It’s high five time for Sreya Chatterjee, Swapnil Bhole, Agrima Singh and Harsha Agarwal. (Mayukh Sengupta)

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Harsha Agarwal

Stays in: Baguiati

Score: 97.6%

Marksheet: Mathematics 100, chemistry 99, physical education 99, English 95, physics 95, economics 93

Reaction to result: It was beyond my expectations. I couldn't believe it was my result.

No. of tutors: One each in physics, chemistry and mathematics, mainly for the competitive examinations.

Tutors vs study by oneself: You have to balance between the two. Tutors can't spoonfeed you. Since August, we reduced school-going and concentrated on studying at home. We attended school for 10-15 days a month.

Board exam vs competitive exam: You cannot leave out any chapter in the Board exams as the options are intra-chapter. But in competitive exams, you can leave out chapters. The questions are objective and you have to work out answers.

Future plans: I want to study engineering. I have appeared for both JEE and WBJEE.

Advice to juniors: Stay focused, be aware of the competition around you. Have faith in yourself and set targets.

Describe yourself: Hard-working and cool.

Extra time: I am into facebook, whatsapp, sleeping and shopping. I am a foodie and I love pizza. In the celebrations since the results came out, we’ve had pasta andchowmein on different days but not pizza yet. Our refrigerator is overloaded with chocolates, thanks to friends and relatives who are dropping by to congratulate me. I hope a pizza is ordered soon.

Agrima Singh

Stays in: DVC Complex, GB Block, “next door to school”

Score: 97.4%

Marksheet: Mathematics 99, physical education 99, chemistry 99, English 95, computer science 95, physics 95

Reaction to result: I was expecting around 95 per cent. Beyond 97% was unexpected. The computer at home was down the day our results came out. The school called me up and told me the score. That added to the thrill.

No. of tuitions: I had one each for mathematics, physics and chemistry. I used to go once a week for about two hours each.

Tuition versus study by oneself: Even my tutors kept telling me not to become dependent on them and come only with doubts that crop up while studying by myself. But since the syllabus is not as easy as in Class X one needs some help. I kept the weekend totally to myself. Since school starts at 10.30am, I also studied in the morning through the week. I made my own timetable which subject to study when. I studied for four hours all through two years. So I never had to put extra pressure on myself before the Board exams.

Board exam vs competitive exam: Except for BITS, the syllabus is almost the same till AIEEE. In the competitive exams, speed and smartness are of essence. You need to employ shorter methods to reach the result. But for the Boards, you need clear concepts as they want to see every step worked out in detail. The patterns are different.

Future plans: I am awaiting JEE results. I want to study engineering.

Advice to juniors: Take time out to study on your own. I have seen classmates running from one tuition to the other without time for studies or recreation. But you need both. You need not sacrifice much, but compromises are involved in these two years.

Describe yourself: My motto is work hard, party harder.

Extra time: I love athletics. I was adjudged the best athlete in school last year. I am also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer.

Swapnil Bhole

Stays in: Anushakti Abasan, AF Block

Score: 97.4%

Marksheet: Mathematics 100, physical education 99, chemistry 99, computer science 96, physics 95, English 93

Reaction to result: I was expecting this much.

No. of tuitions: A tutor each in physics and chemistry, once a week for two and half hours. Both were from school.

Tuitions vs study by oneself: When I was in Class XI, I used to think the more tutors you had the better your scores would be. Parents think this way as they want to help as much as they can. But what actually helps more is peer study and self-study.

Board exam vs competitive exam: The former is about 20 per cent easier.

Future plans: I want to do electronics engineering. I have appeared for JEE, WBJEE and BITS.

Advice to juniors: Study for optimum hours. Don’t cram all day. Once you sort out when you can study best, sort out your sleep time. Once the examinations approach, make sure your bodyclock is tuned to the timing when you’ll sit for the exam. Always start with the NCERT books, which builds one’s base and helps in the Board exams. Go for more comprehensive books only afterwards. Solve sample papers to time limits.

Describe yourself: I don’t take right decisions. I take a decision and make it right.

Extra time: During exams, I relax by listening to music. Otherwise, I love swimming and football. I am also a karateka. I have been taking classes in school for four years now.

Sreya Chatterjee

Stays in: Purbachal, Cluster IV

Score: 97.2%

Marksheet: Mathematics 99, chemistry 99, biology 97, physics 95, Bengali 96, English 95

Reaction to result: I am delighted. I would have been happy if my percentage crossed 95.

No. of tuitions: My father, an engineer, taught me physics. I had tutors for mathematics, biology, chemistry and English.

Tutors vs study by oneself: I used to be home from school by 4.30pm. I attended medical entrance coaching classes four days a week for three hours in the evening for physics, chemistry and biology. I had dinner on reaching home and studied till 12.30am. My individual subject tutors helped me with the Board preparation. For instance, my chemistry tutor, who was also the head of the department in my school, used to give me notes which were adequate for definitions. My mathematics teacher took regular exams as otherwise the subject got ignored, not being part of my medical entrance preparation.

Board exam vs competitive exam: I was pretty relaxed during the Boards as I knew it was not as critical for my future. If one is in touch, it is adequate.

Advice to juniors: Do not ignore a subject for long. I had done that to physics and had to work hard after the pre-Board exams to make up.

Future plans: I want to be a doctor, failing which my plan B is chemistry honours. My top choice is Christian Medical College in Vellore or Calcutta Medical College. If I succeed I will be the first doctor in my family.

Describe yourself: I am different from everybody else on the planet.

Extra time: Staying up all night on Kali puja to taking part in local functions to wearing a sari on Saraswati puja — I love to be a part of everything. Even last Pujas, our para dadu who directs our plays, Prabir Roy Choudhury, asked if I could find time. It was very hectic still I learnt my lines and played the lead in Kabuliwala. I love to talk. So I hope I could be a part-time radio jockey some day.

Apeejay School Salt Lake

Arkaketan Chatterjee

Stays in: Lake Town, Block A

Score: 96.6%

Marksheet: Chemistry 99, biology 98, mathematics 97, physical education 94, English 94, civics 87

Reaction to result: I had expected good results.

No. of tuitions: Four

Tuitions vs study by oneself: I always had three hours to study in the evening.

Advice to juniors: Do not overburden yourself with tuitions. It is vital to find time for studies at home. You need to relax to enjoy the subjects.

Future plan: I want to be a doctor like my parents. I have appeared for JEE, WBJEE, All India Pre-Medical Test and the AIIMS entrance. Next Sunday there is the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) test.

Extra time: I have a great interest in martial arts. An instructor comes to train me at home in karate from Sibaji Ganguly’s institute. I have been learning since Class V. I love watching comedies like 3 Idiots and Srijit Mukherji films. I also read thrillers and detective stories.

Hariyana Vidya Mandir

Wrik Laha

Stays at: CL 263

Score: 96.4%

Marksheet: Biology 97, Bengali 98, mathematics 95, chemistry 96, English 95, physics 90

No. of tuitions: Twice a week each for physics and chemistry, once for mathematics.

Tuitions vs study by oneself: I had joined a coaching centre for medical entrance but discontinued after a month as it was taking too much time. They had three-hour classes on every weekday. Since my school got over at 12noon, I had no problems going for tuitions at 5pm. I could still manage to study for three hours on these days. On holidays, I studied for six hours. When I wanted to study at home, I sometimes gave tuitions a miss too, especially the mathematics tuition, since my focus was medical entrance.

Board exam vs competitive exam: It is enough to read the NCERT text books. Even in WBJEE, 70 per cent of the questions came from there. The rest are from the main points of the reference books. Even in the AIIMS entrance test, some questions were from the biology NCERT book.

Future plan: I want to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a doctor. He is a paediatrician at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals.

Describe yourself: I am hard-working but not studious.

Extra time: I am a photography buff. I used to play lawn tennis at Bengal Tennis Academy for six years till Class XI. I will start again if I stay in the city. I was also a quizzer till Class X. I have a lot of interest in computers.