A lengthy and tough physics section, chemistry questions right out of the CBSE syllabus and a relatively easy math section — this was the predominant opinion among most students who took the online JEE mains on Monday.
Nearly 1,200 students in the city took the test. Since the test centres were located in engineering colleges on the outskirts, most said the biggest problem was reaching the centre before 7.30 a.m.
“I was worried about power cuts, but the exams went smoothly. There were people to assist too,” said a student who took the exam at a centre in Sriperumbudur.
The offline test was held on April 7 in Coimbatore, Madurai and Puducherry and many students had chosen to write it. “While some students were not comfortable with the online format, many who had prepared for the test wanted to finish it off as early as possible to get more time for JEE advanced,” said Ankur Jain, managing director, FITJEE.
Niranjan P, who took the test on Monday, said he was nervous before the exam especially because the offline test was an easy one. “I choose to take the test today, and not later, because the test can get tougher as the date advances.”
There were some unexpected questions too. For instance, some theory-based ones in chemistry and physics were difficult, said students. “I was asked about the Baker’s reagent. I did not know about it, neither did my friends,” said Ashish Nagarajan, a student.
K.K. Anand, who runs SMART coaching centre in the city, said the paper was very similar to AIEEE in format. “Also, the students who are taking the online test had the advantage of looking at the offline paper. They had time to prepare too.”
He said the offline paper had many questions in Physics from portions of NCERT textbook recommended only for the mains exam and not for the advanced test. “Concepts such as magnetism, semiconductors are easy but often neglected because they don’t feature in JEE, but since they appeared in mains, many students have prepared for them,” he added.
Nearly 14 lakh students had registered for JEE mains 2013. The online and computer-based JEE mains will also be held on April 23 and 25 in 26 cities. Of the total number of students taking the test, nearly 1.5 lakh will be selected to take up JEE advanced. The test determines admission to undergraduate engineering programmes at National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Information Technology and other centrally-funded technical institutions.
