ICSE Class 10 Topper Aastha on Scoring 99.4%: “It Was a Unique Experience Where Hard Work Paid Off”

Aastha, with an outstanding score of 99.4%, emerged as the Ghaziabad district topper in ICSE Class 10 results. In this interview, she shares her reactions, preparation journey, and advice for future aspirants.

The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) announced the ICSE Class 10 results for 2024 on May 6. This year, over 2.4 lakh students appeared for the exams, achieving a remarkable overall pass percentage of 99.47%. Among them, many toppers secured over 99% marks. Aastha, with an outstanding score of 99.4%, emerged as the district topper. In this interview, she shares her reactions, preparation journey, and advice for future aspirants.

Q. Congratulations on your result, you scored 99.4% and are a district topper. So, what was your reaction when you first came to know about your result?

Aastha: I didn't believe it at first. I was, of course, shocked, then surprised, and then everything finally settled in. It was such a unique experience — I think one experience where the hard work finally paid off.

Q. So, can you tell us something about your family, schooling, etc.? How did your family help you during the entire board exam journey?

Aastha: My family, my friends, and of course the teachers, they have been incredibly supportive. I think throughout the journey, they have — like more than me — put in an effort for me to achieve this.

My mother and father, they have never pressured me. They have always talked to me whenever I needed. And my friends, they provided me some comfort, they provided me a way to not take so much pressure or not to overthink. And whereas my teachers, they provided me excellent guidance throughout the 10th boards — I am so very grateful to them.

Aastha: Personally, I had one thing in my mind — that I have to study. That was the only strategy actually. My only thought was, "I need to study," so I just set a timer and I kept on studying and studying. And during the last months, I started doing sample papers and PYQs (previous years' question papers), so yeah, that helped a lot.

Q. Which books, besides your course books, did you refer to for your board exams?

Aastha: Actually, I prioritized Selena over anything. Selena is the book that we usually use for ICSE examinations — the textbook that the school provided. They were the main books that I focused on throughout the year.

I did not refer to much outside material. Yes, but I did refer to some OSWAL sample papers. Yeah, that was the only outside material I used.

Q. During your rigorous preparation journey, how did you unwind yourself?

Aastha: I think it helped me — I usually spent time with my sister and my friends.

They actually helped me a lot. We went out a lot of times, we went to eat, and they would always come to my house and help me calm my nerves. I also have a friend — we were in the same class — and we would talk on calls. We were going through the same thing, so she also helped me a lot.

Q. Was there any subject you liked studying in particular?

Aastha: Oh, I loved studying Physics actually. I loved studying Physics — I just loved it. And Chemistry also. I think my Chemistry teacher did a wonderful job at making me love the subject.

And yeah, my weak subject... I think my weak subject would be Hindi. It was not really weak; it was just a subject that didn't interest me as much as the other subjects.

Q. Did you have any exam-taking strategy?

Aastha: My exam-taking strategy would be to write as much as I could and to write very quickly.

My main goal was to have some time left at the end to revise through all the questions. And yeah, leave ample space between the questions and make the answer sheet appear neat at least.

Q. Do you have a dream college and a course?

Aastha: Yeah, I actually want to get admission into AIIMS Delhi, and I want to pursue MBBS there.

Q. What would be your suggestion for next year's board exam takers?

Aastha: I think it would definitely be to dream big and to work hard to actually achieve that dream. Yeah, that would be my only suggestion — just dream big.

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