VIEWS OF AIEEE TOPPERS

According to experts the paper was easy and meant for average students. Some of the questions were from the NCERT Books which let the students to be a bit relaxed. Barring a few questions on maths, BE/BTech aspirants found the three-hour multiple choice-type paper easy. Even the aspiring architects were a bit stumped by maths but they did fairly well in the drawing paper. The paper comprised 40 questions from each subject — maths, physics and chemistry. For each correct answer, one would be awarded three marks while there is a negative marking of one third of the total marks of the question for each wrong answer. There has been a change in the question pattern since last year. Earlier, the paper used to have 75 questions. As questions were mostly from the NCERT textbooks, students found it easy to crack the paper.Out of 6,45,000, there are around 45,000 aspirants who sat for the second paper for the B Arch course in centrally-funded institutions like SPA, IITs and NITs. The 340-mark paper had 93 questions.for AIR 1000 : 250+ may required.for NIIT above 10,000 ranking required.The cut-offs this year would be about 55-60/120 for Mathematics, 55-60/120 for Physics and 60-65/120 for Chemistry.You might be knowing that you need an AIEEE AIR of 12000 to qualify for a seat.So,to put it in a nutshell a score 175-180 marks will be enough to get an AIR of 10000 which is enough to qualify for a seat in a decent college.

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Sri Kumaran Public School topper for Class X (ICSE), Shruthi Srinath is on cloud nine. But celebrations are muted at her residence in Shanti Park, Jayanagar, for she's already focused on the next destination - IIT. Maybe, she had an inkling of her results, for she was already "celebrating" her success even before the results were announced, when she was holidaying in Madikeri with her parents. For a few moments, she felt tense, waiting anxiously for the SMS from her friends in Bangalore. Eventually, the beep of her cellphone spelt music to her ears. The SMS read: 96.29% average, with centum in Maths. For her proud parents, Srinath and Vanitha, it was their Moment of Wow.

Like Shruthi, Supriya Suresh of Vijaya High School, Jayanagar, is another distinction student (96%) in the State syllabus stream. Both believe that there is no substitute to hard work, and are totally focused on what they set out to achieve. While her parents, HV Suresh, a bank officer and Sandhya, a teacher at Kendriya Vidyalaya are thrilled, they expect more from their daughter in college.

What drives students to excel? What does it take to score upwards of 95-plus marks? Is TV harmful to young minds? Shruthi and Supriya tell us what makes these special talents tick and share with our readers the secret of their success, while reliving the indescribable joy of their experiences, in this interview with TWB:

• To what or whom do you credit your success?

Shruthi: I credit my success to my teachers, parents and hard work.
Supriya: I owe my success more than everything else to my parents who were more hardworking than me.

• Tell us about how you prepared for the exams. Did you start studying from Day One onwards?

Shruthi: Yeah, I started preparing for the exam from April 2006.
Supriya: I didn't do that well in the first term and preparatory exams. So I put in extra hard efforts for the final exam. On an average I used to study for about 5 hours per day.

• What are your plans for the future?

Shruthi: I have joined IIT coaching in BASE and I intend to join IIT.
Supriya: To become an engineer and pursue higher studies in Australia.

• What are your hobbies, if any? Did they come in the way of your studies?

Shruthi: I like painting. But I stopped attending painting classes to ensure it didn't come in the way of my studies.
Supriya: Watching TV, listening to music, singing.

• A lot of people believe watching TV is injurious to studying. Do you agree?

Shruthi: Yes, it's true. It's true. It's true!
Supriya: My father was very strict and totally restricted my watching TV. But I don't agree that watching TV is injurious to studies. If you have to study, you have to study.

• The secret of excelling in studies, according to you, is —?

Shruthi: Being attentive in the classroom and having confidence in yourself.
Supriya: It's all about focusing fully on what you want to do, about how use your intelligence.

• Many students say tuitions are more important than regular classes at school/college, to excel in studies.

Shruthi: According to me tuitions are only to supplement the regular classes.
Supriya: Tuitions are of tremendous use as they help you in many ways.

• Nowadays, there is a great pressure on students to score very high marks. Do you feel all this very

stressful and if so, how do you cope with it?
Shruthi: It is stressful and is a part of a student's life. We have to live with it and have confidence in ourselves.
Supriya: Stress is very much there. I used to console myself saying I had no other choice than to study!



• If you had to describe your achievement/yourself, how would you do it?

Shruthi: I am disciplined, hardworking and focused on the job on hand.
Supriya: To excel in studies, you cannot do without hard work and luck.

• Do you read any books? If so, what kind and who are your favorite authors?

Shruthi: Yes, I like to read fiction. My favorite authors are Dan Brown and J.K. Rowling.
Supriya: My favorite authors are Charles Dickens, Enid Blyton, William Shakespeare, and I enjoyed reading A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations.