Download Thomas and Finney's Calculus.

Book Description
Textbook presents a modern view of calculus enhanced by the use of technology. Revised and updated edition includes examples and discussions that encourage students to think visually and numerically.This book comes highly recommended for IIT Aspirants. It has earned the title of "Calculus for Dummies" !


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Coming up Next: Shortcuts to problem solving in Physics.

Calculus-Based Physics II by Jeffrey W. Schnick

Book Description:
Calculus-Based Physics is an introductory physics textbook designed for use in the two-semester introductory physics course typically taken by science and engineering students. Reading this book will help IIT Aspirants develop unshakable concepts in Physics. Volume II of this book authored by Jeffrey W. Schnick contains the following topics:

Contents:
1 Charge & Coulomb's Law
2 The Electric Field: Description and Effect
3 The Electric Field Due to one or more Point Charges
4 Conductors and the Electric Field
5 Work Done by the Electric Field, and, the Electric Potential
6 The Electric Potential Due to One or More Point Charges
7 Equipotential Surfaces, Conductors, and Voltage
8 Capacitors, Dielectrics, and Energy in Capacitors
9 Electric Current, EMF, Ohm's Law
10 Resistors in Series and Parallel; Measuring I & V
11 Resistivity, Power
12 Kirchhoff’s Rules, Terminal Voltage
13 RC Circuits
14 Capacitors in Series & Parallel
15 Magnetic Field Intro: Effects
16 Magnetic Field: More Effects ............
17 Magnetic Field: Causes
18 Faraday's Law, Lenz's Law
19 Induction, Transformers, and Generators
20 E&M Fields in Motion—Faraday’s Law and Maxwell’s Extension to Ampere’s Law
21 The Nature of Electromagnetic Waves
22 Huygens’ Principle and 2-Slit Interference
23 Single-Slit Diffraction
24 Thin Film Interference
25 Polarization
26 Geometric Optics, Reflection
27 Refraction, Dispersion, Internal Reflection
28 Thin Lenses: Ray Tracing
29 Thin Lenses: Lens Equation, Optical Power
30 The Electric Field Due to a Continuous Distribution of Charge on a Line
31 The Electric Potential due to a Continuous Charge Distribution
32 Calculating the Electric Field from the Electric Potential
33 Gauss’s Law
34 Gauss’s Law Example
35 Gauss’s Law for the Magnetic Field, and, Ampere’s Law Revisited
36 The Biot-Savart Law.

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Coming up Next: Caclulus- Thomas and Finney.

Calculus-Based Physics I by by Jeffrey W. Schnick

Book Description.
Calculus-Based Physics is an introductory physics textbook designed for use in the two-semester introductory physics course typically taken by science and engineering students. Reading this book will help IIT Aspirants develop unshakable concepts in Physics. Volume I of this book authored by Jeffrey W. Schnick contains the following topics:
Contents
Mathematical Prelude
Conservation of Mechanical Energy I: Kinetic Energy & Gravitational Potential Energy
Conservation of Mechanical Energy II: Springs, and, Rotational Kinetic Energy
Conservation of Momentum
Conservation of Angular Momentum
One-Dimensional Motion (Motion Along a Line): Definitions and Mathematics
One-Dimensional Motion: The Constant Acceleration Equations
One-Dimensional Motion: Collision Type II
One-Dimensional Motion Graphs
Constant Acceleration Problems in Two Dimensions
Relative Velocity
Gravitational Force Near the Surface of the Earth, First Brush with Newton’s 2nd Law
Free fall, a.k.a. Projectile Motion
Newton’s Laws #1: Using Free Body Diagrams
Newton’s Laws #2: Kinds of Forces, Creating Free Body Diagrams
Newton’s Laws #3: Components, Friction, Ramps, Pulleys, and Strings
The Universal Law of Gravitation
Rotational Motion Variables, Tangential Acceleration, Constant Angular Acceleration
Torque & Circular Motion
Vectors: The Cross Product & Torque
Center of Mass, Moment of Inertia
Work and Energy
Potential Energy, Conservation of Energy, Power
Impulse and Momentum
Oscillations: Introduction; Mass on a Spring
Oscillations: The Simple Pendulum, and, Energy in Simple Harmonic Motion
Waves: Characteristics, Types, Energy
Wave Function, Interference, Standing Waves
Strings and Air Columns
Beats and the Doppler Effect
Fluids: Pressure, Density, and Archimedes’ Principle
Pascal’s Principle, the Continuity Equation, and Bernoulli’s Principle
Temperature, Internal Energy, Heat, and Specific Heat Capacity
Heat: Phase Changes
The First Law of Thermodynamics.

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Coming up next:
A Calculus based physics course Volume II.

Download Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry - Solomons, Graham.

Book Description
With a realistic approach to the study of mechanisms,this book addresses real functional group chemistry with an emphasis on the biological, environmental, and medical applications of organic chemistry. Can be used as a reference book for Organic Chemistry by IIT Aspirants.

About the Author
T.W. Graham Solomons did his undergraduate work at the Citadel and received his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1959 from Duke University where he worked with C.K. Bradsher. Following this he was a Sloan Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Rochester where he worked with V. Boekelheide. In 1960 he became a charter member of the faculty of the University of South Florida and became Professor of Chemistry in 1973. In 1992 he was made Professor Emeritus. In 1994 he was a visiting professor with the Faculty des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques, Universite Rene Descartes (Paris V). He is a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Lambda Upsilon, and Sigma Pi Sigma. He has received research grants from the Research Corporation and the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund. For several years he was director of an NSF-sponsored Undergraduate Research Participation Program at USF. His research interests have been in the areas of heterocyclic chemistry and unusual aromatic compounds. He has published papers in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the Journal of Organic Chemistry, and the Journal of Heterocyclic Chemistry. He has received several awards for distinguished teaching. His organic chemistry textbooks have been widely used for 20 years and have been translated into French, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Malaysian, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, and Italian. He and his wife Judith have a daughter who is a building conservator, a son who is an artist, and another son who is a graduate student studying biochemistry.



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Probable branch/stream according to AIR!

This document details the various courses offered to those who cleared JEE 2005. It includes data about all seven IIT's and the branches offered to students on the basis of their AIR. Data for General and Reserved category is segregated. If you want to know your probable branch/institute based upon your AIR, then you are requested to download this document. It will give you a general idea about what AIR you must secure to get an IIT and a course of your choice.


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Note: To get the same list for IIT-JEE 2007, click here.

Keep your Brain Alive! 83 brain exersises to prevent memory loss.

No more punch lines that just slipped away. No more names on the tip of your tongue. No more senior moments! Drawing on cutting-edge neurological research, how to keep your brain alive: 83 neurobic exercises brings help to everyone whose memory is starting to slip. Devised by Dr. Lawrence Katz, a professor of neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center, and Manning Rubin, author of 60 Ways to Relieve Stress in 60 Seconds, here is a regimen of mental cross-training that can be done anywhere, by anyone, at any time of day. The premise is simple: When you exercise the brain, you release natural growth factors called neurotrophins, which in turn enhance the brain's level of fitness. And nothing so easily stimulates the brain as breaking routines and using the five senses in new and unexpected ways. So if you're right-handed, wake up tomorrow and brush your teeth with your left hand. Or close your eyes before you get into the car and then get the key into the ignition. Every time you open a new circuit in your brain, it's like doing a round of mental sit-ups, without the pain.This e-book can be utilized in an effective way by engineering aspirants too.

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Download Schaum's Outline of College Mathematics.

Book Description
Algebra, plane trigonometry and plane analytic geometry ­­and also aspects of solid analytic geometry ­­get full coverage in this book and lead to an introduction to calculus. The many hundreds of problems with step-by-step solutions and supplementary ones with answers illustrate and amplify the theory and repeat basic principles, permitting the kind of active learning that lets students understand and remember important points.


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Strategy to Attempt Assertion-Reason Type questions.

An often overlooked part of MCQ practice by students is the Assertion-Reason type questions. Considering that they fetch a cool +5 compared to +3 for normal objectives, getting them right becomes all the more important. This article deals with the strategy students can adopt to maximize their scoring potential in these questions. These type of questions test only the concepts of the students. A reasonably well-prepared student can answer these questions in a matter of a few seconds.
However, many students get these questions wrong due to avoidable reasons. A well defined strategy must be chalked out to attempt these questions.
The First thing you need to do is to see both statements and check if one of them is incorrect. If you are able to find an incorrect statement, then you have automatically cracked the problem.[Only one statement may be wrong in these questions]. Also research has show that proving something wrong is much much easier then proving something right. For Maths, you can randomly substitute a value to check the correctness of the equation.
Let us say a statement says:
In a cyclic quadrilateral, A,B,C,D are the angles,then Sin A + SinB + Sin C + SinD =0 [Question taken from a recent FITJEE Test Series Paper]
You can imagine a square which can fit into the definition of a cyclic quadrilateral such that each of these angles is 90 degrees and the corresponding value of the equation is 4.
Thus you do not even have to prove something, you merely have to disprove something.
If you find that both statements are correct , then you have eliminated two options.
[Please note that if the substituted values did satisfy the equation, it doesn't necessarily mean that the equation is correct i.e. You can use this strategy only to prove something wrong!]
Now you must determine whether one statement is implying the other one. This is where your subtle concepts come into picture. After finding out this, you can now indeed be happy because you have successfully cracked a problem!

- Brought to you by IIT-Dreams

Schaum's Outline of Discrete Mathematics [ E-Book]

Confusing Textbooks?
Missed Lectures?
Tough Test Questions?

Fortunately for you, there's Schaum's Outlines. More than 40 million students have trusted Schaum's to help them succeed in the classroom and on exams. Schaum's is the key to faster learning and higher grades in every subject. Each Outline presents all the essential course information in an easy-to-follow, topic-by-topic format. You also get hundreds of examples, solved problems, and practice exercises to test your skills.

This Schaum's Outline gives you

* Practice problems with full explanations that reinforce knowledge
* Coverage of the most up-to-date developments in your course field
* In-depth review of practices and applications

Fully compatible with your classroom text, Schaum's highlights all the important facts you need to know. Use Schaum's to shorten your study time-and get your best test scores!

Table of contents

Chapter 1. Set Theory
Chapter 2. Relations
Chapter 3. Functions and Algorithms
Chapter 4. Logic and Propositional Calculus
Chapter 5. Techniques of Counting
Chapter 6. Advanced Counting Techniques, Recursion
Chapter 7. Probability
Chapter 8. Graph Theory
Chapter 9. Directed Graphs
Chapter 10. Binary Trees
Chapter 11. Properties of the Integers
Chapter 12. Languages, Automata, Grammars
Chapter 13. Finite State Machines and Turing Machines
Chapter 14. Ordered Sets and Lattices
Chapter 15. Boolean Algebra
Appendix A: Vectors and Matrices
Appendix B: Algebraic Systems
Index
Biographical note

Seymour Lipschutz is a professor of mathematics at Temple
University. He has written 15 Schaum's Outlines.
Mark Lipson is on the mathematics faculty at the University of Georgia.



Download the File Viewer software, WinDJView [508 Kb] [Macintosh and Linux users can request for a separate software through the comments section.
Download the E-book.

Download Fundamentals of Physics - Halliday, Resnick and Walker.

No other book on the market today can match the 30-year success of Halliday, Resnick and Walker's Fundamentals of Physics!

Fundamentals of Physics, 7th Edition and the Extended Version, 7th Edition offer a solid understanding of fundamental physics concepts, helping readers apply this conceptual understanding to quantitative problem solving, in a breezy, easy-to-understand style. A unique combination of authoritative content and stimulating applications.
* Numerous improvements in the text, based on feedback from the many users of the sixth edition (both instructors and students)
* Several thousand end-of-chapter problems have been rewritten to streamline both the presentations and answers
* 'Chapter Puzzlers' open each chapter with an intriguing application or question that is explained or answered in the chapter
* Problem-solving tactics are provided to help beginning Physics students solve problems and avoid common error
* The first section in every chapter introduces the subject of the chapter by asking and answering, "What is Physics?" as the question pertains to the chapter
* Numerous supplements available to aid teachers and students

The extended edition provides coverage of developments in Physics in the last 100 years, including: Einstein and Relativity, Bohr and others and Quantum Theory, and the more recent theoretical developments like String Theory.

Download the Book from here.

Your daughter’s smart enough to join IIT!

“Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and follow where they lead.” — Louisa May Alcott

In 1971, I was in a small school in Coimbatore and I had never heard of IIT. One day my maths teacher said, “Do you know that some of the boys in your class are applying to IIT? You’re the first-ranker, so why are you not applying there?”

In 1976, I was one of only five girls who graduated along with more than 240 boys in my class. One would assume that a girl today would be as aware as a boy that IIT is an option, and would assume that she would be supported in her aspirations. One would be wrong. Twenty-five years later, I went back to the IIT campus for our silver reunion, and learned that in the B.Tech class of 2000, there had been only 18 girls along with 450-plus boys. (This represents an infinitesimal growth of the percentage of women graduates from 2.1% to 4% in twenty-five years). But given that women constitute a much higher percentage in non-IIT engineering colleges in India, it seems ironic that more do not join IITs.


What accounts for the drop to 4% for those who enter IIT? Is there a lack of motivation/self-confidence on the part of girls to attempt the IIT-JEE? Is it that many girls (especially in small towns) are not aware of IIT as an option for them? Do many get some subliminal message that teaches them to have low expectations for their career or that engineering is not for them? Are IIT-JEE coaching classes held at such hours when families would prefer to send girls accompanied by a male relative so that it becomes too much of a bother? Is one of the reasons the lack of role models in an India in which headline news is occupied more by “models” such as Lara Dutta or Priyanka Chopra?

In a well-researched article entitled “The Talibanism of Technology”, Deepa Kandaswamy writes that in spite of talented and successful women in technology, they have been rendered invisible through the ages, so that only men are associated with technology. She identifies six social myths that cut across cultural divides around the world:

• Myth 1: Women are emotional while tech is strictly logical. As a result, they don’t go together.

• Myth 2: Men are good at math and machines while women have no clue about these.

• Myth 3: Men are the providers while women are nurturers.

• Myth 4: Technical women are unattractive, arrogant, and abnormal.

• Myth 5: Women can’t do it because they are made that way: the divine or the evolution argument.

• Myth 6: Women aren’t as good at visualising as men, and hence, don’t make good engineers.

In early 2002,I started an e-group for women alumnae (IITwomen@yahoogroups.com). Today there are hundreds of women alumnae from the seven campuses who have joined this group from all over the world. We know that our IIT education has had a great positive impact on our careers and lives, and we plan to approach schools and suggest to educators and parents that clearly a message is reaching young girls that society is more comfortable if they settle for less. Within IIT, one often did not even hear of many opportunities or help available.

It is true that while the networking among male IITans is being credited for the success of much entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley and elsewhere today, the miniscule numbers of past female graduates makes for very few role models so that a girl embarking on a career does feel more alone. Schools, teachers and parents can be made aware of the old prejudices creeping into their treatment of girls’ vs boys’ highest ambitions. Media can do a much better job of giving visibility to both the successful women and the inequities if any that keep them from getting there. Alumni (both men and women) can take time out to go into schools to motivate girls to think about IIT if they’re thinking about engineering as a career.

An IIT education gives you a great framework for analysing problems, and they do not necessarily have to be in the field of technology for them to be useful to society. Let us hope that the next 25 years will be very different for girls, so that they can take equal advantage of the global branding.
- Viji Raghunathan
The writer is vice-president, Union Bank of California, US. An IIT Madras graduate, she will be in New Delhi later this month to attend the Pan IIT (of which she is a member) conclave.

Sources : www.expressindia.com
http://dqindia.ciol.com/

What is Integration?

Get the concept behind integration theory explained by this document. Everthing is concise and in a simple language.

What is integration?

Stay Hungry, Stay foolish - Motivational speech by Steve Jobs - CEO, Apple

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12,2005.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.The first story is about connecting the dots.I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months,butthen stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She
felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I
would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever
made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with,
and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one
good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be
priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in
the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating. None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first
computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky ,I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple
in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our
visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out.When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the
best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods
of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from
Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now. This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true. Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they
signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.

Practice for BITSAT Exam.

BITSAT is an entrance test for getting admission into one of the campuses of the prestigious Birla Institute of Technology and Science(BITS-Pilani).BITS has campuses at Pilani,Goa and in Dubai.Starting this year BITS is also taking students into its newly established BITS Hyderabad Campus.Around 1,16,000 students are going to take BITSAT-2008 and only 2000(<2%) of them are going to be selected.

BITSAT is the first complete online based admission procedure for any undergraduate course.These online tests are conducted at seventeen centers in India, during the months of May and June every year.

Maths Test I
Maths Test II
Maths Test III

Physics Test I
Physics Test II

Chemistry Test I
Chemistry Test II
Chemistry Test III

Download JEE -08 Paper with Solutions by CareerLauncher.

Paper I
Paper II

Say NO to Reservations!

By uphelding reservations in Institutes of National Importance like IIT's , the Government of our Country is commiting an unpardonable sin. It is blatantly destroying the very future of our country. After refusing autonomy to IIT's , the Govt. now wants to gather votes by sacrificing our dreams on the altar of politics. The Current Government does not even hesitate to mention that it supports reservations for Creamy Layers too.
How can those incompetent ministers sitting in their air conditioned offices decide our fate? Do they understand the amount of pain and hard work that we have to undergo to realize the IIT Dream? We truly feel like we are running a marathon race in which some people are allowed to use cars.Why do these ministers, mostly semi-educated themselves implement their silly ideas and get away with it? Can they assure us that all OBC's are poor and backward? Why not reserve seats for the economically unprivileged but deserving candidates instead? Votes? Money? [A recent report stated that a politician working for the so called upliftment of dalits earns as much as PepsiCo CEO Indira Nooyi .Have we forgotten the price Rajeev Goswami had to pay for protesting against reservations? We must protest against this discrimination. Remaining silent will do us no good.I want to share with you some great articles I found on the web on reservations.I am also linking to a blog against reservations. Please view them. Let us unite for a new India, a better India.





Voice against Reservations.

View the first Article.
View the Second Article!

Advice on How to Learn Physics [Edited Version]

Reading
Of course you should read actively, but that is easier said than done. Write
questions in the margins about things you don’t understand. Don’t bother
highlighting — highlighting is useless for reading science textbooks.
One good active reading exercise is to take some general principle and try
to find your own example of how to apply it. This is especially helpful
if you can find an example where it seems surprising or wrong, or where
you’re not sure whether the assumptions behind the general principle are
valid. Research has shown that many of students’ conceptual problems
with physics occur because the principles of physics are surprising and
counterintuitive, so when the principle is encountered in a new situation,
they don’t even think to apply it because it wouldn’t seem to make sense.
In Class
The most important thing is to ask questions. The
class of my dreams would be one where the students set the agenda with
their own insightful questions.
Doing the Homework
Problems
Staring at a blank page and not knowing how to set up a problem is a very
inefficient use of your time. If you get stuck, try calling your lab partner
on the phone and discussing the problem, or come to Al’s Place.
Often we learn best by example. However, many students try to solve
homework problems by looking for an example in the book that will provide
a cookbook recipe, so they can just plug different numbers into the
same procedure. The problem with this method is that it doesn’t work.
For instance, you may find an example that uses a certain equation, but
that equation might not be true in the physical situation described in the
problem you’re working on.
Rather than learning problem-solving as a long list of recipes (which you’re
sure to forget soon), you’re better off learning more general problemsolving
skills that can be applied in many different areas of physics, and
also outside of physics. The MOB skills on ??, for instance, can be applied
over and over again. A good way to learn by example is to compare
examples from different chapters, and look for similar techniques that pop
up more than once. For instance, problem 11 in chapter 1 of Newtonian
Physics and problem 15 in chapter 10 deal with completely different topics
in physics, but they both require the same technique, ratio reasoning,
which is one of the MOB skills.
Method for Studying for
Exams
(1) Start by doing the things you should have done but didn’t have time
for. Read any parts of the book you didn’t have time to read when they
were assigned. Study any of the homework solutions handouts that you
haven’t studied carefully.
(2) Before dealing with problem-solving, try to firm up your conceptual
understanding in any areas where you feel weak. If you have bought one
of the suggested supplementary books, read the relevant sections.
(3) Write up a concise, organized set of notes. Next to each equation, write
the definitions of the variables and the physical situation that the equation
describes, and notes on under what conditions the equation would or would
not apply. I don’t think more than one page of notes is necessary for the
whole course; if you find yourself writing more notes than that, you are
probably overestimating the amount of memorization that is required and
writing down a lot of equations that can be derived from more fundamental
principles. Comparing notes with another student or going over them with
me can be very helpful.
(4) Once you feel fairly firm on the concepts, focus your effort on any
particular problem-solving techniques with which you are having trouble.
Look at the homework solutions and figure out what was going on in any
cases where you were unsuccessful in applying the technique in question.
Then work a new problem for which you have access to a solution .
If you faithfully apply these methods for studying but find yourself completely
confused on a certain point, it is not an efficient use of your time to
keep on staring at the same thing.

Ben Crowell, Fullerton College [Author of the Original Version of the Article]

A GuideBook to Mechanism in Organic Chemistry -Dr. Peter Sykes [E-Book]

A classic textbook on mechanistic organic chemistry which is characterized particularly by its clarity, careful choice of examples and its general approach that is designed to lead to a ready understanding of the subject matter. This guidebook is aimed clearly at the needs of the student, with a thorough understanding of, and provision for, the potential conceptual difficulties he or she is likely to encounter.

Download from Here.

Dear Aspirant!

Dear Aspirant...

"What we truly and earnestly aspire to be, that in some sense we are. The mere aspiration, by changing the frame of the mind, for the moment realizes itself."

- Anonymous

As more and more engineers are churned out every year from the scores of colleges in the country, the one name that commands immediate attention and respect is that of the IITs, which represent the dreams and ambitions of thousands of young students, who hope to be one of the select few to pass out with the tag of an 'IITian'.

But what is it that makes the IITs so special? And why is there, this frenzied rush to get into IIT?

The IITs were established with the goal of providing quality education in engineering and the sciences - an education that would train its engineers and scientists to be innovative and inventive and rank among the best in the world. As the premier technological institutes of the country, the IITs have always endeavoured to keep our country at the forefront of technical advancement and have contributed richly to research and development. The education at the IITs compares with none other - and this possibly explains why so many youngsters dream of being an 'IITian'. And to choose the best among these many thousands of aspirants, is an intensely competitive selection procedure, held each year - the JEE and for B.Tech., GATE for M.Tech. and individual subject entrance tests for M.Sc. admissions.

JEE - the Joint Entrance Examination for admission to the B.Tech. programme, is held annually in two stages - a screening test in December and the main examination in May. Students are tested in three subjects - Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry. JEE enjoys the reputation of being one of the most fairly conducted examinations in the world and is extremely competitive as well, attracting over 1,50,000 candidates every year. Its papers are famed for their 'difficulty' levels - questions in JEE are not run-of-the-mill, seeking mere plugging in of values into formulae. What the JEE paper looks for in an examinee is a thorough understanding of the fundamentals coupled with the ability to think laterally, a powerful combination that can subdue even the most ominous -looking problem with an elegant solution.

And yet, all this doesn't mean you need an IQ of 200+ to make it through JEE! These skills are the result of plain hard work and are developed over time; tempered and honed by diligent, determined and concentrated effort. Not all the 4200 students who make it to the IITs every year get in by virtue of their 'brilliance' or 'genius'; it is by sheer dint of hard work that JEE can be tackled and without this dedicated effort, even the best minds can meet with failure. Of course, such work needs guidance and coaching and that is probably why there has been this proliferation of countless coaching classes, tuition centres and correspondence courses , vying with one another to train their students to make it through the JEE! But the most popular and time-tested method is to seek the help of teachers who can train you to adopt the line of thinking necessary to attack JEE questions. This personalised form of teaching has been found to work the best; the numbers of such students who have made it to the IITs year after year is proof enough. So, check with your friends and relatives about such teachers in your city, who train candidates for the JEE.

You may be wondering if the IITs themselves provide any coaching. The answer to your question is a qualified "yes". IIT does not provide any instructions as coaching for students who will be taking JEE. Students belonging to the reserved category are urged to take advantage of this preparatory course.

The IITs organise JEE jointly and publish notices in leading newspapers, calling for applicants. They also send brochures to hundreds of schools and institutes, to increase awareness about the examination. Of course, your friends, schoolmates and relatives will also be of assistance to you in this regard, sharing with you the knowledge that they possess about IIT and the JEE. And the best source would probably be an ex-IITian who has experienced it all himself/herself! It has been observed, however, that such sources of information are not always accessible to students from the rural areas. Statistics show that a majority of students who join the IITs are from metropolitan areas; the number of students from rural areas is very small, mainly because of the lack of information.

IITs have a very low acceptance ratio; (Ratio of number of students selected and number of students applied) nearly one and a half lakh students sit for IIT JEE every year & merely 3000 can make it to IIT, but this doesn�t make it a very tough competition to crack. Try to understand me, to quote figures�. in JEE 2003 my total was 92/180 in the mains & I got AIR (All India Rank) 406 where as my roommate having total of 95 got AIR 235 (JEE gave individual marks in 2003) that means getting marks nearly 55% will give you a good rank in JEE. Think a while you have to solve just half a paper to get through JEE!

First general funda is...�Don�t suffer with �excusitis� (cf. appendicitis). Don�t give arguments like I�m a Gujarat board student, belonging to a city from where no one has got selected in this particular exam till date�..So how can I think of?

Trust me you are unique; every one is unique, it is matter of fact that we can�t compare people. Imagine a situation, you aspire to become CEO of a company like �Infosys� , if you will tell this ambition to your friends imagine what their reaction will be? I don�t think any of them will give you a sound suggestion to achieve this goal, rather it is possible some of them may laugh on you. But if you ask any company CEO, he will tell you the way to achieve that, certainly he won�t laugh on you.

Just a second! you remain the same�when you ask the same question to your friend or from CEO but one time you got appreciation with suggestion and once you got laugh on you. Why? Simply because your friend can�t think as ambitiously as you can. Believe me you can do every thing, JEE is just a thing.

To clear IIT JEE you need a conceptual approach I think you might have heard this sentence hazzar times. But what does this conceptual approach means?

Conceptual means you have to know how you actually proceed while solving a problem, you must know why you have adopted a particular approach while solving and why not one you had just learned. JEE is not going to be �eat & vomit� examination. You can�t crack the examination just by cramming the formulae.

You will find some students in IIT who started there preparation for JEE right from there class 9th,some preparing since 11th ,and to your surprize you will find some who actually never prepared for JEE. Confused? The reason of this ambiguity is word �preparation�. Preparing for JEE doesn�t mean joining coaching classes nor it means reading bulky books containing plethora of information for 10 hours or so, but it means reading whatever you read with a purpose in mind��.purpose being how this information can be useful, purpose being how they can ask this in JEE, In short using your time most efficiently, thinking of JEE also apart from your class XIth or XIIth preparation.

After spending one year at IIT, I found there is not a 100% rigid formula for success in JEE. So to make any rule about way of study or numbers of hours to study for JEE will be worthless, but the thing which is certain is hard work only culminates in success.

I Believe that people have there own learning speed for a particular topic. Time taken by one person to learn some thing is very special to that person.

I mean, if student �A� takes 2 hours to grasp the concepts of one chapter, student �B� may take 3, on the other hand I wish to add it is also quite possible while reading another chapter �A� may take 3 hours where as �B� could take 2.So it is unfair to compare study time of any to students, rather I suggest you to compete with yourself, after all it�s your own career and you have taken challenge to be a part of a family which has world recognition and where every member is determine to blaze somewhere.

So the conclusion is you have to do your best, I remind you, your best means giving your full efforts for doing hard work every day till JEE.

The best policy is being steady with studies. So the smoothest way (Note that I haven�t used phrases like best or easiest) will be to study topics simultaneously for JEE and your class XIth & XIIth. Whenever you think you have finished a particular portion then solve JEE level questions on that topics and surely do further reading to make clear concepts, Remember you are aiming for the best, so your understanding for each topics should be best, you shouldn�t compromise on quality of understanding. There shouldn�t be any doubt about how you will proceed in a particular type of problem. So we have concluded some of the crucial ingredients for your success for JEE

The admission to the IITs is however , only the first step that a student takes towards becoming a good engineer. Getting here is in itself an achievement, but what is more challenging is to sustain the academic excellence thereafter. Considering you are now in the company of the 'cream of bright young talent' from all over the country, it is critical that the sincerity and enthusiasm that brought you here must not wane. Many students heave a sigh of relief when they make it to the IITs, with an attitude of 'thus far and no further', wrongly believing that they have accomplished their ultimate goal. It is ironical that the academic responsibilities do not hold even a fraction of the interest that they once evinced to get here. As a consequence, they do not utilize completely, the wonderful opportunity given to them to become a master in their field of study. The IITs represent the finest contribution of our country towards meaningful technical education. You too belong here - but you may have to run a small race to get to this place!
Source: http://www.ee.iitm.ac.in/

Acids and Bases, Ionic Equilibrum, Study Material!

Learn the concepts of acids and bases along with important concepts in Ionic Equilibrum like pH calculation, dissociation, calculation of salt pH [all types]. Get all of this and more in this document which deals with the topic of Ionic Equilibrum in an easy to understand way.
Specially added on request of users who find Ionic Equilibrum difficult!

Download the Study Material!
More downloads coming up soon! [Please Add your requests in the comments section]

Download I.E. Irodov's Problems in Physics alongwith Solutions by Abhay Kuma Singh. [E-BOOK]

Irodov is considered to be a classic, a masterpiece on physics and one of the best problem solving books from the Soviet era. The problems in this book challenges even the best brains in the world. It mostly tests the fundamentals of your knowledge in basic Physics. The classic Irodov problems are daunting in the sense that they are informal and need a thorough understanding of not only a single chapter but a good understanding of all the fundamentals.Some of the problems may take several hours long but don't get bogged down.If you can solve at least 80% of the problems in a single exercise you can rest assure that you have clear fundamentals and also do have the ability to apply them.

For viewing the files you need to get WinDJView.
Download:

Software (for Windows) [Mac and Linux users can request for a separate software in the comments section.

Irodov's Problems in Physics.


Solutions By Abhay Kumar Singh. Part I

Solutions by Abhay Kumar Singh Part II

IUPAC Nomenclature Downloadable Notes.

To be able to easily understand the concepts behind IUPAC nomenclature of organic compounds. I request users to download the document I uploaded from here.

Let me know whether you liked the document or not.

Free Online Learning Forum.

Some months ago, I stumbled into a wonderful website cum forum for IIT-JEE and other entrance exams. Getvidya is a unique web-portal that offers its users comprehensive guidance for cracking IIT-JEE. The site is founded and run by IITians and Ex-IITians who are very active in solving queries and doubts of students. Once you register there, you will even get to take online tests, download e-books [some e-books posted by me :)],Today Getvidya has about 2000 registered members and is still growing.
You can access their website here.

Interview of AIR 1 in IIT-JEE

Q. Arvind, how you used to relax you after continuous study for long periods?

”Walking around in fresh air…..”

Q. What were the things you used to keep in mind before taking any exam?

I used to formulate a strategy of order of solving problems - What level of hardness of problems I should start with and how to schedule them. Also an attempt to analyse all previous exam papers and keep track of silly mistakes one is likely to commit…

Q. What mistakes you commited during your prepartion?

A.
1. Related to course : During earlier stages of prepartion, I tried to flood myself with lot of problems from lots of sources without even having my basic concepts clear.Clarity of concepts is absolutely important before solving problems.

2. Related to exams: Must go into exams after proper rest.

3. Related to revision: Trying to cover a lot of new material & ignoring those done long time ago.

Q. What is your view regarding revision… By what time students should be able to finish their prepartion and should start revision ?

A. I think revision is best done by taking a mix of new or untried( by self) problems from all topics of a subject and working them in timed exam like condition. In my opinion there need not be any hurry for starting revision, whenever started, the entire subject should have been completed.

Q. How many hours you think one should devote daily for prepartion ?

A. I won’t like to suggest number of daily hours of study -as long as one is gaining enough confidence in solving problems.

Q. What was your idea about IIT before entering and what is your idea about it now ?

A. There is too much of hype surrounding IIT and IITians , in my case, all after all are human beings.

Q. When exactly you had started your prepartion ?

A. Soon after my class X examinations.

Q. Any thing you want to share from yourside that you think would be helpful for students preparing for IIT ?

A. Before jumping to problems ,pay full emphasis on concepts. Emphasis must be given to mock examinations to develop proper paper tackling approach.

Q. Which books you consider are must for prepartion ?

A.
1. Mathematics
a. S L Loney -trignometry & coordinate geometry
b. TMH- IIT Mathematics(esp algebra)
c. M L Khanna -IIT Mathematics

2. Physics
a.Concepts of Physics(H C Verma)
b.Problems in Physics (Abhay Kumar Singh) (the problems need to be selected)
c.IIT Physics - Oswal Publishers (for problems)
d.Resnick & Haliday ( for conceptual clarification in some topics)

3. Chemistry
a.IIT Chemistry -O P Agarwal
b.Schaum’s series -Organic Chemistry
c.Solamons(don’t remember book name) (for organic chemistry)

Q. Any comment regarding the various correspondence coaching materials available ?

A.
a. Brilliants Y G Files for years 1989-1993
b. FITJEE GMP package
c. Apex Academy (esp mathematics)

Source: Knowledgebin.org

An Iitian with AIR 56 speaks....

Well,I am a student of IIT Delhi in the comp sc branch.
I qualified the jee 2005 with AIR 56 in mains and AIR 22 in screening.

As far as my experience was concerned,it was very enjoyable.

No doubt,the syllabus and the jee itself is not the easiest,but if you work hard in the beginning,it is possible to develop the analytical skills to clear jee very comfortably with a good rank.

I started studying from 11 class itself and fully utilized the 2 years.
It helps if you cam bunk school so that you can not only devote enough time for the jee prep but also find some time for enjoyment -which will recharge your batteries for the day ahead as well.

Dont delay the start of your prep as the more time you have ,the smooother you can pursue the completion of your syllabus.

Do join a good coaching center as it gives you the necessary motivation to spend your time preparin for the jee.Once you get started ,the onus is on you to carry on the momentum.

The center I had joined had very bright students who were NTSE scholars(I kind of felt very average).But very soon ,I was scoring two-three times of what they were scoring in mock tests and quizzes.

As far as the books are concerned,I used the following and would recommend the same to you:

Physics:
Start with HC Verma in class 11,and of course your study package.If you find HC Verma too simple,you can leave it and start with fiitjee study packages.But it is a good idea to complete part 1 of this book in class 11.

In class 12,you cam start seeing other books,if you feel confident that HC Verma is too easy for you,start with DC Pandey (problem book) from Arihant Publications.The questions are a bit tough so its ok if you can solve 50% of the problems.If you want to score well in screening,read the ncert once(which you would be for your boards anyway).I dont think there is a need for Irodov.Fiitjee’s GMP is also a good idea (only after you have revised your syllabus to your satisfaction).

Chemistry:
Again ,the study packages are important.
Physical--P.Bahadur
Organic--Study packages,previous year papers,practice problems at the end of P.Bahadur
Inorganic--NCERT,Study packages,practice from P.Bahadur and any other problem you can find(focus on 3d series )

Going thru NCERT is very important!

Maths:
Well,besides study packages,TMH is the best book.But it is not everyone’s cup of tea!
If you find it impossible to crack even 20% of problems,refer to prevoious years papers and study material of some other institute.You can start with the book in class 12.
Solve it completely and 90% on your own,you are ready for any question!

Total:
1.Do join a good test series(Fiitjee is the best I think)
2.Completely solve previous year papers under strict time limit and honestly evaluate yourself.
3.Test yourself right from class 11 and work on improving your scores regularly.
4.Read the questions very carefully.The questions are tailor made for silly mistakes.
5.Concentrate on scoring a specified amount of marks if you find the paper difficult(dont expect 170/180!).

Conclusion:
The top ranker usually has a score of 140-150 that is about 80%.
If you completely avoid silly mistakes,it is very easy to get a top 500 rank and with good effort you can get into top 100 or 50.

No one scores spectacularly in all 3 subjects (AIR 21 has 28/60 in maths jee 2005!)
Hence concentrate on consistency in all subjects.

Most importantly,stay cool on the day of exam.
Think that you have nothing to lose.

Everyone else is under a lot of stress,make full use of this.
Under a situation of no pressure,your performance will increase drastically.
Dont get unduly affected by the standard of the paper,it is the same for everyone.

Once you get into IIT,you still have to work hard at times,but not only is life very enjoyable,but your future has no limit as far as your success is concerned.

Good Luck.And remember, a job enjoyed will always be a job well done!

How to Study Organic Chemistry.

Organic Chemistry is a challenging subject. It uses its own language and employs many very precise concepts yet without referring mathematical tools or aspects. Within first few hours of study you will be able to use the basic concepts to understand a lot about the molecular world around you.

The first difficulty a student encounters is the amount of study material available about organic molecules and their reactions any standard text book is not less then 1400 pages long, a student cannot expect to learn all this material without investing a considerable time and effort in studying it and if he does so he disproportionates his time allocations with other subjects eventually bringing him under pressure to leave organic chemistry or compromise at other subjects.

The solution of above problem is that someone should work on your part to extract all relavant important matter and concept for you, this someone is your teacher. Most of standard text book (like I L Finar Morison boyd) available in market are not oriented for JEE, preparation rather these are among the best books available for college students all over the world. The sequence of chapters or 100% content may not return you for the time you have invested. You need not follow line to line of the text but choose the desired component from the word index given at the back of book.

In many ways, learning organic is like learning another language. Make sure you are familiar with basic terms like, electrophile, nucleophile, base, substrate, carbocations, free radical electron releasing groups etc.

You should understand the nature of organic chemistry when a reaction occurs one must first know what reagents are the starting materials and what the final products are ? The conversion of starting materials to the products will involve either breaking bonds, making bonds or both. The detailed sequence of which bonds are broken and formed, in what order, and the stereochemical relationships of these bonds is called a mechanism for the reaction.

Your text book is organized primarily by types of compounds which contain a specified functional group, eg. collection of all compounds where – OH group is connected to a carbon chain or structure are called alcohols.

When you study each type of functional group you will find that each reacts by only a few mechanistic paths and hence has a chemical personality of its own. Do not treat mechanism as just another thing to memorize, remember working organic chemist do not just repeat what is known. They use that knowledge to solve problems and discover new chemistry.

Understanding mechanism is the key to modern organic chemistry although we will be studying hundreds or thousands of reactions, these reactions occur via only a few fundamental mechanistic path ways. It is the recognition of the mechanistic similarities between different reactions that allow organic chemistry to be readily understood. Understanding mechanism will help make sense of thousand of facts that comprise organic chemistry.

IIT-JEE question appears as if it is newly framed for you but you will find at least some what related what you have done in mastering the mechanism the only challenge these questions pose is that you have to identify an appropriate mechanism component which operates there.

Anticipate what will be on the exam. Notice what the teacher spends time on in class. If you teacher assigns a specific problems make sure you know how to work every one of these problems. Your teacher know important concepts, mechanism or part of subject from which a question of JEE level can be framed, so they will even say ""This problem will be on exam". If your teacher says this, believe it !.

When you analyze your minor tests you should understand what you did wrong. You will need to know had to do it right next time because chemistry builds up from the base of knowledge, everything you learn at the begining will be needed later for something more complicated. If you miss a concept on the first test it will be trouble for all coming minor tests.

Previous Question papers for Download.

Here are the JEE papers of past years with their complete solution:
Get the papers.

Ranking Procedure for IIT-JEE 2008

FOLLOWING PROCEDURE WILL BE EMPLOYED FOR RANKING PURPOSE

1. Only those candidates who attempt both Paper 1 and Paper 2 will be considered for the ranking.

2. Marks in each subject like Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry will be obtained by adding the marks secured in that subject part in both paper 1 and paper 2. i.e. Marks in Mathematics will be equal to marks in Mathematics section of Paper 1 + marks in Mathematics section of Paper 2. Similar procedure will be followed for Physics and Chemistry.

3. Subject-wise Cut off- All candidates whose marks are in the top 80% bracket of the total candidates appeared will qualify the cut off requirement for that subject for General/DS category. Candidates meeting the cut off requirements for all the three subjects will be considered for the ranking.

4.Subject-wise Cut offs for the reserved category candidates:There is some relaxation in the subject-wise cut offs available to reserved category candidates.

5.Based on the aggregate marks secured in the Examination, a common merit list with AIR will be prepared without any relaxed criteria. Total number of candidates declared qualified and ranked will be 1.15 times the total number of seats available at the seven IITs, IT-BHU and ISMU.

6.Reserved Category Merit Lists- In addition to a common merit list, separate merit lists of candidates belonging to the SC, ST, and PD categories will be prepared by giving some further relaxation in the aggregate cut off determined in 5 above. If a candidate belongs to more than one reserved category, then he/she for the purpose of ranking shall be considered in all the categories in which he/she qualifies.

7.Total number of candidates declared qualified in any reserved category will not exceed 1.15 times the total seats available in that category.

Source: jee.iitd.ac.in

IIT-JEE Syllabus

JEE Mathematics Syllabus
Algebra

Algebra of complex numbers, addition, multiplication, conjugation, polar representation, properties of modulus and principal argument, triangle inequality, cube roots of unity, geometric interpretations.

Quadratic equations with real coefficients, relations between roots and coefficients, formation of quadratic equations with given roots, symmetric functions of roots.

Arithmetic, geometric and harmonic progressions, arithmetic, geometric and harmonic means, sums of finite arithmetic and geometric progressions, infinite geometric series, sums of squares and cubes of the first n natural numbers.

Logarithms and their properties.

Permutations and combinations, Binomial theorem for a positive integral index, properties of binomial coefficients.

Matrices as a rectangular array of real numbers, equality of matrices, addition, multiplication by a scalar and product of matrices, transpose of a matrix, determinant of a square matrix of order up to three, inverse of a square matrix of order up to three, properties of these matrix operations, diagonal, symmetric and skew-symmetric matrices and their properties, solutions of simultaneous linear equations in two or three variables.

Addition and multiplication rules of probability, conditional probability, independence of events, computation of probability of events using permutations and combinations.

Trigonometry

Trigonometric functions, their periodicity and graphs, addition and subtraction formulae, formulae involving multiple and sub-multiple angles, general solution of trigonometric equations.

Relations between sides and angles of a triangle, sine rule, cosine rule, half-angle formula and the area of a triangle, inverse trigonometric functions (principal value only).

Analytical geometry

Two dimensions: Cartesian coordinates, distance between two points, section formulae, shift of origin.

Equation of a straight line in various forms, angle between two lines, distance of a point from a line. Lines through the point of intersection of two given lines, equation of the bisector of the angle between two lines, concurrency of lines, centroid, orthocentre, incentre and circumcentre of a triangle.

Equation of a circle in various forms, equations of tangent, normal and chord.

Parametric equations of a circle, intersection of a circle with a straight line or a circle, equation of a circle through the points of intersection of two circles and those of a circle and a straight line.

Equations of a parabola, ellipse and hyperbola in standard form, their foci, directrices and eccentricity, parametric equations, equations of tangent and normal.

Locus Problems.

Three dimensions: Direction cosines and direction ratios, equation of a straight line in space, equation of a plane, distance of a point from a plane.

Differential calculus

Real valued functions of a real variable, into, onto and one-to-one functions, sum, difference, product and quotient of two functions, composite functions, absolute value, polynomial, rational, trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic functions.

Limit and continuity of a function, limit and continuity of the sum, difference, product and quotient of two functions, l'Hospital rule of evaluation of limits of functions.

Even and odd functions, inverse of a function, continuity of composite functions, intermediate value property of continuous functions.

Derivative of a function, derivative of the sum, difference, product and quotient of two functions, chain rule, derivatives of polynomial, rational, trigonometric, inverse trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic functions.

Derivatives of implicit functions, derivatives up to order two, geometrical interpretation of the derivative, tangents and normals, increasing and decreasing functions, maximum and minimum values of a function, applications of Rolle's Theorem and Lagrange's Mean Value Theorem.

Integral calculus

Integration as the inverse process of differentiation, indefinite integrals of standard functions, definite integrals and their properties, application of the Fundamental Theorem of Integral Calculus.

Integration by parts, integration by the methods of substitution and partial fractions, application of definite integrals to the determination of areas involving simple curves.

Formation of ordinary differential equations, solution of homogeneous differential equations, variables separable method, linear first order differential equations.

Vectors

Addition of vectors, scalar multiplication, scalar products, dot and cross products, scalar triple products and their geometrical interpretations.

JEE Chemistry Syllabus
Physical chemistry

General topics: The concept of atoms and molecules; Dalton's atomic theory; Mole concept; Chemical formulae; Balanced chemical equations; Calculations (based on mole concept) involving common oxidation-reduction, neutralisation, and displacement reactions; Concentration in terms of mole fraction, molarity, molality and normality.

Gaseous and liquid states: Absolute scale of temperature, ideal gas equation; Deviation from ideality, van der Waals equation; Kinetic theory of gases, average, root mean square and most probable velocities and their relation with temperature; Law of partial pressures; Vapour pressure; Diffusion of gases.

Atomic structure and chemical bonding: Bohr model, spectrum of hydrogen atom, quantum numbers; Wave-particle duality, de Broglie hypothesis; Uncertainty principle; Quantum mechanical picture of hydrogen atom (qualitative treatment), shapes of s, p and d orbitals; Electronic configurations of elements (up to atomic number 36); Aufbau principle; Pauli's exclusion principle and Hund's rule; Orbital overlap and covalent bond; Hybridisation involving s, p and d orbitals only; Orbital energy diagrams for homonuclear diatomic species; Hydrogen bond; Polarity in molecules, dipole moment (qualitative aspects only); VSEPR model and shapes of molecules (linear, angular, triangular, square planar, pyramidal, square pyramidal, trigonal bipyramidal, tetrahedral and octahedral).

Energetics: First law of thermodynamics; Internal energy, work and heat, pressure-volume work; Enthalpy, Hess's law; Heat of reaction, fusion and vapourization; Second law of thermodynamics; Entropy; Free energy; Criterion of spontaneity.

Chemical equilibrium: Law of mass action; Equilibrium constant, Le Chatelier's principle (effect of concentration, temperature and pressure); Significance of DG and DGo in chemical equilibrium; Solubility product, common ion effect, pH and buffer solutions; Acids and bases (Bronsted and Lewis concepts); Hydrolysis of salts.

Electrochemistry: Electrochemical cells and cell reactions; Electrode potentials; Nernst equation and its relation to DG; Electrochemical series, emf of galvanic cells; Faraday's laws of electrolysis; Electrolytic conductance, specific, equivalent and molar conductance, Kohlrausch's law; Concentration cells.

Chemical kinetics: Rates of chemical reactions; Order of reactions; Rate constant; First order reactions; Temperature dependence of rate constant (Arrhenius equation).

Solid state: Classification of solids, crystalline state, seven crystal systems (cell parameters a, b, c, a, b, g), close packed structure of solids (cubic), packing in fcc, bcc and hcp lattices; Nearest neighbours, ionic radii, simple ionic compounds, point defects.

Solutions: Raoult's law; Molecular weight determination from lowering of vapor pressure, elevation of boiling point and depression of freezing point.

Surface chemistry: Elementary concepts of adsorption (excluding adsorption isotherms); Colloids: types, methods of preparation and general properties; Elementary ideas of emulsions, surfactants and micelles (only definitions and examples).

Nuclear chemistry: Radioactivity: isotopes and isobars; Properties of a, b and g rays; Kinetics of radioactive decay (decay series excluded), carbon dating; Stability of nuclei with respect to proton-neutron ratio; Brief discussion on fission and fusion reactions.

Inorganic Chemistry

Isolation/preparation and properties of the following non-metals: Boron, silicon, nitrogen, phosphorus, oxygen, sulphur and halogens; Properties of allotropes of carbon (only diamond and graphite), phosphorus and sulphur.

Preparation and properties of the following compounds: Oxides, peroxides, hydroxides, carbonates, bicarbonates, chlorides and sulphates of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium; Boron: diborane, boric acid and borax; Aluminium: alumina, aluminium chloride and alums; Carbon: oxides and oxyacid (carbonic acid); Silicon: silicones, silicates and silicon carbide; Nitrogen: oxides, oxyacids and ammonia; Phosphorus: oxides, oxyacids (phosphorus acid, phosphoric acid) and phosphine; Oxygen: ozone and hydrogen peroxide; Sulphur: hydrogen sulphide, oxides, sulphurous acid, sulphuric acid and sodium thiosulphate; Halogens: hydrohalic acids, oxides and oxyacids of chlorine, bleaching powder; Xenon fluorides; Fertilizers: commercially available (common) NPK type.

Transition elements (3d series): Definition, general characteristics, oxidation states and their stabilities, colour (excluding the details of electronic transitions) and calculation of spin-only magnetic moment; Coordination compounds: nomenclature of mononuclear coordination compounds, cis-trans and ionisation isomerisms, hybridization and geometries of mononuclear coordination compounds (linear, tetrahedral, square planar and octahedral).

Preparation and properties of the following compounds: Oxides and chlorides of tin and lead; Oxides, chlorides and sulphates of Fe2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+; Potassium permanganate, potassium dichromate, silver oxide, silver nitrate, silver thiosulphate.

Ores and minerals: Commonly occurring ores and minerals of iron, copper, tin, lead, magnesium, aluminium, zinc and silver.

Extractive metallurgy: Chemical principles and reactions only (industrial details excluded); Carbon reduction method (iron and tin); Self reduction method (copper and lead); Electrolytic reduction method (magnesium and aluminium); Cyanide process (silver and gold).

Principles of qualitative analysis: Groups I to V (only Ag+, Hg2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Bi3+, Fe3+, Cr3+, Al3+, Ca2+, Ba2+, Zn2+, Mn2+ and Mg2+); Nitrate, halides (excluding fluoride), sulphate, sulphide and sulphite.

Organic Chemistry

Concepts: Hybridisation of carbon; Sigma and pi-bonds; Shapes of molecules; Structural and geometrical isomerism; Optical isomerism of compounds containing up to two asymmetric centers, (R,S and E,Z nomenclature excluded); IUPAC nomenclature of simple organic compounds (only hydrocarbons, mono-functional and bi-functional compounds); Conformations of ethane and butane (Newman projections); Resonance and hyperconjugation; Keto-enol tautomerism; Determination of empirical and molecular formula of simple compounds (only combustion method); Hydrogen bonds: definition and their effects on physical properties of alcohols and carboxylic acids; Inductive and resonance effects on acidity and basicity of organic acids and bases; Polarity and inductive effects in alkyl halides; Reactive intermediates produced during homolytic and heterolytic bond cleavage; Formation, structure and stability of carbocations, carbanions and free radicals.

Preparation, properties and reactions of alkanes: Homologous series, physical properties of alkanes (melting points, boiling points and density); Combustion and halogenation of alkanes; Preparation of alkanes by Wurtz reaction and decarboxylation reactions.

Preparation, properties and reactions of alkenes and alkynes: Physical properties of alkenes and alkynes (boiling points, density and dipole moments); Acidity of alkynes; Acid catalysed hydration of alkenes and alkynes (excluding the stereochemistry of addition and elimination); Reactions of alkenes with KMnO4 and ozone; Reduction of alkenes and alkynes; Preparation of alkenes and alkynes by elimination reactions; Electrophilic addition reactions of alkenes with X2, HX, HOX and H2O (X=halogen); Addition reactions of alkynes; Metal acetylides.

Reactions of benzene: Structure and aromaticity; Electrophilic substitution reactions: halogenation, nitration, sulphonation, Friedel-Crafts alkylation and acylation; Effect of o-, m- and p-directing groups in monosubstituted benzenes.

Phenols: Acidity, electrophilic substitution reactions (halogenation, nitration and sulphonation); Reimer-Tieman reaction, Kolbe reaction.

Characteristic reactions of the following (including those mentioned above): Alkyl halides: rearrangement reactions of alkyl carbocation, Grignard reactions, nucleophilic substitution reactions; Alcohols: esterification, dehydration and oxidation, reaction with sodium, phosphorus halides, ZnCl2/conc.-HCl, conversion of alcohols into aldehydes and ketones; Aldehydes and Ketones: oxidation, reduction, oxime and hydrazone formation; aldol condensation, Perkin reaction; Cannizzaro reaction; haloform reaction and nucleophilic addition reactions (Grignard addition); Carboxylic acids: formation of esters, acid chlorides and amides, ester hydrolysis; Amines: basicity of substituted anilines and aliphatic amines, preparation from nitro compounds, reaction with nitrous acid, azo coupling reaction of diazonium salts of aromatic amines, Sandmeyer and related reactions of diazonium salts; carbylamine reaction; Haloarenes: nucleophilic aromatic substitution in haloarenes and substituted haloarenes - (excluding Benzyne mechanism and Cine substitution).

Carbohydrates: Classification; mono and di-saccharides (glucose and sucrose); Oxidation, reduction, glycoside formation and hydrolysis of sucrose.

Amino acids and peptides: General structure (only primary structure for peptides) and physical properties.

Properties and uses of some important polymers: Natural rubber, cellulose, nylon, teflon and PVC.

Practical organic chemistry: Detection of elements (N, S, halogens); Detection and identification of the following functional groups: hydroxyl (alcoholic and phenolic), carbonyl (aldehyde and ketone), carboxyl, amino and nitro; Chemical methods of separation of mono-functional organic compounds from binary mixtures.

JEE Physics Syllabus
General: Units and dimensions, dimensional analysis; least count, significant figures; Methods of measurement and error analysis for physical quantities pertaining to the following experiments: Experiments based on using vernier calipers and screw gauge (micrometer), Determination of g using simple pendulum, Young's modulus by Searle's method, Specific heat of a liquid using calorimeter, focal length of a concave mirror and a convex lens using u-v method, Speed of sound using resonance column, Verification of Ohm's law using voltmeter and ammeter, and specific resistance of the material of a wire using meter bridge and post office box.

Mechanics: Kinematics in one and two dimensions (Cartesian coordinates only), projectiles; Circular motion (uniform and non-uniform); Relative velocity.

Newton's laws of motion; Inertial and uniformly accelerated frames of reference; Static and dynamic friction; Kinetic and potential energy; Work and power; Conservation of linear momentum and mechanical energy.

Systems of particles; Centre of mass and its motion; Impulse; Elastic and inelastic collisions.

Law of gravitation; Gravitational potential and field; Acceleration due to gravity; Motion of planets and satellites in circular orbits.

Rigid body, moment of inertia, parallel and perpendicular axes theorems, moment of inertia of uniform bodies with simple geometrical shapes; Angular momentum; Torque; Conservation of angular momentum; Dynamics of rigid bodies with fixed axis of rotation; Rolling without slipping of rings, cylinders and spheres; Equilibrium of rigid bodies; Collision of point masses with rigid bodies.

Linear and angular simple harmonic motions.

Hooke's law, Young's modulus.

Pressure in a fluid; Pascal's law; Buoyancy; Surface energy and surface tension, capillary rise; Viscosity (Poiseuille's equation excluded), Stoke's law; Terminal velocity, Streamline flow, Equation of continuity, Bernoulli's theorem and its applications.

Wave motion (plane waves only), longitudinal and transverse waves, Superposition of waves; progressive and stationary waves; Vibration of strings and air columns. Resonance; Beats; Speed of sound in gases; Doppler effect (in sound).

Thermal physics: Thermal expansion of solids, liquids and gases; Calorimetry, latent heat; Heat conduction in one dimension; Elementary concepts of convection and radiation; Newton's law of cooling; Ideal gas laws; Specific heats (Cv and Cp for monatomic and diatomic gases); Isothermal and adiabatic processes, bulk modulus of gases; Equivalence of heat and work; First law of thermodynamics and its applications (only for ideal gases). Blackbody radiation: absorptive and emissive powers; Kirchhoff's law, Wien's displacement law, Stefan's law.

Electricity and magnetism: Coulomb's law; Electric field and potential; Electrical Potential energy of a system of point charges and of electrical dipoles in a uniform electrostatic field, Electric field lines; Flux of electric field; Gauss's law and its application in simple cases, such as, to find field due to infinitely long straight wire, uniformly charged infinite plane sheet and uniformly charged thin spherical shell.

Capacitance; Parallel plate capacitor with and without dielectrics; Capacitors in series and parallel; Energy stored in a capacitor.

Electric current: Ohm's law; Series and parallel arrangements of resistances and cells; Kirchhoff's laws and simple applications; Heating effect of current.

Biot-Savart law and Ampere's law, magnetic field near a current-carrying straight wire, along the axis of a circular coil and inside a long straight solenoid; Force on a moving charge and on a current-carrying wire in a uniform magnetic field.

Magnetic moment of a current loop; Effect of a uniform magnetic field on a current loop; Moving coil galvanometer, voltmeter, ammeter and their conversions.

Electromagnetic induction: Faraday's law, Lenz's law; Self and mutual inductance; RC, LR and LC circuits with d.c. and a.c. sources.

Optics: Rectilinear propagation of light; Reflection and refraction at plane and spherical surfaces; Total internal reflection; Deviation and dispersion of light by a prism; Thin lenses; Combinations of mirrors and thin lenses; Magnification.

Wave nature of light: Huygen's principle, interference limited to Young's double-slit experiment.

Modern physics: Atomic nucleus; Alpha, beta and gamma radiations; Law of radioactive decay; Decay constant; Half-life and mean life; Binding energy and its calculation; Fission and fusion processes; Energy calculation in these processes.

Photoelectric effect; Bohr's theory of hydrogen-like atoms; Characteristic and continuous X-rays, Moseley's law; de Broglie wavelength of matter waves.

JEE Syllabus for Aptitude Test in B. Arch. & B. Des.
Freehand drawing: This would comprise of simple drawing depicting the total object in its right form and proportion, surface texture, relative location and details of its component parts in appropriate scale. Common domestic or day-to-day life usable objects like furniture, equipment, etc., from memory.

Geometrical drawing: Exercises in geometrical drawing containing lines, angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, polygons, circles etc. Study of plan (top view), elevation (front or side views) of simple solid objects like prisms, cones, cylinders, cubes, splayed surface holders etc.

Three-dimensional perception: Understanding and appreciation of three-dimensional forms with building elements, colour, volume and orientation. Visualization through structuring objects in memory.

Imagination and aesthetic sensitivity: Composition exercise with given elements. Context mapping. Creativity check through innovative uncommon test with familiar objects. Sense of colour grouping or application.

Architectural awareness: General interest and awareness of famous architectural creations - both national and international, places and personalities (architects, designers etc. ) in the related domain.

Why the IIT pattern was changed.

The IIT-JEE reforms sought to be introduced by the human resources development ministry have sparked a national debate in India.
While the HRD ministry states the new exam pattern is an attempt to curb students' over-dependence on coaching classes and to bring some respectability to the board exams, coaching classes and a section of students question the need for introducing the reforms in the middle of the academic year without prior warning.
This year, about 198,000 students appeared for 4,935 seats at the seven Institutes of Technology; the Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University; and the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.
In the wake of these reforms, Professor V G Idichandy of IIT-Madras discusses with Yogesh K Upadhyaya, the reasons for a change in the IIT-Joint Entrance Examination pattern and the eligibility criteria.
Prof V G Idichandy, convener of STF was the chairman of JEE, IIT-Madras in 1999. He is currently a professor in the department of Ocean Engineering at IIT-Madras and the dean of students.
In February 2004, the directors of IITs decided to set up a special task force to recommend reforms for the JEE. Prof Idichandy was the convener of the Special Task Force. Being JEE chairmen at different times, all the STF members were aware of the issues that needed to be sorted out.
They collected a lot of relevant information, had consultations and submitted a report to the government. The present reforms for JEE were deliberated upon at different levels and they represent the collective efforts of all IITs. Excerpts from the interview:
Could you explain the changes proposed in IIT-JEE pattern and eligibility criteria for appearing in the exam?
The decisions approved by the ministry of human resource development are:
• JEE will continue to be the sole criterion for ranking the students for admission to IITs, IT-BHU, ISM Dhanbad and other participating institutes.
• School results will be factored into the admission process for the IITs. Only those students who secure a first class or equivalent in the plus-2 examinations will be eligible for admission to the IITs.
• For students belonging to SC/ST there will be a relaxation of 5 per cent of marks below the level of marks prescribed in the respective examination.
• JEE will be a single objective type examination. The question paper can include short write-up on a topic in physics, chemistry or even mathematics followed by objective type questions that are based on the write-up.
• A student can write the JEE in the year in which he/she passes the XII standard examination and/or in the following year.
• Those who join any of the IITs, IT-BHU, and ISM Dhanbad through JEE-2006 will not be permitted to appear for JEE in the future.
• The procedure will be reviewed after JEE-2006. A one-time exception would be allowed for those who passed their qualifying examination in 2005 or earlier.
What prompted the expert panel to change the pattern of exam, from two stages (screening and main) to only one-step exam?
The committee which suggested the screening test ('98 and '99, JEE committees) recommended a review of the examination system after five years. The screening test is a test of the aptitude of the student while the main examination is a test of his/her analytical ability.
We have completed six JEEs after this system was introduced. The IIT system is convinced that an objective type examination can be designed to test both aptitude and analytical ability. Based on this the special task force recommended a comprehensive objective test over a two stage examination.
We must keep in mind that clearing JEE is not an end in itself but it is meant for the very limited purpose of selection of students to an academic programme.
There is a restriction on appearing for more than two times in the exam. There is also a restriction on appearing again, if someone has secured a seat at any of the seven IITs, IT-BHU, and ISM. Why?
The main reason for adopting these two measures is to provide a level playing field for candidates appearing for JEE. Now the JEE stipulates a first class in higher secondary school as the minimum eligibility requirement.
Are we justified in allowing candidates with additional years of preparation to take the exam along with fresh students just out of the school? The candidates appearing two or three years after leaving the school get additional time for JEE-specific preparations, have an altogether different mindset and approach to life and education, when compared to those directly out from the schools.
Two or three years of intensive preparation in specific subjects does not make these candidates any wiser as the training is more to beat the examination rather than for the pleasure of learning.
More or less the same reason is valid for those who have already joined the IITs. In addition, they deny opportunity for others who would have gained entry into one of the IITs.
There were protests in New Delhi and other cities. Why didn't they protest when the main exam-type pattern was changed to two-stage exam (main plus screening) exam in the year 2000?
In the last six years, the IIT system has received much more visibility and recognition. Many students and parents believe that an IIT degree is a passport to success and fame. Those who prepare the students for JEE at astronomical costs, exploit this attitude or misconception to their advantage and would like a predictable, easily recognizable pattern for JEE, and are scared of changes.
I don't believe that the stage-managed protests in some cities were done by students. It does not require much research to identify those behind the protesters. Just like any other unjustified protests, agitation against changes in JEE has been instigated by people with vested interests.
The students and their parents should realise the fact that there are equally good/better opportunities outside the IIT system.
How will a two-tier system help students?
The two-tier JEE tests the aptitude of students for professional education through a screening test and their analytical ability through the main examination.
Many a time the parents decide what their children should study. We have come across students who get admission because of rigorous coaching. Later, they struggle to complete the programme as they have no aptitude for an engineering education. We feel that one way of countering this situation is by allotting branches of study at the end of second or third semester and not at the time of admission as practiced today.
Such a procedure will give the students enough time to study various options available to them and choose the branch most suited to their aptitude. I hope the IITs, in due course, will look at this suggestion seriously.
On the requirement of minimum 60 per cent marks in the XII board exam, critics argue that different boards give marks in different ways. For instance, CBSE is considered lenient in grading, while it is relatively difficult to achieve first class in some boards, such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Also, one of the high school boards in eastern India immediately announced the plan to grade the XII standard exam liberally, so that no one from the state is denied admission to IITs. How will you counter this?
Ideally, normalised scores of the different boards should be used. With about 40 school boards in our country, collecting results, arriving at normalised scores, and above all, convincing the stakeholders of different eligibility marks for different boards are all Herculean tasks -- next to impossible, in fact -- considering the time factor involved.
First class (60 per cent) in a qualifying exam is much more simple, easily understood and accepted.
Though the STF recommended normalised scores, the Standing Committee of the IIT Council (SCIC) which includes the directors of the IITs as members decided on first class in higher secondary as minimum criteria and we saw a lot more wisdom in that approach. Our aim was to give adequate importance to school education in our country. We are extremely happy that all the school boards whole-heartedly welcomed the move.
Don't you think the timing for the announcement of reforms was wrong, as many students have already enrolled in coaching classes, and they are in the middle of an academic year in high school?
IITs cannot introduce reforms in JEE for the convenience of those in the coaching classes. The invariant pattern of the entrance examination of the premier institutions made possible the mushrooming of coaching institutions. They grew because of the demand for quality higher education, seats for which are too few in our country.
Now it has reached a stage where genuine students with raw intelligence and aptitude armed with the knowledge gained in schools find it difficult to compete and gain admission to the premier institutions.
The main target is the student presently in the XII standard or equivalent ready to take an examination, irrespective of the pattern and with all its surprises.
Every year JEE is announced in the month of September. This year was no exception. Eligibility requirements and the type of examination are always explained in the information brochure included along with the application form.
It is reported that over 95 per cent of the students who clear IIT-JEE, have joined coaching classes. This is an unusually high number compared to other national-level exams, such as AIEEE. Why there is a rush for this exam? How will the new reforms help curb the coaching class dependence for an IIT-JEE aspirant?
I have already explained the reasons for the rush for JEE and the consequent enrolment in coaching institutions. We are convinced that the present reforms in JEE will reduce the necessity for additional preparation.
IITs should be allowed to conduct JEE 2006 with the present reforms to prove the point. If the panic reactions witnessed in some cities where coaching centres are concentrated are some indications, the IITs have already won the first round!
Please tell us more about IIT-JEE; when it was introduced and why it has an objective format.
JEE has a long history. It started in the early sixties and evolved through years. There were changes of various sorts over the years. For instance, English was a compulsory paper once upon a time. Later, English, though compulsory, was not in the reckoning for deciding the ranks.
Questions in Hindi and an option for answering in Hindi and regional languages were introduced during eighties. Objective type questions were a part of the JEE for some time. Screening tests also went through metamorphoses before the present pattern was adopted in the year 2000.
JEE is well known for its credibility and the IITs consider JEE very sacred and are very proud of its autonomy.
IITs take extra care and precautions to keep the credibility intact and the faith of the general public and students in the JEE system notwithstanding the incident in 1997 that shook the very foundations of JEE.
But with the strong support of the ministry of HRD, IITs outlived the threat and restored all that was lost within a short time. The whole country recognises the independence of JEE and importance of IITs and that is precisely why anything about IITs receives so much public attention. This public audit makes us more responsible and to perform better.
Don't you agree that school education has faced a setback with students concentrating more on how to crack the entrance tests?
Yes, school education has become a big casualty, as there is no credit for twelve years of schooling for admission to the institutions of higher education, be it state-run or central. (Tamil Nadu is perhaps the only state, where equal importance was given to both school performance and entrance test for admission to professional courses.
Though the TN government announced admissions to professional courses based on school results from 2005, because of the procedural issues, it was not implemented).
Why should anyone take school education seriously, when admissions to higher education is based on one entrance test and the eligibility for admission to national institutions is a just a pass in qualifying examination?
Under such a situation, it is but natural for a student to spent time preparing for entrance examination rather than in the school.
What changes do you foresee once these reforms are implemented?
The measures recommended to reform JEE will pave the way for visible changes in the attitudes of students to the school education. When JEE questions are of the level of XII standard, students and parents will realise the futility of going through the rigours of coaching institutions and neglecting school education.
We also feel the rural students and girls will benefit from these reforms but only the future would tell how far we are justified in making these assumptions. Girls constitute only 8 per cent of the student population in IITs (IIT-Madras taken as reference). But school results show better performers are girls, so this could be the beginning of a new trend.