Different keys leave students bemused

Naresh Nunna There is no change in the levels of confusion of the students before and after taking JEE Mains- 2013 (offline mode). Before the offline test, held on Sunday (April 7), the students are elusive on the pattern, confused of the syllabus, bemused over expected questions and now, after the exam, they are perplexed on their fate of eligibility to take JEE (Advanced) test to be held on June 2. Different keys being released by various organizations are adding more to the persistent perplexity. It may be recalled that, Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main held on Sunday. In Andhra Pradesh, to the surprise of the students and to the dismay of the parents, only Warangal, Khammam, Guntur and Tirupati were officially engaged to conduct exams. The three-hour paper held in the offline mode had 90 questions for 360 marks.The paper was divided into three parts - Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics with multiple choice question (MCQ) variants. Each subject carried 30 questions and all questions were objective in nature with four choices. Each question carried four marks for the correct response and a negative mark for every wrong answer. Attempting all questions was not compulsory. However, students were confused on how to approach questions.A After exams, there is a shift in subject to worry about. "The initial response from students was that the physics paper was tougher than mathematics and chemistry. The test booklet was given back to the students at the end of the examination," said Ramesh Babu of NRI academy. The online mode will be held from Monday (April 8) to April 25. Results would be declared on May 7 and among the successful candidates the top 1.5 lakh candidates will be allowed to appear for the JEE Advanced, the eligibility test for entry into IITs. After the exams, many groups came forward with different keys, to JEE Mains. A "Four sets of question papers viz., P, Q, R, S were given to students randomly. Now, the students are confused about the keys released by various organizations," Shiva Kumar, a lecturer said. "When I counted my marks, depending on my attempts, there is a big variation between the keys. It further added to my confusion," Siri Chandana of Saroor Nagar told The Hans India. She had to go to Warangal to take the exams. "The MCQ variants of a concept need not be always approached top down for problem-solving. Top down is the approach familiar with the students since they are fresh from the Board exams where detailing on paper is required," B V Subramanyam said, explaining the possible confusion by the key preparatory experts. There are many online sites predicting the possible ranks of the students to check themselves on the eligibility to the JEE Advanced. Ranks would be prepared giving 60 per cent weight to the score in the JEE (Main) and 40 per cent to the normalised score of the Class 12 examinations. Based on this, the Rank predicting sites, including one run by IIT �coaching giant- FIITJEE, are giving instant rank report on their possible selection to the eligibility to JEE Advanced. Since Intermediate exam results are yet to be announced, the rank predicting sites are asking the candidates to fill the column with expected marks / percentages. IPE results would be declared in the third week of April and results of JEE Mains would be on May 7. So, they are now eagerly looking for the results, rather depending on the weird predictions.