Meet IIT-JEE topper with AIR 1, joined IIT Bombay, left after a year due to...

The IIT JEE (Indian Institute of Technology – Joint Entrance Exam) is one of the toughest exams in the country and demands strategic planning, dedication, and a disciplined approach. Every year lakhs of students from different parts of India sit in the IIT JEE entrance exam to crack the exam and secure a seat in IIT. But only a few thousand of the brightest minds succeed in clearing the IIT JEE entrance exam. Today, we highlight the extraordinary journey of Chitraang Murdia who managed to top the IIT-JEE exam with AIR 1 to land at IIT Bombay but he left after a year to follow his passion.

We are speaking of Chitraang Murdia, the 2014 JEE Advanced AIR-1 topper from IIT-JEE. He continued his studies in computer science at IIT Bombay before moving to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to pursue a degree in physics.

Many were baffled by the IIT-JEE top scorer's decision to leave IIT Bombay, but he explained a Humans of Bombay post. “Everybody was shocked by this decision and that included even my friends. People used to say that you are a kid and don’t know how to make important decisions of your life and you will be earning in lakhs after receiving the Engineering degree from IIT,” he said.

Chitraang Murdia had once said that his decision to quit IIT and follow his passion will inspire students. “I have seen the students who are good in physics and maths are following the herd to seek admission to courses such as computer science and electrical engineering. It will boost up the moral of those students who wish to pursue their interest in pure science but couldn’t do that because of the family pressure or money,” he said.

Chitraang Murdia has revealed on his LinkedIn profile that he completed his Graduation in Physics from MIT in 2018. He did his PhD from University of California, Berkeley in 2023.