FAQs

If and when NEP is implemented in letter and spirit, the ONE NATION – ONE EXAM scheme shall be implemented for Engineering sector too just as it has already been implemented for Medical sector since 2017 onwards with NEET being the single national entrance exam in India for all the 600+ Medical colleges. Likewise, we can expect that the admissions to all 3300 Engineering colleges is expected to be on the basis of a single common National Entrance exam which in turn may Online, conducted multiple times in a year with best score considered. However, the 23 IITs, IIST and IISERs shall continue to take admission on the basis of JEE ADVANCED. As far as Pure Sciences colleges are concerned, they may also take admission via the same Engineering Entrance exam.

There is a Supreme Court 2016 judgement which clearly mandates that admission to any professional course in India must be strictly based on a common entrance test and not on XII Boards marks. The XII Boards marks shall thus have zero weightage and merely serve as an eligibility criterion for admission to all colleges. For example, the IITs, NITs, IIITs expect a student to score 75% Aggregate marks or be in Top 20 Percentile in your respective Board in XII Boards to be eligible to join the colleges. Similarly, BITS PILANI expects a student to score 75% marks in PCM subjects to be eligible to join BITS whereas Maharashtra Engineering colleges expect 45% marks in PM + C subjects to be eligible. Admission is always granted on the basis of Entrance exam ranks but they crosscheck if XII Boards eligibility criteria is cleared or not.

The answer to this question depends on the student’s talent, study method and hard work potential. For a lazy student, every exam is tough. For a student whose intellect is below a certain threshold, these exams are tough too. Again, for a student whose method of studies is not appropriate, these exams will be found to be tough and stressful. However, if the student has above-average level of mathematical & logical intelligence, has reasonable hard-working potential (can study 6 hours daily) and is guided with the right method for efficient studies, then these exams are not at all tough. On the contrary, such a student will enjoy the studies of these exams and develop high levels of conceptual and problems solving skills which will help the student throughout his professional career.

Any Board is suitable to pursue JEE / NEET studies. But the past 21 years of our analysis of aspirants in Pune reveals that most successful students had chosen State Boards in XI and XII though their education may have been from a different Board till Std.10. The XII Boards eligibility criterion is also lower for IIT, NIT IIIT, GFTI seats with 67-70% usually sufficient as compared to CBSE / ISC which needs 75% only. The fees of CBSE/ISC colleges is also higher as compared to State Boards colleges.

Yes. IITs, AIIMS, NITs, IIITs, IISERs etc. are governed by the Central Government and have almost 50% of their seats for various reserved categories like GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, physically disabled etc. But admission to students of all categories is on the basis of the same Entrance Test with relaxation of cut-off scores for different categories. Admission to private colleges like BITS PILANI, VIT-Vellore, Manipal etc have no reservations however. But private colleges in Maharashtra which are not autonomous have reservations.

India has over 3300 Engineering colleges and 700+ Medical colleges. There are about 18 lac seats in Engineering colleges of which half of them go vacant every year and only about 80,000 seats are in A-grade colleges. About 20 lacs Engg. aspirants vie for these seats every year. As far as MBBS is concerned, there are over 1 lac MBBS seats of which about 40% are in Govt. Medical Colleges and the rest in Private colleges. There are usually no vacancies in MBBS seats. Over 24 lacs Medical aspirants vie for these seats every year and appear for the NEET exam.

The admission rules for these categories have been in a state of flux for many years with different rules for different colleges. However, since 2022 onwards, a semblance of clarity is emerging in the rules for admission for OCI, PIO, NRI students. The Central Govt via few Gazette notifications has mandated that all these categories shall be clubbed under 5% NRI quota which shall be supernumerary in nature. Thus, NRI quota seats won’t eat into the share of seats for Indian Nationals. The criteria for admission in NRI quota shall be same as that for Indian Nationals. However, the fees charged shall be more in most colleges for NRI quota seats ! So, Entrance exams like JEE / NEET are relevant for Indian Nationals too.

The cost of 4-years Engineering education varies from college to college and is in the range of 8 lacs to 35 lacs INR which includes Tuition fees, Hostel & Mess fees. The Private colleges are relatively more expensive than Govt. colleges. The cost of MBBS Medical education in India for a merit seat varies from 10 lacs in Govt. Medical colleges to 75 lacs in Private Medical colleges for 5.5 years MBBS course. For other courses like BAMS, BHMS, B.P.th. etc, the course fees is significantly lower.