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Orgo-Life the new way to the future Advertising by AdpathwayWhen the JEE Advanced results were declared on Sunday, Jatin Chahar kept refreshing the result page multiple times. “Then when I saw the result, I realised a very good rank had come,” he said.
Among the 1,79,694 candidates who appeared for both papers of JEE Advanced 2026 on May 17, Chahar secured an All India Rank 3 with a score of 319 out of 360 marks.
All three top rankers — Shubham Kumar, Kabir Chhillar, and Jatin Chahar — belong to the IIT Delhi zone, which dominated the Common Rank List (CRL) this year.
For Chahar, from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district, the achievement marked the culmination of a journey that began unusually early in Class 7.
“My cousin studied in IIT Roorkee,” he said. “Seeing him, I wanted to go into engineering too. That’s why I chose IIT.”
He joined coaching in Class 7, initially focusing on Olympiads rather than JEE. Over the years, he qualified for camps in the Junior Science Olympiad, Earth Science Olympiad, Astronomy Olympiad and Chemistry Olympiad programmes. The exposure sharpened his scientific curiosity long before he formally began preparing for JEE in Class 11.
“If I had joined later, I might not have been able to do this,” he said.
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Unlike many top rankers who migrate to Kota, Chahar prepared in Sikar, another coaching hub in Rajasthan. His days followed a disciplined routine: wake up at 6 am for classes beginning at 7 am, attend lectures until afternoon, return home for a brief rest and then spend the evening completing homework, revising notes and solving additional material.
“When there were no classes, I used to study for around 12 hours,” he said.
In September, just as an important phase of testing was about to begin, Chahar contracted typhoid. The illness forced him to miss classes and examinations and disrupted his momentum. “I felt that I had lost a lot of things,” he recalled. “I couldn’t even give two tests in the beginning.”
“But my teachers and family always told me it was okay,” he said. “Nothing will happen if you fail today. Study well for the next paper.”
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After every test, he maintained a notebook dedicated solely to errors. “Whenever I made a mistake, I wrote it in my notepad,” he said. “Before the next paper, I would read those common mistakes so that I could avoid repeating them.”
Mock tests became another cornerstone of his strategy. By the time the actual JEE Advanced examination arrived, the atmosphere felt familiar. “After so many mock tests, when you go to give the main paper, it doesn’t feel like today is the main paper,” he said. “You get used to the tests.”
Outside academics, Chahar played badminton with friends, followed football and watched episodes of Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah for entertainment.
“Even if you study all day, you cannot study effectively all the time,” he said. “It is important to have fun in between. It keeps your mind refreshed.”
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After JEE Advanced ended, he finally allowed himself a break. He visited friends he had not met for months, watched movies and began learning coding languages, something he had long wanted to explore but had postponed because of preparation.
Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions. Professional Profile Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region. Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice. Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility. She has also reported widely on: * Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs * Policy responses to campus mental health * Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University * Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US. Reporting Style Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025) 1. Express Investigation Series JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025) An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors. JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025) The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus. 2. International Education & Immigration ‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025) H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025) Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025) What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025) Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025) ‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025) 3. Academic Freedom & Policy Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025) Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025) SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses. 4. Mental Health on Campuses In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025) Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025) 5. Delhi Schools These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025) ‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read More
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