“I was nervous the night before the JEE Mains exam. I remember calling my professor anxiously. He told me, ‘Sachin Tendulkar is a great player. But even if he fails to score a century in one match, he knows he will in the next. He believes in his abilities rather than in circumstances.’ The day of the exam was deserted. Ninety questions stared at me. I had an attempt and I had to make it count. After solving the questions for 1.5 hours, I looked at how far I got. I only managed 30 attempts.”
Kalpit Birwal — famous for scoring a perfect 360/360 in the JEE Mains 2017 exam — remembers that moment in time, calling it “life-changing”. Although disappointed, he knew that his attitude determined everything.
“I put down my pen and closed my eyes. I remembered all the exams I had attempted. It reminded me how I had risen from nobody to ranker in the past few years. Then, I picked up my pen and started solving again.
Kalpit’s memory of how the next hour and a half passed is blurry. But when the bell rang, he was done with every question.
From that day till today, the journey of the 24-year-old Udaipur resident has been nothing short of unconventional. Ask him the closely guarded secret of his success and he smiles, “There isn’t one.”
A journey of tireless toil
Raised in a middle-class family, Kalpit says that education is the most important thing. His father, a nurse, was adamant that his sons should have access to the resources and opportunities he had missed.
Kalpit recalls, “My father was from a very simple background. However, he was the first person in his community to be educated. He had a big dream of becoming a doctor, but medical coaching was not easy at that time. He went on to become a nurse. ”
While Kalpit is proud of having a BTech degree from IIT Bombay – one of the most sought-after institutes – he credits his father for always having his back.
Keeping education in the family pastel, Kalpit’s attempt at competitive exams began at an early age. The first of which was studied in class 7.
He not only did exceptionally well but also got a scholarship. Little did she know, these successes paved the way for her incredible performance in JEE Mains.
Every attempted competitive exam acted as a bounce board that propelled him forward. Physics and mathematics were his favorite subjects. Pursuing concepts and digging deep into them came naturally to him.
“When I was in school, I had no intention of giving the JEE exam. But, with all the extra studying I did, I realized that I had cleared the JEE Physics section by class 9!” He shares.
Looking back on the trajectory, her curiosity and willingness to look beyond the textbook stood her in good stead. He cites an example, “In physics, there is a concept known as ‘the theory of relativity’. It was not in my Class 11 syllabus at the time, but I studied it anyway. I also derived the equation for the equality of electric and magnetic fields. I did it purely for selfish reasons.
So, you can only imagine the surprise when a question in JEE Mains was on this theory. He smiled to himself as he worked out the equation.
Enthusiasm for the subjects along with learning attitude has been the driving force of Kalpit. He strongly credits the duo in his JEE preparation journey.
My Life Journey So Far:
– He was interested in learning from a young age, it was fun, but he also had a curiosity to learn.
– Passed multiple exams including rank 1 in some exams. NTSE, Olympiad, KVPY, etc
– Got an AIR 1 in JEE and rose to fame (360/360 in Mains 2017, first time…
— Kalpit Veerwal (@kalpitveerwal) September 16, 2023
“Sometimes I am reminded that I am a small-town boy competing with kids from Mumbai and Delhi, some of whose parents were IAS officers. But I knew that what I lacked in my background I could make up for with my hard work.
Tips from the pros
Achieving your target score in the JEE Mains exam is a mix of many factors, as expected. He shares some of these while others are available on his YouTube channel ‘AcadBoost’.
- The curriculum is original
Kalpit, who is interested in extracurricular subjects, says he changed his strategy after he started preparing for the exam. “I started taking coaching material seriously. I have kept fake papers as my focus.
- Passion is key
When asked about his performance and how he managed to achieve the almost impossible feat, Kalpit says it had a lot to do with his love for the subjects. “Try the exam only if you really want to do it. Because only when you have a natural passion for something, you will do it wholeheartedly.” He adds, “I see many students who don’t really want to sit for the exam, but still try. We should know what their calling is and what their heart is.”
Consistency > Hard work > Talent.
Your talent is innate, cannot be changed much, and may not give you much benefit.
Hard work is good, but 24 hours a day is a cap – not much benefit here either.
But, you can be consistent for decades – a huge benefit.
Stick to something…
— Kalpit Veerwal (@kalpitveerwal) September 29, 2023
- Enjoy the process
It is natural to feel pressure in such a competitive exam. But fiction encourages students to enjoy the subjects. It removes the burden. “If you enjoy the process, you will automatically do well on your exams.”
- Previous year papers are important
As the exam day approaches, Kalpit suggests that you should stop enjoying new subjects and focus on revision. “Previous year papers are a great help to go over the concepts.”
- Talent also requires hard work
Admitting that he has natural ability when it comes to competitive exams, Kalpit himself said that talent cannot take him very far. “I have a special ability to understand things a little faster. But talent is useless if you don’t work on it.”
- Trust your instincts
The day of the result is engraved in Kalpit’s memory. But he shared an anecdote from long before D-Day.
“I was checking around with my friends and coaching classes who had released their answer keys. This one question in particular was tricky. Everyone was of the opinion that I had attempted it the wrong way. But I was sure I was right. I remember my friends telling me that ‘no one would think of such a unique way to solve it.”When the results were announced, needless to say, my method was correct.
“Trust your gut,” he adds.
After the JEE Mains exam, Kalpit started a Facebook page where he advises students about exam preparation, books to refer, etc. In addition, he had a Quora account where he would answer students’ queries and blog.
With the amazing response these platforms saw, Kalpit was inspired to launch his venture ‘Acad Boost’ in 2019, which creates courses for students preparing for the JEE exam.
He says, “More than 2 lakh students have accessed the content while 11,000 students have benefited from the paid content.”
“When all my batchmates were sitting for college placements, I knew I would get a better package if I did the same. But there is nothing traditional about my life. And I decided to take the road less travelled. I am enjoying every moment of the journey,” He added.
As Kalpit wraps up the conversation, I ask him to point out a defining moment in this entire journey. “In the JEE Mains exam room, I picked up the pen and started solving the questions again.”
Edited by Padmashri Pandey