When the KCET 2026 results came out on June 6, Srajan B S was occupied with some other work. He had no idea that he had just become one of Karnataka’s top engineering rankers. His mother found out first.
“She told me, ‘You got second rank. I myself was shocked,” says Srajan, 18, who secured Common Rank List 4,630 and a category rank of 548 in JEE Advanced 2026, and is now Karnataka’s KCET engineering state second topper. “Like a bit, I thought she was pranking me, but later, I realised that she was not pranking me.”
In a conversation with indianexpress.com, he said that he expected his rank to be somewhere under 10. “I was expecting under 10. But I was seriously not expecting second rank,” he says. “I was expecting maybe fifth or sixth — based on how my preparation had gone.”
That preparation, it turns out, was not what most students imagine when they picture an engineering entrance topper. Srajan did not move to Kota. He did not study 12-13 hours a day, but focused on maintaining consistency. He did not even plan to take JEE at all until his teachers and principal intervened.
“My goal was the state CET exam only,” he says. “After the midterm in 12th PU, my teachers and principal told me that I need to do JEE also. Because of their pressure, I studied for JEE.” He started JEE preparation in October-November of his final year — after the board exams ended, he studied for JEE Advanced for just two months and secured Common Rank List 4,630.
Electrical engineering over CSE
In a year when almost every JEE or state topper chases Computer Science, AI, or Machine Learning seats, Srajan is an exception, because he wants Electrical or Mechanical Engineering — and he has thought this through carefully.
“During the pandemic, my mom introduced me to electrical stuff — IPs, semiconductors, related things. I picked up interest from there,” he says. Two to three years ago, he made his decision to opt for Electrical or Mechanical, not CSE.
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“Computer Science (CS) involves a lot of abstract mathematics, which I’m not good at,” he says, adding that he was really interested in field jobs like CNCs, lathes, and large machines. That’s what piqued his interest.
For Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) counselling, he is weighing his options: Mechanical Engineering at IIT Kanpur or Hyderabad, or Electrical at IIT Indore or NIT Surathkal. State colleges are not in the picture as his rank gives him the luxury of aiming higher, that is, IIT.
Consistency over hours
Srajan’s preparation philosophy is simple. He did not burn himself out with marathon study sessions. He studied six hours of self-study a day, consistently, without skipping a single day, not even during summer vacations, and that too from Class 9 or 10.
“Consistency is what matters,” he says. “If you study one month continuously without skipping, you get the momentum, and you won’t want to stop.” His secret study material for the preparation was a diary. Every day, he would mark down topics he needed to revisit in which he did not perform well.
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“Revision is what matters the most. Everyone can grasp concepts, but remembering them is the key,” he says. His college, Deeksha Vedantu, Mahalakshmipuram, ran weekly tests — a board test every Friday, and a competitive test for state board preparation.
Srajan would identify what was being tested that week, study it thoroughly, mark difficult problems, and revise before exam day.
For JEE, the same rigour applied, but compressed into two months. On the question of Kota versus home preparation, he said, “Teaching will only help to a certain extent. You need to have interest and intelligence in yourself to grasp what they are teaching. For the top 10-20 ranks in JEE Main or Advanced, Kota may be necessary. But for my rank, it was not.”
Srajan’s father, Suresh V, is an accountant, and his mother, a homemaker. Being the only child, he says, was a source of strength rather than pressure. His parents kept him away from mobile phones, and he used a laptop instead, and mostly watched science videos on YouTube during lunch. He is not a sports person, and YouTube was his rest time.
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What comes after IIT?
Srajan has thought beyond the IIT gate, too. After completing his degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, he is considering the Engineering Services Examination or GATE for entry into public sector organisations. Research and MTech are also on the table.
He had a choice back in Class 10 between arts and science. He chose science, chose engineering, and has not looked back. “I decided that engineering would be my goal. I had geography and arts as an option — but once I chose science, that was it.”
For students who will sit in KCET 2027, Srajan’s advice is that hard work is non-negotiable. But equally important are consistency, following your teachers, and belief — in God and in oneself.
“Patience and belief in God kept me motivated through tough times. And having a final goal — I knew I needed to do electrical engineering specifically. That’s why I could study properly,” he says.