Andhra outshines again in JEE Results, Maharashtra too marks its presence

MUMBAI: Yet again Andhra Pradesh bagged the top position in the country in the JEE Mains examination, with Pramod Vakacharla scoring 355 of a total 360 marks. Last year too, a 16-year-old M Viswa Virinchi, the resident of Kukatpally, had secured the first rank with 345 marks.

In second position this year were Krishlay Raj from Jharkhand and Mohammad Akram Khan from Andhra Pradesh at 350 marks each. While Vakacharla hails from Sulurapeta in Nellore district, Akram Khan’s family is from Adilabad district but now lives in Kothegudem. As a matter of fact, both are classmates and they bagged nearly the same score in their intermediate exams. They both want to enroll in the computer science engineering course in IIT-Bombay.

In Maharashtra, Akola, Kapil Vaidya, a candidate who scored 335 marks, was not rejoicing at his achievement. Alternatively, he spent the entire day in the college library, thus preparing for a greater challenge in the future. Shalaka Kulkarni, another candidate who got a total of 306 marks, was one of the highest scorers among girls in JEE Mains. A student of Sulochanadevi Singhania High School Thane, Shalaka had earlier scored the highest in the country in her Class X ICSE exam.

Incidentally, as results of the JEE (Main) trickled in on Saturday, a total of 1.54 lakh applicants, 28,666 of them girls, wished to party but had to prepare for the upcoming JEE Advanced 2014 instead.

The cut-off for the entrance test to the Indian Institutes of Technology is a tad higher this year at 115 for general category candidates, as compared to last year’s 113. For OBC candidates it stands at 74, as compared to 70 in 2013. For scheduled caste students it is 53 this year and 47 for scheduled tribe contenders. Scores were relaxed by 38.5% for OBC candidates and by 60.18% for scheduled tribes. CBSE board withheld 16 results as the candidates were caught cheating.

As per the official announcement, “The distribution across categories will be as per the Government of India instruction. OBC-NCL- 27%, ST- 7.5%, SC- 15%, and the rest 50.5% will be from the Common Merit List that includes all category applicants.” For example, total candidates from the common merit list will be 75,750 and candidates who have the same score as the last contender. A total of 13.57 lakh students registered for JEE Mains this year across the country.

Nearly 15,500 seats are on offer in 30 NITs, then 850 seats in five IIITs and another 15,000 seats in self- financing institutes. The rank scored in the IIT JEE Mains is valid for two years. It means a candidate who figures in the top 1.5 lakh list of JEE Main 2014 can take the JEE Advanced either this year or next year.

Last year to figure in the top-20 percentile list, cut-off was the highest for Andhra Pradesh – 91.8%, which was followed by Tamil Nadu at 90.9% and Kerala at 85.2%.
JEE Advanced 2014–

• Candidates in the top 1.5 lakh rank list can take the JEE Advanced on 25^th May 2014. Admission to the 13 IITs and ISM Dhanbad will be based on these scores.
• Registrations for JEE Advanced will end on 9^th May 2014. The candidates declared eligible will have to again register for the exam through the official website.
• At the time of registration, all the candidates would have to submit scanned copies of date of birth, their Class X certificate, their signature in JPEG format, their passport-size photograph in JPEG format, the choice of language for question paper, the choice of examination city or town, the category or sub-category certificate if applicable, and year of first attempt in JEE Advanced if applicable.

For Non-IIT Admission

• Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra will admit students to their engineering colleges-private, aided and government-run, based on the JEE Main exam results. Haryana, Gujarat and Uttarakhand adopted the JEE Main last year, West Bengal is slated to do so from 2015-16.
• CBSE will publish a national merit list and state- specific merit lists.

Being a step closer to their tech dreams-
1.       Pramod Vakacharla

Pramod hails from Sulurapeta in Nellore district where his family owns a store. V Bhagwan , his father, said the family believed in complete freedom to children regarding education and was proud of Pramod’s achievement.
In Pramod’s words- “I was confident of a good score but was pleasantly surprised to hear that I had bagged the top place. I would like to pursue computer science engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.”

2. Kapil Eknath Vaidya
This Akola teenager studied at Shri Dawale Junior College and took JEE Mains coaching through video-conferencing. Kapil’s father is an associate professor and his mother is a homemaker.

In Kapil’s words- “While solving questions, you should be calm but quick. I believe my eight hours of daily studies combined with constant practice helped me score well. The coaching I got, and the support from my parents, were also crucial. Now I am happy I was able to make my parents proud of me. I wish to sustain my hard work in the future.”

3. Parth Kothari
Parth, a student of PACE Junior College in Andheri, has been preparing for the exams since Class XI. This teenager later plans to study in an IIM
In Path’s words- “My professors helped me tremendously, because of which I was able to perform this well. Also, my family, especially my parents, were very supportive. The IIT aspirants must study everything, still never memorize notes. And, one must never compromise on sleep because of the continuous and rigorous study such competitive exams require from the students. Good sleep is very essential as only then one is fresh enough to study well the next day.

4. Siddhant Garg
A student of Delhi Public School, Nerul, 17, has been preparing for the JEE exam since Class IX. Accoding to him, solving past years papers have helped him a lot, considering they tend to acquaint the student with what could the paper be like.

In Siddhant’s words- “The challenge this year was that the paper was very long. As I chose not to move to a college after Class X and attended a regular school, it left me less time to study on my own. Often my friends would ask me if I would be able to score high, but I was confident everything was possible if I had the right approach. Where initially you may study for around three to four hours a day, as the exam draws closer you need to accelerate the speed. Great professors and strong support from one’s family are essential to appear for such exams.

5. Rupanshu Ganvir
Besides preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination, the Nagpur student qualified for both the Indian National Physics Olympiad (INPhO) and Indian National Mathematics Olympiad (INMO) as well. He will represent the country at the International Physics Olympiad in Kazakhstan in July.
In Rupanshu’s words- “Last year I spent a lot of time preparing for the Math Olympiad and was out of touch from JEE preparations for a full month. Thus it took me a couple of months to get back on track. Hence I studied for 12 hours daily and got a lot of support from my family and coaching classes. My sister is studying at IIT-Hyderabad, and I hope to get a seat in IIT-Bombay in computer science.”

IIIT-Hyderabad Versus all IITs—the Lone Unforgettable Battle of Computer Science

The Undisputed 2—A Rivalry Beyond Dominance Created by IITs and NITs

Estimate your rank in JEE and the course options in IIT Delhi!

Compute your JEE rank and the course options in IIT Bombay!

Know your rank in JEE and the course options in IIT Kharagpur!

NIT-Tiruchirappalli or NIT-Warangal—How to Make an Informed Decision?

The Undisputed 2—A Rivalry Beyond Dominance Created by IITs and NITs