IIT JAM 2018 Physics Topper Interview: Javed Akhtar wants to make a career in research

IIT JAM 2018 Physics Topper Interview: Javed Akhtar wants to make a career in research

A final year undergraduate graduate from Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Howrah, Javed Akhtar secured Rank 51 in IIT JAM 2018 with a score of 56.67. Aspiring to join a good IIT, Javed studied for 6-7 hours religiously in order to crack IIT Joint Admission Test for MSc admissions.

He shared that in order to unwind while preparing for JAM 2018 exam he listened to music. Talking about his hobbies he further said, “I like to play cricket a lot and I am also a foodie”.

Shiksha spoke at lengths with Javed Akhtar to find out how he prepared for IIT JAM and the books he read. Find out how he cracked IIT JAM by reading the detailed interview below:

Thank you! No I didn't expect it. I just wanted to secure good marks (50+) to get admission in a good IIT.

Actually one has to study from the beginning of the first year itself and should be clear with the basics. As per me 6-7 hours of study per day is enough. While I was preparing after I completed all the topics, I used to solve questions on that topic from JAM, JEST, TIFR and GATE papers. This helped me a lot to clear my basics. Two months before the exam I used to practice questions from all the topics and gave online exams. I believe following such a routine would help all aspirants to determine how to manage their time in exam hall.

For preparation I studied from books by the following writers:

Classical Mechanics:

Kleppner and Kolenkow, David Morin (These two are very standard books). One can also study from D.P. Raychowdhuri's book.

Quantum Mechanics:

S.N. Ghosal, Griffiths, Bransden, A.B. Gupta, Eisberg.

Electronics:

B. Ghosh, Millman, P.C. Rakshit

Electrodynamics:

Griffiths, B.Ghosh (Griffiths book is very good for IIT JAM Prep)

Optics:

B. Ghosh, Optics by Ajoy Ghatak, Berkeley Physics Course book wave one.

Mathematical Physics:

H.K. Dass, Mary L Boas, Spiegel.

Relatively:

Kleppner and Kolenkow, David Morin, D.P. Raychowdhuri, Resneck.

Wave:

B. Ghosh Acoustics, D.P. Raychowdhuri Acoustics book.

Nuclear Physics:

A.B. Gupta, S.N. Ghosal.

Solid State Physics:

Kittel, Ali Omar.

After the exam, the official answer key was released after 20-25 days. Then on March 20 the result was published and thereafter the online application process for admissions started from April 3, 2018 onwards.

Don't fear your weak points. I worked hard with full dedication to ace my weaknesses. I practiced all the topics I was weak at and tried to understand why I was not good at them. Try to understand what your fault is and work on it. 

Never think JAM is easy to crack. One should work hard to crack such an online exam. Also avoid ego and carelessness.

Don't be nervous in the exam hall. Those 3 hours are very precious. Since JAM is online exam and virtual calculator is provided so you have to know how to use it to save your time. Do your calculations with full concentration to avoid mistakes. One should have practiced previous years’ question papers and also practice solving them in 2:30-2:45 hours.

The most difficult aspect of JAM exam is to keep your nerves cool. Don’t take too much pressure, just be cool in those three hours.

It was wonderful. This was my first computer based exam. I was a little nervous before the exam began but I enjoyed it a lot.

Just be cool and calm. Try to utilise every second of those 3 hours. Never lose hope. JAM is not the end of your life. So be calm and give your best.