Though engineering is the flagship course of the IITs for which students have to appear for JEE Advanced, there are plenty of other courses too that students can pursue.
Getting into one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) is a dream for lakhs of students in this country every year. Over one lakh students every year appear for the IIT Joint Entrance Exams. Out of these, around ten thousand are able to secure their seat. While the road to IIT via JEE Advanced is tough, there are other courses too through which one can fulfill their dream to study in the prestigious institute.
Though engineering is the flagship course of the IITs, there are plenty of other courses too that students can pursue. Spanning across 23 IITs nationwide, there are various specialisation courses, masters and PhD courses where one can seek admission through national level exams like GATE and CSIR-NET. There are management courses too which one can go through clearing CAT. Here are some of the ways other than JEE Advanced to get into an IIT.
Graduate Aptitude Test of Engineering (GATE)
This exam is jointly conducted by the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bangalore and seven IITs — Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee. Students who are interested in pursuing their masters or PhD from an IIT can appear for the GATE exam. By clearing this exam, a candidate can seek admission in courses like MTech, integrated MTech-PhD and PhD in engineering and allied disciplines.
This exam is conducted for 25 disciplines ranging from basic sciences to engineering. Based on the specialization candidate had during undergraduate, they can choose a discipline of their interest. The exam is of three hours duration with 65 MCQs.
Common Admission Test (CAT)
This online exam is basically conducted by the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) for admission to their business administration programmes. But the IITs too give admission to candidates for their management programmes based on the CAT scores. The test consists of three sections – Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR) and Quantitative Ability (QA).
Council of Scientific & Industrial Research – National Eligibility Test (CSIR-NET)
The CSIR-NET provides research fellowship for candidates who want to get training under the guidance of faculty members or experts from IITs, university departments, national laboratories from various fields of science. Candidates who qualify for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) also get eligible for lecturership or assistant professor.
Joint Admission Test (JAM)
This exam is conducted for MSC, PhD, and other postgraduate programmes at the IITs across seven disciplines- Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematical Statistics, Geology, Biological Science, Biotechnology. Candidates who clear this test are also eligible for admission into MSc courses at Indian Institute of Science (IISc, Bangalore), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER, Bhubaneswar), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other institutes.
Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Examination (HSCEE)
Conducted by the IIT Madras, through this examination a candidate can seek admission in five-year integrated MA programmes. Various disciplines that are offered by IITs in the humanities and social sciences stream are — Development Studies, Economics, English, Environmental Studies, Film Studies, Health Studies, History, International Relations, Philosophy, Politics, and Sociology.
Architecture Aptitude Test (AAT)
Two IITs in India that offer BArch courses are IIT Kharagpur and IIT Roorkee. To get admission into this course, a candidate needs to get through JEE Mains and Advance papers and also clear the AAT which is conducted by the Joint Admission Board of the IIT JEE exam.
Besides the above courses, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, IITs have introduced several online courses including BSc or certificate courses in data science and artificial intelligence.
