What’s new about JEE Mains?

With just 4 months left for JEE Mains exam, application process has already started from December 1, 2016. You must be knowing that JEE is an all India common engineering entrance examination of the objective pattern. It is conducted for admission in various engineering colleges and courses all over the country. JEE Mains is regarded internationally as one of the most challenging engineering admission tests.

To clear the air, JEE consists of two parts, JEE Main and JEE Advanced. JEE Advanced is for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISERs). On the other hand JEE Main exam is for admission to National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs). Only the students selected in JEE Mains are eligible for appearing in JEE Advanced. Statistics show that around 200,000 students are selected each year.

What comes in JEE Mains?

JEE Mains exam has two papers, Paper-1 and Paper-2. You may opt for either or both of them. Both papers contain multiple choice questions. Paper 1 is for those who wish to get admission in B.E./B.Tech courses and is conducted in both online and offline modes. Whereas, Paper-2, which is conducted only offline, is for admission in B.Arch. and B. Planning courses.

JEE Mains, unlike JEE Advanced, has a fixed exam structure. Paper-1 is of three hours duration and consists of thirty multiple-choice questions in each of the three subjects, which are Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. Remember that there is negative marking for incorrect answers. 4 marks are awarded for correct answers and 1 mark is deducted for incorrect answers.

One more thing, that from 2013 to 2016, the marks obtained in the class 12th used to be accorded a 40 percent weightage in deciding the JEE Mains all India ranks.

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Comparing JEE Mains 2017 and 2016

CBSE will conduct JEE Mains, paper and pen-based exam, on April 2, 2017, while the Computer Based Test (CBT) will be held on April 8 and April 9, 2017. You might find the following changes in JEE Mains 2017 exam. But one thing remains the same that you have to carry your JEE Mains Admit Card in the exam or you will not be allowed to even enter the examination center.

• The top 2, 20,000 candidates from JEE Mains 2017 will be eligible to take JEE Advanced 2017. For the admission year 2016-17, CBSE has filtered the top 2 lakh candidates for appearing in JEE Advanced, which is the second stage of the entrance exam for admissions to IITs
• For all the applicants, except those who belong to Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu & Kashmir, of JEE Main it is mandatory to have Aadhaar card number, to fill in the online application form
• If you belong to the states of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir, you can fill the application form by using their Passport Number, ration card number, bank account, any other valid Govt. identity number provided. Remember that you can select the city of examination in these states only
• 2017 All India Ranks will be calculated without the normalized score of class 12th marks now. Till the academic year 2016-17, JEE Mains All India ranks would be calculated with JEE Main scores and normalized marks of Class 12th in a 60:40 ratio
• To qualify for admissions in NITs, IIITs or GFTIs, you should have at least 75% marks in class 12th exam or be in the top 20 percentile in the class 12th. While for SC/ST candidates, the eligibility criteria are 65% marks in class 12th

JEE Main 2016

JEE Main 2016 Paper & Pen-based exam was conducted on April 3, while the online or CBT was conducted on April 9 & 10.

• For the admission year 2016-17, top 2 lakh candidates from JEE Main were eligible for appearing in JEE Advanced. Till 2015, top 1, 50,000 qualifiers of JEE Main were eligible to take JEE Advanced
• 2016 All India Ranks were calculated with JEE Main scores from 2017, no weightage will be given to class 12th marks
• For admission year 2016-17, the eligibility criteria for admissions to NITs, IIITs and GFTIs was 45% marks, for General Category, in 12th examination with Physics and Mathematics as compulsory subjects. While for those who belong to reserved category the percentage is 40. This percentage in the qualifying exam was required individually in each of the subjects
• Aadhar card is mandatory for JEE MAIN application form and also helpful for you as no multiple identification documents will then be required