Meet man, JEE Advanced topper who took admission at IIT Bombay, but left after 12 months due to….

According to his LinkedIn profile, Chitraang pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay from 2014 to 2015.

Every year, the National Testing Agency(NTA) conducts several competitive exams such as JEE, NEET, and CUET for aspirants to secure admission to top colleges in India. JEE, or Joint Entrance Examination is held twice a year.

It comprises of two papers. Paper 1 is conducted for admission to Undergraduate Engineering Programs (B.E. / B. Tech.) at NITs, IIITs, other Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs) and Institutions / Universities funded / recognized by participating State Governments. JEE (Main) is also an eligibility test for JEE (Advanced), which is conducted for admission to IITs. Paper 2 is conducted for admission to B. Arch and B. Planning courses in the country. After the results are declared, aspirants are given All India Rank(AIR) as per their NTA score. In this article, we will go through the story of a man, who got the All India Rank(AIR) 1 in the JEE Advanced 2014, took admission at IIT Bombay, and after a year left the institute for..…Well he is Chitraang Murdia.

Meet man, JEE Advanced topper who took admission at IIT Bombay, but left after 12 months due to….

The story posted by Humans of India on Facebook reads, “I have secured All India Rank -1 in IIT-JEE examination 2014. I took admission in IIT Bombay and was all set to become a Computer Engineer. But soon after getting the admission I realized that “Computer science is interesting to me, but my passion lies in physics. I wanted to do research, probably in quantum theory”. The post was published on April 1, 2017.

At first, Murdia enrolled himself at IIT Bombay with the aim of becoming a Computer Engineer. However, things took a different turn. The post further reads, “Don’t know how, but I developed my keen interest in Physics and decided to quit IIT. Everybody was shocked by this decision and that included even my friends.” In the 2014 IIT JEE Advanced examination, Chitraang Murdia got 334 marks out of 360. In his post, he mentioned that realized that while computer science intrigued him, his true passion lay in physics—particularly in pursuing research, perhaps in quantum theory.

However, his decision was not well-received by the people. “People used to say that you are a kid and don’t know how to take important decisions of your life and you will be earning in lakhs after receiving the Engineering degree from IIT. But as always, I followed my inner soul and not what others said,” he added.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Chitraang pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay from 2014 to 2015. After a year at the Institute, Murdia left IIT Bombay and secured admission to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with a scholarship.

‘Finally, I got admission in one of the world most prestigious institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and that too with scholarship. I have seen the students who are good in physics and maths are following the herd to seek admission to courses such as computer science and electrical engineering,’ the post read.

In 2018, Chitraang enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania for a Doctor of Philosophy degree. He completed his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2023, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At present, he is Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.