Bhubaneswar: Goutam Das, a student of SAI International School has topped JEE Advanced 2021 in Odisha. Das, a native of Balasore qualified with 282 out of 360 score securing All India Rank of 115.
He was also the Odisha topper of the National Entrance Screening Test (NEST) to secure a seat in National School of Science Education and Research (NISER). He qualified in NEST 2021 with State Rank 1 and All India Rank 6. He secured 98.6% in Class XII CBSE Board Examination 2021.
Jaipur’s Mridul Agarwal is the national topper in JEE Advanced this year scoring 348 out of 360 marks. Kavya Chopra has topped the entrance examination among girls. This year, 1,41,644 students appeared for JEE Advanced out of which 41,862 have cleared the entrance.
Goutam’s father is a businessman while his mother is a home maker. He believes in practice and says that relentless practice helped him secure the rank. He has taken at least 180 tests as a practice for JEE. He started with preparing from the basic NCERT books then graduated to others. Goutam confessed that he did not aspire to become an Engineer but it was his love for Mathematics that made him take the IIT JEE examinations. He suggests that whoever wants to appear for the JEE exams should be first thorough with their basic concepts and then get into high-level course content.
Goutam was happy that the lockdown gave him a lot of time to focus on his studies, as he saved on the travel time. He attended his online classes, and because of the lockdown his school teachers were always available to clear his doubts over calls. Talking of his School he said, “Our school was very helpful in preparing him for Board examinations as well as JEE.” He also said that Founder Chairman SAI International, late Dr Bijaya Kumar Sahoo had faith in him and he was lucky to have been able to be mentored by him.
Speaking on his future plans he wants to graduate in Computer Science and later become an IAS officer to serve the nation.
“I am elated that SAIoneer Goutam Das has secured All India Rank 28 and No. 1 in the state in the IIT JEE Mains 2021. His hardwork, perseverance and dedication has reaped fruits of success. He has not only made the school proud but the entire state is proud on his infallible accomplishment. I wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” said Silpi Sahoo, Chairperson, SAI International Education Group.