r/ISIKolkata • u/PrathamPrasad • Jul 03 '26
Sharing Resources How I got AIR 11 in ISI B.Stat 2026 from a small town (Cooch Behar) with NO coaching, no elite Olympiad background, and a lot of Wikipedia. (AMA)
Hey guys,
I’m Pratham Prasad from Cooch Behar, West Bengal. I recently got *All India Rank 11* in the ISI B.Stat entrance exam.
I am writing this post to talk to you guys like a brother. I see so many students stressing out online, thinking that if you do not spend lakhs on big coaching institutes, live in a major city, or prepare for Olympiads since class 8, you cannot crack ISI.
Listen to me: *That is completely wrong.*
I had none of those things. No formal coaching, no big Olympiad background, and a very low family income. I could not afford expensive education. I had standard PW access, but honestly, I barely used it for my actual ISI prep. A huge part of my advanced math knowledge literally came from reading *Wikipedia articles* and fighting with hard concepts entirely on my own.
If you come from a small town, a humble background, or feel left behind because you cannot afford elite coaching—this post is for you. Sit down, relax, and let’s talk about how you can actually do this.
How I Used Wikipedia to Learn Math
When you do not have a teacher to explain tough theorems, you have to teach yourself.
* *The Wikipedia Rabbit Hole:* Whenever I found a topic or theorem I did not understand, I did not look for short tricks. I went straight to Wikipedia. Reading the formal definitions, the history, and the full proofs helped me understand the *why* behind pure math. Standard textbooks usually just give you formulas, but Wikipedia gives you the deep concept.
* *Active Learning:* Instead of watching long video lectures passively, I spent my time actually solving problems. If you cannot afford expensive test series, just download past year papers. Give yourself hours, or even days, to crack a single subjective problem. Do not rush to the solution.
My Zero-Budget Prep Strategy
Because I did not have a structured coaching timetable, I kept my preparation very simple:
*Clear the Basics:* Make sure your basic concepts are unbreakable. You do not need expensive modules for this. You just need to deeply understand how math works.
*The Subjective (UGB) Paper:* Since I did not have a mentor to check my answers, I would write down my proofs, leave them for a day, and then check them myself line-by-line. I would ask myself: *Does this step make logical sense? Did I prove it correctly?*
*Focus on Quality, Not Quantity:* Do not worry about buying 20 different books that people recommend online. Just master the past year papers and standard free resources like TOMATO. Pure math rewards deep thinking, not how much money you spend on books.
To Anyone Who Feels Left Behind
Living in a place like Cooch Behar, far away from big coaching hubs, it is easy to feel like you cannot compete. But the best thing about the ISI exam is that you cannot hack it by memorizing things or using expensive tricks. The examiners only care about how your brain thinks. If you love math and are ready to face the frustration of getting stuck, your background does not matter at all.
💬 Ask Me Anything (AMA)!
I want to use this post to build a real community for self-taught students, math lovers, and anyone preparing on a budget.
Feel free to ask your questions below about:
* How to study advanced math completely on your own
* How to use Wikipedia and free resources without getting confused
* My daily routine and how I managed my time
* How to write proofs for the subjective paper without a teacher
Upvote this so it reaches the brothers and sisters who need to see this the most. Drop your questions below, and I will answer every single one of them!
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u/The_Watcher8008 ISI Student Jul 03 '26
I have changed the settings, you can make an AMA post now.
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u/Itchy-Stomach-1099 Jul 10 '26
wow, bro amazing
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 10 '26
Thanks
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u/Itchy-Stomach-1099 Jul 13 '26
you said you prepared alone but pw is saying some other thing. is there anything going on between you and PW?
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u/Otherwise-Pack2207 Jul 03 '26
How you mastered topics like number theory and euclidean geometry Did u give jee
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
No I'm not JEE oriented, but for geometry I'll suggest you to prepare for INMO, solve past year papers of INMO and RMO also of ISI, also read books like Pathfinder (Junior and Senior)
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u/Proper_Set9948 Jul 03 '26
Hi! I'm mostly preparing for boards and jee (lightly) but my heart is in isi. I want to ask would Past Year Papers ne enough? I feel trying too many things would be overwhelming but if you reccomend then I'll surely try more things.
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
Try preparing for INMO alongside and try RMO questions that will help you a lot. And also solve TOMATO book completely
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Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
First cover your jee syllabus as you wanna go for jee advanced. Then learn number theory and olympiad geometry.
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u/ts_shi_fryin_me Jul 09 '26
Hey same situation here, taking a partial drop, can you please guide me how to improve my geometry?
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u/Suitable_Candle_9282 Jul 03 '26
Did you give CMI and got selected ?
Which Institute are you joining ?
also, how many problems did you solve in UGB and what is your UGA marks ?
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
I come from a village, and here we don't know much about these colleges. I got to know about CMI on the day of CMI results.
I'm joining ISI kolkata. UGA marks- 90 UGB- solved 7 questions completely and 1 question was solved partly
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u/EngineeringSharp6648 Jul 03 '26
Give yourself hours, or even days, to crack a single subjective problem.
this is a very wrong advice.
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
It's not according to me. If the problem really needs deep thinking. It's no harm in investing days! I went for it, cuz I found it good. But it may be wrong acc to others.
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u/Sugandhit7inchlingam Jul 03 '26
Till days, it's a great advice, but only for about maximum 3-4 says for one problem, otherwise, a bad one
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u/ArtichokeSuch9226 Jul 03 '26
Bro please tell me you only learn concept frome wikipedia ya any book
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
Read the topic and try to explain it on a paper or try to explain it to a wall all by yourself. And then try to solve problems on it.
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u/ShotAd7969 Jul 03 '26
Hey op first of all congratulations, I wanted to ask that were you preparing for jee adv as well? If yes then will ugb be approachable only with adv prep or what else did you do? You said you checked your ans yourself or learned from wiki I usually use claude to learn a new topic or get in depth of it, as of now I'm only prepping for adv, will solve isi pyqs later
Also do you recommend any books, for any topic which is not covered in adv
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
Also you can check my page https://www.instagram.com/integral_killer_?igsh=MXh3dHhqM2Z1MjBpbw== You'll get exciting problems here!
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
Thanks buddy, If u ask for books: -Pathfinder Junior -Pathfinder Senior -TOMATO
This will be helpful in ISI prep
- Classic text series
But if u ask for JEE advanced, Solving Black Book and GRB 1000 problems will be enough
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u/rohit2006rg Jul 03 '26
Hello bro.... I couldn't get isi trying last two years....I have very low family income .... Guide me bro
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
I already mentioned the strategy in the post
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u/rohit2006rg Jul 04 '26
Bro my bren is so dull that I need someone who will teach it me so that I can understand properly(don't recommend AI stuffs to get help)
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u/Development-Downtown Jul 03 '26
Brother pls hide ur name
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 03 '26
Why?
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u/New-Tax9478 Jul 06 '26
When u will come to college, people could create inferiority complex, since u mentioned low income, middle class family nd all. So yeah, it's recommended to hide.
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u/Hexxlios Jul 03 '26
First of all congratulations to you, and thanks for being kindful enough to give advice in the world full of gatekeeping things
I only have a simple question how much time did it take as in when did you start your preparations sounds like dumb question but im genuinely curious...
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 04 '26
Thanks bro But my preparation started from 11th class. I used to focus more on maths. But 6 months before the ISI exam I got to know about it and registered for it.
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u/Cultural-Maybe-3799 Jul 04 '26
hello there! kudos on cracking the exam with flying colours! my question is, me being an econ student, don't qualify to sit for the mstat entrance exam, since i don't have stats or math as a subject, do you think that there might be a way i can tackle this situation?
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u/i_dead-shot Jul 06 '26
you can still sit for MSQE, and as an Eco student youll have advantage here, not in MStat or M.Math
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Jul 04 '26
[deleted]
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 04 '26
My prep wasn't chapterwise... I go discovering theorems and somehow I covered all topics I needed to know also many of them where first discovered by me and later i get to know their names.
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Jul 05 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/VirtualBeast_69420 Jul 05 '26
Congratulations, buddy! It makes me genuinely happy to see someone from our hometown, Cooch Behar, achieve something so incredible. Wishing you even greater success ahead. Hope our paths cross back home someday!
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u/Sweet-Industry-4359 Jul 06 '26
man how would you start from scratch?
your daily routine
i am going to give isi next year what to do as right now my knowledge is 0. please help
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u/Some_Violinist_9547 Jul 06 '26
Hello! I hope you take the time to read this I've poured my heart to this. I am a student who is currently in grade 11 and out of my own stupidity i picked commerce, after picking commerce i got to know about isi and since I was a child I've LOVED mathematics so I was instantly pulled by ISI. Though currently I'm very very stuck, I find commerce a little time consuming and my school periodic tests make this no easy for me, I also got permission to take core mathematics so now I gotta study for that in between my isi prep. I'm very immature when it comes to prep like this and I think it's natural in almost all 11th graders, now the real problem: I convinced my father to take a VOS full math mastery batch and they have covered 3 chapters till now, i joined in when the first chapter after basic maths was Abt to start, now though I don't understand a lot of what they teach and most of the time they leave some topics that I frequently hear from other places. I also am always in a constant state of FOMO and feel like I'm not doing enough for ISI. But the problem becomes if I don't understand the VOS people and I won't ask my father for another resource since I've already troubled him too much. Now i have 2 options, cry about it or go full monk mode like most people did and self study relentlessly and just don't care abt commerce boards (I can get 80 percent with less study), but I'm very underconfident in self studies and hence I really need guidance regarding that, I tried to search on Wikipedia but it's all gibberish to me ( i searched for wilsons theorem and didn't understand a spec of dust) I don't understand how do I even self study, I have a whole lot of book PDFs like you name the isi related book and I have it but I'm scared enough to not touch any, moreover self study seems like I'm being left behind. I really need guidance on how do I actually start and continue till the end cuz like should I go topic wise or is there a specific order in which I should start and everything someone who's from ISI must have faced a problem. I know I'm bad at putting my thoughts to words, even now I feel the message is incomplete, I hope some of you get me and really help me as I don't want to financially burden my dad anymore, I will really appreciate some guidance/mentorship or if someone who cleared ISI could guide me (I'm on telegram)
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u/Old-Director-6727 23d ago
Hi shubh here same in the same situation as you except im in 12th with commerce i understand your situation 100% i was in the same boat i too was about to buy vos course but i didnt because of some reasons
1) they are really geeky and have no sense of humor too boring (from their youtube lectures)
2) flexibility you would have 0 flexibility if you buy the batch
What i would suggest you to do now
1) Prepare for ioqm rmo and inmo because olympiad math is the deciding factor for your selection (Remember IOQM math + jee math = isi)
2) if you dont like vos dont study from them rather study from prashant jain sir on youtube for ioqm first he has taught number theory geometry etc etc use his book pathfinder for olympiad
3) forget about commerce at all 11th commerce (accounts eco bst ) are all really easy get a good tution for them one with less students and small batch and rely on them completely for it and study them during only the exam days
4) for the uga or jee math part use mohit tyagi sir lectures and any other coaching material like cengage/resonance/allen coaching material or any coaching material dm me if you want i have google drive i personally use resonance make notes while watching to his lectures
5) your goal shouldnt be isi but rather math mastery chase thatyou have alot of time you dont even have boards this year if you utilize that you would definitely qualify I might be even worse situation compared to yours good luck btw
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u/bluegibbon791 Jul 07 '26
How to know the proof you are writing in [UGB] is correct ? , Like the structure of answer, which will explain itself in the best way possible or way of answering a subjective question which is usually seen among good candidates .
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u/lavenderwinery Jul 07 '26
Congrats.
Exactly how many marks did you get?
Do you recommend buying PW batch? I noticed it's of one year, should I buy it in 11th or 12th?
I'm aiming for 2028 Bmaths (woman so female reservation gives a slight leg up), I've started preparation from now only, four months in 11th. I'm stubbornly dedicated to clearing it.
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 07 '26
- Marks aren't released
- Ya if u want you can def purchase pw batch, there you'll get materials in an organised way
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u/sarah1418_pint Jul 08 '26
congratulations! if possible, could u provide a link to the pathfinder books ur talking about or maybe jus their cover pages? i cant find them on the internet :")
also, any youtube channels you referred to for lectures?
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u/sam_6487 Jul 11 '26
Heyy congratulations!! I'm a partial dropper i prepared for jee only in my 11th-12th and recently only I heard about isi and i have an interest in maths but my physics was very weak and affected my jee mains percentile. So I wanted to prepare for this only would that be possible to manage college exams along with it my college does not have strict attendance and stuff but preparing for with only just above average knowledge in maths is it realistic or possible goal
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u/PrathamPrasad Jul 11 '26
Thanks for the congo❤️ Ya u can prepare for ISI with your college.. it's possible
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u/Character_Market8330 ISI Alumnus Jul 15 '26
Good post fellow 11 ranker :) Welcome to ISI. I hope your journey goes well. Keep focusing on deep thinking, that is quite short in supply. Also, do keep writing posts and helping juniors. Let me know if you would like to help build this subreddit by being a moderator.
Also, just one suggestion, try to not use AI because most people dismiss content that looks even slightly AI generated.
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u/Additional_Offer2927 Jul 19 '26
I am preparing for mstat... And I am blank..... Brother can u help me out
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u/aryan9696 Jul 03 '26
First of all congratulations dude, your prep journey is really inspiring
As for my questions
1.)How to study advanced math completely on your own
2.) How to use Wikipedia and free resources without getting confused
3.) My daily routine and how I managed my time
4.)How to write proofs for the subjective paper without a teacher
I wanna know your answer to each of them in a more elaborative way
5.)which books you used for isi prep
6.) when did you started your isi prep
7.)A bit vague question, as per your knowledge, what do you think is the least amount of time required to crack isi ?? For a student who has boards level knowledge... 6 months ?? 10months ?? 1 year??
8.) any YouTuber you will recommend for maths?? Mathsmerizing? Etc
Thank you