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March 15, 2010

Introduction

Ever since the beginning of high school, a student faces a tough situation. A situation in which he/she has to decide immediately about his/her future or we call it their career. Which subject should I choose? Is science exactly what I am interested in or is it the commerce side which interest's me more? Will I be able to carry forward the stream I am choosing? Is it arts which fascinates me more than anything? Similar kind of questions pop up amongst students mind. But once they have decide the stream of their choice then comes the most important question of all. "Where will I pursue my graduation/post graduation degree from?"



Now, here comes the question of choosing the right college/university to pursue the stream of their choice and get a bachelor's or a master's degree from it. Choosing the right college/university is one of the most important task in one's career and will determine the future to a great extent. A right college can do wonders for a student, whereas on the other hand, a wrong college may seriously affect a students progress.


But lets face it. Getting the college of one's choice is no easy deal. There are thousands of students who apply for the top colleges/universities to pursue their higher education but only a few hundred get through. So what is it that decides one's admission in a top college?
There are some colleges/universities which conduct an exam of their own and based on it, they select students. For example, the IIT's in India conduct JEE(Joint Entrance Examination) and select students on merit basis. But then, if talk about universities in U.K, U.S.A, Australia etc, they admit students based upon a few tests which examine the skills of students in various fields. These tests are common for many of the universities world wide.


So what exactly are these test? Ever heard of tests like GRE, TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, SAT etc? Yes, you got it right! These are the kind of tests which have to be given by students in order to get a seat in the so many colleges/universities worldwide.
So its easy.You clear the test, score a good score and get admission. But what exactly do these test's test? When do these test's happen? What is the syllabus of these test's? Where can I register myself for appearing in these test's? How much do they cost? Where can I find a few sample's of these test's? These are the type of questions one looks for and it seems that the only place left for searching is off course none other than Google, isn't it? But we all know that doing a search and finding the correct link is quite time consuming.


So here's where I have tried to gather as much relevant information required for some of the most popular exams given by students. This is a place where you all can find sample papers, previous year papers, syllabus, eligibility, fees etc of the so many tests, all summed up in a single place. So, you don't have to waste your precious time searching about various exams in the search bars.


Note:
I try to keep adding information about new test's every week but if in case you want to know about a particular test which I have not mentioned in my blog, do tell me. I'll try to gather as much information about it and then put it up over here.

IIT's

Introduction:

Well, IIT's don't need any introduction. Better still I am just writing few facts about which so many of us are confused.

a)How many seats are actually there in all the IIT's -



Institute

Intake(2003)

Intake(2006)

Intake(2007)

Intake(2008)

IIT Bombay

554

574

574

648

IIT Delhi

552

553

553

626

IIT Guwahati

350

365

365

435

IIT Kanpur

456

555

541

608

IIT Kharagpur

659

895

874

988

IIT Madras

554

520

540

612

IIT Roorkee

546

616

746

884

New IIT's opened in 2008

IIT Bhubaneshwar




120

IIT Gandhinagar




120

IIT Hyderabad




120

IIT Patna




120

IIT Punjab




120

IIT Rajasthan




120

Total (IIT's)

3571

4078

4193

5521

IT-BHU (Varanasi)

568

708

686

766

ISM Dhanbad

444

658

658

705

TOTAL

4583

5444

5537

6992


b)How many general seats are there in all the IITS - Well roughly speaking, after the implementation of 27% reservation for OBC's there are about 4000 seats left for the general category.


Eligibility:
As per the new rule launched a couple of years back, a student can appear in JEE only twice, once when he's in 12th itself and then the very next year.For general candidates, they need to secure at least 60% aggregate in their 12th boards.However there's some relaxation for students belonging to SC, ST or PD category.


Syllabus:

IIT Papers:
Here is the list of previous year question papers of IIT. I hope they'll be of use to you.Best of luck.


For any unanswered query, do leave a comment.I'll try answering that.

Civil Services

What is it:
Well, first of all let me tell you this. Civil Services exams are considered to be one of the most difficult exam across the the whole country, India. People prepare for 2,3 or maybe 4 years just in order to clear this exam. Some of them go on a medical leave from their office and prepare, some of them just don't join any office after their graduation and prepare, some go for coaching for 2 or 3 years and prepare etc etc etc. By telling you all this I am not trying to scare anyone for sure. The reason I am telling you all this is that if you are seriously preparing to crack the civil services exam, just don't loose hope or determination if you fail the first or the second time because its nothing unusual. Rather I would say that its very common to fail the first or the second time. Government has made the exam in such a manner so that it gets only the best available from the lot. But remember, once you clear this damn exam, believe me you will on the top of the world. The amount of respect and power which follows is immense. But also the responsibility which follows is also immense as well. One IAS in a single family can change the tide altogether.

For those who don't know anything about it, let me give you a brief introduction. Its UPSC which conducts the civil services exams every year and admits students based on merit. Anyone who's a graduate or is in the last year of his graduation can sit for this exam whose preliminary round takes place in the month of May. Those who clear it are then asked to sit for the mains exam and then finally the lucky ones who clear it as well go for interviews. Interviews are the last stage and if you clear it, you are through!


Syllabus:
In the preliminary round there are two papers. Paper 1 is of general studies which is of 150 marks and paper 2 is of the optional subject you choose which is of 300 marks. Both the papers are objective in nature. Below is the list of optional subjects you can choose.

AgricultureMathematics
Animal Husbandry & Vetinary ScienceMechanical Engineering
BotanyMedical Science
ChemistryPhilosophy
Civil EngineeringPhysics
CommercePolitical Science
EconomicsPsychology
Electrical EngineeringPublic Administration
GeographySociology
GeologyStatistics
Indian HistoryZoology
Law



Paper 2 which is the mains exam is subjective in nature is of 2000 marks. I am giving you information about it in the form of the following table. In it is also mentioned about the interview part which you ought to give provided you clear the mains exam.

Paper-I

One of the Indian Languages to be selected by the candidate from the 18 languages included in the VIIIth Schedule to the Constitution (Qualifying Paper)

300 Marks
Paper-IIEnglish (Qualifying Paper)300 Marks
Paper-IIIEssay200 Marks
Papers IV & VGeneral Studies (300 Marks for each paper)600 Marks
Papers VI, VII, VIII & IX

Any two subjects (each having 2 papers) to be selected from the prescribed optional subjects (300 marks for each paper)

1200 Marks
Total Marks for Written Examination2000 Marks
Interview Test300 Marks
Grand Total2300 Marks

Below is the list of optional subjects of literature for the mains exam.

ArabicGujaratiManipuriSanskrit
AssameseHindiNepaliSindhi
BengaliKannadaOriyaTamil
ChineseKashmiriPaliTelugu
EnglishKonkaniPersianUrdu
FrenchMarathiPunjabi
GermanMalayalamRussian

Below is the list of optional subjects you may take for the papers 6,7,8 and 9.

AgricultureManagement
Animal Husbandry & Vetinary ScienceMathematics
AnthropologyMechanical Engineering
BotanyMedical Science
ChemistryPhilosophy
Civil EngineeringPhysics
Commerce & AccountancyPolitical Science & International Relations
EconomicsPsychology
Electrical EngineeringPublic Administration
GeographySociology
GeologyStatistics
Indian HistoryZoology
Law


Coaching:
Well, different people have different perceptions as to about whether to take some coaching assistance for preparing for one of the most tough exam around or no, "self study is the best study". I am not going to debate on this issue because this has no end. All I am going to to is give you a list of available coaching centres in your city and let you decide for yourself whether to go for it or not. But yes, if it was me, I would surely have taken some coaching for preparation.
Go here to find out the coaching centres in your city.


Age limit and number of attempts :
For general category, the maximum number of attempts is 4 which they can give till the age of 30 starting from 21.For SC/ST category people, the upper age limit is relaxed for a maximum of 5 years and there is no restriction to the number of attempts. For OBS's, the maximum number of attempts is 7 and the upper age limit is relaxed to a maximum of 3 years. This is as per the latest information available which may change next year.


How to register:
Get a form and a brochure from designated head post offices throughout India. You can find out more information on their website.


Prelims

Mains

Anthropology
Mains

Sociology
Mains

Prelims

Psychology
Mains

English
Mains

Essay

Toppers speak: Shubra Saxena who topped the exam gave interview to CNN-IBN. Here it is.


FOR ANY OTHER QUERY, LEAVE A COMMENT. I'LL TRY ANSWERING IT.