Meet JEE Main 2025 topper Atharva Kulkarni who scored 99.71 percent score, shares success mantra, says THIS about managing time

JEE Main 2025 session 1 results were out in February last month which saw Atharva Kulkarni securing 99.71 percentile. A bright student since school days, Kulkarni scored an impressive 96.6 per cent in CBSE Class 10 board exams. The 17-year-old student is the JEE Main 2025 topper of session one. He studies at Delhi, GD Goenka Public School in Sarita Vihar.  

The engineering aspirant, who hails from Nashik, Maharashtra, has a knack of achieving more than 90 percent in most of his exams and is now preparing for JEE Advanced 2025 and aspires to build a career in these fields- Computer Engineering, Aerospace, or Mechanical Engineering. In an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol, Atharva shared how he prepared for the JEE Main exam, managed time, what challenges he faced during the course of time and his future goals.  

JEE Main 2025 strategy 

Atharva said that he started preparing just after he completed his 10th standard and focused first on basic knowledge and then moved to advanced topics. His study schedule was highly organised with a balance of school studies and JEE preparation. This is JEE topper strategy who emphasised on taking regular mock tests to better analyse his progress. 

Talking about JEE Topper success mantra, the JEE Main Session 1 topper says that he put in 12 hours of daily study, with 4 hours given to each subject. What made Atharva Kulkarni manage his studies was the fact that he used even his free periods and lunch breaks for school studies and evenings to JEE preparation.  

Mock tests and coaching, how helpful are they? 

Calling mock tests ‘crucial’, Kulkarni said, “They simulated real exam conditions, improved time management, and helped me fine-tune my approach.” He also shared that JEE Main coaching is not necessary for everyone, it ‘can be’ helpful though. While talking about his strategy for stress buster, he multitask there as well. Taking short walks, chatting with family and friends, these are few relieving tasks that he does not avoid even in the most stressful study preparations. “Playing with my younger brother also allows me to return to my work feeling refreshed and recharged,” said JEE Topper Atharva Kulkarni.