Top 6 engineering entrance exams

The Joint Entrance Examination is not the only competitive entrance examination for aspiring engineers in the country.

Here's a list of national level undergraduate exams you must consider.

Though the Joint Entrance Examination Main is the most popular exam among the engineering aspirants, there are several other national-level undergraduate entrance exams that candidates must take to broaden their chances of admission.

Presenting a list of national level undergraduate engineering entrance exams that BTech aspirant should not miss.

The table below brings you the list of national level UG engineering entrance exams in India along with their tentative dates:

1. JEE Main:-

Joint Entrance Examination or commonly known as JEE is taken by lakhs of students from all over the India and few cities from abroad.

Over 13 lakh students appeared in JEE Main 2014, which was conducted in both modes -- offline and online.

JEE Main is the first stage of the Joint Entrance Examination, the two tier examination from 2013, for the engineering undergraduate admissions to 30 National Institutes of Technology (NITs), 12 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs, IIITM & IIITDM), 16 Central Government/State Government Funded Institutions, and various self financed deemed universities and other institutions, which offer a total of around 50,000 engineering seats (+10,000 seats for IITs if candidate comes under top 1.5 lakh scorers).

The JEE Main All India Ranks are also accepted by nine states that have a total of around 1,100 state engineering colleges offering more than 4.6 lakh seats.

JEE Main Eligibility Criteria-

• Candidates must have passed in final examination of class XII or its equivalent, referred to as the qualifying examination to be able to apply for JEE Main.
• They must have passed five subjects in their Class XII.
• Candidates can attempt JEE Main for a maximum of three times.

2. JEE Advanced:-

The JEE Advanced is the second stage of the Joint Entrance Examination, the common entrance examination for engineering admissions to 16 IITs and ISM, Dhanbad.

Only top 1.50 lakh scorers of JEE Main can appear for this entrance exam and they compete for around 10,000 seats.

Admissions to IITs are based only on category-wise All India Rank (AIR) in JEE Advanced provided such candidates are in the top 20 percentile of their respective boards.

The JEE Advanced is considered as the toughest engineering entrance exam in India.

JEE Advanced Eligibility Criteria:

• Candidates must qualify in the JEE Main and be one of the top 1, 50,000 candidates to appear for the JEE Advanced.

3. BITSAT:-

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science Admission Test is for admissions to the engineering degree courses at the BITS campuses in Pilani, Goa and Hyderabad.

Going by the statistics, the competition of BITS engineering is as tough as IITs.

Sample this: In 2014, around 1.8 lakh students appeared for this national level entrance exam for around 2,000 seats available in various BE (Hons.) programmes in BITS.

The competition is similar to that of IITs where around 13 lakh candidates appeared for around 10000 IIT seats. Thus, getting into BITS is as tough as getting into any one of the 16 IITs.

BITSAT Eligibility Criteria:

• Candidates must have completed their 10+2 from a recognized Board in the country.
• They must have secured a minimum of 75 per cent in aggregate in the subjects of Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry.
• In addition, they must have secured a minimum of 60 per cent in each subject separately.
• Candidates must be proficient in English as well.

BITSAT Exam Pattern:

• Duration of Online Test: 3 hours
• All questions asked in BITSAT are of objective type / multiple choice questions with candidates required to choose one answer out of four options.
• Every correct answer carries three marks.
• Every incorrect answer will be awarded -1 mark.
• Language of BITSAT Question Papers: English

4. VITEEE:-

The VIT Engineering Entrance Examination conducted by the Vellore Institute of Technology for providing admissions to the engineering degree courses at its campuses -- VIT Vellore and Chennai.

Last year, a total of 1,84,483 candidates had appeared for VITEEE 2014 and competed for 5,000 engineering seats. 

VITEEE Eligibility Criteria:-

• Candidates must have completed 10+2 from a recognized board or Intermediate or two-year pre-university examination conducted by a recognized Board or High School Certificate Examination of the Cambridge University or International Baccalaureate Diploma or Advanced (A) level General Certificate Education (GCE) examination.
• Candidates must have obtained a minimum of 60 per cent aggregate in Physics, Chemistry, Maths/ Biology (50 per cent for SC/ST and candidates from North-east and Jammu Kashmir).

VITEEE Paper Pattern:-

• The total number of questions is 160, divided into four sections with 40 questions each for one mark.
• The duration of VITEEE is 2.5 hours.
• Candidates may note that there is no negative marking for VITEEE.

5. MU OET:-

The Manipal University Online Entrance Test is conducted by the Manipal University for admissions to various courses in engineering at the affiliated institutes of the University.

MU OET Eligibility Criteria:

• To take the test, candidates must have passed 10+2 or A Level or IB or American 12th grade or equivalent with a minimum of 50 per cent in Physics, Mathematics and any one of the optional subjects.
• Candidates must have studied Physics, Mathematics and English as compulsory subjects with optional subjects being Chemistry or Biotechnology or Biology.

MU OET Paper Pattern:-

• Candidates have to appear for an online test of 2.5 hours duration.
• The total number of questions is 200 and distributed as follows
• Physics: 50 questions 
• Chemistry: 50 questions
• Mathematics: 70 questions 
• English & General Aptitude: 30 questions

6. SRMEEE:-

The SRM University Engineering Entrance Examination is for admissions to the undergraduate engineering courses across the campuses of the SRM University.

A total of 1,63,678 students registered for the SRMEE 2014 exam, who competed for around 7,000 seats across its four campuses -- Kattankulathur, Ramapuram, Ramapuram Part II -- Vadapalani and NCR Ghaziabad.

SRMEEE Eligibility Criteria:

• Candidates must have passed 10+2 or equivalent from any recognized board.
• Candidates must have obtained a minimum aggregate of 70% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Maths.

SRMEEE Paper Pattern:

SRMEEE Question Paper comprises objective type questions divided into four parts -

Part 1: 35 question in Mathematics for 105 marks
Part 2: 35 question in Physics for 105 marks
Part 3: 35 question in Chemistry for 105 marks
Part 4: 35 question in Biology for 105 marks.

Every wrong answer in Physics, Chemistry and Maths carries negative marking of minus one mark.

Every wrong answer in Biology carries negative marking of minus 0.7 marks.

If you manage to qualify in any one of the above examinations, then there is a bright chance of getting into a good engineering college in India.