Admission to the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) would be a dream come true for most engineering aspirants in India. So how well do you know the selection process that the IITs use? Let us try and understand this process so that you can better prepare yourself for this process and can secure a seat in your dream institute.

IITs, a brief background

At present, there are 16 IITs in the country. These 16 institutions and ISM, Dhanbad (Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad) follow a common selection process. These 17 institutions offer a total of around 9,867 seats to engineering aspirants.
The 16 IITs are as follows:

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneshwar

Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

Indian Institute of Technology Indore

Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur

Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Indian Institute of Technology Madras

Indian Institute of Technology Mandi

Indian Institute of Technology Patna

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Indian Institute of Technology Ropar

The Age limit

In order to be eligible for admission to IITs/ISM Dhanbad, candidates should have been born on or after October 1, 1990 (for General or OBC-NCL category candidates) and on or after October 1, 1985 (for SC, ST or PwD category candidates).

The First Step

The selection process of the IITs/ISM Dhanbad starts with the 12th board examinations. Students who wish to secure a seat in these institutions should have secured a rank among the top 20% of students in their Class 12th or equivalent qualifying examination in order to be eligible for admission to these institutions. Alternatively, the candidate should have secured at least 75% (for General or OBC-NCL category candidates) or 70% (for SC, ST or PwD category candidates) of aggregate marks in the Class 12th or equivalent qualifying examination.

Further, the candidate should have appeared for his Class 12th or equivalent qualifying examination either in 2014 or in 2015. Candidates who appeared for the first time in their Class XII or equivalent examination in 2013 or earlier are not eligible. However, candidates whose Class XII or equivalent examination results for the academic year 2012-13 were declared after June 2013 are eligible.

The JEE Main

Candidates who are interested in admission to the IITs/ISM Dhanbad must appear for the JEE Main 2015. Further, the candidate should secure a rank among the top one and a half lakh aspirants who appear for the JEE Main 2015. Candidates who fulfil all of the above criteria would be eligible to appear for the JEE Advanced examination 2015.

The JEE Advanced

The final stage in the selection process for the IITs/ISM Dhanbad is the JEE Advanced. Candidates will finally be selected to the IITs/ISM Dhanbad purely on the basis of their performance in the JEE Advanced 2015.

It must be noted that candidates can attempt the JEE Advanced on not more than two occasions – further, the two attempts must be consecutive attempts. This means that a candidate should either be attempting the JEE Advanced for the first time in 2015 or should be attempting this exam for the second consecutive time in 2015.

Finally, the selection!

At the end of this process, candidates are offered seats in the IITs/ISM Dhanbad based on performance in the JEE Advanced. Along with the IITs/ISM Dhanbad, some other institutes may also offer admissions based on performance in the JEE Advanced examination. For example, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, Rae Bareli (RGIPT) would use the JEE Advanced scores for its admissions. Similarly, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) located in Bhopal, Mohali, Kolkata, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram and Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Tiruvananthapuram (IIST) have also used JEE Advanced scores in the past for their admissions.

This then is the route to a seat in your dream IIT. Prepare well, ace the tests and secure your dreams!

All the Best!