JEE- Main: Exam Pattern & Reference Books

Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main is being conducted by the CBSE. JEE Main is the prerequisite to get into the top engineering colleges in India. Candidates shortlisted on the basis of their JEE- Mains score then have to appear for JEE- Advanced. While most of the engineering colleges select students on the basis of their JEE- Mains score, IITs select students on the basis of their JEE- Advanced score.

The JEE- Main 2016 dates has been announced. The exam will be held in 2 modes, both online and offline. The offline examination is scheduled to be held on 3 April, 2016, while the online examination will be held on 9th and 10th April, 2016. JEE Mains 2016 registrations began on 1 December, 2015 and were supposed to end on 31 December, 2016. However, the registration dates were extended till 11 January, 2016.

There are two papers in JEE Main 2016. Candidates opting for B.tech and B.E courses have to appear for paper- 1 while those opting for B.Arch or B.Planning courses have to appear for paper- 2. Candidates can opt for either one of the paper or both the papers. Paper 1 consists of three sections which covers topics from Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Paper -2 follows a different syllabus. It consists of three sections namely Mathematics, Aptitude Skill and Drawing test. The total time duration of the test is 3 hours for both the papers. There will be 90 questions altogether and each question carries 4 marks. There is a negative marking of 1 mark for every incorrect answer. No mark is deducted for un-attempted questions.

The questions basically cover topics from the syllabus of 11th and 12th Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. One must refer to the CBSE prescribed NCERTs and other reference books like H.C. Verma and Irodov for Physics, O.P. Tondon for Chemistry and R.D. Sharma for Mathematics. Also, one must solve the previous year papers and mock tests to get an idea of the paper.

The counseling for JEE Mains will begin from 1 July, 2016 onwards. There will be four rounds of counseling.The first three rounds will be conducted by Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JSAA) while the fourth round will be conducted by Central Seat Allocation Authority (CSAA). The fourth round is a special counseling round.

Anshika Srivastava, an English(H) graduate from Delhi University, currently covering all the relevant aspects of education through writing.