Admission Help: Trends in JEE Counseling From JEE 2003 To JEE 2007
Trends in JEE Counseling
By Mr. Dheeraj - iitk.ac.inI have studied the closing ranks of various programs over the last five years (JEE-2003 through JEE-2007), and noticed some subtle changes in preferences. From one year to the other, there are very little changes as most candidates use the last year's closing ranks as the sole guide to fill up the choice sheets every year. But those few who are courageous enough to do things differently make an impact over a longer period of time. Therefore, I mention the changes from 2006 to 2007, as well as changes from 2003 to 2007.
I have only compared those programs which started in 2003 or earlier. Also, note that some statistics would get affected by change in the number of seats, starting of new programs, and the success ratio of each zone in different years. But still, I believe that the information given below may be of interest to many.
If we just compare the closing ranks of 2006 and 2007, the program that shows biggest improvement is the MSc (Physics) program at IIT Kanpur (2502 from 2883). The biggest drop was in BArch program of IIT Roorkee (6196 from 5515). Architecture in IIT system is becoming less popular is evident from the fact that the other BArch program at IIT Kharagpur saw the second largest drop (5577 from 4997). In terms of percentage, the biggest gainer was the MTech program in Maths and Computing at IIT Delhi (749 from 891, only considering programs where the closing rank improved by at least 100). In terms of percentage, the biggest loser was the BTech program in Bio Science and Bio Engineering at IIT Kanpur (2599 from 2105, again only considering programs where the closing rank went down by at least 100).
Continuing with data of 2006 and 2007, in terms of discipline as a whole, the biggest gainer has been Civil Engineering. All civil engineering programs across the IIT system improved their closing ranks very significantly last year. The other programs to see improved closing ranks across the institutes included Aerospace, Maths and Computing, and surprisingly, Computer Science. I am surprised about CS, since I thought that such a large percentage of the top 200 students were opting for CS anyway that any further improvement was not possible. But there is further (though slight) increase in the demand of CS programs. This also has caused improvement in closing ranks of Maths and Computing programs. The worst hit programs are Architecture, and anything that has the word Biology in it. The latter is surprising to me since the industry fundamentals don't seem to have changed.
In terms of the Institutes, IIT Madras showed improvement in closing ranks in most of its programs. IIT Bombay continued to attract even better students than the past. On the other hand, IIT Roorkee and IT BHU saw decline in closing ranks in most of their programs. There is clear movement in favour of original five IITs, even at the cost of less favoured discipline.
Now, let me look at the long term trends. So, now I am comparing the closing ranks of 2003 and 2007. The program that shows biggest improvement is the MTech program in Maths and Computing at IIT Delhi (749 from 1305). The other extremely creditable improvement is in CSE programs of IIT Bombay. The BTech program closed at 47 in 2007, as compared to 101 in 2003. The BTech-MTech dual degree program at IIT Bombay closed at 198 in 2007, as compared to 332 in 2003. The biggest drops were in BArch programs of IIT Roorkee and IIT Kharagpur. In case of IIT Kharagpur, it went down from 3624 to 5577, and in case of IIT Roorkee, it went down from 4365 to 6196. The other notable drop was in the BTech (Biotechnology) program of IIT Kharagpur from 1313 to 2553.
Continuing with data of 2003 and 2007, in terms of discipline as a whole, the biggest gainer has been Civil Engineering. Most civil engineering programs across the IIT system showed remarkable improvement in their closing ranks over this period. Clearly, Civil Engineering is getting back its lost glory, and all the infrastructure projects going on in the country have caused a dramatic improvement in the fortunes of Civil Engineers. The other programs to see improved closing ranks across the institutes included Aerospace, Maths and Computing, and Computer Science. Aerospace has clearly been motivated by successes of ISRO and the excitement of moon mission. The worst hit programs are Architecture, and anything that has the word Biology in it. Another discipline to see serious decline in closing ranks is Metallurgy.
In terms of the Institutes, IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay showed improvement in closing ranks in most of their programs. On the other hand, IT-BHU, and ISM Dhanbad showed decline in closing ranks of all of their programs.