Resonance reaches Kashmir - August 01, 2012

Resonance Classroon Students wins Silver Medal in IChO 2012 - July 30, 2012

Resonance’s Distance Learning Program Student wins Gold Medal at International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) 2012 - July 27, 2012

Resonance Students wins Gold and Silver medals in International Olympiads 2012 - July 27, 2012

Govt-IIT row over entrance test ends, new format to be implemented from 2013 - June 27, 2012

NEW DELHI: The row between government and IITs over entrance test was resolved today with a compromise agreement being reached over holding the common exams from next year. 

Under the new format, an advance test will be conducted and the elite educational institutes would admit students having top 20% from various boards. 

"We have come out with a formula where screening criteria will be set wherein top 20 percentile students from every board will qualify to get entrance in IIT," said Deependra Hooda, a member of the IIT Council, after the meeting. 

This will be implemented from 2013, he said. 

The compromise was reached at a meeting of IIT Council, the highest decision-making body having representatives from government and directors of all the 16 of these institutes. 

HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who is the head of the Council, skipped the crucial meeting which was then chaired by M N Sharma, chairman of the board of governors of IIT, Madras. 

According to the agreement, admission to the IITs from 2013 would be based only on rank achieved in the advance test subject to the condition that selected candidates are in the top 20 percentile of successful candidates of their boards. 

The government had earlier proposed a common entrance which was rejected by IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpur and some others were also likely to follow suit. 

The compromise formula is in line with the decision of the IIT Joint Admission Board (JAB), comprising directors of IITs, which met here on last Saturday. JAB has sought a suitable time gap between the main and the advanced tests so that the results of mains are available before the advanced and only the top 1,50,000 candidates (including all categories) in the mains appear in the advance test. 

IIT-Delhi and IIT-Kanpur had rejected the proposed format on the ground that the test was "academically unsound and procedurally untenable". 

AIEEE 2012: Resonance's Result Highlights - June 21, 2012

12 year old student of Resonance cracks IIT-JEE 2012 - May 21, 2012

Dressed in a bright T-shirt and shorts, at first glance, Satyam Kumar looks like any other ordinary 12-year-old, but his achievement of cracking the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance exam at this tender age is anything but ordinary.

Presently studying at a school in Rajasthan's Kota, Satyam has become a 'wonder boy' not just for his

family, but for all his peers and fellow candidates who find it tough to clear the IIT-JEE even at 19 or 20 years of age. 

The young boy, who comes from a modest farmer family in Bihar's Bhojpur district, has qualified for IIT admission with an all-India rank of 8,137.

In fact, ever since the IIT results on Friday, Satyam is suddenly the centre of all attention in Ko

ta. As the youngest to qualify through the IIT entrance, perhaps the toughest exam in the country, he's now being fed sweets - especially laddus - by his friends, teachers and everyone he meets in Kota these days. But even as he savours his sweet success, Satyam is a touch disappointed at not getting the high rank he hoped for.

In an exclusive chat with NDTV, Satyam says, "I was thrilled at seeing my name in the IIT list, but I would have been happier if I had got a higher rank in the top 100 or 200."

His incredible achievement sounds even more remarkable when Satyam tells us of his humble origins. Born in a poor farmer family, neither of his parents have even passed high school, and his father flunked his matric exams three times. Given this background, Satyam was not admitted to any formal school till the age of seven, but the child prodigy had by then already memorised the Geeta and Ramayan, by heart. 

His family's modest annual income implied that Satyam simply did not have the money to train for IIT at Kota's expensive coaching classes. But seeing his genius, his institute has given him free training for the past five years. Satyam has been living in Kota since 2007 and all his school fees and other expenses are borne by the Resonance Institute and its Director R K Verma.

No wonder Satyam says the main credit for his success goes to his teachers. "I think it is the help and guidance of my teachers and the motivation of my parents that helped me succeed. In particular R K Verma sir helped me financially and emotionally to do my best," said Satyam.

Satyam passed his eighth class from the Rajasthan Board and cleared ninth to twelfth standard from the CBSE-affiliated Modern School in Kota. But even as he waits for his class 12 CBSE result, which is slated to be announced in a few days, Satyam's plans are clearly chalked out. "I will take the IIT exam again so that I get a rank within the Top-100 so that I can become a Computer Engineer from IIT Kanpur," he said.

Besides his IIT course, Satyam has an interesting plan. "I want to develop a social Website like Facebook as Mark Zuckerberg is my favourite idol," he said.

Ask him about his career plans and the bright student has a clear choice. "I want to become an IAS officer as I want to serve poor people in villages. I have seen how most people like my parents suffer in rural areas. But if I join the IAS, I will be able to help the poor in a big way," he said.

And that's a dream, Satyam's grandmother prays and hopes will eventually turn into reality. 70-year-old Kusuma Devi, who lives in Kota to take care of the boy said, ''I pray every day that Satyam will achieve the big success he deserves. If he becomes a big officer, I feel all the problems that our family faces will soon be solved. I'm sure God will listen to our prayers and reward Satyam for his hard work.''

If his feat of qualifying for the IIT is any indication, the child prodigy from Bihar whose talents have been honed at in Rajasthan's Kota - the Mecca for IIT coaching in the country - will definitely turn his dreams into reality.

Clearing the IIT at barely 12 is no less than a miracle. And through his remarkable success this child prodigy has become not just the pride of Kota but also an inspiration for IIT aspirants across the country.

IIT-JEE 2012: Resonance’s Result Highlights - May 18, 2012

IIT-JEE 2012

Resonance’s Result Highlights

HIGHEST EVER Selections in IIT-JEE from any institute of KOTA so far

Every year, the much sought after Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) run the entire student base in the country with a fine-toothed comb and pick the most brilliant minds with world’s toughest entrance exam IIT-JEE. Every year, a good number of students, out of those who are trained for IIT-JEE at Resonance, become the cream of the crop and pick of the admission season at IITs. Though you must have heard, read or seen that in IIT-JEE 2011, Resonance has achieved best quality result from Classroom Programmes from any Institute in Kota and North, West, East and Central India; in IIT-JEE 2012, Resonance creates ANOTHER HISTORY by achieving HIGHEST EVER Selections from any institute of KOTA so far.

We are glad to personally share with you our success saga in brief.

 Highlights of Resonance’s phenomenal success in IIT-JEE 2012

• Total 3175 students of Resonance got selected (Classroom: 2054 | Distance Learning: 1121 including 22 Selections from e-Learning Program)
• Selections from Study Centres (From Yearlong Classroom Contact Programmes) -  Kota: 1400 | Mumbai: 151 | Delhi: 64 | Jaipur: 130 | Nagpur: 96 | Bhopal: 39 | Lucknow: 79 | Kolkata: 12 | Udaipur: 30 | Bengaluru: 01 | Vishakhapatnam: 19 | Bundi: 16 | Ahmedabad: 10 | Bhubaneshwar: 04 |  Patna: 03
• 13 All India Ranks in TOP-200 from Classroom Program: AIRs – 51, 53, 56, 60, 99, 107, 119, 128, 144, 147, 158, 160, 170
• 11 All India Ranks in TOP-100 from Distance Learning Program (DLP): AIRs – 1, 13, 17, 24, 37, 42, 48, 67, 68, 97, 100
• AIR – 1 in ST Category from Yearlong Classroom Program
• 75% growth in Overall Selections
• 72% growth in Classroom Students’ Selections
• 81% growth in Distance Learning Students’ Selections
• 13% Selections out of Total Selections from India (3175 out of 24112)
• 603 Selections of Hindi Medium Students from Resonance in IIT-JEE 2012 (Classroom: 574 & Distance Learning: 29)
• 117% growth in Selections of Hindi Medium students from Resonance in IIT-JEE 2012, compared to IIT-JEE 2011
• 342 Selections of Girl Students from Resonance (Classroom: 124 | Distance Learning: 218)
• 112% growth in Selections of Girl Students from Resonance

In the last 11 years, Resonance has achieved unprecedented success. The trust and support from students & parents in all parts of the country and our achievements validate the core values of our system; our standardized teaching methodology; our best of the class study material; our nationally synchronized testing pattern. We appreciate, congratulate and thank all our students, parents and team members for their continued support and endorsement of our academic services and for their belief and patronage to Resonance.

We look forward to your trust in us and to your valuable support that we have had so far.

ISEET fails to meet the test - May 14, 2012

The MHRD, which has been working on the common entrance test’s format for over a year now, has acted with the best of motives in mind: to cut down the stress that students right out of Class XII find themselves in while taking multiple tests, to reduce the dependency on coaching institutes and to reinforce the importance of a school education.

So far, so good.

Picking holes 
The move, though, hasn’t cut much ice with most students and faculty from the IITs. Not only do they resent the scrapping of their exclusive examination for admission — the joint entrance examination (JEE) — but also the 40% weightage given to board examinations in the proposed ISEET rankings.

They have even questioned how a ...[Read More]

Final decision on Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test on May 28 - May 14, 2012

Months of confusion and deadlock over proposed common engineering examination is finally going to end. The ministry of HRD has confirmed to TOI that a final decision on the proposed  Indian Science Engineering Ability Test (ISEET) will be taken on May 28.

Speaking to TOI from New Delhi, HRD minister Kapil Sibal's private secretary Uma Shankar said, "We had a productive meeting with the IIT Council on Saturday. Now a joint meeting of all the major councils will be held on May 28 where a final decision on ISEET will be taken." Shankar himself is an ex-IITian from Chennai.

The biggest stumbling block for ISEET has been opposition from the prestigious IITs. One of the reasons that these renowned institutions were unhappy was the proposed inclusion of std XII board marks to determine the merit rankings. The second reason was what IITs called 'highhandedness' of the HRD ministry in thrusting a new examination format on them.

It is expected that........[Read More] 

Resonance student won a place in 4-member Indian Team for International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO-2012) - May 05, 2012

Resonance’s student, Nimit Kumar Singh, is one of the Top-4 students selected to represent India in the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2012 to be held from 21^st to 30^th July at the University of Maryland, Washington, D.C. The four-member Indian team will compete in Stage V - the Final Stage of IChO 2012, where nationally selected teams from more than 70 nations are expected to compete. 

The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) is an annual competition for the world’s most talented chemistry students at the secondary school level. The United States of America is the host of the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad. The competition will cover several areas of chemistry, including analytical chemistry, biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, and spectroscopy.

The IChO Result of Stage-III - Orientation cum Selection Camp (OCSC) has recently been announced by the conducting Govt. body Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) on (date). The camp was organized by HBCSE, Mumbai, from 23^rd April to 3^rd May 2012, in which 35 students were tested through two theory exams & two practical exams. Out of these 35 students, 4 are finally chosen for Stage IV - Pre-departure Training Camp (PDT) for IChO 2012.

The selected 4 member Indian team will undergo a rigorous training programme at special laboratories developed at HBCSE for the purpose of experimental training where resource persons from HBCSE and different institutions across the country will train them for Stage V - Participation in International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2012. 

From Rajasthan, Nimit is the ONLY student who is selected for IChO 2012. He was enrolled in Resonance’s Yearlong Classroom Contact Programme at Jaipur Study Centre, and has recently appeared for IIT-JEE 2012. The other three bright students selected in the team are Diptarka from Kolkata, Manav Avlani from Mumbai and Shubham Chandak from Bhopal. The 4-member student team along with 2 mentors and 1 scientific observer constitute the delegation to represent India in IChO 2012. 

In the last five years, students of Resonance have won 14 medals in the final stages of various International Olympiads and have brought laurels to Nation & Resonance. Every year International Olympiads in 12 streams (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology etc.) are conducted, where teams from more than 70 nations participate. Qualifying student teams are rigorously chosen through a series of regional and national Olympiads. Every year more than 50000 students appear for Stage-I of each Olympiad and finally only 4-5 students qualify to represent the nation. These Olympiads provided talented students an opportunity to compete at the highest levels, and also aim to promote international contacts in sciences, friendships between young scientific workers of different nationalities, cooperation among pupils, and exchange of pedagogical and scientific experience in science subjects.

IIT-B senate debates proposed admission process and criteria - May 05, 2012

A two-part admission procedure, only board marks to determine eligibility and reforms only from 2014: these were among the general points of agreement at an Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) senate meeting on Friday. The senate was debating the report of a senate subcommittee on Joint Entrance Exams (JEE) submitted to the director last month, which had suggested these points. The JEE determines entry to the IITs.

The special meeting was convened to discuss the report after the ministry asked the IITs to come up with their own reforms proposals following opposition from the senates of IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi on the proposed reforms.

The ministry’s reforms include using a candidate’s board marks based on a normalised percentile score in drawing up the merit list. They also want to implement the reforms from and had suggested reforms be ushered in from 2013 itself.

The IIT-B subcommittee report recommended that candidates first appear for a national screening test in April, followed by a second stage test (akin to the JEE) in May to determine entry to the IITs. The report had also said that board marks only be used for the purposes of eligibility to write the test and not to determine admissions to the IITs.

“The senate will draw up a resolution with these key points based on the consensus at Friday’s meeting,” said an official who attended the meeting. “The main issue is not to implement the reforms from 2013 and to have a two-stage process without board marks for now.” A document based on the discussion will be finalised by Monday and forwarded to the IIT council meeting scheduled for May 12. IIT-B director Devang Khakhar declined to comment on the issue.

The report had also recommended that the second stage test, or the JEE, be a subjective-type test “based on conceptual understanding, analytical thinking and problem solving abilities”, with separate sections for Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

Coaching centre institutes turn to opening formal schools - April 27, 2012

Beyond being a logical extension of the education business, the government’s effort to cut students’ dependence on coaching centres to crack entrance exams for the IITs, IIMs and medical colleges has fuelled the trend in a sector that’s becoming more corporate-like

New Delhi: Several leading test preparation companies are diversifying from the unregulated supplementary education segment to the formal school education space, perceiving improved market potential and a more sustainable business model.

Beyond being a logical extension of the education business, the government’s effort to cut students’ dependence on coaching centres to crack entrance exams for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and medical colleges has fuelled the trend in a sector that’s becoming more corporate-like.

According to a Crisil Research report, the tutorial business is expected to grow from Rs.40,187 crore in 2010-11 to Rs. 75,629 crore in 2014-15. Satya Narayanan said that while test prep captures around 5% of the total education market, the school segment occupies around 60%.

R.K. Verma, founder and CEO of Resonance Eduventures Pvt. Ltd, another leading name in the coaching business, said it opened a school in Kota, Rajasthan, last year. Another school will open in Jaipur in the coming academic session.

“We have the expertise of teaching and creating quality content, so opening schools will not be difficult for settled players. Maybe, we have to now think about administration and co-scholastic activities along with teaching,” he said.

Verma said coaching institutes are “outcome-oriented” and their schools will “produce better results” and quality students. The company has already invested around Rs. 30 crore and runs schools up to class VII now.

He admits that school education is heavy on capital expenditure compared with coaching institutes, but growth is stable.

CBSE gears up for all-India engineering entrance test - April 26, 2012

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has completed preparations for this year's All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE).

More than 11 lakh science students across the country will appear for the exam April 29.

In a press release, CBSE director for special examinations said that the preparations for the examination, which will be held both offline and online, were complete.

The director also added that "Admit cards to the candidates for the examinations have been dispatched to the students long back."

However, he said that the students who did not receive the admit card due to some reasons, can "download provisional admit cards from CBSE/AIEEE website."

According to the CBSE, around 10 lakh students will sit for the offline examination, which will be organised at 1,735 centers across the country April 29 while another 1,64,000 candidates will take the online test at 221 examination centres.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship: IIT-Delhi students display innovative concepts - April 22, 2012

New Delhi: If your mobile phone runs out of battery and there is no electric point around, IIT-Delhi's green-ion charger can prove to be a life-saver. A student at IIT-D is working on an eco-friendly charger that runs on kinetic energy.

Simply put, it can produce an electric current when moved. So wearing it on the knee and walking ahead will be enough to charge your phone.

"The internal mechanism of the device is ready and it can produce a current of up to 5 volts, which is enough to charge a mobile phone. I am planning to design this device in the form of a pen. It will generate a current whenever the user moves forward, Also, one can just move it in a particular way with hands to charge a phone while travelling" said Gulmohar Khan, a first-year student pursuing master of design.

Khan's project was one among several innovative ideas and research works put forth by IIT-Delhi on Saturday in its eighth edition of 'Open House'. Nearly 400 projects were on display at the event, which had about 2,000 visitors.

Invest in research, technology for future of IITs - April 16, 2012

New Delhi: Increased investment in research, higher monetary assistance and development of technology for industries are the three steps that will ensure a bright future for the Indian Institutes of Technology, says Deputy Director of IIT-Delhi M Balakrishnan. 

"If the institute has to progress it must focus on improving its quality and quantity of research, should get more investments and develop technology to be used by industries," Balakrishnan told IANS on the sidelines of the IIT-Delhi Leadership Conclave 2012 held here Sunday. "The number of research scholars is steadily rising and so is the funding but it's technology development that is still in its nascent stage," he added. 

According to Balakrishnan, industries in India need to have confidence in the IITs and support them by financially assisting them in developing new technology. 

"Instead they go for the cheap option of importing that technology. Industries need to support us. We have a great future and promising students as well as young entrepreneurs who have passed from our institute. We need the government as well as private funding and investment," he said.

Commending the government for setting up eight new IITs, Balakrishnan said that it was an indication that the government will fund more in education. 

"Although these institutes will take longer time to develop compared to old IITs especially those situated away from metropolises, they will attract good faculty because of the IIT brand," he said. 

However, IIT-Delhi Alumni Association President H.R. Vaish was of the view that new institutes could compromise the overall quality of education in the IITs. 

"The government should first set up a national college; over the years if it delivers the goods, only then should it be made an IIT," Vaish said.

Vaish claimed that the way the government was treating the IITs led one to believe that "they don't have a great future". 

"At present, the future doesn't hold anything great for us. We are working towards improving things though," said Vaish. 

According to him, the IITs can't afford to remain complacent with the changing times. The two biggest hurdles in the way are lack of funding and corrupt bureaucracy. 

"Even the teachers at such prestigious institutes are not paid adequately. They are grooming the future leaders of this country and what are they getting in return?" he asked.

Resonance Classroom Students achieve 51% selection in AIPMT (Pre) 2012 - April 16, 2012

Kota, April 16, 2012: Resonance’s Pre-Medical Division, in the very first year from its launch in academic session 2011-12, has achieved 51% selections in AIPMT (Pre) 2012 from Yearlong Classroom Contact Programmes with 119 selections out of 233 appeared.

From the founding year 2001, Resonance is consistently growing in IIT-JEE Division with quantity & quality results in IIT-JEE and the same strength of its academic system has reflected in the very first year of Pre-medical Division also.

The All India Pre-medical/Pre-dental Test (AIPMT) - Prelims recorded only 12% selections out of 2.75 lacs students registered for the exam. A total of 2, 57,960 students appeared for the test held on April 1, 2012 and as per the result declared on April 14, 2012, a total of 30,788 students have qualified for AIPMT (Main) to be held on May 13, 2012 (Sunday) across the country.

Resonance had launched it Pre-medical Division for the first time in the academic session 2011-12 & the first batch of Resonance's Pre-Medical Division consisting of total 338 students including 233 from Yearlong Classroom, 74 from Distance learning programmes and 31 from e-learning programmes appeared in AIPMT 2012 (Pre) and out them total 171 have qualified with flying colours including 119 from Yearlong Classroom, 48 from distance learning and 4 from e-learning programmes.

The first batch of Pre-medical Division in academic session 2011-12 was started by Resonance with limited intake of students at its study centres in Kota, Jaipur, Lucknow and Bhopal. All the Study Centres have contributed in the result with 91 students from Kota, 20 from Jaipur, 7 from Lucknow & 1 from Bhopal out of total 119 students selected from Yearlong Classroom Contact Programmes. Now, with these inspiring results, the institute is committed for much higher success in the coming years and has expanded the intake at few more study centres in its national network of 18 cities.

Mr. R.K. Verma, MD & CEO of Resonance said that the institute has spent approximately 3 years in developing the best study material and preparatory work before launching the Pre-medical Division and now looking upon the inspiring success in the very first year; he feels that the hard work & sincerity has paid off. He also thanked to the students and their parents who showed confidence in the academic strength of Resonance and joined in the first batch.

Mr. Manoj Sharma, Vice President, Operations & Business Development of Resonance said that Resonance is a very capable institute in the competitive coaching field and with the experienced, proved and successful system running for 11 years, it is expanding into new verticals of Pre-Medical, Commerce and SAT. He added that the institute has a national reputation for its sincerity, dedication and transparency and through the results in AIPMT 2012(Pre) we have lived up the trust of students/parents in Resonance.

IITs oppose government's move to include Class XII score - April 10, 2012

Mumbai: The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry's plan to have a single all-India engineering entrance test seems to have run into rough weather with the IIT faculty opposing its plan to give weightage to Class XII marks during the admission process.

Lately, IIT Councils of most of the IITs including IIT Delhi, IIT Kanpur and IIT Bombay have expressed serious concerns on the implementation of ISEET from 2013 and also the pattern of ISEET. Though IITs are not opposing the requirement of reforms in IIT JEE and nor the implementation of new entrance examination, some of the concerns expressed by the Council are:

• Weightage to 12th board examination scores
• Formula for weightage of 12th board scores for ISEET
• ISEET constituting only objective questions
• Control of IITs on the entrance exam

A central committee that visited the IIT-Bombay campus on Monday found it difficult to counter various arguments posed by the faculty against considering Class XII marks. Faculty members said considering Class XII scores and drawing equivalence by a set formula was not fair as the 40 Indian boards were diverse and their curricula as well as assessment rules different. [...]

"Improve schooling and our high schools; rid exams of malpractices, have a uniform country-wide exam timetable and quality of teaching-learning, fill up vacant posts for teachers and then we will speak of placing importance on Class XII marks," said a faculty member.

Ministry of Human Resources Development has earlier constituted a core group to try persuade IITs for the acceptance of ISEET as the entrance examination for it’s under-graduate courses from 2013, before the IIT Council meet which will be held on April 14 of this year where the final decision on the implementation of ISEET might be taken, MHRD is holding a meeting with the Directors of all IITs and representatives of different IIT Councils to try convince IITs. [...]

Read More http://resonanceedu.blogspot.in/p/edunews.html

IIT-JEE 2012: Post-Examination Review by Resonance - April 09, 2012

5 Lakh Plus Aspirants…1067 Test Centres…15 IITs…9618 seats

What a tremendous competition it has been!

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) successfully conducted their Joint Entrance Exam 2012 this Sunday, April 8, ’12, across the country. More than half a million students undertook this extremely strenuous exercise, and soon after it, they were desperate to latch on to any shred of news/analysis that can throw light on their performance & probability of selection in IITs. But, no peeking into crystal balls here. The Coaching centres had threadbare analyses, solutions, answer keys & expert opinions on the question papers – exclusively done, right after the two papers that were held from 9 am to 12 noon and then from 2 pm to 5 pm.  

The exam was held in two parts and each paper was three-hour-long. There was a clear demarcation in the difficulty level of both the papers and many candidates felt that the first part was simpler than the second.

Mr. R.K Verma, MD & CEO, Resonance, Kota says, “The overall difficulty level of JEE 2012 can be rated as moderate, with Paper I fairly easier & scoring than Paper II, which was relatively tough & difficult to score. The students who had undergone serious preparation & are good in calculations could have found the test less taxing than average test-takers.”

Paper I, carried 210 marks this year, and seemed easier than Paper II which was for 198 marks. Each Paper carried 60 questions (20 each from Physics, Chemistry & Mathematics) totaling to 120 questions of 408 marks for both the papers. Last year, both papers were for 240 marks each. 

As regarding syllabus coverage from Class XI & XII, Paper I had 35.71% weightage of marks on Class XI & 64.28% on Class XII. Similarly, in Paper II, Class XI had 33.83% weightage & 66.16% as that of Class XII. Overall, both the Papers had 43 questions of 142 marks from Class XI and 77 questions of 266 marks from Class XII.  

Says Mr. R. K. Verma, MD & CEO, Resonance Kota: “Like every year, the paper-setters put a few questions that could test originality & innovativeness of the test-takers, and could name a few as the chosen ones from lakhs of aspirants. The cutoff for the test can be expected around 45% & above for entrance into IITs. The Top 10 All India Ranks can be expected at around 85% & above, and the students who score 75% & above may come under Top 100 AIRs.”  

This year also, JEE maintained its tradition and changed the pattern slightly and students had to answer for fewer marks. There was less number of questions per subject. The Papers had Single Choice Correct Multiple Options (Negative Marking of -1), Multiple Choice Correct Multiple Options & Single Digit Integer Type, Comprehension Single Choice Correct Multiple Options (Negative Marking of -1). The Matrix & Match types of questions which were time-consuming were absent this time.

This year’s test was different for many reasons. IIT-JEE came with 10 versions of test papers, coded 0 to 9, as a measure to prevent cheating. For the first time, the test takers had to mark their answers with a pen and at the end of the exam, they could take a copy of their answer-sheets home.

The results for the IIT-JEE test would be declared on or after May 18, 2012.

Students who took the IIT-JEE this year may be the last ones to do so in this format as the HRD Ministry is likely to introduce the Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test (ISEET) from the next academic year. 

(For Detailed Analyses, Answer Key, Text Solutions, Video Solutions, Marks Predictor, Rank Predictor, Expert Opinion, click http://www.resonance.ac.in/reso/news/iitjee-answerkey-solutions.aspx or visit Resonance's Website)

5 lakh plus aspirants to sit for IIT-JEE in 2012 - April 07, 2012

Mumbai: Taking the JEE has become a staple for signing up for an engineering education, and this Sunday, around 5.06 lakh teenagers in India will sit for IIT-JEE 2012. These will be joined by a small bunch of 186 candidates from Dubai.[...]

In 2008, the Indian Institutes of Technology opened themselves to the world; looking for some diversity on campus, they travelled to Dubai and held their brutally competitive Joint Entrance Exam there.[...]

Overall, candidate numbers are up from last year's 4.86 lakh and the IITs have increased the exam centres to 1,067 this year. But this exam will also probably be the last of the JEEs as we know it. There are close to 9,590 seats spread across 15 IITs and competition will be stiff with approx. 58 candidates battling it out for one seat. [...]

GB Reddy, JEE chairman, said, "Students are supposed to use a black ball point pen this year and not a pencil. The minimum score that a candidate must get to secure a rank has also been declared." 

According to officials at IIT Delhi, which is organizing JEE this year, the number of girls has gone up significantly this time.

"There were roughly around 22% girls who registered for JEE last year. This time 33% of the applicants are females," said Professor G B Reddy, chairperson, JEE 2012.

IITs had allowed free online registration for female aspirants this year. Even the offline forms for girls were priced at Rs 200 while they were for Rs 1800 for male candidates in the general and OBC categories. 

This year, the IITs have mandated that general category students must get a minimum aggregate score of 35% and at least 10% in each of the individual sections for being on the rank list. Similarly, OBC students must get at least 9% in individual sections and 31.5% in the overall score; for SC/ST, the minimum to be bagged in each section is 5% and 17.5% must be the minimum aggregate to be on the rank-list.

JEE is held in two parts with three papers each - Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. Part I starts at 9am and goes on till 12 noon, while Part II begins at 2pm and continues till 5pm. The test will be held on an optical reader sheet.

"For the first time, candidates will be able to take home a duplicate copy of their answer scripts after the exam," said Professor Reddy.

The results are scheduled to be declared on May 18. Of 4, 68,240 candidates who appeared last year, only 13,602 had qualified for admission.

India, Israel commit to academic research programme - April 06, 2012
NEW DELHI: To strengthen academic research India and Israel have decided to launch a joint programme that will bring together Indian and Israeli researchers to carry forward research in areas of mutual interests. The broader contours of the long-term programme were agreed upon during a meeting between HRD minister Kapil Sibal, who is currently on a visit to Israel, and Israeli leaders. Both sides have agreed that the academic programme will be coordinated by UGC on the Indian side and the Israel Science Foundation for Tel Aviv. Sibal's visit coincides with the 20th anniversary of full diplomatic ties between Israel and India during which economic relations have deepened and innovation has become a shared value and goal of the two.

HRD Ministry reaches out to IITs on common test - April 06, 2012

New Delhi: Union Human Resource Development Ministry will hold a meeting with the Indian Institutes of Technology to address their concern over the proposed common national examination for science and engineering for Central institutes that is to be implemented from 2013.

The older IITs — Kharagpur, Kanpur, Delhi, Bombay, Guwahati and Madras were the ones that raised the concern.

The meeting will be held on April 11 and the IIT Directors, representatives of the faculty federation and other faculty members have been invited. Its outcome will be further deliberated at the IIT Council meet to be held on April 14, though the IITs have not questioned need to hold a common entrance examination. [...]

Objections

The IITs recently expressed reservation over the entrance test being only of objective-type questions and the use of a weightage formula to consider the Class XII board exam performance. The IITs made it clear that they would like to conduct the test, instead of entrusting it with the Central Board of Secondary Education.

The IITs pointed out that the new system with higher weightage for Class XII board examinations was not practical.

Since the assessment system varied among school boards, it would not be possible to assess all students by the same scale and weightage.

Also, the use of only objective-type questions in the proposed test has not found favour with the IITs, which have suggested that the test should carry long answer-type questions. [...]

IIT-JEE 2012: The LAST LAP - April 02, 2012

As engineering aspirants across the country gear up for IIT-JEE on April 8, 2012, people who have done it before, offer last-minute tips on how to crack the test.

With over five lakh students expected to appear for the IIT joint entrance exam this year, the competition is going to be tough. So how do you prepare yourself for a stellar performance? 

Right Revision 

Says Shubham Mehta, who secured a second rank at the IIT-JEE 2011. "Though you should try and keep in touch with every topic, the focus at this stage should be on Organic and Inorganic Chemistry. Mathematics and Physics are conceptual and devoting as less as an hour or two to these subjects every day should be fine. Make short notes and highlights of chapters, concepts and formulas."
 
Exam Time
Says Tejas Shyam, a fifth year metallurgical engineering and materials science student at IIT-B: "If you feel comfortable, solve the questions that carry more marks first (even among the problems you find easy). This will maximize your attempt. Do not try too much of guesswork, lest you garner negative marks.” … (Read More)

Subject-Wise 
Mathematics: 
Draw diagrams especially in co-ordinate and Calculus related questions. Focus on quadratic equations and expressions, complex numbers, probability, vectors, matrices in algebra; circle, parabola, hyperbola in co-ordinate geometry, etc.
 
Physics: 
Most of the concepts here are intuitive and difficult to forget. Follow the concept until the end. Revise modern physics, mechanics, fluids, heat and thermodynamics, waves and sound, capacitors and electrostatics, magnetics, electromagnetic induction and optics thoroughly. … Read More)
Chemistry: 
Organic and inorganic chemistry: In inorganic chemistry, focus on qualitative analysis, co-ordination chemistry and chemical bonding. Make a mapping between name of the reaction, species/ functional groups that occur as reactants and those that occur as product, catalysts and reaction conditions. … (Read More)

Mental Make-Up 

You have done the best you could, now is the time to be confident and calm. Don't stress over what you don't know, but be sure of what you do. 
Remember to go for regular walks or get at least an hour-long exercise each day to refresh your mind. Advises Gautam Barua, Director, IIT-Guwahati: "Do not listen to anybody other than your inner self. Be confident of your abilities and don't get distracted by random advice about the pattern of questions or the likely questions. Give it your best shot and be satisfied with it."