Decoding JEE with Soumil Aggarwal (AIR-33 JEE Advanced)

Recently, I caught up with Soumil Aggarwal - an achiever who continued his excellence in competitive exams by securing AIR 33 in the JEE (Advanced) 2020. Besides this, he has also secured AIR 258 in the JEE (Main) 2020, and also won honourable mention at the International Mathematical Olympiad 2019 held at Bath, UK.

Soumil completed his JEE preparation with a four-year classroom program at FIITJEE South Delhi. We tried to decode his JEE preparation strategy and understand the story behind his success. (With inputs from Aditya Singh)

Viraj (V): Just for the record, what was your JEE (Advanced) 2020 score?

Soumil (S): My score was 301/396. I got 96 in Physics, 102 in Chemistry and 103 in Math.

V: Most top rankers are early starters but not all early starters are top rankers. How do you make sure you capitalize on that early start and keep the advantage? What kind of goals did you set at different stages of your preparation to stay motivated?

S: I think setting little goals throughout the journey help a lot, because you can't study for JEE starting from class 9. You have to keep some small milestones in mind which you have to keep working towards. This could mean maybe preparing for exams such as RMO, JSTSE, NTSE, NSE, JSO, etc.

V: Do you think starting early just means having completed the syllabus beforehand or does it mean having a completely different mindset?

S: I think the difference isn't mainly in syllabus coverage. The percentage of the JEE syllabus which I covered before class 11 was quite small. Starting early is more about developing your intellect, developing problem solving skills and the habit of studying for long hours without getting tired.

V: How do you think someone in class 6 or 8 develops their intellect or aptitude towards problem solving?

S: This is again done by working towards smaller goals. Coaching classes help a lot too, because they are constantly providing something to challenge you at that age.

V: You prepared and appeared for various Olympiads as well. What role did this play, if any in your JEE preparation?

S: I think Math Olympiads beyond RMO and InMO are irrelevant to JEE preparation as such, and I did them just for fun. However, preparing for InPhO helped a lot, and even though I ended up not qualifying it, the skills gained helped a lot in JEE. It was through my InPhO preparation that some of my deep conceptual doubts in electromagnetism got cleared.

V: It is not easy to balance preparation for Olympiads and JEE together. Is starting early the solution here? At what class do you think should students start preparing for Olympiads?

S: Math Olympiads are pretty different from JEE, and preparation for them can be done at any age. So yes, starting early can be a solution there, but it also depends on one's interests and aptitude. If one tries hard then one can even balance JEE and Olympiads in classes 11 & 12 as well. Starting Math Olympiad preparation in classes 8-9 doesn't mean you have to stop doing them in class 11. You can continue even after high school if you want.

As for Physics and Chemistry Olympiads, their syllabus overlaps a lot with JEE, so I don't think they cause much issues.

V: Books for JEE & Olympiad preparation are well documented but the readers might still want to know which ones you followed…

For Maths, I did Sameer Bansal for Calculus, SL Loney and Arihant for Coordinate Geometry. For the rest of the topics I just followed the FIITJEE packages, sheets, etc.

For Chemistry, Physical Chemistry was done through RC Mukherjee, FIITJEE material and OP Tandon. For Inorganic Chemistry, I read NCERT and some parts of JD Lee (adapted by Sudarshan Guha). For Organic I read Solomon-Fryhle and solved MS Chouhan along with FIITJEE material. Master Organic Chemistry is also a good online resource.

For Physics – For theory I followed HC Verma and class notes. For questions, I solved Irodov, FIITJEE material, 200 Puzzling Problems and sometimes random sources such as Pathfinders.

For Olympiads I used handouts by Evan Chen, his document OTIS excerpts, and his book EGMO. I also used various random books and handouts at times.

V: You mentioned a website you used for Chemistry preparation. How useful do you feel online resources are for JEE preparation?

S: If you are careful while choosing what to trust, they can be very useful, especially for organic chemistry. I learnt a lot of theory from online sources upon googling doubts I had. For Physics and Math, I think books work just fine.

V: Old time classic textbooks, JEE-focused books or college-level books. You seem to have used a mixed of all three. Which ones did you find more useful? Are there different stages of prep where these are useful?

S: I believe the level of the JEE is rising year by year, so now at least for problem solving, harder books are the way to go. For example, in Physics you should first do some basic books like HC Verma to get a grasp of the concepts and then you should move on to tougher books such as Pathfinders to hone your problem-solving skills.

As for textbooks, I don't think the difference between them is significant. Any textbook works because problem solving is the real concept builder as far as JEE is concerned.

V: Could you describe any “peak moment” of your preparation, when you felt you could get a great rank? Was there any moment like that, when you felt “I can do this”?

S: I got AIR 1 in the AI²TS (an All India Test held by FIITJEE) in February 2020, which was a great confidence booster. Performing well in a phase test or AITS also helped. Overall, I had good results in mock tests which helped me continue the momentum.

V: Do you think your confidence rubs off on your study effectiveness & productivity or did you try to keep those independent of each other?

S: I think confidence surely affects your preparation. You just can't study well if you aren't feeling confident. So, whenever I performed poorly in any test, I tried to make sure that I did well in the next test, just to get the momentum back and keep my productivity high.

V: How did a typical practice session in your prep look like? Did you keep any targets such as the number of questions you did, or were there just broad guidelines?

S: There wasn't anything fixed like that. I just tried to complete assignments given in class, and read up on theory I felt the need for. There were no “extended practice sessions”, so I was pretty casual that way.

V: Accuracy clearly plays a huge role in the JEE, where just a couple of questions can affect your rank a lot. How did you try to keep a high accuracy rate and prevent silly mistakes?

S: I think I did end up making a few silly mistakes in the exam, but the way to avoid it is being neat while doing rough work, and reading the questions very carefully. Remember, reading questions quickly is not the right way to increase your speed. It just leads to silly mistakes and lowers your accuracy.

V: Did you have any pre-examination routines which you followed before the exam?

S: No, not really. I just tried to get a good sleep the night before an exam and didn't eat too much. Staying hydrated helps too.

V: About the question paper – some people like to go section-wise and give each question the allotted time. Others also like to follow a ‘first look’ policy and solve the paper in multiple rounds. What did your strategy look like?

S: I had a simple strategy – I just went question by question. I don’t really know if this is the best way, but I was too set in my ways to try and change this before the examination. I didn’t have any first look strategy as such.

V: You had a really competitive peer group who ended up scoring similar ranks as well. Is the importance of a good peer group understated?

S: Yes, definitely understated. Your peer group is extremely important. Over the course of my preparation, I learnt a lot from my peers. Keeping a healthy competitive spirit helps to improve everyone's performances in the long run.

(Context: From FIITJEE South Delhi, Chinmay Mittal secured AIR 31 while Riya Sawhney secured AIR 37)

V: How did you keep up a social life during your years of preparation? What kind of sacrifices did you have to make for the sake of JEE?

S: JEE did put a damper on my social life. During my preparation, I mostly talked only to my batchmates and a couple of friends. During the lockdown I talked to a few people through text but I tried to keep the time I spent on non-productive texting low.

JEE does demand some sacrifices. I think I could have looked after my health better during my JEE preparation. I ended up ignoring it as I felt I was too occupied with academics.

I also had to end up giving up on the hobbies I had before class 11. Math Olympiads were the only proper hobby I still continued with. However, I think many people are able to manage their hobbies and JEE together as well. It depends on the person.

V: Now that the exams are over with, how are you “recalibrating” your life, so to say? Do you feel like a different person now that this phase of your life is over?

S: I am just trying to talk to a lot of people and seeing if anyone is ready to meet up. I have started with my hobbies again. I am also watching some TV shows.

I do feel like a different person - I mean, I have given such a long period of my life to JEE preparation, so of course I have changed a lot as a person. I am much more hard working now than I was before JEE preparation. I find it hard to spend a day without doing anything productive nowadays.

V: A final word on your future aspirations. What are your plans? Where do you see yourself in a few years?

S: I currently plan on pursuing Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) from IIT. I will also try to take a lot of Math courses. I might even do a minor in Math, although I have no idea where I will be after college!

V: Alright Soumil, thanks a lot and wish you all the best for your future!

S: Thanks! This was a lot of fun. All the best to you too.