Mahesh Kumar from Rajasthan tops NEET UG 2025; secures AIR 1 rank, shares study plan, prep strategies

Mahesh Kumar from Rajasthan has topped the NEET UG 2025 exam and secured the AIR 1 position with a perfect 99 percentile. Speaking to Careers360 Kumar said, students appearing for the NEET exam should study regularly, with consistency, regardless of how well they are scoring in their regular mock tests.

Kumar said, “Many students tend to become overconfident after scoring well in practice exams and slow down their preparation. On the other hand, poor scores can demotivate others. Both reactions are harmful.”

Born in Rajasthan's Hanumangarh district, Kumar had been preparing for NEET at Gurukripa Coaching Institute in Sikar. He scored an impressive score of 686 out of 720 marks in the entrance exam in his first attempt.

Kumar maintained a fixed study schedule and ensured that his health was not compromised by the pace. Even when he scored less marks in the mock tests, he remained consistent with 10-12 hours of study.

Kumar belongs to a Hindi-medium school, but with the right guidance from his coaching institute, he excelled in the exam by learning techniques for studying biology. During his preparation tests before the NEET exam, he scored well, which boosted his confidence. Although the paper was tough, when they later compared scores, everyone scored low; it was not just him. This is what made him realize he’s in a strong position.

AIR 1 topper’s exam day experience

Kumar shared that his physics section (paper code 45) was tough at the beginning. He said: The first 20 questions were difficult, and I wasted about 30 minutes on them, managing to answer just 7-8. Later, I skipped to chemistry and biology, completed those first, but because of hurry, I made a silly mistake in the chemistry paper and a small error in biology too. However, later I went back again to physics section from end and worked backwards, which worked for me.”

Kumar was able to complete most of the questions, which built his confidence again.

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Kumar shares, students should not compare themselves solely based on mock test scores. The mock tests' aim is to build stamina, revise, and learn time management techniques. He appeared for 22 mock tests in 54 days before the NEET exam day, by which he learnt how to skip hard sections, switch subjects, and most importantly, when to leave a question to avoid negative marking.

Also read Bhavya Jha starts NEET prep in Class 11, cracks AIR 8 with self-study; Rajasthan toppers share prep strategies

Daily routine to ace exam

Kumar said his routine wasn’t fixed to the minute, but apart from his regular coaching hours of study, he made sure to self-study for hours. Whenever he felt stressed, he would talk to his parents, mentors, or take a short break with his friends to divert his mind.

Topper’s tips for NEET 2026 aspirants

Kumar shared a few preparation tips for NEET 2026 aspirants to ace their medical entrance exam.

• Advises students to pay full attention to classroom notes and coaching modules.
• Practising from NCERT is a must, especially for biology.
• Do not skip NCERT of physics and chemistry – many students do that.
• If you find multiple question sets, then practice it until you are confident.
• Most importantly, focus on concepts, even the toughest ones are based on NCERT at the core.

NEET UG result 2025 was declared on June 14, and the exam was held on May 4 in pen-paper-based mode. A total of 22,09,318 students appeared for the NEET UG 2025, of which 12,36,531 qualified.