Career Paths Chosen by IIT JEE AIR 1 Holders and Where are They Now
Cracking the IIT JEE entrance examination is a feat that millions of students every year fail to achieve. Statistics show that only 0.7 percent of the aspirants are able to achieve their dreams. Even more tough is bagging the IIT topper title. After months, or rather years of isolating themselves, refraining from all other hobbies and exhibiting remarkable perseverance, a topper is finally created. When the results are announced, these exceptional people are well deservedly publicized across the nation, they are interviewed, written about and sought after by coaching classes going berserk to take credit!
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However this acclaim is transitory. After few minutes of fame, they turn into unsung heroes of the nation. Curious to know where these super brains work and live now? Let’s take a look.
Raghu Mahajan
IIT JEE AIR 1, 2006
Raghu Mahajan, an extremely diligent boy from Amritsar scored 508/540 in JEE Main Result. However he spent only two years studying Computer Science at IIT Delhi before he finally realized that he had succumbed to social pressures. His calling was in theoretical physics. He therefore moved to MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in order to pursue his dreams.
Thereafter, he won the Gates Cambridge Scholarship and pursued his Masters in String Theory in one year from the University of Cambridge. He is now doing PhD in Theoretical Physics from Stanford University.
Achin Bansal
IIT JEE AIR 1, 2007
Achin Bansal studied in a school in Kotkapura, a small town in Punjab. He is the first student from Punjab Education Board to top IIT JEE with 429/486 marks.
The Punjab Government then provided him a scholarship to pursue Computer Science at IIT-Bombay. He is currently Vice President Treasury at Morgan Stanley in New York City.
ShitikanthKashyap
IIT JEE AIR 1, 2008
ShitikanthKashyap from Bihar in Patna scored 433/476. He was scheduled to arrive in Mumbai for the International Physics Olympiad in Vietnam in the first week of July; however, he arrived much earlier in order to flee from the pestering media, coaching class representatives and politicians. He also won the gold medal at the Olympiad.
Shitikanth pursued Computer Science at IIT Kanpur. He is presently residing at Waterloo, Ontario, and is completing a PhD in quantum computing.
Nitin Jain
IIT JEE AIR 1, 2009
Nitin Jain from Faridabad was a dual topper of AIEEE as well as IIT JEE in 2009. He scored 424/480 in IIT JEE. Thereafter, he went on to study Computer Science at IIT Delhi.
As coaching classes were claiming credit to his success, he mentioned otherwise in his book,“The Secret of my Success”. During that time, he received a death threat via email which the CBI further investigated.
Nitin also won a gold medal at the international Olympiad on astronomy and astrophysics in 2010. He completed his internship at Zomato in Dublin. He was then recruited by Twitter. Currently, he’s living in San Francisco, California.
AnumulaJithendar Reddy
IIT JEE AIR 1, 2010
AnumulaJithendar Reddy from Madras scored 418/489 and took up electrical engineering at IIT Bombay. He expressed a desire to continue research in Physics after graduating from IIT.Thereafter, he went to Switzerland to pursue his Master’s in Electrical Engineering at EidgenössischeTechnischeHochschule Zürich or ETH Zurich.
PrudhviTejImmadi
IIT JEE AIR 1, 2011
PrudhviTejImmadi is from DwarakaTirumala. He scored 440/480 and joined IIT Bombay, pursuing Electrical Engineering. He also scored 7th rank in AIEEE.
He then secured an internship with Samsung and is rumored to have a pre-placement offerof INR 90 Lacs. He then joined Samsung and is presently a resident of Mumbai.
Arpit Agrawal
IIT JEE AIR 1, 2012
Arpit Agrawal from Faridabad scored 385/401 and joined IIT Delhi to pursue Computer Science. He has a profound interest in writing and is a regular at his blog- DilaurDilli.After his stint with IIT, he interned with Tower Research Capital and Deutsche Bank . He then went on to join Tower Research Capital in Delhi, where he is currently working as a Strategist.
PallerlaSaisandeep Reddy
JEE Advanced AIR 1, 2013
PallerlaSaisandeep Reddy from Hyderabad scored a 332/360 and pursued Computer Science at IIT Bombay.
Sai Sandeep is a big fan of Harry Potter. After completing his graduation from IIT Bombay, he is aspiring to pursue his post-graduation in robotics.
ChitraangMurdia
JEE AIR 1, 2014
ChitraangMurdia from Rajasthan scored 334 out of 360 in the entrance. However he quit his B.Techprogramme at IIT Bombay and went ahead to pursue Physics at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), US. According to Murdia, his passion lies in physics and pure sciences.
He didn’t have to waste the year he spent at IIT Bombay as he applied for a transfer to MIT.He also procured scholarship from Aditya Birla Group.
SatvatJagwani
JEE AIR 1, 2015
SatvatJagwani from Madhya Pradesh scored an incredible 460/504. He took up Computer Science at IIT Bombay. However he shortly left IIT to join MIT and is currently pursuing Computer Science there.