Engineering in India and JEE Main

Author: Edu Asia

Engineering is a science involving designing, building and usage of machines, engines, and structures. Pursuing an engineering degree is a popular career option in India. With the economy opening up over the last two decades, the steady growth of industries in the last few years, as well as the addition of streams within engineering, students may have a variety of career choices.Engineering educationIn order to secure admission to an engineering college, it is mandatory for you to have passed the 10+2 with subjects like physics, chemistry, and mathematics. According to the new format introduced by the government, you must undertake the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE Main) exams in order to secure admission to an undergraduate course in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other centrally funded institutions. The entrance exam was formerly called the All India Engineering Entrance Exam (AIEEE) and was used for admissions to NITs and other centrally funded institutions. IITs conducted the IIT-JEE. If you clear the JEE Main, you must then appear for the JEE (Advanced) exam, which can give you the chance to get admission into select colleges in the country.Apart from these tests, top institutes such as Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT), Delhi College of Engineering (DCE) and Birla Institute conduct their own entrance exams separately. The importance of scoring well in the class 12 exam is evident, as about 40 per cent weight is generally given to it during admissions. The undergraduate engineering course is usually eight semesters, or four years, after which a student receives a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) in the specified field chosen. Students looking to pursue a master's course in any chosen stream must either have a B.Tech. degree in the same field, or else have a specialized degree course such as a Bachelor's in Physics, Maths, Chemistry or Computers.While the first and second year of your bachelor's course will likely have common studies, you need to opt for a specialization after the completion of a few semesters. This is a decisive step, as not only can you gain in-depth knowledge in your chosen stream, your stream may determine career growth and the companies that could hire you.Besides conventional courses such as mechanical, computers, chemical, and civil engineering, newer fields are coming up that may increase opportunities for students pursuing engineering. These include applied mechanics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, instrumentation, metallurgical engineering, marine engineering, and material science. Most courses necessitate minimum aggregate marks in class 12, with slightly higher scores in two or more subjects depending on the course. For instance, a course in computer engineering would likely require higher scores in mathematics and computers. You must check the websites of prospective engineering colleges for information before applying.Importance of JEE Main:Somehow engineering colleges in India have come to accept that the boards are not the best form of measurement of student abilities and we need another exam. So they started taking their own exam, as a result, there were a lot of exams.The government decided to reduce the load for students by creating a single exam, the result of this exam can be used to apply to different colleges in India.IIT's wanted to maintain their autonomy and believed that JEE Mains does not create the right kind of metrics to measure the top students. So they decided to use their own examination namely JEE Advanced to admit students to undergraduate programs. JEE gives admission to the elite and prestigious engineering colleges of India named NIT and IIT.JEE is the most important exam in India for those students who want to pursue an engineering degree after class 12.Admission in most engineering colleges in India is made on the basis of JEE mains score.Someone can judge the standard of engineering college by seeing the JEE mains score of crowd admitted.JEE is very important in the life of an aspiring engineer in India. 13–15 lakh students write this exam nearly where the success rate is 0.1% for NIT and 0.05% for IIT.More than this its a matter of social pride that you are studying in IIT or NIT. You become a local celebrity if you have cleared JEE with a good rank.What is JEE?The Joint Entrance Examination, commonly known as the JEE, is an All-India level examination for getting admission into the undergraduate level courses in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs). The JEE consists of two parts-JEE Main and JEE Advanced. The JEE Main exam is for admissions into National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs). After writing JEE Main, if you clear the cut-off score for appearing in JEE Advanced, you’ll be eligible to appear for the same. JEE Main is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Around 1.2 to 1.5 million candidates appear for the JEE Main every year.The JEE Advanced exam is for admissions into the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). It is conducted by the IITs. The students who obtain marks greater than the JEE Main cut-off marks are eligible to appear in the JEE Advanced examination. In the year 2017, the top 220,000 examinees from JEE Main were eligible to sit for the JEE Advanced.Some facts about JEE - Main :1. It was not always the entrance to IITs in the country. IIT KGP held its own entrance tests till 1959, as it was the only IIT in the country.2. The JEE is known for its high security and fairness, but did you know the paper was leaked once? In 1997, IITs had to conduct entrance twice because the paper got leaked in some centres.3. From 1960 onwards all the sister IITs conducted their entrance tests together. It had four subjects including the English Language!4. The Main and Advanced concept isn’t new. IITs used to screen 20,000 students out to 450,000, from 2000-2005. For other engineering colleges, there were AIEEE and state PETs.5. The Joint Entrance Exam was not always called that. In its early days, it was called Common Entrance Exam aka CEE.6. The JEE has sired a 10Cr coaching industry and single-handedly turned Kota from the site of a nuclear factory to one of the biggest and certainly earliest coaching hubs.7. Till 2005, the JEE was a mix of subjective and objective questions. It was revamped as a single objective-type test in 2006. Additional changes included were the class 12 marks criteria, whereby a general candidate had to score 60% and SC/ST/PWD had to score 55%.8. The Joint Entrance Test ranks 2nd in the world in terms of toughness. The top spot is occupied by Gaokao, the entrance test for Undergraduate Studies in the People’s Republic of China.9. The total number of colleges to accept JEE Main score stands at 1,101.10. The number of women taking admission in the IITs through the Joint Entrance Exam dipped by 2% in 2016. This prompted the government to create supernumerary seats for girls. Supernumerary means seats apart from the existing ones therefore not hitting the general category boys.11. Apart from the IITs, the following institutes also use the JEE Advanced ranks for admission into the B.Tech programs:a.Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, Rae Bareli (RGIPT)b.Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST)c.Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc)d.Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), Visakhapatname.Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs):a)IISER Kolkatab)IISER Bhopalc)IISER Mohalid)IISER Punee)IISER Berhampurf)IISER Thiruvananthapuramg)IISER Tirupati12. The current admission rate through the JEE has fallen from 1.95% in 2012 to 0.92% in the year 2017.13. The whole pattern of engineering tests was dismantled and the new system of mains and advance came to being in 2013.JEE MAIN Eligibility criteria and cut-offKnowing the eligibility criteria for the JEE Main is important because only the eligible students are allowed to take admission in NITs, IIITs, and CFTIs. Also, the application fee would not be refunded if a candidate is found to be ineligible after he/she has registered for the JEE Main exam.Age Limit: If you wish to take JEE Main exam in 2019, you should be born on or after 1st October 1993. Relaxation of 5 years is granted to the students belonging from the SC, ST or PWD categories, i.e. for appearing in JEE Main 2018, an SC/ST/PWD candidate should have the date of birth on or after 1st October 1988. The date of birth mentioned in the Secondary School Certificate is taken into consideration.Aadhaar Card: You need to have an Aadhaar Card if you’re willing to apply for JEE Main. You will have to fill in your Aadhaar Card number in the application form. If you do not have an Aadhaar Card, you won’t be eligible to apply for JEE Main.Number of Attempts: Maximum number of attempts that you can take for clearing the JEE Main exam is 3.Qualification criteria:a)In case you’re showing up for JEE Main 2019, you ought to pass the class 12 board examination or any other equivalent qualifying examination with no less than 5 subjects (counting Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics) in the year 2016 or 2017.b)You can likewise apply in case you’re showing up in class 12 board examination or any other equivalent qualifying examination in 2019 and have no less than 5 subjects including Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.c)Eligibility criteria for admission in IITs, NITs, IIITs, and CFTIs:d)If you wish to get admission in one of the IITs, NITs, IIITs and CFTIs, you ought to obtain at least 75% marks in class 12th board examination, or you must be among top 20 percentile in the class 12th examination of your respective board.e)The SC/ST candidates must obtain at least 65% marks in their class 12th board examination.To be qualified to appear in the JEE Advanced exam, you have to score at least the cutoff JEE Main marks for that specific year. In the year 2018, the top 2,20,000 candidates of the JEE Main were eligible to take the JEE Advanced exam. The following trend of the cutoff marks has been observed over the years:CATEGORY2018 2017 2016 2015 2014GENERAL74 81 100 105 115OBC 4549707074SC 2932525053ST 2427484447What is JEE Main Rank?Your admission into the institutes participating in the JEE Main Counseling will be done on the basis of your JEE Main Rank.Till 2016, the JEE Main rank was calculated by giving 60% weighting to the JEE Main score and 40% weighting to the class 12 board examination results. However, from the year 2017 onwards, this practice has been discontinued and the JEE Main ranks are calculated solely based on the JEE Main score of the candidates.Managing board exams and JEE together may seem like a tedious task, but with hard work and perseverance, you can excel in both of them. Go ahead and nail them both! All the best!