak areas, I used to go to my teachers for study materials to be solved. I used to revise the topic again for my notes. Revision is a very important part of revision.

I appeared for BITSAT and got a score of 430 out of 486.

Well, the level of JEE is higher than NCERT books. So, I think coaching is definitely required especially for JEE Advanced. But, there are students who crack the exam without coaching and succeed too.

I did take up mock tests and sample papers extensively. Actually, your coaching institute would give an extensive amount of sample papers as tests to you.  This helps you in practicing enough. Mock tests and sample papers are important as they give you an idea about the different kind of test patterns.

Yes, I did solve a lot of previous year question papers and they helped me a lot.  These papers help you determine what kinds of questions are asked and what ideas are more important.

Generally, what happens is that when we are preparing, we are unaware what IITs want. We prepare till a basic level. But IITs want us to think to a tough level rather than learn to a tough level.  

I will suggest what I followed. For Physical Chemistry they should go through books by N Awasthi, for Organic Chemistry – books by Himanshu Pandey and for Inorganic Chemistry - books by K Kumar.

For Mathematics, they should refer to a series of books by Vinay Kumar.

I want to get into IIT Bombay for Computer Science Engineering(CSE).

Work hard and do what you like. Don’t do anything that you don’t feel like doing. Follow your teachers blindly as they are your real guides. They will help you in achieving your success. Be organized in whatever you do.

I was in Class 7^th when I decided that engineering is what I want to do. Though the reason was pretty lame is what I feel. Aamir Khan’s movie – 3 idiots inspired me to pursue engineering.

My father works in the Income Tax Department and my mother works in an Industrial Training Institute(ITI). My sister is doing her BTech in CSE from Chitkara Institute of Engineering and Technology. Currently, she is in her third year. 

I love playing badminton and reading novels. I am also fond of watching cartoons and movies.

JoSAA 2017 counselling and seat allocation process will begin on June 15. Check JoSAA 2017 counselling schedule, JoSAA 2017 participating institutes and JoSAA 2017 eligibility criteria here.

Also read:

JEE Advanced 2017: Know Toppers

IIT Qualifying Marks & Criteria for JEE Advanced 2017

JEE Advanced 2017: Know your score card