While Arpit Aggarwal never attended a social gathering for two years and is grateful to his parents for helping him study with no distractions, he says it is equally important to take short breaks while preparing for a competitive exam.

A rpit Aggarwal, 18 has achieved what is the dream of every IIT aspirant.

He holds the all-India Rank One in IIT-JEE 2012.

A resident of Faridabad and a student of Modern Vidya Niketan Senior Secondary School, Arpit belongs to the state of Jharkhand. He says he loves reading books on organic chemistry and has, in fact, read them like fiction novels for the past two years.

Arpit confesses he is really not into sports or gaming, but strongly recommends that one should pursue whatever one is interested in outside the school curriculum.

In conversation with rediff.com, Arpit talks about how his CBSE background helped him crack the exam, his views on IIT education and career plans for the future.

When did you start preparing for the IIT entrance examination?

The first time I formally prepared for a competitive exam was for National Talent Search Examination in Class VIII. It really taught me how to go about preparing for an exam. However, I started preparing specifically for IIT-JEE when I was in Class XI.

How did you prepare? Did you rely on self-study or joined coaching classes alongside?

My preparation for IIT-JEE started right in school. The lessons taught were very helpful because the curriculum and the teaching pattern combined the requirements of both CBSE and JEE. But I had also joined a South Delhi-based coaching institute. The classes for these were held two to three times a week.

What were your favourite subjects?

My favourite was and has always been chemistry. I developed a love for the subject very spontaneously, around the time I was nearing the completion of Class XI. In fact, I loved reading chemistry books so much that I have read them like fiction novels. And I haven't felt the need to read any work of fiction since then. I find organic chemistry particularly interesting.

How did you prepare for the other two subjects?

I wasn't very comfortable with mathematics initially, but I picked it up later on. I undertook practice tests from my coaching institute and it really helped.

What was the most difficult part of the exam?

Well, I think it was very easy. I made only four mistakes and all of them were silly mistakes. In fact, I had figured out three of the four mistakes I made during the exam itself. But I couldn't correct them because I had already marked my answers with pen.

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