It was established in a recent US survey that IIT=MIT+Harvard+Princeton. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), institutions of national importance that have a leading role in technological manpower development and research programmes, are on a par with the best in the world.

The academic environment at any IIT gives students a solid foundation of knowledge to build on and moulds their personalities, giving them a touch of self-confidence that always singles them out from the rest of the crowd. An endless pursuit of excellence and a thorough training preparing them for professional life are a couple of many principles IIT has held strongly to since its inception, and it shows. Today, IIT students occupy key positions in the technology industry in India and abroad.

Each institute is well equipped with modern laboratories, a state-of-the-art library and vast computer networks. Students live in neat, pleasant hostels and in the classroom, a high staff to student ratio ensures that every student gets ample individual attention. Credit-based academic programmes offer them the flexibility to progress at their own pace.

These institutes offer courses leading to a bachelors degree in a number of engineering, technological and scientific disciplines. MSc integrated courses in pure and applied sciences and an MTech course in a few disciplines are offered by some of these institutes. In addition, some IITs offer dual degree MTech programmes wherein both BTech and MTech degrees are awarded at the end of the programme. A bachelors in design is offered at IIT Guwahati and a bachelors in architecture in Kharagpur and Roorkee.

IIT has courses in aerospace engineering, agricultural and food engineering, biological sciences and bioengineering, ceramic engineering, chemical, civil, electrical engineering, computer science and engineering, energy engineering, industrial engineering, production engineering, instrumentation engineering and many others.

For IITians, the world is at their feet. Top-notch companies grab most graduates with salaries going up to Rs 7 lakh a year. Some of the MNCs that employ IIT graduates are Barclays Bank, CitiFinancial, Cybase, GEC, IBM, McKinsey, Motorola, Oracle, Tavant India, Yasu Tech and Transversal eNetworks. PSUs like GSSL, HPCL, IOCL and ISRO offer them employment as well.

Selection is through the IIT-JEE exam and notification for the exams is published in November. Application forms can be submitted online at www.iitb.ac.in, iitd.ac.in, or iitg.ernet.in or picked up from any of the designated branches of banks upon paying Rs 1,000 (Rs 500 for female and SC / ST candidates). The last date for receipt of completed application forms is in the first week of January.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the IIT-JEE, you should have either completed or be taking the final Plus Two examination conducted by a recognised central or state board, an intermediate or two-year pre-university examination conducted by a recognised university, a final examination of the two-year course of the Joint Services Wing of the National Defence Academy; the General Certificate Education (GCE) examination (London / Cambridge / Sri Lanka) at an advanced level; a High School Certificate Examination of the Cambridge University; any public school or university examination in India or in any foreign country recognised by the Association of Indian Universities as equivalent to the Plus Two system.

In case the relevant qualifying examination is not a public examination, the candidate must have passed at least one public examination at an earlier level. You should not be more than 25 years of age on or after October 1 of the year of examination.

Entrance exam

The IIT-JEE is held in the second Sunday in April at several cities all over the country.

Pattern of exam

There are three question papers, two hours each, in physics, mathematics and chemistry. All questions are objective designed to test the aptitude, comprehension and analytical ability of the candidates.

How to prepare

For mathematics, some of the books that you can refer to are Mathematics by S.L. Loney and I.A. Maron, IIT Maths by M.L. Khanna, and Calculus and Analytic Geometry by G.N. Berman as well as by Thomas and Finney.

To crack the physics questions, you can go though Physics by I.E. Irodov and H.C. Verma, and Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday, Resnick and Walker and Tata McGraw Hill publishers.

For chemistry you could consult Physical Chemistry by R.C. Mukherji, Organic Chemistry by Morrison & Boyd, and General Chemistry by J.D. Lee and O.P. Aggarwal.

sample test paper

A resistance of 2 O is connected across one gap of a metre-bridge (the length of the wire is 100 cm) and an unknown resistance, greater than 2 O , is connected across the other gap. When these resistances are interchanged, the balance point shifts by 20 cm. Neglecting any corrections, the unknown resistance is:

a) 3 O
b) 4 O
c) 5 O
d) 6 O.

Consider a neutral conducting sphere. A positive point charge is placed outside the sphere. The net charge on the sphere is:

a) Negative and distributed uniformly over the surface of the sphere.
b) Negative and appears only at the point on the sphere closest to the point charge.
c) Negative and distributed non-uniformly over the entire surface of the sphere.
d) Zero.

One Indian and four American men and their wives are to be seated randomly around a circular table. Then the conditional probability that the Indian man is seated adjacent to his wife given that each American man is seated adjacent to his wife is:

(a) 1/2
(b) 1/3
(c) 2/5
(d) 1/5