Chitrang Murdia: JEE Topper Who Walked Out of IIT Bombay

Biography

Rank 1, 2014

JEE Advanced is the entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology, and the rank it produces determines not only admission but the choice of institute and branch. In 2014, Murdia's 334 out of 360 placed him first in the country. India.com, revisiting the story in March 2025, reports the mark alongside his 97 per cent in Class 12.

An All India Rank 1 in India carries a cultural weight that has no straightforward equivalent elsewhere. The topper's photograph runs in the national press, coaching institutes advertise the result for years, and the expected next step is prescribed by convention: computer science at IIT Bombay, the branch and campus that rank ordering has made the most sought-after combination in the country.

The year he left

Murdia took that place and then gave it up. I liked computer science a lot, he is quoted as saying, but my interest was in physics. I wanted to do research in quantum theory. After roughly a year at IIT Bombay, spanning 2014 and 2015, he transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a scholarship to study physics.

The decision was reported at the time, and is still reported now, as a shock. The reason is that the Indian examination system is optimised to allocate the highest ranks to the most lucrative branches, and leaving computer science at IIT Bombay reads, within that system, as discarding the prize. Murdia's own framing inverts it: the rank was a means of choosing, and he used it to choose something else. Students should identify their real interest, he told the paper, and not just follow the crowd.

The timeline the source muddles

What happened after MIT is where the available reporting becomes unreliable, and this page will not smooth it over. The same India.com article states that he began a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 and that he completed a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, in 2023, and that he is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.

Those statements are difficult to hold together as written: a doctorate begun at one university in 2018 and completed at another in 2023 implies a transfer that the article never mentions. The firm parts are that he moved into physics research, took a doctorate, and holds a postdoctoral position at Penn as of the 2025 report. The institution at which the doctorate was begun, and whether he moved between programmes, are not established here.

What a topper's path usually looks like

The standard trajectory for a JEE topper is well documented in Indian coverage of later years: computer science at IIT Bombay or Delhi, then either a quantitative trading firm, a large technology company or a graduate programme in the United States. Pranav Goyal, who topped JEE Advanced in 2018, followed the first route, taking a computer science degree at IIT Bombay and joining a trading firm in Hong Kong.

Murdia's departure is notable precisely because it was a departure from that script, and because academic physics is the lower-paying option at every stage. The 2025 article's interest in him, eleven years after the exam, is a measure of how unusual the choice still appears in India.

What is documented, and what is not

Firm: Murdia is from Udaipur, Rajasthan; he scored 97 per cent in Class 12; he took All India Rank 1 in JEE Advanced 2014 with 334 out of 360; he joined computer science at IIT Bombay and left after about a year; he moved to MIT on a scholarship to study physics; as of March 2025 he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.

Not documented, or internally inconsistent: his birth year and age, the degree he took at MIT, and the doctoral timeline, where the same article gives both a 2018 start at Penn and a 2023 completion at Berkeley without explaining the move. Any page that states one of those without the other is choosing rather than reporting.

Achievement Timeline

Chitrang Murdia — every milestone on this page, in order.

2014

Scores 97 per cent in Class 12 and takScores 97 per cent in Class 12 and takes All India Rank 1 in JEE Advanced with 334 out of 360

2014-2015

Studies computer science at IIT BombayStudies computer science at IIT Bombay, then leaves

After 2015

Moves to MIT on a scholarship to studyMoves to MIT on a scholarship to study physics

2018-2023

India.com reports a doctorate begun atIndia.com reports a doctorate begun at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 and completed at UC Berkeley in 2023, without explaining the move

2025

Reported as a postdoctoral researcher Reported as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania

Historical Comparison

Person	Country	Milestone	Age / Stat
Chitrang Murdia	India	All India Rank 1, JEE Advanced 2014	—
Kalpit Veerwal	India	360 out of 360 in JEE Main 2017, All India Rank 1	—
Pranav Goyal	India	All India Rank 1, JEE Advanced 2018	—
Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy	India	All India Rank 1, JEE Advanced 2023	—
Ved Lahoti	India	Topping JEE Advanced 2024 with 355 out of 360	—

What is documented — and what is not

✓ Documented

All India Rank 1 in JEE Advanced 2014 with 334 out of 360
97 per cent in Class 12; from Udaipur, Rajasthan
Left computer science at IIT Bombay after about a year and moved to MIT for physics
Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania as of March 2025

? Unverified, disputed or wrong

Birth year and age are not stated
The doctoral record is contradictory in the source: 2018 at Penn, 2023 at Berkeley
The degree taken at MIT is not specified

Questions people ask about Chitrang Murdia

What rank did Chitrang Murdia get?

All India Rank 1 in JEE Advanced 2014, with 334 marks out of 360.

Why did he leave IIT Bombay?

In his own words: he liked computer science a lot, but his interest was in physics and he wanted to do research in quantum theory.

Where did he go instead?

To the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on a scholarship, to study physics.

Where did he do his PhD?

The available report is inconsistent. It says he began a doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018 and completed one at UC Berkeley in 2023, without describing a transfer. This page reports both statements rather than picking one.

Where is Chitrang Murdia now?

As of a March 2025 report, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania.

How old is Chitrang Murdia?

No source consulted gives his birth year or age.

What is JEE Advanced?

The entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology. The rank a candidate earns determines which institute and which branch of engineering they may choose.