Decline in JEE Advanced 2018 Registrations; only 70 percent students register

NEW DELHI, MAY 9: In a press release dated May 8, the organizing chairman of JEE Advanced has shared the category-wise registrations for the entrance exam. A notable point in the press release is that out of the 231024 candidates that qualified for JEE Advanced, only 160716 candidates have registered for the exam which is less than 70 percent of the candidates who qualified. The number may slightly go up a bit as fee payment is still being realized. Still the figure is expected to stay low, indicating that about 30 percent constituting a major chunk of candidates have opted to stay out despite clearing JEE Main. 

The JEE Advanced press release reads that among the different categories, general category have the highest number of registrations at 62850, followed by OBC-NCL, SC, and ST at 60128, 26057, and 11681 respectively. The authorities have also shared the gender-wise break up of registration details, with male candidates (127793) easily outnumbering female candidates (32923). 

JEE Advanced is scheduled to be conducted on May 20 in complete online mode for the first time in the history of the exam. Registrations are mandatory to sit in the exam. IIT Kanpur is the organizing institute of the exam this year. 

Category-wise registrations as on May 8

 

Gender-wise registrations as on May 8

 

While the reasons for this decline in numbers are clearly not known, it is not a new phenomenon. The past years have shown a steady decline in the number of candidates applying for JEE Advanced. The sheen of the exam has worn off considering that it perceived to be tough, is going online this year and IIT admissions require high cutoffs considering that 10,998 seats are available for the 231024  candidates who are eligible to appear for the exam.

Advisory for JEE Advanced 2018

Getting acquainted with the online exam 

With the exam moving to online mode, the dynamics of the exam has also changed to some extent. For example, candidate no longer have to enter their responses on OMR sheets but instead have to use the mouse and the keyboard. So, some form of basic knowledge of computers is expected of the candidate. 

The exam authorities in fact have taken cognizance of the fact by making available mock tests that are meant to help the candidates get familiar with the functionalities of the online exam. A simulation of the real exam, mock tests allow the candidates to understand how the different sections of the exam would be presented on the screen, the process of navigating through the question paper and answering questions, in addition to differentiating between the status of questions using the color palette. 

Revisiting the exam pattern

The exam will have two compulsory papers – Paper I and Paper II – of three hours duration each. Both the papers will have questions from physics, chemistry and mathematics. As per the marking scheme, questions may carry full marks, partial marks, zero marks and also negative marks. Candidates can take the test in both English and Hindi language. It may be noted that the exam pattern of JEE Advance is not static with some changes incorporated every year, especially to the marking scheme.

Exam-day check-list

On the day of the exam, the candidates are recommended to bring along their admit cards and an original photo ID. The candidate must also pay attention to the exam day guidelines mentioned on the admit card so that hiccups can be avoided on the big day.