The three candidates who topped the Joint Entrance Examination JEE (Advanced) in the State are all from Chennai.
Toppers S. Raghavan, with 364/504 is ranked 80th; Arpit Singh with 341 marks (169) and V. Hari Prasad with 329 marks (257) are all students of city-based CBSE schools.
Raghavan is from Sri Sankara Senior Secondary School, Arpit, a student of Chettinad Vidhyashram and Hari Prasad passed out from Maharshi Vidya Mandir. The toppers are among the 10 high-scoring students who attended FIIT-JEE coaching class.
Though there is very little difference in their marks the students are unsure about getting their favourite subject and institute. “I want to study Computer Science at IIT-Madras, as I don’t think I will get into IIT-Bombay. Had I scored 30 or 40th rank it would have been much better. I think I made silly mistakes and didn’t manage time well,” said Raghavan.
“I might get into IIT-Bombay or IIT-Delhi,” said Arpit. Hari Prasad echoed similar sentiments.
“In terms of numbers, Tamil Nadu has the largest share with 16 per cent of candidates qualifying, but representation from the State Board is low,” says S. Sundar, chairman, JEE (Advanced) 2015.
Only 33 students are from the State Board, and four are in the top 5,000 ranks. Dr. Sundar says this is an indication of the aspiration among students to appear for national competitive exams.
Though coaching institutes take credit, IIT-M professors say hard work by candidates matters more. “Students need practice in solving problems and approaching them from various angles, which the classes give. They interact with peers and find new ways to solve problems,” Dr. Sundar maintains.
The scores in JEE (Advanced) will be the basis for admission to the 20 IITs and the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. The Indian Institute of Science and some government-funded technical institutions also go by the score.
The JEE Mains ranks, which are used for admission to the National Institutes of Technology, will be published on June 24. Combined counselling for NITs and the IITs will commence on June 25. The first round of seat allotment is expected on July 1.
