#NEET2017result: Two friends from Indore grab all India ranks 2 and 3

They are the best of friends and fierce competitors as well. Meet Indore’s Archit Gupta and Manish Mulchandani, who secured the All India Rank 2 and 3 in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) 2017, result of which was announced on Friday.
Gupta and Mulchandani left their homes to live in a hostel so that they could concentrate on their studies and egg each other on. They even attended the same coaching institute in the Madhya Pradesh city.
“I am from Indore but I decided to live in the hostel to maintain my concentration. I didn’t follow any schedule to study. I used to pick any book according to my wish and started studying. I kept my focus on my weak points and converted it into my strength,” Gupta said.
The 17-year-old will represent India in the Bio Olympiad scheduled to be held in London on July 23.
“Archit and I always compete with each other, but it is a healthy competition and it helped us both in scoring well. I am happy that my hard work paid off today,” Mulchandani, who is also 17-years-old, said.
Both of them also found a place in the top 10 of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) entrance exam for an MBBS course.
Mulchandani, who scored 84% in Class 12, said it was not necessary that only toppers from school can top the competitive exam.
“I concentrated on studies to clear NEET. I was just expecting a good medical college but I am happy to secure a rank in the merit,” he added.
Navdeep Singh from Punjab topped with a score of 697 marks in the exam conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for admission to medical, dental, AYUSH and veterinary colleges across the country.
Over 11,38,889 candidates registered for the exam, of which 10,90,085 appeared and 6,11,539 qualified. Of the successful candidates, 2,66,221 were boys and 3,45,313 girls. Five of the eight from the transgender category cleared the exam.