The JEE Mains is an annual examination hosted by the National Testing Agency for students who wish to apply for undergraduate engineering and architecture courses at notable universities in India. After the examination, students are faced with a choice: appear for the JEE Advanced examination or start applications to other universities that accept JEE Mains scores.
JEE Advanced
The JEE Advanced Examination is an entrance examination conducted for students who wish to enroll in the Indian Institutes of Technology for their higher education. The JEE Advanced has certain eligibility criteria that students must meet in order to appear for the test. The first criteria are that students must rank in the top 250,000 candidates just to qualify for registration in the JEE Advanced exam.
Other criteria include age limits, earlier admissions, number of attempts already given, and whether they have appeared for their Class 12 exams. IITs offer multiple branches of specialization, of which some of the most popular ones are: Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Electrical Engineering. Students must select a branch at the time of admission, but may be allowed to change it later, subject to university approval.
Other Colleges
For students who do not wish to appear for the JEE Advanced examination, there are a plethora of other opportunities available. There are over 1,700 institutions in the country that accept JEE Main scores. The NITs and the IIITs are the most sought-after institutions due to their prestige and the opportunities they provide.
Apart from the IITs and the NITs, students can also apply to GFTIs (Government Funded Technical Institutes), which also offer multiple science and engineering programs. If none of the above options seem to be the right fit, students can also apply to privately held institutions across the country that accept JEE Main scores.
The JEE Main examination is conducted four times a year, in the months of February, March, April, and May. This gives students more planning flexibility, allowing them to schedule their exams at the time that suits them best.
Also published on Medium.