Two students from the city have made it to the top 50 in the Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced), the results for which were declared on Sunday.
Arjun Bharat, ranked 26 with 318 marks, from Smart Minds Academy School in West Mambalam and U. Gautham, ranked 40 with 315 marks, from PSBB K.K. Nagar, are both Fellows of the Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana, the national scheme for budding scientists. They attribute their success to their interest in physics, maths and chemistry.
An alumnus of Sishya, Arjun joined Smart Minds after Class X and trained under the National Institute of Open Schooling. Though initially interested in chemistry, he has now veered to computer science.
“I want to study in IIT-Madras as proximity to home is a major factor,” says Arjun, whose father is a captain in the merchant navy.
Changing the world
Gautham’s parents died in an accident and his grandparents raised him from the age of 7. He enjoys watching Walter Lewin videos on science. Of his performance in Class XII, he says, “Science can change the world.”
Pranav Ramakrishnan, ranked 136, wants to study computer science engineering in either IIT-D or IIT-M. He and Gautham are among the 12 who were trained by FIIT-JEE through their integrated coaching programmes.
Keerthana Gurushankar, the only student from the State to participate in the International Physics Olympiad last year, has been invited to join the Chennai Mathematical Institute. Her SAT scores have ensured her admission to Carnegie Mellon University’s engineering courses but she says, “We are still in discussion,” about her choice of college.
J. Praveen, a State Board student from AMM School in Kotturpuram, who is ranked over 2,000 and is eligible for admission to IITs, has also qualified for admission to the Indian Institute of Science. “I want to specialise in quantum physics. I feel teaching will be a good profession,” he adds.
