MY JOURNEY INTO AN NIT

Prologue

This work is not just a mere description of how I got into a National Institute of Technology (NIT) of India; it has a much wider dimension. It describes about the many changes in the lives of the Indian youths who pursue engineering as a career after 10+2. In this book I am the one symbolizing the youth.

I would also like to make one thing clear that this book is not a guide to crack the AIEEE and get into an NIT. It is just an experience and I've heard that experiences do matter when u deal with tough things.

Introduction

My name is Pratyush Singh and I had an AIR of 2829 in the All India Engg Entrance Examinations-2008 (AIEEE). I was also able to get selected into the Extended Merit List(EML) of the IIT JEE-2008. My rank in UPTU (State Engg Entrance of UP) was 319.

I was among the 500+ students who had joined JRS to fulfill my aim of becoming an engineer. JRS is a short form of 'Jha Rai Singh', the titles of the former members of the institute. A newer version is 'Join Rely Succeed'. Yet whatever be the name its motive has remained unchanged since its establishment in 1986. It has been set up to help students of Varanasi qualify in Engg and medical entrance examinations. The real challenge of it is to

ensure a regular and maximal selection in IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology). Then there is AIEEE which is now no less prestigious than IIT JEE.

Before continuing, it is absolutely important for you to first know more about AIEEE. It is the examination to gain admissions into the 20 NITs in 20 different states, the 3 IIITs and other deemed institutions, the most famous among which is the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad. Everything that is asked in AIEEE is from the NCERT books of classes 11th and 12th. Yet the extreme level of competitions for each of its seats makes it as difficult to clear as the IITs. The Govt. of India recently (2006) coined all the IITs and NITs with the title of INI- Institutes of National Importance.

With my AIR and with the implementation of "50% All India free Seats Quota", I was able to get Electrical n Electronics Engineering (EEE) @ NIT Tiruchirapalli (Trichy)-Tamil Nadu. This branch is famous their as the "Trical". NIT Trichy is one of the best NITs of India with excellent national and foreign placements. Let me tell you that among the 20 NITs, NIT Trichy (NITT) and NIT Warangal (NITW) hold the top two positions followed by NITK (Surathkal) and MNNIT (Allahabad). Even MANIT (Bhopal), NITC (Calicut) and MNIT (Jaipur) are fairly good in terms of overall placements and infrastructure.

I feel this was enough to give you a basic idea of what AIEEE is all about. Let us now move ahead closer to the central theme of this script...

Preparation: A Tough Undertaking

The Preparations for IIT JEE, AIEEE, BITSAT, etc usually begin in class 11th when the students have got dual objectives of excelling in the class 12th board examinations and clearing the Engg Entrance Examinations. The case with me was no different. When I passed the class Xth examination from the ICSE board with 93.8% marks, I had a difficult choice to make: whether to take Maths (PCM) or Biology (PCB) or Commerce (Comm.). For me the selection was simple. My father is a senior Professor in Electronics Engg @ IT BHU and my sister had also recently joined MANIT (Bhopal) {Branch: ECE}. I didn't want to break the chain. So I took PCM as my target subjects for classes 11th and 12th. However, for some, this selection is not that easy a task. Selection must be made on basis of personal interest and competency rather than family pressures and other traumatic stuffs. If you feel that you are good at Maths and you wish to use it comprehensively even for Physics and Chemistry, your choice is already made and the path clear of doubts and uncertainties. PCM is yours to take which will lead you to an IIT, NIT, or some other premiere institute of Engg.

Even before the beginning of classes at school, I had given the scholarship test for entrance into JRS Tutorials. I got 10th rank in it and hence a scholarship of Rs. 5000/- which was excluded from the Foundation Course fee of that institution. This paved my way into the esteemed 'JRS' and was a 1st step towards NITT...

Managing the school and coaching classes at first was utterly

difficult. In the month of April, When the school started, the coaching hours had to be rescheduled according to the school hours. The school began from 11 am in the morning upto 4:30 in the evening. Hence, the coaching hours were made between 5:30 (or sometimes 6:00) to 8:30. It was an extremely cumbersome task to keep myself attentive at the school and coaching both and then be able to study well at night (from 9:30 to 12:30 or upto 1:30). I knew I had to sacrifice at least 1 of the above timings in terms of seriousness and I chose to ignore the regular school studies. Of course I did concentrate on Phy, Chem, Mathematics and Computers @ school, but I also learnt to ignore the other subjects like Energy and English.

Selection of books to study is as important as actually studying for Engineering Entrances. Enlisted below are books that I found good for Preparations.

Mathematics:

1. RD Sharma: OBJECTIVE MATHEMATICS

2. TMH: Mathematics for IIT JEE

3. Modern Approach to Intermediate

 Algebra

 Trigonometry

 Calculus

 Co-ordinate Geometry

Available in separate editions. By Das Gupta and Prasad.

Physics:

1. HC Verma: Physics Volumes I & II

2. DC Pandey: Various books on physics are available(Mechanics and Fluid mechanics portions are really

well explained)

Chemistry:

1. NCERT Chemistry for classes XIth and XIIth.

2. Pradeep's new course Chemistry for classes XIth and XIIth (Just for reference)

3. RC Mukherjee : For Numerical Chemistry

4. Morrison n Boyd: For Organic Chemistry (Be very syllabus specific when studying from this book)

It was the same story everyday, except for the summer n winter holidays when morning classes were arranged in the coaching so as to provide sufficient time to revise the subjects throughout the day. Let me tell you that this was actually good for a student like me who loved to sleep until 8 in the morning in the snuggly bed...

The class XIth course finished by February and I then filled the class XIIth form for continuing my coaching in XIIth as well. Remember, never switch to another coaching institute when you have already had half share of whatever the institute had in store for you. Of course, sometimes you might find yourselves badly entangled in a bad institute. In such a situation, switching might prove to be the only option! Anyways, let us return to the topic of discussion. Again I gave the scholarship test of JRS after writing my class XI annual examination papers. You would be surprised and even I was surprised to find that I stood first in my class (with 88% marks) and better than that I stood 5th in the scholarship test! So again I received a concession of Rs. 5000 in coaching fee for which I was extremely happy. The coaching studies proved to be extremely helpful even for the class XI

home examination. This is what happens if you concentrate in at least one of the places of studies, and concentrating more in coaching has an added advantage of ensuring better selections in Entrance exams.

The class XIIth course continued in no different fassion than the class XIth though the subject contents changed (of coarse). Class XII is characterized by added pressures like Board Examinations, JEE, AIEEE, SEE (of states), BITSAT etc. You really have to be careful not to waste time and neglect your studies at any time. Any such incidents cause a lot of harm to you and a huge benefit to those who were busy studying at that time. However playing is a necessity in such tough situations, or some other form of mind relaxation. Also remember that you don‟t have to give undue importance to the boards because they really have no great value after you clear them. The class XII certificate can‟t get you to any damn Engg. college. I‟m sorry to say this in such a harsh manner but this is what is true and must be engraved in your mind.

Keeping all these mantras in mind my XII preparations went, as I may say, alright, and this gave me confidence to write my board examinations as well. Actually I just studied for the boards mere 10 days before them and got 92% in it. Hey…I‟m not joking or making a fool of you.

My boards went well and then came the period of extreme intensity and pressure. The real examination was staring at my face- The IIT JEE…

This is the time period that proves to be the most crucial in terms of selection. For some, who are overly intelligent and are

confident of their success in JEE, this period is for self evaluation on the All India level by means of participation in various AITS (All India Test Series) held by FIIT-JEE, Brilliant Tutorials, etc. But for the ones who have not finished with their course of JEE, this time is for finishing whatever you feel is easy for you to understand and has good chances of coming in the Joint Entrance. Remember that you don‟t have to cover all portions of the syllabus just for the sake of finishing that topic; you have to be thorough with it. So, better leave that topic completely which you feel you can‟t do in the remaining time interval.

I still remember the day of the entrance. My test centre had been the Mathematics and Statics Dept. of IT-BHU. While approaching the centre, I was overawed by so many students who had gathered at the test centre with the common aim of selection in IITs.

Nevertheless, I gathered confidence while being calmly seated at my chair in the test centre. The next 3 hours can‟t be really explained in any form of language. All I can say is that these three hours prepared me for the next 3 hours of the Paper-II of the JEE. By the end of the day, I felt totally exhausted and I had an inner feeling that my paper had not gone well. Right after 2 days of the exam, I crosschecked my answers with the answers published on the net by the Brilliant Tutorials. The marks that I calculated for myself were not encouraging; they were around 170/486. Then by consulting a rank prediction site available on the net, I came to know that with the obtained marks I would be selected in the extended merit list (EML) of the JEE. This was what exactly happened when the results of the JEE were declared and I wasn‟t surprised!

When I realized that my selection in the IITs was doubtful, I began preparing for AIEEE with a renewed vigor. The important steps I took for myself were to:

1. Solve previous year AIEEE papers in the time limit

2. Read the entire NCERT Chemistry once more giving extra stress on the „Carbohydrates‟ chapter at the end (which is not their in IIT syllabus in detail).

3. Revised formulas of Maths (esp. Probability) with which I wasn‟t very thorough.

With all this, I sat for the AIEEE, and after giving the exam I was pretty convinced that I had performed a little less than my level best i.e. I was to some extent satisfied with my performance. With the same rank prediction site I had consulted for the JEE, I discovered that with the calculated marks in AIEEE (203/315) I would get a rank between 1000 and 4000. When the results were declared, my marks were just 2 less than what I had calculated i.e. 201/315 & my AIR was 2829. My state rank was 284. With all this behind me, I knew I can get into a good NIT with proper counseling.

The Counselling

The counselling was the most challenging and exciting job for me. I wanted a „good‟ branch at a „very good‟ NIT. This is what all should aim at. Never try to take a very good branch (preference wise e.g. CSE, ECE, EEE, MEC etc) in a NIT that ranks lower. So, firstly get the proper rankings of the colleges of

AIEEE and then try out various subject combinations in various NITs „rank-wise‟. My preference list was roughly this:

My Preference List for counselling of AIEEE-2008

Rank: AIR--> 2829 UP--> 284

College Branch

NIT Warangal CSE

NIT Trichy CSE

NIT Warangal ECE

NIT Trichy ECE

IIIT Hyderabad CSE

IIIT Hyderabad ECE

NITK Surathkal CSE

NIT Warangal EEE

NIT Trichy EEE

NITK Surathkal ECE

NIT Warangal MEC

NIT Trichy MEC

NITK Surathkal EEE

MNNIT Allahabad ECE

MNNIT Allahabad CSE

NITK Surathkal MEC

MNNIT Allahabad EEE

MNNIT Allahabad MEC

NIT Calicut CSE

MANIT Bhopal ECE

Note: Abbreviations are as given below-->

ECE: Electronics & Comm. Engg.

EEE: Electrical & Electronics Engg.

CSE: Computer Science & Engg.

MEC: Mechanical

I am not saying that this preference list is ideal. You may have your own interpretations of selecting “a good branch at a good NIT”. E.g. many may like to get a good branch at an NIT that is closer to their home town. This is not always a wise decision though!

I was allotted EEE @ NITT (my 9th choice above) with which I was content. This ended my search for the "good branch" and "the very good college".