JEE-Advanced qualifiers drop to seven-year low: Cause for concern?
The JEE-Advanced 2018 results were declared yesterday, and with them came a shocker: the number of qualified candidates has fallen by two-thirds of last year. In fact, it is the lowest figure in seven years. This has thrown into uncertainty a basic question: will the IITs get enough students to fill their seats this time? But Shalabh S, JEE-Advanced Chairman (IIT-Kanpur), insists there's nothing to worry.
Number of qualifiers over 1.6 times the number of seats
This time, 18,138 students have qualified in the Advanced, more than 1.6 times the number of seats available. Pranav Goyal (Roorkee zone) emerged the all-India topper. Meenal Parakh (Delhi), with All-India Rank (AIR) 6, topped among girl. A total of 8,794 general candidates passed, compared to 3,140 OBC candidates and 6,204 SC/ST candidates. Chosen students will now have to undergo counseling to determine course and institute.
IIT-Kanpur attributes fall in qualifier to "error-free question paper"
According to IIT-Kanpur, the organizing body of the JEE-Advanced this time, an "error-free question paper" is the main reason behind the fall in the number of qualified candidates. An error-free question paper means no grace marks have to be provided to students for wrongly printed questions. Compared to this year's 18,138 qualified candidates, in 2017, more than 51,000 had cleared it.
Nothing to worry about, officials insist
Aditya Mittal, JEE-Advanced Chairman (IIT-Delhi), echoes Shalabh S, saying this isn't anything to worry about. "Last year, the last rank at which a seat was allotted was less than 14,000. So with over 18,000 candidates, filling up seats should not be a problem," he explained. Incidentally, when IIT-Mumbai faced a similar situation in 2015, it had to lower the bar to get enough students.
Application for counseling to open this week
However, a lot of students who don't get their preferred course, branch or institute during the counseling process tend to drop out, and experts are worried more than the minimum required candidates might leave. Application for counseling commences June 15 till June 25. The first round will be conducted on June 27, followed by at least two more, depending on requirements.
