Getting admission to Indian Institutes of Technology the most prestigious engineering institutes of India is the dream of majority of students at secondary or senior secondary level in India. This dream is built as a result of parental and peer group pressure. The craze of Indian Institutes of Technology can be gauged from the fact that three lakhs students appeared in IIT JEE (Joint Engineering Entrance) 2008 test for about 6000 openings. A big economy thrives on various forms of coaching institutes and marketing and sale of guide, question bank and refresher books. There is however no alternative to conceptual understanding and hard work. IIT aspirants are advised not to make a beeline to the coaching Institutes. Instead they may follow bottom up approach. They are advised to take their class IX and X science and mathematics study seriously and sit for National Talent Search Examination in Science. This helps in building temperament for appearing in national level competitive examinations. Students are advised to study thoroughly Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at their senior secondary level. Participating in National Standard Examinations in Physics and Chemistry and regional Mathematics Olympiad which leads to national and International Olympiad in these subjects is very effective at this stage for tackling IIT – JEE later on. Students should always refer to standard text. For secondary as well senior secondary level NCERT text books, supplementary books and educational CDs are sufficient. They can be supplemented with books and other learning resources from Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education. Afterwards books from standard publishers like McGraw Hill and Wiley may be consulted. The coaching classes (online or direct) may be joined in the last stages to learn problem tackling techniques as well as to take mock/practice tests. Unfortunately most of the students follow top down approach that is they bunk regular classes, join coaching classes right away and try to do everything by rote, mugging and cramming. They somehow end up cracking AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance examination) instead of IIT JEE and land at various National Institutes of Technology. Teachers at NIT have terrible time in teaching and training them as they have very poor grasp of basics. Thus the number of unemployable engineers keeps on growing.
Apart from IITs, Joint engineering Entrance Examination also caters to IT BHU (Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University) and ISMU (Indian School of Mines University, Dhanbad). Moreover admissions to five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and Indian institute of Space Technology (IIST) is also based on extended merit list of IIT JEE. Integrated masters (B. Sc. plus M.Sc.) in basic sciences and integrated M.Tech. in technology are also offered by older Indian Institutes of Technology through JEE. Since last year the probability of making it to IIT has been greatly enhanced as the number of IITs has almost doubled. Six more IITs namely Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Patna, Punjab and Rajasthan participated in JEE 2008. Two more IITs at Indore and Mandi in Himachal are participating in JEE 2009 which is being conducted on 12 of April.
Apart from four year B.Tech. degree IITs also impart masters in Sciences, masters in humanities, M.Tech. in Sciences and Technology and research in Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities and Technology. The entry to these programmes are through JAM, GATE/NET and JMET.
Joint Admission Test to M.Sc. (JAM): From the Academic Session 2004-2005, Indian Institutes of Technology have started conducting a Joint Admission Test to M.Sc. for admission to M.Sc. and other post-B.Sc. programmes at the IITs. The main objective of JAM is to revive and consolidate ‘Science’ as a career option for bright students from across the country and provide them a single step opportunity for admission to some of the postgraduate programmes offered at the older IITs. JAM is usually held in first week of May. The M.Sc., M.Sc.- Ph.D. Dual degree and other post- B.Sc. programs at the IITs offer high quality post- B.Sc. education in respective disciplines, comparable to the best in the world. Curricula are regularly updated and the interdisciplinary content of the curricula equips the students to utilize scientific knowledge for practical applications.
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an all-India examination administered and conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technology on behalf of the National Coordinating Board - GATE, Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. Admission to postgraduate programmes with MHRD and some other government scholarship/assistantship at engineering colleges/institutes in the country are open to those who qualify through GATE. GATE qualified candidates with Bachelor's degree in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture/ Pharmacy or Master's degree in any branch of Science/Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Applications are eligible for Master/Doctoral programmes in Engineering/Technology/Architecture/Pharmacy as well as for Doctoral programmes in relevant branches of Science. GATE is held in first week of February. The validity of GATE score is for one year.
Joint Management Entrance Test JMET: Held around mid December for two year full time post graduate programme in management. Currently IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, and IIT Roorkee offer Programmes in Management. JMET is only a qualifying examination. Candidates have to apply separately to the Institutes of their choice. They are also advised to look up the details provided in the brochure about the programmes available in the participating Institutes. There is no limit to the number of programmes a candidate can apply to, so long as he or she meets the eligibility criteria. Some NITs also use JMET merit list for admission to their management programmes
Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Examination HSEE: Five year integrated Master of Arts programme in Ec onomics, Development Studies and English is offered by IIT Madras.
Research Programme under QIP: Faculty of engineering colleges can join IIT for research under Quality Improvement Programme. The Quality Improvement Program (QIP) was launched by the Government of India in the year 1970 with an objective to upgrade the expertise and capabilities of the faculty members of the degree-level engineering institutions in the country. The Program is now being implemented and monitored by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE - A Statutory Body of the Government of India).
Research Programme under NET: Science, Social science and Humanities post graduates can join IIT for research on the basis of National Eligibility Test conducted by UGC-CSIR.
QIP Short term courses: The dream IIT of various professionals and teachers can also be realized through short term courses (1-3 weeks duration) and summer schools which are regularly held in IITs in emerging areas of science, technology and management. Information regarding these programmes can be obtained by regularly browsing websites of various IITs.
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For persons having a Ph.D. Degree, PDF in the fields of Engineering & Technology, Science, Architecture & Regional Planning, Humanities & Social Sciences, Law (Intellectual Property Rights, Corporate law, Environment law) and Management is offered by IIT Kharagpur.
(The author is IIT, Delhi alumni and teaches Physics at NIT, Srinagar, can be contacted at ask_rubab@yahoo.co.in)
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