Engineering entrance exams: All you need to know after your class 12

Engineering has always been one of the most aspired professional degree courses in India. One of the reasons is the rapid industrialisation that has happened over the past few decades. This has opened up many avenues for employment generation, especially in the metropolitan cities. In the recent past many students have shown keen interest in taking engineering as their career as it offers them many job prospects.

There are numerous examinations conducted, both at the national and state level, for selecting the most talented students to join engineering  courses in the country. The top engineering  university  in the order of their preference has been the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), National Institute of Technology (NIT) and Birla Institute of Technology (BIT). 

Besides, there are a few more reputed universities, which are ranked very high for their academic excellence, research facilities and student development. The IITs and NITs are situated in many strategic locations in the country with an objective to make professional education widespread and in line with the industrial requirements.

The most important national level engineering entrance examinations are Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examination (IIT JEE), All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) , Birla Institute of Technology and Science Aptitude Test (BITSAT), Vellore Institute of Technology Engineering Entrance Examination (VITEEE) and National Aptitude Test (NAT). In addition to the national level entrance examinations, there is also state level entrance tests conducted for procuring admission into the colleges which are affiliated to sate universities. 

Every state has its own syllabus for these examinations. 

A recent trend in engineering education across the country is the emergence of deemed universities, which offer engineering courses. These deemed universities are autonomous in nature and are providing specialized courses in engineering, including many integrated courses based on the recent developments in the industries. 

Some of the top engineering universities in India are SRM University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Dehradun Engineering University. These universities conduct their own entrance examinations for selecting candidates into their institution.

From an academic perspective, engineering is broadly classified into Core Engineering and Applied Engineering courses. Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science Engineering e.tc are Core Engineering Courses, while Mechatronics, E.E.E., I.T. and the like are Applied Engineering courses as they are a hybrid of two or more core subjects. There is an equally good demand for these applied courses today as the syllabus is designed based on modern day industrial requirements. An Engineering degree thus offers the student a plethora of opportunities in the future.