JEE Advanced 2026 Success Stories: 5 students who overcame poverty to chase IIT dreams

For thousands of aspirants, cracking Joint Entrance Examination, JEE Advanced is just a dream, but for Satyam, Rounak, Aryan Sahu, Sagar and Lakky Jatav, it was a battle against financial constraints and limited resources. Despite coming from modest backgrounds, all of them cracked Joint Entrance Examination and are now one step closer to securing admission in their dream colleges.

IIT Roorkee announced Advanced results on May 31. A total of 1,79,694 candidates appeared for both papers of JEE Advanced 2026 , with 56,880 qualifying the examination. Shubham Kumar from the IIT Delhi zone secured AIR 1 with 330 out of 360 marks, while Arohi Deshpande emerged as the top female candidate with CRL 77 and 280 marks. Of the qualified candidates, 10,107 were female. The IIT Madras zone recorded the highest number of qualifiers at 14,294, followed by IIT Bombay (12,389) and IIT Delhi (10,697).

Security Guard's Son Secures CRL 6249

Satyam, whose father works as a security guard and mother is a homemaker, got 147 marks in JEE Advanced 2026. He secured CRL 6249, OBC-NCL rank 1404 and credits his success to disciplined preparation, mock tests and guidance from teachers. Satyam initially struggled to study for long hours but gradually maintained 14-16 hour study sessions. Coming from a poor family with no engineering background, he describes his father as biggest motivator.

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Auto Driver's Son Couldn't Purchase Test Series

Delhi-based Rounak decided to prepare for engineering entrance examinations after scoring highest marks in his school in Class 10. He secured 146 marks and CRL 6585 in JEE Advanced 2026. His father is an auto driver and mother works in a factory. At one stage of his preparation, financial constraints prevented him from purchasing additional books and test series. He studied from Physics Wallah online resources and secured 98.93 percentile in JEE Main 2026 before qualifying JEE Advanced.

Vegetable Vendor's Son Overcomes Financial Struggles

Aryan Sahu from Lucknow qualified JEE Advanced with 95 marks, securing CRL 27,672 and OBC-NCL Rank 7,908. His father sells vegetables while his mother is a homemaker. Aryan said financial challenges often made preparation difficult, and there were times when backlogs accumulated and motivation dropped. To recover, he relied on daily targets, previous-year questions and online learning resources. He said memories of his father's hard work motivated him whenever he felt like giving up.

Scholarship Funds Fuel IIT Dream

Sagar scored 94 marks, securing CRL 28,428 and SC Rank 989 in Advanced. His father, who previously worked as a barber, now earns a living through painting job, and his mother works as a tailor. After shifting from English-medium to Hindi-medium education due to financial constraints, Sagar used his NMMS scholarship of Rs 12,000 annually to purchase study material. During his school days, a teacher paid his school fees and provided stationery.

Also read JEE Advanced cut-off 2026 rises across all categories; minimum marks for General, OBC, SC, ST announced

Labourer's Son Studies Two Classes Together

Lakky Jatav from Muzaffarnagar secured 89 marks in JEE Advanced 2026 and achieved SC Rank 1207. His father works as a daily-wage labourer while his mother cleans houses. Lakky adopted an unusual strategy during preparation by covering large portions of his Class 12 syllabus while simultaneously studying in Class 11. He said detailed analysis of mistakes after every test became the most important aspects of his preparation. Whenever he felt demotivated, he would take short walks.

Though their journeys are completely different, all five students shared a common challenge: limited financial resources. From scholarship-funded preparation and government school education to cracking JEE, their inspiring stories highlight how perseverance and family support helped them overcome obstacles and qualify one of India's toughest entrance examinations.