It was her love for the subjects that made Tanuja Chukka, who hails from Telangana, overcome the uncertainties surrounding the exams and emerge as the only female candidate to score 100 percentile in Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Main 2020.

Eight students from Telangana, five from Delhi, four from Rajasthan, and three from Andhra Pradesh were among 24 who clinched 100 percentile in the JEE (Main) exam held from September 1 to 6.

The examinations were held amid strict precautions due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

‘It is a belief that girls cannot crack Advanced or JEE (Main), but there are many social factors attached to a girl’s education which are not there for boys. Girls too should aim higher and score 100 percentile. This is not the end-point but the start,’ Tanuja told The Indian Express.

Of the 8.58 lakh candidates who had registered for the JEE (Main), the doorway to engineering colleges, as many as 6.35 lakh braved threats posed due to COVID-19 to appear for the test.

Tanuja had reportedly attempted the January session of the examination as well in which she had scored 99.9955 percentile marks.

Highlighting that her preparations included solving sample papers, she said, ‘Since it was a long time, it was not possible to read and re-read again and again, I shifted more focus to sample papers. Attempting sample papers had kept me motivated and writing frequently in an exam-like scenario made me more confident during the test.’

She aims to study computer science from IIT-Bombay. ‘I love mathematics and computer science will help me put mathematics in the logical application. I want to study from IIT-Bombay as I have heard from seniors that it is the best IIT.’

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