Institute in Mumbai, With Advantages Such As Location and Exposure, Scores over
cousins in Kanpur and Delhi
When JEE-2011 topper Prudhvitej Immadi of Andhra Pradesh
chose IIT-Bombay, it appeared to be just another bit of JEE season news. But Immadis
choice is also that of 70 others in the JEE top 100.
Till about a decade ago, IIT-Kanpur was the preferred destination of the JEE top
100, indeed of most engineering aspirants in the country. But the choice kept shifting
since then in favour of IIT-Bombay. Data released by the institute shows a clear
trend from 2005, when 52 in the top 100 chose it. Except in 2006 and 2007, when
this figure reduced by six and two, the number has only increased. In the same period 2005-11
IIT-Kanpur share of the JEE top 100 reduced from 17 to 4. The balance has been
favouring IIT-Delhi, whose fortunes have fluctuated between 16 and 29, IIT-Madras
(2-10), and IIT-Kharagpur (0-3).
A number of factors have worked in favour of Mumbai, including location, food, placement
record and the influence of coaching classes.
Of course, a student feels IIT-Bombay is an academically good place to be at, but
he or she also feels he or she can grow as a person here, said IIT-Bombay JEE chairman
Avijit Chatterjee. Incidentally, eight of the top 10 rankers have opted for the
institute.
Former JEE chairman Amiya Pani said the institute's decision to introduce minors
in all programmes has made more students opt for it. In 2008, the institute ushered
in academic reforms and let students pick a minor course along with the core subject
of specialization. This, Pani said, also had most streams getting students from
higher ranks compared to previous years.
The trend in the institute choices of the JEE top 100 has the surprising aspect
of none choosing IIT-Kharagpur from 2005 except in that year (3) and 2007 (1). Twenty
years ago, the institute, the oldest IIT, was the Mecca of engineering education
in the country. While Bombay and Delhi were still building themselves, Kharagpur's
students occupied top positions in big companies. Students looked at Kharagpur's
illustrious alumni and rushed there. Now this has changed, said a former JEE chairman.
There was also a time when up to 30 of the JEE top 100 chose IIT-Madras, but food
became an issue for the students. They have often said that the institute does
not have the kind of food that the ones in Mumbai and Delhi have. But all our
students are good, whether they are in the top 100 or in the ranks below, IIT-Madras
director M S Ananth had once said.
If old favourites Kanpur, Kharagpur and Madras have slid on the preference
list of the top 100, the newer IIT's in Roorkee and Guwahati do not even figure
there. Senior faculty members of IIT-Guwahati said this was because of a low representation
of students from the Northeast. Assam (capital Guwahati) is far away from most big
cities. The metro IIT's have become more attractive despite IIT-Guwahatis very good
placement record, said a faculty member.
A MATTER OF DISCIPLINE
Of the JEE top five, three have opted for electrical engineering, including the
topper. Like last year, the discipline has been chosen by many in the top 100, but
has been overtaken by computer science as far as the choice of the majority of the
candidates is concerned. As many as 3,352 want computer science in IIT-Bombay, 1,393
electrical engineering in IIT-Bombay and 964 computer science in IIT-Delhi. Other
disciplines of choice are mechanical engineering (784 applicants for IIT-Bombay) and aerospace engineering (415 applicants for IIT-Bombay).
Courtesy: Times of India
