JEE or BITSAT what to choose

Birla Institute of Technology and Science Aptitude Test (BITSAT) is conducted for the admissions in the campuses of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) at Pilani, Goa and Hyderabad. Almost all the candidates who appear for BITSAT sit for the Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Main) as well, which makes the former more competitive than the latter. This article will throw light on the commonalities and the differences between JEE Main and BITSAT which will help the candidates to prepare well for both the examinations simultaneously.

JEE Main: Introduction

The Joint Entrance Examination Main (JEE Main) is the first of the two stages of JEE Advanced, a national-level entrance examination. JEE Main serves as a gateway for admission into National Institutes of Technology (NITs) Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and government-funded technical institutions (GFTIs). JEE Main is written by students who intend to study engineering, basic sciences or architecture in some of the top colleges of the country. It also serves as a screening stage for JEE Advanced which is a gateway for admission in the undergraduate (BTech) and integrated postgraduate (BTech-MTech) programmes in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

JEE Main is conducted by the National Testing Agency and JEE Advanced by one of the IITs each year, under the aegis of the Joint Admission Board (JAB). In 2021, the organising institute for JEE Advanced was IIT Kharagpur and for 2022, it will be IIT Bombay.

BITSAT: Introduction

BITSAT is a national-level entrance examination conducted by the Birla Institute of Technology and Science for admission to undergraduate and integrated postgraduate programmes such as BE, BPharma, and Integrated MSc at BITS Pilani and other campuses. In this article the comparison is done only for BE programmes.

JEE Main, BITSAT: Exam Patterns

The JEE Main pattern was modified recently and numerical answer questions (questions having no options and numerical value of answer has to be entered in the input box using an on-screen keyboard) have been introduced in the examination.

In JEE Main, there are a total of 90 questions in which students have to attempt 75 questions in 3 hours. The JEE Main has three subjects:

• Physics

• Chemistry

• Maths

JEE Main contains two sections for every subject. Section 1 contains 20 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) while Section 2 contains 10 Numerical response questions out of which only 5 have to be attempted.

BITSAT is a three-hour long examination with a total of 150 questions. There are four sections in the paper:

• Physics

• Chemistry

• Logical Reasoning and English Proficiency

• Maths or Biology

A student appearing for the BITSAT examination has to choose between Biology and Mathematics for the last section. There are 40 questions on Physics; 40 on Chemistry; 10 on Logical Reasoning and 15 questions on English Proficiency; and 45 questions on Maths or Biology.

The BITSAT paper also includes 12 bonus questions. These additional questions can be attempted only after the candidate has attempted all the 150 questions. If a candidate opts for the bonus questions, he/she cannot edit the answers to the first 150 questions. No extra time is given for attempting the bonus questions.

Almost all who want to score 350 or higher on the BITSAT — necessary for a seat in Computer Science in any of the BITS — (CS in any of the BITS) attempt the 12 bonus questions. These 12 additional questions are only available after you've completed the main part.

There are four bonus questions each in Physics, Chemistry, and Maths or Biology.

JEE Main, BITSAT: Differences And Similarities

Both JEE Main and BITSAT exams are now computer-based. Candidates have to write them at designated exam centres. JEE Main was held twice in the years 2019 and 2020 and four times in 2021 and the best score out of the attempts was taken into consideration for the merit or rank list. BITSAT is organized only once a year.

While JEE Main is for admission in government engineering colleges, central and also for several states. BITSAT is only for the various campuses of one of the private colleges in India.

Over 10.48 lakh candidates registered for the four sessions of JEE Main in 2021 and about 9.39 lakh appeared in the examination. The total number of seats that are filled directly through JEE Main or via the JEE Advanced is roughly 52,453 seats, including the 16,232 in IITs and 36,221 in NITs, IIITs, GFTIs and the rest. In comparison, BITSAT 2019 attracted around 2 lakh aspirants who competed for around 2000 seats.

The level of difficulty of JEE Main is higher than that of BITSAT since the questions in JEE Main are more concept-based. However, the BITSAT contains more questions and its candidates are usually more pressed for time.

The marking schemes are also different. In JEE Main, each correct answer fetches 4 marks and each wrong answer leads to the candidate losing one mark in negative marking. In BITSAT, each correct answer fetches 3 marks and each incorrect answer leads to the docking of one mark in negative marking.

In the case of JEE Main, the paper and solution are published on the official website for students to examine. Students can also ask for a review of the answer key once it has been posted on the official website, jeemain.nta.nic.in. In the case of BITSAT, the scores are displayed immediately once the exam is over.