Kerala entrance topper snubs IITs, wants to study mathematics at IISc

Shafil Maheen N, a Kozhikode native, has grabbed the first rank in the Kerala engineering entrance examinations, with an impressive score of 587.1312.

A student of Rays Public School in Kozhikode, Shafil is the son of KA Niyas and Dr Shamjitha of Tirur in Malappuram. The family has been staying in Kozhikode for the last two years to help Shafil get good coaching for the entrance examination.

The youngster had also bagged fourth rank and eighth rank in the highly competitive JEE Advanced and JEE Mains tests respectively, announced earlier this month. 

Though Shafil can choose to join any engineering course in any of the top IITs in the country and his parents are still trying to convince him to do so, he is adamant to study mathematics at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. "Mathematics fascinates me. I want to get into research in mathematics. I have been chasing this dream since I was in class IX," a Times of India report quoted Shafil as saying after the JEE results.

Meanwhile, Kottayam natives Vedant Prakash Shenoy and Abhilash Kar secured the second and third ranks in the engineering entrance examinations. The rank list comprises of 32,036 male candidates and 29,680 female candidates. Interestingly, the first 10 ranks went to boys.

The results of the 2017 Kerala Engineering, Architecture and Medical Courses (KEAM) entrance examinations were announced last month, and the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations (CEE) released the engineering and pharmacy rank list on Tuesday, in which Shafil reigned supreme.

In the pharmacy category, Alif Ansif of Malappuram secured first rank. Candidates can check KEAM 2017 results and rank list here.

• Kerala entrance results
• KEAM 2017