Before the commencement of another academic year, public examination boards across the country are publishing their results. Meanwhile, the entrance examinations for professional courses are being held across the country.
A parent recently asked, "NATA results are out. Now what more should be done for admission to architecture courses? (NATA is the National Aptitude Test in Architecture.)
Another parent asked, "My daughter has written the NEET. Is BSc Agriculture admission in Kerala still via NEET?
Even if application forms are submitted on time and exams written after full preparation, students and parents are constantly bogged down by such questions.
Such confusion generally arises over courses that take into consideration both the entrance score and board exam results while preparing the rank lists.
The higher secondary results of Kerala, CBSE and ISC were declared in the past two weeks.
Results of the JEE Main for admission into various engineering colleges in the country and NATA and UCEED for pursuing Bachelor of Design (B. Des) programmes at IITs have been declared. (UCEED is Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design.)
However, these entrance exams are just gateways for higher studies. Students should have a good understanding of what and all are needed for admission to various courses and take the necessary steps.
Kerala entrance
Results of the Kerala Engineering/Pharmacy Entrance Examination are likely to be out this month itself. Those students, who qualify with the minimum score, should upload the class 12 mark sheets on the entrance commissioner's website.
Rank lists of engineering and pharmacy would be declared in June after the normalisation process. Based on this rank, options can be given for various colleges.
Checking the last rank admitted to various departments last year would give you a better idea while choosing the options.
Results of Paper 1 (Chemistry/Physics) of the Kerala entrance is considered while preparing the rank list for B Pharm.
The marks of Chemistry Paper 1 would be multiplied by 2.25 and then added to the Physics score. The resulting number would be again multiplied by 2/3 to prepare the index mark. To qualify, the student will need a minimum of 10 index marks.
Based on the index marks, the entrance commissioner would prepare the rank list and the allotment will be made after options are sought.
JEE (Main)
Based on the results of the Joint Entrance Examination (Main), admission to various engineering colleges, including the National Institutes of Technology (NIT), will be held.
The Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JOSAA) will begin the counselling process after the results of JEE Advanced are also declared in the second week of June. Keep a close tab on www.josaa.nic.in.
The score of the JEE (Main) paper 2 is considered for admission to the NIT. After the results are out on May 15, allotment process will start in the second week of June.
JEE (Advanced)
Around 2.45 lakh students who topped the JEE (Main) are eligible to write the JEE (Advanced) on May 27 for admission to the premier Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). The results will be out on June 14.
The Joint Seat Allocation Authority will begin allotment from June 19. Those who are interested in B.Arch programme at the IITs and have qualified for the JEE (Advanced) can write the architecture exam on June 17. Registration will be on June 14-15. The results will be out on June 21.
NATA
The results of National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) are already out. The test is conducted twice in a year and the results of the first test have been announced.
Though there is the option to write the second test, it will not help for admission in Kerala. The Kerala entrance has already stipulated that students should attain NATA qualification before June 10. And the second test is on July 7.
The NATA has been made mandatory for B.Arch admission done by the Commissioner of Entrance Examination (CEE), Kerala. Equal weightage will be given to the score of the qualifying exam and the NATA score while the rank list is prepared. An official notification in this regard will be released soon.
Students will have to directly contact private colleges for admission to their B.Arch programme based on the NATA score.
CUCET
Arts and science students can seek admission to 14 central universities and Dr BR Ambedkar School of Economics in Bengaluru via the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) that will be held on May 25-26.
After the results are out, counselling to various universities will be held. Check the official websites of universities for updates.
CLAT
The Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) was held on May 12. The admission to 300 seats at national law universities, including National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) in Kochi, is done via CLAT. The results are expected in the second week of June. The rank list will be put up after that. Students can give in their optional colleges online itself.
NEET
The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) results are likely to be out by June 5. It would be better if you look at the ranks that got admission into various programmes in the previous years.
Fifteen per cent of seats at all government medical/dental colleges in the country have been reserved as all-India quota. Details of the online counselling for these seats will be available on www.mcc.nic.in.
Those who are seeking the all-India quota, can also submit the option for state selection. The 15 per cent quota in Kerala will be filled like this.
The Kerala entrance examiner will conduct allotment to courses in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Agriculture, Siddha, Unani, veterinary, fisheries, and forestry in the state on the basis of NEET results.
Those who have applied for these courses, will be given allotment based on their NEET ranks.
The commissioner's notification for submitting options for these would be released later.
JIPMER and AIIMS
The entrance exam for Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry will be held on June 2. There are seven exam centres in Kerala for admission to this central institute - Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.
Applications can be submitted for the various BSc programmes at JIPMER till May 24 at www.jipmer.edu.in.
Entrance exams to MBBS courses at 14 All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will be held on May 25-26.
ICAR
The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) entrance exam will be held on July 1. There are 64 state agriculture universities and 75 national universities.
Admission to 15 per cent of degree seats at agricultural universities, apart from the veterinary programmes, is through the ICAR. The results will be announced on July 17 and the counselling will held by July end.
Design
Admission to Bachelor in Design (B. Des) at IITs in Bombay, Guwahati, Hyderabad and Jabalpur will be held via UCEED. The results for this year have been declared. Based on the ranks, admission can be sought at various IITs from June 8 to 20. Some prominent private institutes also admit students based on the UCEED rank.
The admission to the B. Des programme of the National Institute of Design is via the NAD entrance exam. Those who have cleared the prelims have to write the mains exam too. The results will be declared on May 31.
Do colleges have accreditation? Verify on AICTE
The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) instructs that before joining for courses, including engineering, architecture and planning, pharmacy, hotel management, and applied arts & craft and design, students should confirm if these institutions have accreditation.
The details, including the state and programmes, are available on www.aicte-india.org.
The other premier institutes, including Birla Institute of Technology and Science Admission Test (BITSAT), Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), and IIT Madras, too conduct entrance exams for various programmes.