How I got into one of the top colleges of India?

As the admission season is once again set to begin, I remember my journey of getting into the Hindu College, University of Delhi.

Everyone has a different and unique journey. And the upcoming batches will have their own. Here’s my own journey that pushes me every day and makes me believe in the power of self-belief and consistent efforts.

A college with a lot of opportunities is what most of the students look for after their schooling. This is the point where my journey started coinciding with the previous and the forthcoming batches.

I know, for many of you, college doesn’t matter.

But this is more of a journey of the power of self-belief and consistent efforts. About 15 months back, CBSE let us know that the exams we were preparing for the entire year were going to be cancelled.

That was a SHOCKER!

After taking a therapeutic break, I had the following unanswered questions,

“What next?”

“Which course?”

“Which city?”

“Which college?”

As I was clear with the course I wanted to pursue and with my expectations from a college, I started researching the top colleges to get into.

After loads of comparisons, discussions, and advices, I decided to get into the HINDU COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF DELHI. On July 30, came the Class 12th board result which was actually going to decide my fate.

The results made me realize that I forgot to ask myself one question in the list we saw earlier. The question was…

“What if my school doesn’t give me enough marks required to get into a premier institute?”

Yes. You read it right. I got 94.8% (Top four 96.75%). a decent score, no? But NOT decent enough to get into HINDU (as per my research on previous cutoffs of my course). I cried. I was disheartened. I knew this is not the end but still…

Three days later, CBSE announced a “RAY OF HOPE” for students like me. We were given a chance to give an offline improvement examination in any/all of the subjects. But this opportunity was accompanied by a
“Risk-Reward” statement that said,

“Marks obtained in this examination will be treated as final. NOT best of the two.”

In this “DO or DIE”, I chose “DO”. Fears from within and questions from the outside were all along with me.

“What if you get an even lower score?”
“You got a good score. Why are you taking so much load?”
“You won’t be able to prepare the entire syllabus of a subject again.”

Believing in myself and my preparation, I went on to give the improvement examination of one subject, and guess what? I succeeded in improving my score by 10 marks (from 87 to 97). It took my overall score to 96.8% and the top four to 98.5%.

Everyone was happy. People who were advising me not to go for improvement exams started saying-

“We knew that you could do it.”

DU released the first cut-off list and I was clearing the cut-off of my preferred course at Hindu College. I was elated. I could feel the relief. But there was still a test left I had to give to prove my determination.

I filled out the application form. I was anxious the entire day and kept on checking my application status. At midnight, I shockingly found out that the status has changed to-

“Application Rejected. Marks Below Cutoff.”

I was numb for a few minutes.
How could I believe that my marks were below the cutoff?

I knew I had uploaded two mark sheets and my improved score might not be reflected on the CBSE portal. I held my nerves and immediately started looking for the relevant contact details. I found the email id and phone number of the TIC of our department and I mailed her asking for the solution.

When I woke up, I checked my mail and noticed that the TIC had replied with an “OKAY. I WILL RECHECK”. I couldn’t hold back my anxiety and made a call to the TIC. Fortunately, she picked up my call and asked me to mail her a photocopy of my new mark sheet signed by the Principal of our school.
I mailed her that and after a few hours, the status changed to —

APPLICATION ACCEPTED.

As I am about to enter the third semester of my college, I thought of sharing this journey that has given me a few important life lessons-

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.
TAKE RISKS TO STAND OUT.
DO HARD WORK. LUCK WILL FOLLOW.

I couldn’t think of anything better than this post for my first blog on MEDIUM.
THANK YOU for reading.