MUMBAI: Twenty two students from the state have scored a perfect 100 percentile in the Maharashtra Technical Common Entrance Test (MHT-CET) for engineering and agriculture undergraduate courses, whose results were declared on Monday. However, the number has dropped compared to last year, when 37 students achieved the top percentile.
Of the 22 students who topped the exam, 14 are already on track to secure admission into various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Four of the top scorers are from outside Maharashtra, while another four plan to use their CET scores to gain admission to engineering colleges within the state.
The MHT-CET exam for the Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics (PCM) group was conducted across 28 sessions, between April 19 and May 5. Of the 4,64,263 students who registered for the PCM group, 4,22,863 took the exam.
The Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (PCB) group examination was held from April 22 to 30. Of the 3,14,675 registered students, 2,95,577 took the test. The results of the PCB group will be declared on Tuesday.
Many of the CET toppers also performed exceptionally well in the JEE Advanced examination, conducted for admission to undergraduate programmes in the IITs and NITs. Siddhant Ghate from Powai, who secured 100 percentile in the CET, said that preparing for the JEE Advanced exam made the CET relatively easy. “I focused on a higher level of preparation for the JEE. That helped me clear both the JEE Mains and CET smoothly,” he said. Ghate secured an All-India Rank (AIR) of 243 in the JEE Advanced exam and is aiming for admission to IIT Kanpur for computer science engineering.
Anirudh Iyer from Chembur also scored 100 percentile in the CET and ranked 198 in the JEE Advanced. A former student of Somaiya School, Iyer said, “My interest lies in physics and I want to pursue research. I’m trying to get into IIT-Bombay or IISc for physics.”
Among the top scorers from Mumbai and Thane are Pranav Mintri, Vipul Meer and Arnav Nigam. Mintri, who achieved AIR 141 in JEE Advanced, is seeking admission to IIT-Bombay. Meer, a student of Cathedral School in Mumbai, secured AIR 69 and hopes to join IIT-Delhi. Arnav Nigam, who lives in Goregaon and studied at Vibgyor High School, secured AIR 11 in JEE Advanced. In addition to his top rank, he has qualified for several national science Olympiads and is looking forward to pursuing computer science at IIT-Bombay.
While the results were being celebrated across the state, a few parents raised concerns about the percentile calculation method used in this year’s CET results. The State Common Entrance Test Cell is yet to respond to these concerns.