We know that JEE main and JEE advanced exam are both entrance exams for engineering courses. There is the doorway to some of the most premium engineering colleges in the country, including the prestigious IIT’s and NIT’s of the country. But both these exams are quite different. Let us educate ourselves on the main points of differences of JEE main vs. JEE advanced.
The first and most important point of difference in JEE main vs. JEE advanced is obviously in their curriculum. The syllabus of JEE main is more elementary and focused on more basic concepts of the three subjects – Maths, Physics, and Chemistry. The portion mostly comprises of the syllabus of the 11th and 12th standard of the science stream. The main focus of the JEE main exams is to ensure the students have understood these subjects and are prepared for their foray into higher education.
On the other hand, JEE advanced has a slightly more complex and advanced syllabus. JEE advanced exam is set up to test the students on their concepts and analytical skills. So the syllabus is more concept based focusing on the fundamental basics of the same three subjects – Maths, Physics, and Chemistry.
There are some new topics in JEE advanced that are not a part of JEE main like,
- Physics: Thermal Physics
- Chemistry: Electrochemistry, Nuclear Chemistry
Similarly, there are certain topics that form a part of the JEE main syllabus but you do not need to study them for JEE advanced such as,
- Maths: Sets and Functions, Statistics, Probability, Trigonometry
- Physics: Electronic Devices, Communication Systems
- Chemistry: Chemistry of Everyday Life
Level of Difficulty
One of the main differences of JEE main vs. JEE advanced is that the papers have different levels of difficulty and complexity. While JEE Main is a pretty straightforward exam, JEE advanced is known to be much more difficult and harder to crack.
JEE mains have a simple syllabus and a straightforward paper pattern. The questions for this exam tend to be more theory based and uncomplicated. To get a score of 200 plus in this exam, theoretical learning will be sufficient. However, to do even better some logical and analytical thinking will be necessary. So while the majority of the paper is concerned with theory and such theory based questions, there will be a few practical questions that require an application from the students.
The JEE advanced exam, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. It requires students to rely on concept based learning to answer more practical and analytical questions. The idea in JEE advanced exam is to make sure the student has a grasp on the fundamentals of the subject and is not completely reliant on rote learning. So the questions also reflect this. So the students will have to rely on their logical reasoning, analytical thinking etc. to crack the JEE advanced exam.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility is one important point of difference of JEE main vs. JEE advanced. For JEE main the eligibility is that the student has to qualify for his 10+2 exam. Also, this has to be from a science stream, so the subjects of Maths, Physics and Chemistry will have to be a part of your 12th curriculum. There is also an age limit for this exam.
Another thing to remember is that a student has a maximum of three attempts for the JEE main exam. Which he can attempt to take the exam a maximum of three times only. If the student manages to get a rank in the JEE main exam, he will find himself eligible for a seat in the various IITs and NITs across the country.
The eligibility of JEE advanced exam is obviously different. The qualifying exam for the JEE advanced is the JEE main exams. One must secure a top position in the JEE main exams. An approx. rank would be to be among the top 224,000 candidates.
If the student aces the JEE advanced exam, he will be eligible for a seat in one of the prestigious IITs of the country. Al
so, the candidate must secure a minimum of 75% in his 10+2 exam to be eligible for the IITs.
Pattern of the Exams
While exploring JEE main vs. JEE advanced we will notice that both these papers have very different paper patterns. JEE mains consists of only two papers, one for the B.Tech students and another for the other B.E. programmed (such as architecture etc.). So according to his stream, the student has to sit for only one paper. Some other criteria of the paper pattern of the JEE Main exam are as below,
- From this year onward, the exams are going to be online, i.e. computer based
- Duration of the exam is three hours
- Total number of questions is 90, divided equally between the three subjects
- All questions are MCQs having four options
- Correct answers carry four marks and the incorrect answers have one negative marking
JEE advanced exam on the other hand have a very different paper pattern. In fact, unlike the JEE Main paper pattern, the pattern of JEE advanced changes from year to year. Let us take a look at the pattern of 2019,
- There will be two compulsory papers, Paper I and Paper II
- Both papers will have questions from all three subjects – Maths, Physics and Chemistry
- This exam will also be computer based
- There will be both MCQs and numerical problems
- Interestingly some questions may have more than one answer. If the student only gets a few answers he will be awarded partial marks.
Ranking and Results
The rank the student gets in his JEE main exams allows him to be eligible for seats in IIIT’s and NIT’s. It will also be a qualifying factor for JEE advanced exam.
One thing to remember is that since 2017, the scores of your board exam are not added to your scores of IIT mains to arrive at your rank. So your board exam scores have no relevance to your IIT main rank.
The rank you obtain in JEE advanced will decide the student’s admission into any one of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Here too your board exam marks have no weightage.
As we saw, there are many points of differences of JEE Main vs. JEE advanced. We hope that the explanation above provides you with some clarity going forward.
