IIT JEE 2012 - Analysis and Review
By Ruchi Shrimali
About 5,60,000 students sat for IIT JEE 2012, as we know it, on Sunday. Set for an overhaul next year, JEE entrance exams offered only few surprises to students this year. Mathematics paper was judged tricky, physics paper tough, and chemistry was slated to be the easiest one.
No errors, irregularities or confusions were reported in the question paper. IIT-Kanpur zone with its 158 centres reported that the exam went off peacefully and no incidents of copying or impersonation came to light. See details about IIT Kanpur zone
Held in two sessions, IIT JEE 2012 first question paper had only objective questions while second one threw a mix of subjective and objective questions to students. Many students thought that second question paper was tougher than the first one as it had negative marking in the first two sections.
For the first time this year, students have been given a copy of their optical mark recognition (OMR) answer sheets. The answer keys to the question papers will be published on the official website on May 1 and the IIT JEE 2012 results will be finally declared on May 18.
There was slight deviation in the exam pattern though. In both the papers this year, emphasis had been on conceptual questions rather than speed on finding solutions to lengthy questions. Know more about exam pattern
Each section had only twenty questions in each section that were chosen carefully to cover all types of questions and gauge a student's aptitude.
Analysis of Paper 1
Questions were fewer in number in Paper 1 and carried a total of only 210, instead of usual 240. Most questions were directly based on NCERT syllabus. The questions based on passages had been eliminated from Paper 1. Most questions in Physics were from mechanics, electricity, and magnetism. There were two questions each on heat and thermodynamics and one on modern physics.
Mathematics focused on calculus and coordinate geometry. There were a few questions from vector algebra and matrices too.
Chemistry had almost same number of questions from physical and organic chemistry while there were only two questions from inorganic chemistry.
Analysis of Paper 2
In Paper II too, there were fewer questions, including three paragraph-based questions. The second paper carried 198 marks.
The pattern was almost the same as last year but there were no matching questions in chemistry this year. Some questions had been picked up directly from prominent books.
The Mathematics section of the second paper was described as ‘lengthy and tricky' by many students. Physics section was tricky but comparatively easier. Some questions were interlinked.
This year, IITs have allotted cut-off scores for all categories to be eligible to rank in the merit list. General category students must have an aggregate score of 35% with at least 10% in each individual section. OBC students need an aggregate score of 31.5% with at least 9% in each individual section. SC/ST students need an aggregate score of at least 17.5% and a minimum of 5% in each individual section. More about rules
Most experts do not expect much change in average IIT JEE cutoffs. They expect that as usual the IIT JEE cutoff should be around 50-60% this year. Read more
Other interesting reads:
- The in's and out's of IIT-JEE 2012
- 'IIT seats are precious, cannot be allowed to be wasted'
