The 2 years of JEE preparation from 2011 to 2013 were the best years of my life. They ended in an All India Rank of 33 in JEE Advanced 2013, leading me to join IIT Bombay, Computer Science and Engineering.
Back in 2010, my best friend’s brother got a rank of 125 in JEE. It was completely a new thing for me. Before that, I had only heard of people getting a 4-digit and 5-digit rank in JEE. At that time, I was in class 10th, barely 15 years old and so, I had limited information about JEE. Because of my friend’s brother’s rank, I was extremely fascinated with JEE. To top it up, my school took me on a visit to the IIT Kanpur campus. I was totally amazed to see the campus, the environment, the labs, the auditorium, lecture halls, and students. It was a life-changing moment for me and it was at that time, that I made a promise to myself that I will work hard to achieve a rank better than 125 in JEE.
Fortunately, even in 2010, my parents had got me a broadband connection at my home. It was because my elder sister was doing an MCA course and so, she needed an internet connection. Being the younger brother, I never let her use the computer and the internet and always hijacked it :P
The hijacking turned out to be one of the best things I did because I used the internet positively - to search for articles and blogs on JEE preparation, interviews of JEE toppers, study material, books, and whatnot! Remember, by this time, I had made a goal of achieving a rank better than 125 in JEE 2013. A rank that good requires a different level of preparation and so, I scanned every bit of the internet to gather all the information I could about JEE and JEE preparation. I learned a lot about various programs at different IITs, including IIT Bombay, Computer Science and Engineering program. When I learned that all the top JEE rankers go to IITB CSE, I revised my goal - a top 50 rank so as to bag a position at IITB CSE.
My parents got me enrolled in FIITJEE Kanpur’s 2-year classroom program. My admission was delayed because of my sister’s marriage that was scheduled in Feb 2011. So, my batch started towards the end of April 2011. To be specific, it was on 29th April 2011. I remember this date because it's my parents’ marriage anniversary on the 29th of April.
On the very first day, the maths teacher went student-by-student and asked each person - “Tell the class about yourself and also talk about which IIT you want to be after 2 years of JEE preparation”. When my turn came, I was loud and clear - “A top 50 rank that takes me to IIT Bombay, Computer Science and Engineering”. I had fixed this goal in my mind. I lived and breathed this goal every day, every hour, every minute. For the 2 years of JEE preparation, I was so obsessed with this goal that I had a sticker in my almirah that said “Top 50 rank in JEE 2013”. Even on my study table, I had written with a pen - “Top 50 rank in JEE 2013”.
I worked really hard during the 2 years from 2011 to 2013:
- Studied about 8 hours a day on a consistent basis.
- Skipped family functions.
- Didn’t have friends.
- Didn’t play sports or computer games.
- Had little presence on Social Media.
- Didn’t go on any family trips.
- Left my school to join a dummy school.
Many people would think that I was naive to be so rigorous with myself. However, I had one and only one goal in my mind - “Top 50 rank in JEE 2013”. Everything else seemed to be a distraction. Because I was so fixated on my goal, I could easily keep myself away from anything that didn’t align with my goal because to me, that thing felt like a waste of my time.
Around the mid of class 11th, my Physics teacher introduced me to Vipul Singh, who was JEE 2010 AIR 5, and a student at IITB CSE. He also introduced me to Ashwin Paranjape who was JEE 2010 AIR 75 and also at IITB CSE. Both Vipul and Ashwin were the students of my Physics Teacher when Sir was teaching at FIITJEE Bhilai Center. You can imagine the kind of motivation I got talking to Vipul and Ashwin. I spoke with them only once and after that, I went back to my goal of getting a “Top 50 rank in JEE 2013”. Ovbiously I met both Vipul and Ashwin when I joined IITB CSE.
I bought all the relevant books and study material:
- FIITJEE 2-year Classroom Program material.
- FIITJEE GMP.
- FIITJEE RTPF.
- FIITJEE AITS.
- FIITJEE Open Test.
- FIITJEE Pinnacle Program material.
- All the relevant JEE books, about 50+ of them.
- Resonance Kota Coaching Material.
- Bansal Kota Coaching Material.
- Allen Kota Coaching Material.
- Brilliant Tutorials Coaching Material.
I didn’t leave any stone unturned to be able to hit my goal of “Top 50 rank in JEE 2013”. I put in all the efforts to hit the goal and I was able to avoid all the distractions.
To answer your question - How was I able to maintain consistency?
Because I was extremely focused on my goal of “Top 50 rank in JEE 2013”. If you have a goal in life and you live and breathe it daily, it's extremely easy to work for it consistently. Goals help you take a daily decisions. Every time I faced a distraction, I asked myself - “will this help me achieve my goal of a Top 50 rank in JEE 2013”? If the answer was no, I didn’t get distracted.
Let’s accept it - decision-making is difficult. There are so many decisions that we have to take in our lives on a daily basis. Go out with friends or study? Check that Facebook notification or study? Go on that family trip or study? If you live your goal every minute, you can use it to take all your decisions in life and life becomes extremely easy.
Set goals in your life and everything else will fall into place. Consistency, motivation, distractions, friends, family, functions - everything will suddenly become so easy to determine once you’ve set goals for yourself in your life. The goal could be as simple as - getting selected in JEE Advanced, or it could be as specific as getting a “Top 50 rank in JEE 2013”.
Hope this helps. The COVID time has been really hard on the JEE aspirants. I wish that all of you achieve all the success in life.
Bonus: I have written A guide to get a top 50 rank in JEE!
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