Kota

Kabir Chhillar, who secured All India Rank 1 in JEE-Main 2026 with a perfect score of 300, says success comes from effective learning rather than studying endlessly for 15 hours a day.

Speaking after the results were announced, Kabir said many people associate toppers with extremely long study schedules, but in reality students should focus on the quality of study rather than the number of hours spent.

A native of Gurugram, Kabir said he has clear academic goals. He hopes to pursue a B.Tech in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and later continue higher studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Explaining his preparation strategy, he said self-analysis after every mock test was crucial. He regularly reviewed mistakes, identified weak areas, and worked specifically on improving them. According to him, this process helped sharpen both accuracy and time management.

Kabir stressed that strong conceptual understanding is more important than rote memorisation. He said truly understanding each topic and learning how to apply concepts was one of his biggest strengths during preparation.

He also said he divided studies into smaller daily goals, prepared short revision notes, and made consistent revision part of his routine. To stay mentally refreshed, he ensured he spent time with friends as well.

The National Testing Agency declared the Session-2 results of JEE-Main 2026 on Monday evening. The exam is the gateway for admission to undergraduate engineering, architecture and planning programmes across India.

Kabir is among several high-ranking students from Allen Career Institute. The coaching institute said four of its students secured ranks 1, 5, 6 and 8, while 39 students featured in the top 100.

Arnav Gautam from Kota secured AIR 5, while Shubham Kumar from Gaya scored 295 marks to claim AIR 6. Rishi Premnath from the Hyderabad centre of the institute secured AIR 8.

This year, a record more than 15.3 lakh students appeared for the examination, with 26 candidates achieving 100 percentile across both sessions.

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Kabir’s father, Mohit Chhillar, is an IIT alumnus working in the private sector, while his mother, Priyanka Chhillar, is a school teacher.