Kalpit Veerwal — famous for scoring a perfect 360/360 in the JEE Mains 2017 exam — shares how the right attitude determines everything.

The 24-year-old Udaipur native grew up in a middle-class home where education was given prime importance.

His father, a nurse, was adamant that his sons should have access to resources and opportunities that he had missed out on.

Today, Kalpit prides himself on having a BTech degree from IIT Bombay — one of the most sought-after institutes.

With education being put on a pedestal in the family, Kalpit’s tryst with competitive exams began at the age of 12.

Looking back at the trajectory, he says his curiosity and willingness to look beyond the textbook stood him in good stead.

“There were times when I would be reminded that I was a boy from a small city competing against kids from Mumbai and Delhi, some of whose parents were IAS officers,” he says.

“But I knew what I lacked in background I could make up for with my hard work.”

According to Kalpit, achieving your target score in the JEE Mains exam is a blend of many factors.

1. The syllabus is the core “I started taking the coaching material seriously. I kept mock papers as my focus.”

2. Passion is key “Only attempt the exam if YOU truly want to do it. Because only when you have a natural passion for something will you do it wholeheartedly.”

3. Enjoy the process It is but natural to let the pressure get to you in such competitive exams. But Kalpit encourages students to enjoy the topics. This takes the burden off.

4. Past year papers are important As the days of the exam get closer, Kalpit suggests veering away from cramming in new topics and instead focusing on revision.

5. Even talent needs hard work “I do have special abilities to understand things a bit faster. But there’s no use of talent if you don’t work on it.”

6. Trust your instincts Following the exam, everyone thought that Kalpit had attempted one question incorrectly. But he was sure his method was correct. “When the results were announced, needless to say, my method was the right one.”

When all his batchmates were sitting for placements in college, Kalpit chose to take the unconventional path and start a platform of his own.

Today, he says over two lakh students have accessed the content on his YouTube channel ‘AcadBoost’ while over 11,000 students have benefited from the paid content.