Eligibility cutoffs for IIT-JEE unveiled

The Human Resource Development Ministry has finally decided upon the eligibility cutoffs for different boards across the Indian states. This comes following the consensus reached by the HRD ministry and the IITs where it was agreed that there was to be a single entrance exam for admission into the colleges offering engineering and technological sciences as a subject. It was decided that there will be one Joint entrance exam divided into two levels to decide the fates of engineering aspirants across India.

Since many students in India are enrolled in different State boards, it was initially very difficult to set a basic cut off for the finalized eligibility criterion for admission into the IITs. The State board marking scheme is not as generous as its CBSE or ICSE counterparts therefore, many students who were genuinely interested in the field of engineering and research could not qualify for the exam. To eradicate this, the government has now made it compulsory for students to score within the top 20 percentile bracket of their respective boards to be eligible for IIT.

The percentages for different boards corresponding to the top 20 percentile in 2011 have been given below. Please note that the scores can vary significantly next year.

• Andhra Pradesh 87.20
• Assam 54.20
• Bihar 64.60
• CBSE 77.80
• Chhatisgarh 56.80
• Goa 56.25
• Himachal Pradesh 63.20
• Jharkhand 52.40
• Jammu & Kashmir 67
• Karnataka 67.50
• Kerala 76.50
• Meghalaya 49.40
• Manipur 64.60
• Madhya Pradesh 64
• Maharashtra 61.17
• Mizoram 56.20
• Nagaland 49
• Orissa 56.33
• Punjab 70.80
• Rajasthan 63.80
• Tripura 50.80
• Tamil Nadu 78.17
• Uttarakhand 55.20
• Uttar Pradesh 65
• West Bengal 58
• National Open School 60.60

So, if you belong to the percentage bracket given for your board and have cleared both the levels of the IIT –JEE entrance exam, you can assure yourself of having a very good chance of entering the IITs.

Do note that these figures are applicable for students of the General category only. Students belonging to the reserved category have a lower percentile cut off.

Nevertheless, it is very important to do well in school and strengthen your basic concepts thoroughly to do well not only in the entrance exam but also in later life.

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar & Odisha are against the implementation of NEET

So far only Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa & Karnataka has agreed to adopt NEET, be it be NEET UG or NEET PG these states are ready for the challenge. However Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar & Odisha are completely against the implementation of NEET in their respective states.

Tamil Nadu on NEET

Chief Minister Jayalalitha is ensuring in every way possible to avoid participation in NEET, recently she has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh protesting against NEET. Tamil Nadu stance is very clear and they are completely against NEET.

If MCI doesn’t exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET, no wonder the state will approach High Court and get a stay order. Such incidents happened even last year,Madras High Court has given stay order.

Andhra Pradesh on NEET

Last year the state government has asked the MCI, to exempt it’s students from NEET for 2 years. However since MCI is conducting a nation wide CET, even AP needs to be a part of it. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has assured the students to prepare for EAMCET in 2013, he has written to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad citing reasons to exempt from NEET.

Bihar & Odisha on NEET

These state governments openly said that their interests are completely against the NEET. Citing reasons that their state students cannot compete with a pool of national students who have an edge over the CBSE curriculum, since NEET syllabus is purely based on CBSE syllabus. These states stated that they prefer having their own medical entrance exams for graduate & postgraduate medical courses.

The PSA (Problem Solving Assessment) for Class 9 and 11 students

The PSA (Problem Solving Assesment) is not a new test but it will replace the already existing pen-paper test in the FA. The only difference will be that PSA will be conducted by the Board in the respective schools and the evaluation will be done by the Board. The exam will be conducted on the same day and the question paper will be provided by the Board. This 90-minute test will have nothing from the textbooks. It will comprise of questions from mathematics and an English passage from old essays or contemporary fiction.

The new criterion will fit into the third and fourth formative assessments. The fourth assessment includes multiple choice questions, projects and unit tests. All these will be replaced by a PSA that tests a student’s knowledge on co-scholastic situations.

Registration for this Assessment will be done separately by the Board and detailed circular will be issued before the start of the second term i.e. September 2012

Class 9 and 11 students from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools will have more tests to take and they will not have an option of opting out of this one. Following complaints about students not having problem solving or communication skills, the CBSE has decided to hold exams to test these very skills.

Starting this academic year, the CBSE will hold a compulsory Problem Solving Assessment (CBSE-PSA) to encourage students to start thinking, instead of just borrowing ideas. It will assess students in quantitative and qualitative reasoning and language conventions. 

CBSE chairman Vineet Joshi in his letter to principals of affiliated schools in support of the initiative said, “It is widely acknowledged that research and analytical skills, ability to apply basic concepts of different subjects, solve application-based problems in mathematics and science, comprehend and analyse written text and effective communication are the skills which ensure success in higher studies and professional areas.” He expects these dimensions of 21st century life skills to assist learners in skills such as problem solving and decision making.

Though the assessment will not be based on a particular syllabus, there are broad guidelines on how the questions will be framed. Questions in the quantitative reasoning section will test students in areas related to mathematics, science and technology; while in qualitative reasoning students will be tested in humanities, arts and social sciences.

The multiple choice questions-based test is expected to assess the student’s ability to process, interpret and use information rather than assess the student’s prior subject-matter knowledge. Educational consultant K R Maalathi said, “Our children are smart, but a lot depend on the guidance of parents or teachers. Such an initiative will train them to harness their knowledge and approach any problem confidently.”

The 60-minute test for 90 marks is expected to be conducted between January and February 2013. The marks scored will be counted towards the fourth formative assessment, which is 10% of the total assessments of Class 9. The same assessment marks will also be used for the FA-4 in Class 10, though students will have the option of improving on it in Class 10. The scores will be reflected in the language paper, mathematics, science and social science.

GUJCET, GCET & EAMCET scrapped to give room for NEET UG

The Gujarat Common Entrance Test, Goa Common Entrance Test & EAMCET will be scrapped from next year to give room for NEET UG, NEET UG is a national level medical entrance exam proposed by MCI. Instead of sitting for multiple entrance exams, candidates interested in pursuing MBBS / BDS course in the country can sit for one single medical entrance test.

However as indicated last year AIIMS & JIPMER will not scrap their entrance exam, interested students should appear for AIIMS Medical Entrance Test & JIPMER Medical Entrance Test.

Application form availability for NEET UG 2013:

The application forms for NEET UG 2013 will be available ONLINE from Dec 01, 2012 to Dec 31, 2012.

Cost of application form of NEET UG 2013:

Rs 1000 for General Category students, Rs 550 for OBC / SC / ST / PH students

NEET UG 2013 sample question paper:

The sample question paper will be uploaded on the CBSE official website & NEET UG website in due course of time

NEET UG 2013 question paper pattern:

NEET UG will have 180 questions; 45 questions each in Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology. There will be NO negative marking, the negative marks will only be used in case of a tie (to resolve tie breaker between two similar ranks or marks holder).

JEE (Advanced) - 2013

Joint Admission Board (JAB) of IIT Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced)-2013 met on August 27, 2012 at IIT Delhi to discuss the forthcoming admission. The admission to the undergraduate programmes at the IITs and ISMU, Dhanbad for the year 2013 will be based on a two-tier test. The first test called the JEE (Main), will be held during the month of April, 2013 (both offline and online). This test will be conducted by CBSE. The second test, called the JEE (Advanced), will be held on June 2, 2013 (only offline). Only 1,50,000 of the top rankers in JEE(Main), which includes students from all categories( GE,OBC(NCL), SC and ST ) will be eligible to appear in JEE(Advanced).

 The JEE (Advanced)-2013 will have two objective type papers. Each paper will consist of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Duration of each paper will be 3-hours. Question papers will be in both English and Hindi. Admissions to IITs will be based only on category wise All India Rank (AIR) in JEE(Advanced) subject to the condition that such candidates are in the top 20 percentile of successful candidates of their Boards in applicable categories.

NTSE now for Class 10 Changes in NTSE

From this year the NCERT will conduct the National Talent Search Examination for students studying in Class 10th only.

1. No. of Scholarships: On the basis of the examination conducted, 1000 scholarships will be awarded for group of students appearing for Class 10th, in all over India.

2. Reservation: 15 % scholarships will be reserved for students belonging to the SC category, 7.5% scholarships for students belonging to the ST category. 

3. Scholarship: Awardees of NTS Examination will receive a sum of Rs. 500/- per month as per NCERT rules.

4. Selection: There will be two-stage selection process for award of scholarship.

(a) Stage – I, selection will be done by States / UTs through a written examination. Students who qualify Stage I will be eligible

(b) Stage II examination conducted by NCERT.

5. Important Dates : Dates of submission of Applications Forms and Conduct of examination are given below :

Stage : Stage I (State) 

Area : Last Date for Submission of Application Form 

Examinations date in Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland and 

Andaman and Nicobar Islands : 17th November 2012

Examination date in All other states and Union Territories : 18th November 2012 (Sunday)

Examination date in All States and Union Territories

12th May 2013 (Sunday)

6. Eligibility: Students of Class 10th studying in recognized schools are eligible to appear for the respective Class 10th Stage I examination conducted by the State/UTs in which the schools are located. There will be no domicile restriction.

7. Examination : The pattern of written examination for Class 10th will be as follows :-

• Stage I examination at the State/UT level will comprise two parts, namely (a) Mental Ability Test (MAT) and (b) Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) covering social sciences, sciences and mathematics.

• Stage II examination at the National Level will comprises

(a) Mental Ability Test (MAT) 90 Marks.

(b) Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) covering social sciences (35 Marks), sciences (35 marks) and Mathematics (20 marks).

When does one start preparation?

The earlier one starts the preparation the better are his chances. The ideal time to start is within one month of completing one’s board examination. However, even one year of concentrated effort can help student achieve success – however, student’s commitment needs to be high in this case.

If you are attending school as well as preparing for Competitive Exam, and if you have 2 years with you, then you must devote 2 to 3 hours every working day for studies and 10 to 12 hours on school holidays and weekends. Whereas if you start preparing in Class XII you should spend 3 to 5 hours everyday preparing for Competitive Exams.

Is coaching necessary ?

For success in Competitive Exams, 80% of the contribution is from the student’s effort, 10% is from the strategy of how to derive maximum out of the knowledge the student has and 10% is from guidance. Here the important thing to note is that however strategy & guidance contribute only 20% but are very important because it is this 20% which decides & defines how the balance 80% of time & energy is going to be spend. In case proper guidance is available to a student at home or at school, there will be no need for coaching; however, in absence of that coaching is advisable.

  

My future will be ruined if I fail/don’t get good marks

Examinations are an important way in which professional colleges select students. Success in them does open doors to particular jobs and careers. Lack of success will mean certain jobs and careers are not immediately open to you, at least at the level of entry you originally intended. Some may be closed altogether. However, happiness, wealth, peace of mind, rich experience of life, meaningful status in the eyes of others, a worthwhile career, a useful job and an inner sense of purpose and self belief as a human being, do not depend upon examination results.