Damn The Board Exams (India)

DIFFERENCES EXPLAINED
3 IITians
Who couldn’t make it to the cover page of TIME
PREFACE
PEOPLE HAVE ALWAYS FAILED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ENTRANCE EXAMS ARE.
ENTRANCE EXAMS REQUIRE ANALYTICAL ABILITY & HIGH LEVEL REASONING ABILITY.
BOARDS REQUIRE ONLY MEMORY - IF U DON'T AGREE WITH THIS, THEN U DON'T KNOW
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FACT & A CONCEPT. PERHAPS U R A MUGGER!
GO THRU THIS & U'LL KNOW Y MORE THAN 70% IIMites R ENGINEERS FROM IITs, BITS,
NITs, DCE etc.
TELL US Y THE PERCENTAGE OF IITians IN TOP B-SCHOOLS LIKE ISB,IIMs AND FOREIGN
B-SCHOOLS LIKE KELLOG, WHARTON IS MORE THAN DELHI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS?
THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE - DU STUDENTS WERE SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF THEIR
MUGGING SKILLS & IITians ON THE BASIS OF ANALYTICAL ABILITY.
THIS DOES NOT COMPLETELY RULE OUT THAT DU STUDENTS AREN'T INTELLIGENT.
COMPANIES GO FOR CAMPUS SELECTION TO THOSE INSTITUTES WHICH HAVE

DIFFICULT SELECTION PROCEDURES.
AIEEE & BITSAT ALSO REQUIRE ANALYTICAL ABILITY.
FIRST YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND WHAT IIT-JEE & OTHER ENTRANCE EXAMS ARE &
THEN READ COMMENTS OF SOME PEOPLE FROM THE TIMES OF INDIA WEBSITE.
THE LAST PART IS HIGHLY INTERESTING.
THE SYLLABI OF ENTRANCE EXAMS R ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM BOARDS – MOST

TOPICS ARE FROM BSc & MSc BUT THEIR LEVEL IS SUCH THAT EVEN DEANs OF MOST
UNIVERSITIES CAN’T SOLVE THEM. OBVIOUSLY, MOST SCHOOL TEACHERS CAN’T.
PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT IIT-JEE SHOULD BE STOPPED R THOSE WHO COULDN’T CLEAR
IT OR THEIR KIDs COULDN’T – SO DON’T LISTEN 2 THEM.
COACHING FROM A GOOD INSTITUTE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

ENROLL YOURSELF IN A SCHOOL WHERE U DON’T NEED 2 ATTEND IT.
STUDY FOR AT LEAST 7 HOURS/DAY – 9 SHOULD B FINE.
BOARDS ARE NOT A CRITERIA FOR INTELLIGENCE, THEY TEST YOUR MEMORY.
27 AUGUST 2008
INTRODUCTION
FROM WIKIPEDIA - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institutes_of_Technology
Admission to undergraduate programs in all IITs is tied to the Joint Entrance Examination,
popularly known as IIT-JEE. Candidates opting for the B.Arch. (Bachelor
of Architecture) program in IIT Kharagpur, and the B.Des. (Bachelor of Design) program in IIT
Guwahati, have to clear an aptitude test as well. Candidates who qualify admission via IIT-JEE can
apply for admission in B.Tech. (Bachelor of Technology), Dual Degree (Integrated Bachelor of
Technology and Master of Technology) and Integrated M.Sc. (Master of Sciences) courses in IITs,
IT-BHU and ISM Dhanbad. IIT-JEE is a science-oriented entrance exam, testing candidate's
knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry. It is conducted by an IIT chosen by a policy of
rotation. Admission is very competitive, given the huge population of India; the undergraduate
acceptance rate through JEE has a low ratio (around 1 in 60) with about 300,000 annual test takers
for about 5,500 seats. It is the toughest exam in the world.
Only about 4,000 of these seats are offered by IITs, the rest belonging to other institutes that use
IIT-JEE. Only students who have completed their 12th and secured at least 60% in their exam
(higher secondary studies from a recognised educational board) are allowed to appear for IIT-JEE.
The IIT-JEE is well known for frequently changing the types of questions asked in order to
discourage study by rote. Since IIT-JEE 2006, the format of the question paper was changed to a
single objective test-based paper, replacing the earlier system that employed two tests. The
candidates belonging to the general category must secure a minimum aggregate
of 60% marks in the qualifying examination of the XIIth standard organised by various educational
boards of India. Candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC),
Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Physically Disabled (PD) categories must secure a minimum aggregate
of 55% in the qualifying examination. The upper age limit for appearing for the IIT-JEE is 25 years.
The age limit is relaxed to 30 years for candidates classified in the SC, ST and PD categories.
Starting with IIT-JEE 2007, a candidate can take IIT-JEE a maximum of two times, and students
who are selected for an IIT cannot attempt the examination again. Students select their institute
and department of study based on what is available at the time of their counselling and interview
that follows the IIT-JEE result. The interviews are usually spread over five days.
The admissions into the postgraduate programmes are made through various exams, primarily the
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) for Ph.D., M.Tech., and some MS courses. This
exam tests the conceptual clarity in technical subjects and is one of the most difficult in the
country.Other prominent entrance exams include JAM (Joint Admission to M.Sc.) for M.Sc., and
JMET (Joint Management Entrance Test) for Management Studies.
EDUCATIONAL RANKINGS
Most IITs are consistently ranked above other engineering colleges in India in engineering
education surveys,with regard to quality of faculty, teaching standards, research facilities and
campus placements. In international surveys, the IITs achieve top rankings. The Times Higher
Education Supplement (2005)ranked the IITs in the top 3 world universities. The IITs performed
better in the Technology category of rankings. IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi were ranked 33rd and 37th
respectively in the Technology category. In the Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic
Ranking of World Universities, only one IIT (IIT Kharagpur) was listed among the top 500
universities worldwide. The IITs fall short in many parameters that are considered for educational
rankings. The criteria for ranking prominently include internationally recognised research output, in
which the IITs do not achieve notable success. Another criterion being the Social Science Citation
Index, the rank of IITs suffers as they do not have large departments of liberal arts and social
sciences. Since the IITs have only a few international faculty and students (except those by
exchange programs), the rankings of IITs in many international surveys have suffered. Since the
IITs have scored better under most educational ranking criteria than other Indian colleges and
universities, they continue to achieve top positions in nationwide surveys.
The Dataquest-IDC T-School Survey - 2008
1. IIT Kharagpur
2. IIT Delhi
3. IIT Roorkee
4. IIT Kanpur
5. IIT Guwahati
6. IIT Madras
7. International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad
8. Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University
9. NIT Calicut
10. Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, New Delhi
Among the criticisms of the IIT system by the media, academia and the people in general, the most
prominent is that it encourages brain drain. Until the process of liberalisation started in early 1990s,
India walted in large scale emigration of IITians to western countries, especially to the United
States. Since 1953, nearly twenty-five thousand IITians have settled in the USA. Since the USA
benefited from subsidised education in IITs at the cost of Indian taxpayers' money, critics say
that subsidising education in IITs is useless. Others support the emigration of graduates, arguing
that the capital sent home by the IITians has been a major source of the expansion of foreign
exchange reserves for India, which, until the 1990s, had a substantial trade deficit.
The extent of intellectual loss has receded substantially over the past decade, with the percentage
of students going abroad dropping from as high as 70% to around 30% today. This is largely
attributed to the liberalisation of the Indian economy and the opening of previously closed markets.
Government initiatives are encouraging IIT students into entrepreneurship programs and are
increasing foreign investment. Emerging scientific and manufacturing industries, and outsourcing of
technical jobs from North America and Western Europe have created opportunities for aspiring
graduates in India. Many undergraduates go abroad to pursue further studies, such
as MS and PhD.
ENTRANCE COMPETITION
The highly competitive examination in the form of IIT-JEE has led to establishment of a large
number of coaching institutes throughout the country that provide intensive, and specific
preparation for the IIT-JEE for substantial fees. It is argued that this favours students from specific
regions and richer backgrounds. Some coaching institutes say that they have individually coached
nearly 800 successful candidates year after year. According to some estimates, nearly 95% of all
students who clear the IIT-JEE had joined coaching classes. The psychological stress and
emotional trauma faced by candidates not able to pass the examination and their
families is considered to be a serious problem. This has led to criticism of the way the
examinations are conducted. The IIT-JEE format was restructured in 2006
following these complaints.
THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWS
CANADIAN PASTURES OPEN FOR IITians

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/591965.cms
KOLKATA: Students of IIT Kharagpur have a new world open to them. The institute signed an MoU
with the University of Waterloo, Canada, on Tuesday for student and faculty exchange
programmes in the field of electronics engineering, photonics and bio-sciences. A delegation of 12
Canadian universities, apart from Waterloo University, visited the IIT campus for the signing of the
agreement. The team has toured IIT-Delhi and will be visiting IIT Chennai shortly.
"We will draw up a term sheet within six months identifying areas in which we need to collaborate,"
said S.K. Dubey, director of IIT Kharagpur. The tie-up is being facilitated by the Canadian part of
Tata Consultancy Services."India is a technology giant and institutes like the IITs can be compared
with the best in the world.
Hence, we are looking forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with it. Student and faculty
exchange will benefit both of us," said A. Chakma, vice president (academic and provost) of the
University of Waterloo.
Chakma promised that some of the best scholarships would be given to exchange students who
would visit University of Waterloo. Dubey pointed out that such collaborations are not new for IIT-
Kgp, which already has tie-ups with leading foreign institutions like University of Washington, and
Carnegie Mellon University.
"We are focusing on research collaboration. We are keen on tie-ups so that we can share our best
with the rest of the world, and get the best in return," Dubey said.
The delegation was headed by Ravi Seethapathy, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur. "The long term
objective is to establish a solid science and technology exchange pipeline between India and
Canada. This will benefit the private sector and universities in both countries," he said.
10k CRORE IIT COACHING INDUSTRY
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/IIT_coaching_classes_a_Rs_10k_cr_industry/articleshow/3
190000.cms
NEW DELHI: Coaching for admission to the IITs and other engineering colleges has acquired the
status of a big industry in India. According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry,
the size of the industry is Rs 10,000 crore.
ASSOCHAM’s conclusion is based on the assumption that six lakh students attend these classes
every year and the average cost for each student is Rs 1.7 lakh, a spokesman for the industry body
told TOI.
The staggering sum of Rs 10,000 crore being netted every year by private academies who coach
students for admission tests can fund 30 to 40 new IITs,ASSOCHAM said. Calling for deregulation
of higher education, ASSOCHAM president Sajjan Jindal said the beneficiaries of the current
system were those running big educational institutions and coaching centres.
"The amount of money which goes to these institutions is enough to open 30 to 40 IITs with lots of
seats that can ensure admission to average candidates," he said.Those familiar with the coaching
industry pointed out that both figures number of students going to coaching classes and the
average cost per student seem exaggerated.
The average cost per student cited by ASSOCHAM is too high, they said, pointing out that the cost
in smaller cities which have many successful coaching institutes is much lower. They also said the
number of students attending coaching classes could be much less than six lakh.
TOI had recently done a survey of the coaching classes at Kota, the hub of the III-JEE coaching
industry, and arrived at a ballpark figure of Rs 550 crore for the size of the industry there. At least
50% of the students who appear in the entrance tests for admissions to IITs and other engineering
colleges enrol with coaching centres to beat the cutthroat competition, ASSOCHAM said.
The industry body also said that 80,000-90,000 students go abroad for higher studies, leading to a
high foreign exchange outflow.
"If quality institutions are provided, a large number of students will stay back and contribute to the
nation," ASSOCHAM said. It said that more institutions of excellence should come up and
suggested that private players and big industrial groups should be encouraged in higher education.
According to ASSOCHAM, India has over 12 million students in higher education but fewer than
350,000 faculty members.
MOVE OVER WHARTON, IIT IS HERE
NEW DELHI: Brand IIT may have just got bigger. This year, for the first time, investment firms,
which usually hire management graduates from Princeton, Wharton
and MIT, were seen knocking on the doors of IIT Delhi to recruit engineering graduates for finance
jobs.
The annual pay packages are in the range of $60,000-100,000 . the same amount that a Wharton
or MIT graduate for the same position would be offered. Out of the batch of 450, about 25 have got
offers from I-banks like Merrill Lynch, PIMCO, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, UBS and Lehman
Brothers. Rachit Jain,who has got an offer of $100,000 from Pacific Investment Management
Company (PIMCO), is elated.
"I had planned to do an MBA and only then was I expecting to be made such a lucrative offer. Had
this not worked out, my career would have charted a different course.' Geetanjai Mittal, an
associate with Merrill Lynch, said: "We usually hire students from MIT, Wharton and IIMs, and
many of them have an IIT degree too.
So this year, we decided that we might as well hire directly from IIT.' Students are essentially being
hired for finance jobs . which have traditionally been considered the preserve of MBA students.
"An MBA degree is not mandatory for these jobs.What's actually required are number-crunching
skills which are well-possessed by these engineering students," added Mittal.
What this also means is that many of these students have quit the idea of pursuing an MBA since it
would be precisely for such jobs that they would want that degree.
Akhilesh Chaudhary, who has got an offer from Merrill Lynch, has dropped plans to go to IIM
Bangalore where he had been selected. "I've been offered an annual package of $60,000, plus a
$10,000 sign-on bonus and performance-based incentives, and I'll most probably be posted in
London or New York. So this just changes my career plans,' he says.
Amit Aggarwal, who has been offered the position of an analyst at Merrill Lynch, says: "If I went
into management after this, it would be because that would allow me to shift into finance. I had got
a job with Google, Bangalore and after a few years of work experience, would have gone in for an
MBA. Now all these plans appear to be pretty much redundant.'
B-SCHOOLS STATS
Let us look at the academic backgrounds of B-school students
IIM A STATS
2008 BATCH - 75% ENGG., 12% COMMERCE, 4% ARTS
2009 BATCH - 89%ENGG., 3% COMMERCE, 1% ARTS
http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/recruitment/recruitment_student.htm#01
IIM B STATS
2008 BATCH
91% ENGG, 4% COMMERCE, 2% ARTS
http://www.iimb.ernet.in/iimb/html/pgp-placement-batchprofile.htm
IIM INDORE STATS

http://www.iimidr.ac.in/iimi/pages/students/pgp0709-5.php
BATCH 2009
JUST 10 STUDENTS FROM ARTS & COMMERCE
IIM SHILLONG STATS

http://www.iimshillong.in/participants-zone/participants-profile.asp
Arts 0
Com/Mgmt 2
Engg/Tech. 58
Science 4
Total 64
Faculty of Management Sciences, DU has listed 99 students for summer internship for da batch
of 2009.
THEIR AVG SAL>15 LPA!
http://www.fms.edu/placements/batchprofile2008ft.php?page=1
There r only 22 non-science Indians outta 99!
1 is MSc & da rest r engineers. 1 is a doc.
41% IIT-B STUDENTS GOT FINANCE & CONSULTING JOBS IN 2005
SO HERE COMES ANOTHER BIG PROOF –
THE TIMES OF INDIA reported that 41% students of IIT-B in 2006 took FINANCE & Consulting
jobs. Now the figure has increased.
Link – http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Get_engineering__management_degrees_from_IIT-
B/rssarticleshow/3334846.cms
Companies like McKinsey, Goldman Sachs offers jobs to IIT graduates but not to DU graduates
who graduate in B.Com., BA Economics even though their curriculum is business-related because
they( the companies ) have understood the academic situation of India.
We strongly feel that education policy makers should comprise of at-least 5 IITians, who have
graduated after 1994.
Selection procedure of Delhi University’s undergraduate program must be revised & should
comprise of tests that judge logic & reasoning ability.
The language courses can continue to take students on the basis of their mugging-quotient.
We want only the best to be in front, don’t we?

REASON
Some ppl will think y these engineers are being offered splendid jobs in FINANCE. The answer is
simple – THEY CLEARED THE WORLD’S TOUGHEST EXAM based on analytical ability,
reasoning & logic & they r thus VERY INTELLIGENT.
The salaries offered 2 them r in many cases MORE THAN 16 TIMES THE HIGHEST SALARIES
OFFERED TO DELHI UNIVERSITY GRADUATES, WHO’VE OBVIOUSLY LEARNT MORE
ABOUT FINANCE THAN IITians. THE REASON IS THAT DELHI UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’VE
BEEN SELECTED ON THE BASIS OF THEIR MUGGING ABILITY ( MARKS IN BOARDS EXAMS
).
You can c the placement statistics & know the truth. MORE THAN 70% IIMites R ENGINEERS
FROM ENGINEERING COLLEGES LIKE IITS, BITS, NITS & DCE ETC.
Ppl fail 2 understand that boards require only mugging. THOSE WHO SAY THAT THEY’VE
UNDERSTOOD THE SYLLABUS, THEY MUST KNOW THAT ENTRANCE EXAM SYLLABUS IS
TOTALLY DIFFERENT & THAT BOARDS EXAM SYLLABUS IS SO EASY THAT ANY1 CAN
UNDERSTAND IT.
Mind you, memory is different from intelligence & there r many kids who r intelligent but don’t have
good memories & hence don’t do well in school exams.
We’ve met many of these kind. So it is very true that BOARDS ARE NOT A CRITERIA FOR
INTELLIGENCE.
AIEEE SLANTS THE IIT-JEE WAY
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/AIEEE_slants_the_IIT-JEE_way/articleshow/2989064.cms
HYDERABAD: All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) took students by surprise on
Sunday with a fewer number of questions. It also followed the Indian Institute of Technology-Joint
Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE)-2008 pattern with more applicative questions in both mathematics
and physics sections.
Though some were expecting it, many complained about the tough physics section in the paper.
Generally physics, chemistry and mathematics sections have 40 questions each, but this year
there were 35 each.The applicative questions, including paragraph questions, are comprehension
type, while the assertion reasoning type questions test students on logic.
"This pattern of questions force students to spend more time on each of them. But for students who
have appeared for IIT-JEE the paper might look easy," TIME course director Vinod Iyer said.
According to experts, as the number of questions have decreased and the number of candidates
increased from the previous year, mistakes could be fatal.
"When a student makes a mistake, it will have a major impact on his rank," TIME vice-president
Ajay Antony told ‘TOI’.The number of students has increased from six lakh in 2007 to eight lakh in
2008.
Meanwhile in the city, some students lost precious 30 minutes as they did not get hall tickets on
time.
"Though I had applied well in time, I did not get the hall ticket on the scheduled date. I did not get it
even after applying again as per the instructions on the website," a student, who had come to
attend the examination in the city, said. The student, a resident of Ranga Reddy district, said that
he even got in touch with CBSE authorities in New Delhi, but in vain.
About 25 students who did not get hall ticket were waiting around the examination centre while
supervising officer took rounds to check the slips of their application forms and allowed them to
write the examination.
"We lost precious 30 minutes just because the CBSE officials were not responsible enough to
make sure that the hall tickets reached us on time. Even after repeated representations, they did
not take any action," a student, who is attempting the examination for the second time, said.
The major institutes that select students through AIEEE exam are 20 National Institutes of
Technology, five IIITs, 10 self-financed deemed universities, five central govt institutions and six
state-level institutions.
CHANGING JEE
KOLKATA:
Concerned over the immense stress that IIT-JEE puts on thousands of students, the Union HRD
ministry has set up a high-level panel to modify the test pattern.
Of the 1.5 lakh aspirants every year, only 3,500 make it to the seven IITs. To tone down the
gruelling test, the ministry has formed a committee with teachers from IITs and representatives of
the two +2 level national boards - CBSE and ICSE.
According to sources, the first change may be to limit questions to the +2 syllabus. "The HRD
ministry feels many of the IIT-JEE questions are based on topics that are not taught at the +2
stage, and are, in fact, of a far advanced standard. This forces candidates to start preparing at
least three years in advance - from Class IX itself. They overload themselves and this leads to
depression, which sometimes leads to suicides," IIT-Kharagpur director SK Dubey told TOI.
Dubey and IIT-JEE chairman VK Tewari are on the committee, which is expected to submit its
recommendations by July. The changes could be introduced from IIT-JEE, 2006.
The government believes the tougher syllabus forces students to neglect their board examinations
for IIT-JEE. They also end up spending a lot on coaching classes that claim to be tailor-made for
the entrance test, said Dubey.
THE READERS’ OPINIONS ARE ON THE NEXT PAGE

TOI READER OPINIONS
The reason why IITs have big name not only in India but also internationally is it quality of the
students matched with the infrastructure. I question whether this plan of govt. might force to
compromise one big reason for its success and accolades. Is it pertinent? I don’t think so...
[4 May, 2005 | 1141 hrs IST]
i guess this is not right to simplify the examination itself. the thing that causes stress is not the
syllabus rather its the competition to be in top 3000..over the years the level of JEE for IITs has
kept it heads and shoulders above state entrance examinations and i guess the change in level of
difficulty might erode the student base which IITs have because the present pattern tests more of
analytical skills. its because of this that u find IITians excelling in all fields of life ..i hardly feel
anything is out of syllabus as i have myself gone through all that... vikas
[4 May, 2005 | 1050 hrs IST]
I somewhat disagree with this step. The fact that the exam is difficult makes sure that only those
candidate get through who have good aptitude and understanding. Making it simpler would lead to
the situation where a simple calculation mistake could risk the career of a student which is not
there at the moment.
[4 May, 2005 | 1048 hrs IST]
The government is trying to make the same mistake, last Government tried to do by messing up
with IIM'! Have people ever thought "Why IITs are the best?
not only in India but among the best in the world?". Its only due to its tough entrance examination.
It ensures that only the best brains in the country reach the best of
institutions. IIT's reputation will also drop down, if the standards of JEE go down!
[4 May, 2005 | 1048 hrs IST]
Neither Dubey, nor Tiwari went (rather were able to go)to IIT for their B.Tech. What else do you
expect from them? Ask the IITians of the 90s. The B.Techs have made the Indians proud - these
morons are out to ruin that distinction by introducing mediocrity to the IIT B.Tech. system.
[4 May, 2005 | 1002 hrs IST]
Take the toughness of the exam and take away the core substance that IIT's are made of.
Being an IITan myself, I can tell you, it is not the faculty, not the facilities, not the staff that make
IITs what they are today...it is only the tough entrance exam and the students who clear them.
Studying for this exam is like tapasya....it builds character in the student and a keen interest in
science. A coaching class is only an external stimulus to conduct the tapasya. A simpler exam
means lesser tapasya...means lower standards...means lower success rate for everyone.
Remember iron is cast only in fire. On a different note, even if the exam is made
easier, it will neither lower the competition nor the existence of coaching centers. On the contrary it
will only make it worse since you still have to select 2000 people out of 200000 based upon a
simpler paper with little variation in grades. So now a bright guy goes to the examination hall and
does a silly mistake and looses whereas a not so bright student puts in a random answer and gets
successful. The frustrations will be endless here since many more students could have "solved the
paper" but could not be successful....maybe more suicides. Finally I beleive, the test should be fair
but should be such as to chose the best among the lot...since you want to provide the best facilities
to a person who has shown past performance (like in the entrance exam). After al that is what
human resource development is all about as far as IITs are concerned. How the people chose to
update their qualities, e.g. through coaching classes, should be of no concern to the HRD ministry
as far as IITs are concerned. There are a number of other engineering colleges for the less
successful kids. Even if you look at how many people take coaching and how many are successful,
the number ain't that high. It ultimately boils down to how somebody is able to utilize the resources
that are given to them..which is again related to how past performance can be evaluated. The main
trouble as I see it with policy makers is that of all the kids going to IIT almost all have had coaching.
That is the nature of this game and you cannot change it unless you scrap the JEE
altogether...which will lead to bigger problems than are currently at hand. Interestingly, neither
anyone in the HRD ministry nor Dr. S.K.Dubey (proponents of making JEE easy) ever passed the
exam themselves. I strongly suggest that there be people in the decision committee who have
actually passed this exam themselves. Further they should constitute at least half of the committee.
It is important since the people who make decisions know exactly what it is to clear JEE.
[4 May, 2005 | 0943 hrs IST]
shocking news, if something is working, I don't understand the urge to fix it! Please fix broken
issues first. Just because some people find it tough to get into the IIT's you can't make the exam
easier!! the whole idea of an exam is to make it as tough as possible for the candidates, so that
only the toughest get in! This sounds like the the left talking through the HRD ministry's mouth!
[4 May, 2005 | 0923 hrs IST]
I would believe this would be the dumbest move ever. A significant factor in the reputation, that
IIT has built up today, is the quality of students. Even in most grad Universities in US, almost all
IITians have a superior edge over all the students, including the most Coveted universities like MIT
(I am doing my PhD@ MIT and I can vouch for that). Lowering the standard would mean admitting
people who can just excel by memorizing the routine questions asked in board exams. I think I
learnt a lot when preparing for JEE, specially my mathematical skills. If the HRD ministry thinks that
they can improve things, by reducing the standard of the exam, still their would be an equal
number of people who would not make through (and are more deserving) and they would commit
suicide ..... This reasoning does not make any sense ... I hope that this does not happen
[4 May, 2005 | 0827 hrs IST]
At last the truth has come out of Horse's mouth. The IIT JEE syllabus has contents which are
not taught in the minimum specified qualification that is Plus 2. This syllabus rigging is what led to
the mushrooming of Coaching Classes of the Brilliant kind including the evolution of the famous
Kota Quota. The students who typically enter the IITs are over prepared and are mostly not 10 plus
2 but 10 plus 2 plus minimum 1 year of coaching. I wish someone does a Public Interest Litigation
(PIL)accusing IITs of specifying an input level and conducting an entrance exam with syllabus of
another level. It is an irony that the US Congress is heaping praise on the IIT system which has
been taking the Indian Public for a Big Ride and the Indian Congress led ministry is raising an
accusing finger at the same system.
[4 May, 2005 | 0816 hrs IST]
There we go DOWN THE DRAIN AGAIN. Current IITs are ahead of world standards already
which is creating wealth, reputation, glory & million times return in many ways. WHY REVERSE
THIS ELITE CLASS TO TRASH QUALITY. WE HAVE ENOUGH OF SUCH COLLEGES
ALREADY IN OUR COUNTRY? MANMOHANJI KUCH KARO INH NALAYAKONKO. NIKALO
UNHA UNKHI PADHVI SE, PLEEEASE BEFORE WE START PRODUCING TRASHY IIT-IANS !!!
[4 May, 2005 | 0448 hrs IST]
Please do not compromise on quality for the sake of quantity. Its just because of the quality, that
IIT stands as a brand name. Please preserve and not degrade it!!!!
[4 May, 2005 | 0437 hrs IST]
Have these guys heard the proverb "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!". Why do they have to screw
around with the IIT System everytime? Having gone through the effort of cracking the JEE, an
IITian is someone who's thought process and science/math aptitude is superior (in most cases but
not all) than the rest of the bunch out there. Having taken the JEE myself, I know most of the
questions are inspired by questions that are regularly fielded in the Russian Math & Science
Olympiad exams.
To "dumb-down" the exam would mean you are taking away from the aspirants, the once chance
they will get to develop there thought process and thinking, beyond the regular study books. IIT is
not for everyone...only someone who can handle the stress of JEE and the brutal 4 yrs after that. If
they think the stress will reduce or people will stop taking coaching classes, they are mistaken. IIT
is a selective process not an absolute process like Boards where you get get your %.
[4 May, 2005 | 0116 hrs IST]
There seems to be a concerted effort to take advantage of brand IIT (this has been achieved
through the hard work, immense effort, and the brawn of the past alumni) and then further water it
down by making changes to the entrance exam. There was nothing wrong with the earlier format of
just 1 set of exams. Then the 2-tier exam was created to make grading of papers easier. The first
part i.e. the objective makes grading of papers faster...nothing wrong with that...however there is
no need to change the later part. The events of the past few years seem to: a) Use the short term
view of taking advantage of the Brand IIT name. This will only result in short term advantage…but
the long term damage will be tremendous. Remember the Brand IIT was achieved internationally
by the hard work and the above-average intellect of the past alumni. b) The above-average
intelligent students were selected by one of the most rigorous exams…watering down the exam will
have an opposite effect….this will eventually lead to a deterioration of standards…and eventually
the demise of the Brand IIT! Finally, an observation of readers' comments although IIT is
comparable to MIT and other top technical institutes. this comparison is only possible on the basis
of students. If one uses other parameters, like faculty, infrastructure, research facilities etc., IIT will
not stand a chance against the top technical institutes of the world. It is only the students (AND
NOT ANY OTHER FACTOR), that makes Brand IIT what it is! If we change this parameter, then
there will be an eventual destruction of the Brand IIT for the world judges the institute by the
performance of its alumni and if we compromise that, there is nothing left. Agreed IIT will still be
reputable because India does have good students, but it will no longer enjoy the status that it
currently does. Of course I agree that there will be short term advantages for the students, but
eventually well the writing is on the wall.
[10 May, 2005 0517hrs IST]
The most stupid thought ever!! Even more stupid are the suggestions from the readers to
increase intake and/or open more IITs. Remember even after all these years, there is only one
Oxford and one MIT. Neither has the intake increased. Truth is the govt. bureaucrats cannot wield
their power to get their "candidates" into an IIT. This is what is bothering them. Keep a 5%
reservation for MHRD and all this crowing will stop. -- an IITian B.Tech and currently IIT faculty
member.
[5 May, 2005 1727hrs IST]
there you go...now they do not want to spare IIT also..IIT questions may be very difficult to solve
for Mr. Dubey but not for the students who clears IIT-JEE....and please at least spare education
system from Politics else you will ruin the system
[5 May, 2005 0710hrs IST]
Hey , Lets get the things straight. IIT is institution of merit no doubt about it . The exams are
tough too no doubt about it . But then these exams were never for people who simply dont have
the guts to study hard. It was only for who could push them a little harder to achieve what they
wanted ever . Make syllabus easy what it is going to achieve . An equation such as F = ma where
F is the force and m is mass and a is the acceleration can become a difficult when you add the
element of friction and then it becomes F = uMA where u is the coefficient of friction. You take
friction between two surfaces and it becomes F = (u-u0) ma. So where do you draw the line .
Everyone knows F =ma but the complication arise when we add the real life forces to the
equations. These are the real questions that engineers have to answer in real life . So you got to
be extra good if you want to design better things ( even though most of IITians work for software
trust me good software too is not easy to build ). So if we allow mediocrity to come in course we
are actually eliminating good people in early stages. If you are not trained to work hard early on
you will never work hard ( in the right sense) or you might have to work harder later on becoz you
did not do it when time was right. Studying IIT for me was opening my brains to such an extent that
I could never imagine. PET was pretty easy compared to that. But the syllabus brought the strength
and stamina in me. Hopefully the course content may never go down and mediocrity may never
succeed
[4 May, 2005 1753hrs IST]
The government should stop messing with educational institutes.

[4 May, 2005 1741hrs IST]
Yet another example of how shallow and bureaucratic thinking (if at all there is a thought behind
it) corrupts all that is left of meritocracy in our educational systems. How on earth does a 'simpler'
exam solve the problems of stress on the candidates!!?? It defies logic and common sense. It will
only raise cut offs and reduce the difference between the first and the last. For so many years, the
tough competition has been one of the bases on which the IITs have held their prestige. For so
many years, meritorious and capable students have managed to handle the pressures of both the
board exams and the JEE. Those who are suggesting simplification of the exams it seems are now
doubting if the students of current times are as capable of handling such pressures as those of
previous years! With due respect to the CBSE and the examinations held by it, there is at least a
little more required to clear the JEE than to get a good score in the CBSE Board Examinations. If
the logic of simplification were to be extended, then what stops one from concluding that entrance
to the IITs should also be based on the CBSE Board exam scores. And if at all that happens, god
help Brand IIT!
[4 May, 2005 1455hrs IST]
Yes, It's really tough. It's been 7 years so far i cleared IIT JEE, but i still remember the tough two
year preparation i went through. It's a challenge to maintain standard while making test simpler.
And i think we should make it simpler. I don't want guys to study day and night for two years, that
changes psychology, body processes get affected and that for life and causes depression to many
who don't clear. They waste two years. I agree that tough test leads to better candidates but there
should be a way around to get same quality (interview etc) while test is simpler. That's a challenge
and let's take that challenge.
[4 May, 2005 1359hrs IST
COMMENTS ON GIVING SEATS TO BOARDS TOPPERS
Rishi Kumar IITKGP, Baroda, says: Mr. Editor, I think u tried atleast 7 times to get into an IIT and
did not make it so you are trying to make various illogical ways of getting in (for your son maybe). I
do not blame you for being desperate, I just think you need to have sense and know what u are
writing. I am sure if you can write an article in the true spirit of what was said things would seem
very different. Shame on your common and journalistic sense!!!
[1 Aug, 2008 1420hrs IST]
Raju, Chennai, says: Raw Intelligence!! Top 1% students in all board exams you will have only
one gender in IIT. Most board exams are only testing ability to photocopying the answer as it is in
the text book. Make a unique set of questions each time for JEE.
[1 Aug, 2008 1043hrs IST]
Sushant Shekhar, NIT Tiruchirapally, says: What the hell!Top 1% from

boards???Hello..everybody knows that boards are not meant to test your analytical skills...they
have always been testing how well you mug..they won't test how well you can handle a 'real'
problem..in which you are required to apply your mind..IIT-JEE has always been succesfull in
selecting the cream...students who may not be good at "by-hearting" things but are excellent
analyzers.And most importantly..they are masters of what you call "The Basics".A student who
sucks at basic fundas may excel in the boards.I have seen many students who didn't perform very
well at the boards but were superb when it came to those abilities I have talked about.Similarly I
have come across a no. of students who topped the boards..but were not very good at basics!They
topped just because they mugged well!The difference is applicable to AIEEE as well.This isn't
expected from such high level authorities like people from inside IIT.I thought they were intelligent
enough to take correct decisions!
[1 Aug, 2008 0952hrs IST]
Sundaram Vanka, United States, says: Why should 'communication skills' be included as part of
JEE? The idea is to have the JEE select future engineers, not bloggers or journalists. In any case,
whatever communication skills an engineer needs - like technical report writing, seminars - are
already part of engineering curriculum. It's surprising Professor Idichandy misses this point.
Coming to why there aren't enough girl students in IIT, the notion that parents don't send their
daughters to coaching centers plain wrong. How else can one explain the large number of girl
students attending coaching classes for state level entrance exams? At the cost of being politically
incorrect - and not having this comment published - the simple answer is reservations.
[1 Aug, 2008 0946hrs IST]
vivek gupta, US, says: IIT's should make radical changes in their exam patterns so that one who
is mentally smart can make it to IIT's. IIT's have their own standard which should be maintained.
[1 Aug, 2008 0941hrs IST]
ajit paldhe, Surat, says: What M.S.Ananth is asking for is like asking for perpetual machine.It is
ideal and will remain dream forever. Classes are here to stay.If students get in to IIT by recognizing
question pattern,then it reflects poorly on question paper setters. On more practical side, there is
no reason to belittle achievements of those who get into IIT,with or without classes. They
understand concepts certainly better than board students. Put at least 2 yrs of dedicated
preparation and more importantly hold theit nerves in 6 hrs of exam. Giving weightage to Board
exam is full of pitholes. Communication skills are important but IIT should help IITans to improve
skills but should not be part of exam as in CAT. Previous system of screening followed by
subjective paper on the line of IAS seems to be best to test students apprach to problem solving.
[31 Jul, 2008 2136hrs IST]
Sharad Gupta, singapore, says: Every IITian has some quality in it.Thats why they are studying
in such TOP college. There is no Question to blame them. Cheers IITians...
[31 Jul, 2008 2052hrs IST]
Raj, N J, says: Nonsense. What Brand IIT needs is –

1. Better post graduate/research importance.
2. Regarding selection, basically stick to testing basic fundas - coaching or not, they are required
for an engineering field. I don't see why anyone who has mastered the basics not enter the IITs.
And yes, you cannot leave the testing of basic fundas to the board exams - utterly stupid - looks
like some other ulterior motive behind such proposals. Do you want to kill a supposedly good thing
going. You don't do ath much good compared to JEE in the 4 years, the least you have to
concentrate on is improving the post graduate / research to international standards.
[31 Jul, 2008 2045hrs IST]
amit, IIT-kgp, says: I am in IIT-KGP now. And i have observed declination in the JEE qualified
students.This is simply because of two reasons (1)The standard of JEE has fallen significantly in
last 3-4 years. (2)The intake has been increased dramatically from 3500 to 5500.(it will increase
further because of OBC reservation and establishment of new IITs.) IITs are no more getting
brilliant students as they should get. I totally disagree with what prof. M S Ananth said about the
cutoff percentage in board exam.I never scored more than 80% in my school days,but i still in IIT.
[31 Jul, 2008 2037hrs IST]
Anon, NC, says: No harm in keeping the JEE, making it like SAT in the US but adding other
elements like recommendations, verifiable extra curricular, public service, leadership qualities,
research capabilities, etc. like they do in the US. The JEE will determine some level of intelligence
and others elements will determine how well-rounded a student is. The challenge will be in the
"verifiable" qualifier ;)
[31 Jul, 2008 1929hrs IST]
manu, delhi, says: its absurd and presumptuous

[31 Jul, 2008 1909hrs IST]
K.Vijayakumar, Ashburn VA, USA, says: Probably IIT professors want geniuses as students so
that the required teaching efforts by them will be minimal and they will have more time for lucrative
consultancy work!! Hope they will not interfere with a time-tested and near- perfect entrance test
like the JEE in their selfish interests.
[31 Jul, 2008 1849hrs IST]
Shekhar, Mumbai, says: I am in IITB. I can proudly say, that never did I get an aggregate above
95% in my entire school/college career.Never did I come in the top, even 3 % of Board exams.....!
All the consistent top rankers, in my school/college..batch mates...sorry to say, not one cleared the
JEE.....! So, do I lack 'raw intelligence' or they ?
[31 Jul, 2008 1701hrs IST]
Black Hat, Somewhere, says: OK, the intake is mediocre. What about your processing (teaching)
process, Mr. Dean?
[31 Jul, 2008 1501hrs IST]
arjun , bihar, says: I think they don’t know that maximum students give boards or their school
exam after doing some sort of coaching ,which is none the less tilted more towards mugging rather
than understanding the concept. So even they do these it would close the doors for millions of
students who have somewhat average academic history but are high on intellect.
[31 Jul, 2008 1136hrs IST]
Abhishek Agarwal, gurgaon, says: Any exam is prone to coaching be it gre gmat or sat or
whatever. There is nothing like raw intelligence and the need for one.
[31 Jul, 2008 1129hrs IST]
debasish, Pune, says: This is ridiculous. How can you tell that people who are appearing in
school exam is not taking coaching? You cannot judge a person by school mark. That anyone can
mug it up. I am very surprised that these ideas are coming from people in IIT. I don't know what is
the best idea of getting raw brains which is a nice idea. There should be a proper thought process
behind this idea.
[31 Jul, 2008 1106hrs IST]
J.E.Swamidoss, chennai, says: JEE is one of the correct method of selecting the right talent for
the most sought after technical colleges. The board examinations are only testing the memory
power of the students. JEE should be there. The students who are attending the coaching classes
are given exercises and they are asked to apply those concepts while they are studying. By this
way, they will understand it properly and apply when they pursue higher studies. Moreover, it is not
correct that many parents are not sending their daughters to coaching classes. This was a situation
a decade back and not now. As a part of selection, identifying the right soft skills of students can be
extended as a part of selection into IITs .
[31 Jul, 2008 1100hrs IST]
Nitesh, Atlanta, says: The whole idea of including board cut-offs of the level of 85% and things
like that are completely ridiculous and making such statements is much more so.If you are really
concerned about the active part coaching takes place in shaping up the student's performance,you
can always bring innovation in your exam format,include elements of surprise to judge the best
minds.Rather than complaining about the coaching classes,why don't the IIT dons see the constant
degradation in the quality of questions being asked in JEE,which many a mediocre students can
easily solve now..surely these questions were not put in JEE paper by the coaching classes they
blame for everything.
[31 Jul, 2008 1110hrs IST]
Deepak, Texas, says: As usual, a lot of people are bashing IITs and IITians. Being an IITian
myself,, I have realized that IITians are criticized for being arrogant and bossy way more than
appropriate. I have seen so many people who didn't go to IITs and have a tremendous grudge
against those who did. This is ridiculous. The reason why IITians start to group together is because
the others don't want to see themselves with IITians. So much for exclusivity. Coming to the point,
JEE should be re-modeled to help ensure that coaching institutes minimally affect who gets in and
who does not.
[31 Jul, 2008 1025hrs IST]
Pradeep Beniwal, Sirsa, says: I completely disagree with, prof. saying for getting into an IIT a
student must have good communication skills along with being expertise in physics,chemistry and
maths.Communication skills show your exposure to language.Doing this students only from elite
schools will get into IITs.A student from a state board of school may not have that much of
exposure to language but he may have basic talent,basic engineering skills of that we are talking
of.If we put communication skills a criteria for entrance to JEE ,we will surely miss the basic
talent.People with better communication skills often tend to lack basic engineering skills and try to
find a scapegoat to blame all their shortcomings.
[31 Jul, 2008 1005hrs IST]
ramnik, mumbai, says: No standards are maintained in recruitments. HRD Ministry knows about it
but no action against the corruption directors. Remove the corruption first. Please raise your voice
against the corruption prevailing in IITs and against the corrupt officials.
[31 Jul, 2008 1000hrs IST]
ajit_g8, India, says: It is well known that IIT dons are not very good at running the IITs. Fees
across the board have skyrocketed but the services (mainly accommodation and recreational
facilities) have plummeted. Conditions of the most of campuses are not anything to be proud of.
Tendency of making knee jerk reactions is common. In this context, it is hardly surprising that there
are problems with JEE. There is no point in blaming the coaching centers, which operate legally.
JEE is conducted by a handful of teachers which is a problem. It is no easy task for a handful of
people to examine lakhs of students. Greater participation of IIT teachers and more human
evaluation is required. JEE used to pick up the best of students when the answers were evaluated
by people. Computerised evaluation only looks at the final result not at the mechanism used to
obtain it. That is the main problem with JEE. Tying up JEE with performance in board exams will
only rob the students of the opportunity to get into the IITs.
[31 Jul, 2008 0954hrs IST]
Ram Kumar, Seattle, says: Already the students are stressed these days, and in most of the
states anybody who passes class 12 exams can get into engineering. JEE should be the sole
criteria for admission , it is too much stressful to concentrate both on plus 2 and JEE, a student
who is able to get 60% marks in their exams has sufficient knowledge of the subjects. There are
numerous engineering colleges and you can admission into most of them simply if you pass the
plus 2 exams, in this context who will take the extra pains to perform well both in Plus 2 and JEE.
Also Dean(Students) has told to do away with JEE because it affects girls admission, this
contradicts the other professors assertion that people get into JEE because of coaching centres
and not because of natural talent. talented girls can get admission through JEE based on their
talents, why should we blame no coaching opportunities here. I feel their recommendations are
based on false assumptions.
[31 Jul, 2008 0912hrs IST]
Roopa, Chennai, says: Board exams also encourage learning by rote. It tests just memory power,
not thinking power. So it is better to maintain the current system.
[31 Jul, 2008 0909hrs IST]
Asif, Delhi, says: Don't forget that students also get coaching and tutors for class XII exams. At
that stage too, it will be difficult to determine which students have "raw" intelligence and which
students are learning by rote. Remember that class XII exams are designed to help students pass.
The board exams and IIT-JEE are two different tests with different purposes.Excelling in XII does
not imply that student is the cream of the crop of students and the next IITian.
[31 Jul, 2008 0848hrs IST]
Puneet Shivam, Chicago, says: I disagree with Gaurav Wankhede comment. If the person who
he thinks has better communication skills is given a chance to study in IIT will not be able to
survive the IIT engineering onslaught. The pace of education, complexity of assignments, quizzes
will break his back I can guarantee it. Some of the people who clear JEE also find it difficult to
survive the challenge of studying 4 years in IIT. Whether consultancy or research there is problem
solving skills required in day to day work. On an average an IITian stands a better chance of doing
any engineering job well as an engineer than the other engineer. In a organization similar to
McDonald, US organization where there is less innovation yes it is true intelligence does not matter
and it seems his consultancy organization is similar. In an engineering organization engineers are
assets and will always be so. People with better interpersonal skills tend to ignore basic
engineering skills and falter in making engineering decisions in my experience of more than
decade working with several leaders/managers who have been non-IIT'ians. Then misusing their
interpersonal skills they find a scapegoat and somebody to blame. Yes, they succeed more in
material life but in reality they are failures who can not even make right decisions of their own or go
with the right engineering approach!
[31 Jul, 2008 0752hrs IST]
IIT graduate, New York, says: With an IIT in every city, and 50% reservation, and 85% cutoff in
Class XII exams, and extra credit for extra-circular activities, we are approaching the time when
there will be more prestige and recognition in studying at a select few IIT coaching classes than the
IITs themselves.
[31 Jul, 2008 0636hrs IST]
Deepak, Singapore, says: It means the director thinks that who get more numbers in school are
only brilliant, then he should first think about Indian schooling system, where you get more marks if
you are a book worm , it does not show intelligence and even for schools students take so many
coachings so how he will stop them.
[31 Jul, 2008 0632hrs IST]
Vinay Syal, Canada, says: Rubbish ! as long as the students do well in for year year programme ,
then where is the problem? It is good that the JEE candidates are trained at the mental &
commitment level required for being an excellent engineer. Don't we train the candidates whether it
is NDA , MBA , IAS ? You can't crack JEE with the natural talent in you ? If by fluke one has got in
to IIT , then one will be eliminated during his four year programme if one does not perform well. I
think this is a non issue at this juncture. IIT has been producing world class engineers for years
together and off late it has become a fashion to incorporate changes and ultimately these people
will bring IIT's reputation down to earth.
[31 Jul, 2008 0532hrs IST]
gajanan, Mumbai , says: The IIT JEE is good, but why Prof Anant and others are lamenting is
because of the following reasons 1) The pre IT age saw IITians almost a high percent go to
academics and many into research, This has dropped drastically. 2) The Silicon Valley success
has spurred many IITians to be entrepreneurs. I have personally spoken to many bright IITians in
USA ( on my visits). They want to become a Khosla , a Narayanamurthy or Premji. 3) This new
phenomenon among IITians is welcome as it creates wealth and generates employment for the
lesser fortunate who did not go to IIT. 4) Somebody has written about Feynman and others. Long
before Feynman , Kolkata produced in 1930-1931, Satyen Bose ( whose work won the Nobel prize
to fellows who confirmed it experimentally, recently). CV Raman , Saha , JC Bose ( who predated
Marconi in his work) and a great band of physicists then . Kolkata was next to Gottingen in Physics.
The spirit and raw intelligence was in full cry in 1931. Raman was the first Asian to win a Nobel
Prize in Physics. Now there is Prof Mazumdar of ISI Kolkata who is doing great work in race
genetics , and collaborating all over the worlo I do not know whether he is from IIT. His work is very
very seminal. The spirit of 1931. Kolkata to go beyond frontiers is lacking now. 5) Prof Anant is
feeling the pinch because IITians are not taking up to research and academics in a big way as they
did in the start of 70's and 80's, when the Karmarkar's were produced. There is trend of producing
entrepreneurial managers. IIT's should do a survey as to how many have gone to research and
academics now and how many did in the 70's and 80's . This itsself will do a good study as to how
the spirit of enterprise ,wealth creation for social causes has been diverted from the the spirit to go
beyond frontiers in science.
[31 Jul, 2008 0517hrs IST]
Anurag, Los Angeles, says: One thing I agree with the the Dean is that students today actually
do not worry about their Class XII board exams as these board exams have no importance in
getting into IIT. We need to make the students understand the importance of completing the
schooling phase somehow. How it should be done is something these bigwigs should come out
with.
[31 Jul, 2008 0400hrs IST]
Puneet Shivam, Chicago, says: The JEE paper is not even possible to crack for graduated
engineers of other colleges. So, it is impossible for an IIT'ian like me to believe that it does not
allow raw intelligence to take in. As a matter of fact it is very difficult to define raw interlligence. IIT
is an engineering school and not a management school. To study engineering you need Physics,
Maths and Chemistry and less of communication skills. There can be coaching for communication
skills as well just like people do it for IIMs and other management colleges. I believe deans opinion
is biased with personal factors.
[31 Jul, 2008 0342hrs IST]
deepak kumar, USA, says: I have been fortunate enough to prepare and clear the JEE during
1990.At that time,the JEE questions were so difficult that unless you have understood the concepts
,you can't understand the questions let alone solving them.A coaching by teacher helps in
understanding the concepts when one has difficulty with.But one could not understand the huge
number of concepts and master them with the help of teacher.I cleared the test based on my self
study and interest in the subjects and the interest in getting admitted to IIT.I don't think that at least
at that time JEE was not attracting the very good student.The problem in India is not about the
talents and the education one gets in the IIT,but it is about the opportunity for research in
academics and in the industry and also the money one makes in India industry as an engineer.That
discourages the IITians to stay back in India and contribute to the growth of India.This can be
solved only by increasing the opportunity in india by agressive liberalization and bringing
competition in all sectors of the economy and supporting the Indian company to increase their
scale and become global.IIT directors should focus their attention on helping in establishing the
new IITs and staffing with the best teachers.Also,in attracting the best students for MTECH and
PHD programme.Otherwise the IIT brand will be diluted.
[31 Jul, 2008 0302hrs IST]
Shankar, N, says: It would be a HUGE blunder to change JEE format the way Ananth wants it.
The whole reason JEE is so successful is because no emphasis is placed on performance in
school. If school performance evaluations were so good, why are 12th standard "toppers" bloopers
when it comes to IIT? Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics are most effective in testing pure
reasoning skills and is the BEST way to evaluate a student's intrinsic reasoning skills. Coaching
classes can only do so much to artificially improve a student's JEE performance. IIT JEE entrance
tests can be made even more tough to eliminate "practiced" performers. Let me tell you this. My
classmate in school, Arvind Sankar scored the 5th rank in IIT JEE in 1994 and took no coaching
classes. He scored 94% in 12th standard, which is not very high -- if his performance in school
were examined, it would probably be a little over average. But the guy was a prodigy. He learnt
calculus on his own by 5th standard, understood UNIX and Assembly by 6th standard, had read
the 3 volumes of "Feynmans lectures on Physics" by 7th standard. He went on to win a Silver
medal for India in the International Mathematics Olympiad and a Gold Medal in Physics in Hong
Kong. He has now completed his Masters and Phd in Mathematics from the most prestigious MIT
in USA. If admissions were done based on Mr. Ananth's lame format with school scores, such
genius would have simply died. If at all we change anything, we should keep the format the same
and make the examinations even more tougher to "trick" the coaching classes. The plus side of
India's huge population is that we also have some extraordinary talent in our country. Think
Ramanujan -- arguably the greatest genius our country has ever produced. His mock theta
functions confound scientists and researchers even today. His performance in school was most
dismal and yet his genius can't be explained even today. IIT is the only shining beacon of the best
Indian talent -- please don't spoil it by mixing it with substandard 12th standard evaluations.
[31 Jul, 2008 0241hrs IST]
Jithin, NC, USA, says: Keeping the pass percentage of 85% will not solve the issue. It would only
worsen the problem. Scoring 85% in school is not a big deal in many education boards. For eg: in
Tamil nadu board where i studied. A student who can has mere knowledge of prescribed
textbooks(without understanding the basic logic) will be able to score more than 90% easily. This
would mean more incompetant people appearing for JEE.
[31 Jul, 2008 0233hrs IST]
Anurag, USA, says: This is so ridiculous. One person is saying looking for raw talent ( i agree to
him) and another one says less girls are clearing JEE and direct admission. Where does this
question of girl and boys come into picture. It is only talent. I myself having cleared JEE in 1998
feel that they shld follow the old pattern of screening test and then the subjective test of a higher
and tougher level beyond 12th std.
[31 Jul, 2008 0227hrs IST]
RAnant, USA, says: The current JEE system works. That's why IITs have a brand image that no
other university in the world could compete against.
[31 Jul, 2008 0206hrs IST]
Abhishek Anan, USA, says: Do you know Mr. Ananth that numerous coaching institutions are in
place to prepare students for board examinations of various states (more so for CBSE and ICSE).
So your idea of acquiring students with "raw intelligence" is nothing but another of those
beaurocratic upheavals that lacks steam. There is no guarantee that the so called 0.1% students
are the best minds. If you ask me, they are not. For once at least, think out of the box and dont look
for intelligence in marksheets. None of the great scientists or philosophers were from that 0.1% lot.
[31 Jul, 2008 0201hrs IST]
Kumar, Baltimore, MD, says: I laugh at IIT Chennai dean's comments. Because it is ridiculous.
Here are my reasons 1. Does he not understand that getting good scores in respective education
boards are also done by using Coaching classes. So if the hypothesis is you will select the cream
from the cream, probably that assumption needs to be verified first. 2. What is 'raw' intelligence?
Can a person with less intelligence be able to have his mind moulded to be able to answer
questions intended for high IQ people. I don't think so. Maybe the standard of questions are failing.
3. IIT are technical institutes. They don't need people with good communication skills, they need
people with good mental skills. And to hold IITs accountable, they need show cutting edge
research done and patents obtained for all the 'raw' intelligence they have got before. 4. So
coaching classes are stopping girls for getting admits to IIT because parents don't send girls to
those institutes. Well, that is something to be taken up with the parents. 5. Do you see mediocrity in
IIT due to the students or due to the teaching? Why is the teaching in IIT never discussed? The
education system is not uniform across the country. Neither there is evidence of only good
students getting higher percentages in their respective boards. What you basically are proposing is
further use the cream from the boards to get the best. Basically, you want to cut down your work
thats all that I see to this.
[31 Jul, 2008 0139hrs IST]
Ady, SFO, says: This is the biggest load of crap I've come across in a long time. Me and a lot of
my batchmates had cracked the JEE without going to a coaching institutes. I am based in the
silicon valley now and most of the brightest here are from IITs. So lets reserve the whining for the
babies. And as far as CBSE is concerned, frankly, it sucks big time. CBSE toppers (and probably
other board toppers) and pretty darn dumb. Hard-working yes, but intelligent: not too much
[31 Jul, 2008 0131hrs IST]
vij, usa, says: IIT has top 100 rankers who score mere 65-70% score in CBSE and local board
schools. Simply because they sit back at home for a year after 12th, they do well in JEE and get
into. I was one of top scorer in board and didn't do well in JEE because of pattern unfamiliar with
me. I didn't want to waste my one year in prestigious local engineering college.
[31 Jul, 2008 0128hrs IST]
Vinayak Dasgupta, New Delhi, says: This is ridiculous. If one sees how the students train for the
IITs, one would realize that the current JEE format selects nothing but the most intelligent and the
most hardworking students. Having passed 12th recently and seen my friends prepare, I think that
the admission to the IITs on the basis of boards marks is regressive. A students performance in
school is affected by a lot of factors but these factors are easier to overcome or to tackle for two
years, which is the time that is required to prepare for the JEE. It should also be mentioned that the
topics covered in JEE make the students prepared for the curriculum that lies ahead - this is
something that the boards syllabus can never achieve. IITs is a university for engineering where,
obviously, maths, physics and chemistry are the make or break subjects. Hence, why should a
student who, say, has bad marks in arts or humanities be denied admission to the IITs just
because those bad marks brings down his percentage in boards. I think a trial itself will prove it. It
is inevitable that the cutoffs for the JEE will fall even lower if only the top 1% of the board toppers
are allowed to sit.
[31 Jul, 2008 0125hrs IST]
thn, Newyork, says: A person is conditioned by it's growth, parenting and education. You need to
go down below and improve those so that you can have "raw intelligence" in all of the people who
are participating in exam. Then you choose who is best conditioned or can receive best
conditioning in IIT or better create conditions where you can create some raw intelligence. All were
almost same with out conditioning. IIT Alumini
[31 Jul, 2008 0123hrs IST]
Danny, bangalore, says: IIT M is making an excuse for not being able to set a question paper that
would test for the kind of the so called raw intelligence. I am shocked that prof Ananth, who I have
a great deal of regard, is restoring to this cheap publicity. what do you mean by saying only the top
1% in a school board exam should participate? so someone who say is between the top 1 and 2%
gets eliminated, what about his raw intelligence. given that there is so much of variance in the way
one scores in the board exams, prof Ananth's comment that the such board exams are "valid" to
differentiate between the raw and the ripe intelligence is shocking. Instead he should look at the
way a Harvard or an MIT administer their admissions, wholesome individuals get selected over one
trick ponies!! take that Ananth
[31 Jul, 2008 0111hrs IST]
T, Pitt, says: So what? They work hard to crack it. Its only but fair!
[31 Jul, 2008 0038hrs IST]
re: Is JEE the best way to pick students for IITs?

sir,
jee .....definitely not a better way to choose good student....at 1st in two year restriction case ,the
student from remote village are not able to get into iit's .In 90's or till 2005 they are able to get into
iit's.As we know India lies in villages .....then why this institute
" institute of national importance " curb the rural student to get into it.
yours faithfully
rajnish ranjan
nit- jaipur.
Posted by rajnish ranjan @ 8/2/2008 11:59 PM

if it is this way.....firstly either level down the questions of jee to which our school teachers can
answer us.
or else ask all the schools to hire the best teachers so that they can make a student atleast ready
to face the tougher questions of jee.
i dont knw why u people are against the coaching institutes?? student only goes to them when his
school teacher fails to answer even the easiest question of iit jee..
for selection criteria i think possible solution is to make cut off percentages higher
like 80%abv.....
then also what will happen to the dreams of droppers?can any1 answer??
Posted by student 11th @ 8/2/2008 12:52 PM

Looking back after 5 years, since I passed out from IIT, I feel now these days good intellect/talent
is not coming out from IIT these days. Many of them are just another cramers and simply do in their
jobs what is being asked for without trying to fill in the gaps without applying their true brain. Asked
a couple of them regarding the JEE pattern and they say "Just religiously cram for 2 years and
you'll get in". Now, we are forced to believe that there is something wrong with the exam pattern
somewhere.
Try carefully looking at few papers of past couple of years and you'll be zapped to find that each
year questions follow more or less same pattern. More objective type paper which obviously is not
at all difficult to check but at the same time it limits the people, who are trying to select, to have a
look into the exam takers of what they really think about the problem and how they try to solve it.
I'm sure different guys have different ways, now we are talking about creativity/intellect.
We all know how difficult JEE exam used to be in 90s (example: there was a paper with only 5 or 6
questions!!). If you can apply the intellect you'll crack it else be in peace. Compare this with these
days and you'll find the difference.
One can not trust the educational systems in India, different boards have different ways. Say for
example ICSE borad does not test real intelligence what they like to test is how much a student
can cram and fill in sheets after sheets during board exam. CBSE, ICSE, State boards have
different syllabuses which have only 60% relevance for JEE. Simultaneously preparing for exams
like JEE and score good in 12th is something like killing two birds in a shot which is not impossible
but difficult to achieve for many and that's why many deserving candidates can not take JEE exam
as they couldn't score good on their board exam. Take examples in your city/town and you'll see
for yourself that a certain student might have scored 90 % + but couldn't qualify JEE exam !!
Hmmmmm... After second thought I realize that why I'm writing to tell what is bad with the pattern,
rather I should jot down the points which can help the system to deteriorate things further -
1. Increase the number of objective type questions. This will help in speed and NOT accuracy.
2. Increase the number of IITs and govt. should not take rest until and unless they do this in every
state.
3. Increase the capacity in each IIT so that after passing out an IITian can say that I belong to top
50% cream. (1% looks so odd :( )
4. Increase the number of reservations on basis of caste/creed/sect/gentry so that no one is left
behind. We can call it "Type" of candidate, on form.
5. JEE exam can be scrapped, instead top rankers from schools can be provided admissions
directly.
.......... and the list still goes on, Please fill in the rest.....
Posted by Adish Shukla @ 8/1/2008 2:08 PM

I am a third year B.Tech student at IIT Kharagpur.
I agree with the newspaper article that JEE is not the best way to select students for IITs. But, I do
not fully agree with the other aspects mentioned in the article. First of all, I strongly disagree with
the point where it has been suggested that the top 1% of students from different boards should be
able to give JEE. Throughout the article, the writer is talking about "raw intelligence" but he is
completely wrong in thinking that the various boards results categorize the students according to
raw intelligence, rather it is the opposite. I would cite a very good example to this. Many of the
students who get more than 90% marks in CBSE 10th boards are not able to score even 75% in
CBSE 12th boards. This is not because 12th boards are difficult, but it is because the students
prepare for competitive exams and do not devote their time to cram for 12th boards as they did for
10th boards. With respect to this point, I would say that JEE is a much better option to get students
with raw intelligence than the corresponding board exams.
JEE is a very conceptual exam, but the over indulgence of coaching institutes during JEE
preparation does result in SOME less-than-best students coming in. But, the writer has not given
any statistical evidence to why he thinks that there are MANY such students.
Now, coming back to my earlier point that JEE is not the best way to select students for IITs, I have
a completely different reason to justify my statement. For IITs, the admission process goes like
this- First of all, students give JEE, then they get their ranks and after that, during the counselling
process, they choose their branches. In this process, it so happens that most of the students know
nothing about the branch they are getting in. The branch choices are based solely on the following
reasons:
1. The last year patterns indicate the branches corresponding to their rank.
2. The other close-rank students are taking that branch.
3. There are no other options remaining to choose from.
Following this process, a student after getting into the branch realizes that he has no interest in his
respective branch which leads to poor results during his graduate studies.
If the IIT admission procedure has to be made more efficient, the students' choices of interest have
to be considered and the branch allocation should not be based solely on JEE rank. One way out is
that those students who pass the JEE exam should be given a small aptitude test corresponding to
the choices that he makes irrespective of his JEE rank, so that his branch of interest can be
chosen and then the branch should be allotted.
This way, not only will the students get better results in IITs but will be more interested in going for
higher education and research, an aspect which is drastically lacking in the IITs and which the
professors regularly complain about.
Posted by Abhineet Gupta @ 8/1/2008 11:41 AM

According to me, JEE is the best to get into IIT, if the director of IIT madras says the successful
candidate mind is prepared by coaching class tutors then there is flaw of the exam setter not that of
tutors or student.
I am deadly against the the dean of IIT madras statement that there should be direct admission
because nobody can judge the student on the basis of marks because our present education
system doesn't focus on the actual intelligence of student and doesn't focus on overall personality.
I am also against the statement that only 1% of students from state boards and CBSE should be
permitted to appear for the JEE because a number of students every year got selected in IIT in
spite of that they are only mediocre student.
Posted by himanshu @ 7/31/2008 10:53 PM

---
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub- Waste of talent and govt. money by the IITs
Sir ,
I am writing you in reference to your article in TOI today i.e. on 31.07.08 , in all the competitive
exams, the number of selected candidates is more than the available seats. This is being done to
make all the seats filled up against those who don’t turn-up either to seek better opportunities or in
search of better institutes and that is why a student appears in not only one competitive exam but
in number of competitive exams available at that particular stage.
Same happens for engineering competitive exams and students take part in IIT JEE, AIEEE as well
as his/her own state’s entrance exams. After getting declared successful in these, they are invited
for the selection of college as well as the branch of engineering. In this counseling process, the
higher rankers get their choices easily and straight away take admissions but as ranks go down in
the merit, either the candidates don’t turn up or they compromise with either the institute or the
trade of engineering. In the second category, candidates go on trying their chances in other
competitions with better ranks and better options. And of course, once a better option of institute
and branch is available, they leave the already allotted seat in some earlier competitions and join
the best suited to them.
To fill such gaps, AIEEE has a system of second round of counseling and allot these vacant seats
against the DROPOUTS for those students who are listed in merit list but couldn’t get through due
to lower merit. To my utmost surprise, the premier institutions like the IITs have no such provision
for second counseling and they don’t fill the dropout seats and allow to continue with vacant seats
against dropouts. However, students who were declared successful in entrance exam and
attended counseling are betrayed due to tendency of keeping more than one options open by
candidates who are ranked higher. If institutions like IITs are keeping the seats vacant against the
DROPOUTS, is a waste of available talent and govt. money and at the same time causing
frustration among those who wish to pursue studies in premier institutions of Inia i.e. IITs inspite of
being talented and declared successful in entrance exam. An entrance exam where success rate is
only approx. 2% and coaching institutes run an industry of approx 10 thousand crores every year.
Through this letter I appeal to union minister HRD to kindly look into the matter so that successful
and deserved candidates are given their chance. I would like to invite your attention towards news
item in The Economic Times dated 25-07-2008 which tells that in IIT Gandhinagar, only 103
students have joined out of a total of 120 seats available. That means in Gandhinagar only 17
students from the available successfull declared candidates can be given chance which at the
moment IITs are not giving. The same may be the situation of vacancies in other IITs also about
which you as a national newspaper can get an instant information.
The present system of entrance exam is satisfactory because like any other competetive exam
students prepare either by self or through coaching institutes.I feel there is a need to clarify what
the directors mean by raw intellegentia. Do the directors observe that those selected through JEE
are not intelliget? are not up to the mark? or do they have any data that non suitable candidates
are getting through the JEE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted by Anshul Agarwala @ 7/31/2008 9:06 PM
Somebody is on an agenda to destroy the best institutes of excellence in modern India. You donot
need to demolish a Nalanda today, just destroy the culture of merit and IIT will become another ITI.
The big question why is there such a concentrated attack to destroy the academic culture of merit
in IIT's. Reservations based on caste, now faculty based on caste, adding new institutes from
rented premises, now scrapping of JEE...all this is sinister to say the least.
If the hon. Dean of IITM feels girl students are not comming in then why does he not propose a
QUOTA FOR GIRLS? Just like AIIMS. Is it because it'll see the same fate as the women
reservation bill pending in the parliament? Forget engineering for a moment are women in India not
the most deprived and deserving of reservation before any OBC , SDC or ST. Where are the MEN
in this land which is thanx to the greedy politicians the 'biggest hypocrisy in the world'? Shame on
you who are taking shelter behind 'girls' and advocating scrapping the toughest test of merit that
need to become even more tough and attract the best of the best ala ShitiKAnth thru the JEE.
Coaching cannot be bad as it does raise the standard of the students post +2. In short no namby
pamby ideas should be entertained by our self-serving administrators and politicians. Don't dilute
milk with water.IIT is about 'doodh -ka-doodh, paani-ka-paani', so what, if it is funded by UGC.
Posted by Amit @ 7/31/2008 8:42 PM

Definitely, JEE is the best way to select students fr IITs. I totally disagree wid the statement made
by Mr Ananth that 1% of topper students of differnt state boards should only permitted to appear in
JEE. This will not be acceptable at any cost....
Posted by Durgesh Kumar Dwivedi @ 7/31/2008 12:28 PM

Damn The Board Exams (India)

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DIFFERENCES EXPLAINED

COMPANIES GO FOR CAMPUS SELECTION TO THOSE INSTITUTES WHICH HAVE

AIEEE & BITSAT ALSO REQUIRE ANALYTICAL ABILITY.

THE SYLLABI OF ENTRANCE EXAMS R ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FROM BOARDS – MOST

COACHING FROM A GOOD INSTITUTE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

FROM WIKIPEDIA - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institutes_of_Technology

The Dataquest-IDC T-School Survey - 2008

CANADIAN PASTURES OPEN FOR IITians

Let us look at the academic backgrounds of B-school students

IIM INDORE STATS

IIM SHILLONG STATS

SO HERE COMES ANOTHER BIG PROOF –

We want only the best to be in front, don’t we?

THE READERS’ OPINIONS ARE ON THE NEXT PAGE

The government should stop messing with educational institutes.

Sushant Shekhar, NIT Tiruchirapally, says: What the hell!Top 1% from

Raj, N J, says: Nonsense. What Brand IIT needs is –

manu, delhi, says: its absurd and presumptuous

re: Is JEE the best way to pick students for IITs?

Posted by rajnish ranjan @ 8/2/2008 11:59 PM

re: Is JEE the best way to pick students for IITs?

Posted by student 11th @ 8/2/2008 12:52 PM

re: Is JEE the best way to pick students for IITs?

Posted by Adish Shukla @ 8/1/2008 2:08 PM

re: Is JEE the best way to pick students for IITs?

Posted by Abhineet Gupta @ 8/1/2008 11:41 AM

re: Is JEE the best way to pick students for IITs?

Posted by himanshu @ 7/31/2008 10:53 PM

Sub- Waste of talent and govt. money by the IITs

Posted by Anshul Agarwala @ 7/31/2008 9:06 PM

re: Is JEE the best way to pick students for IITs?

Posted by Amit @ 7/31/2008 8:42 PM

re: Is JEE the best way to pick students for IITs?

Posted by Durgesh Kumar Dwivedi @ 7/31/2008 12:28 PM

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