With the engineering entrance exam season in its full swing, this is the time when students across the country are gearing up for these exams. Clearing these engineering exams will help them to fulfil their engineering aspirations. Considered as one of the most prestigious professions, engineers are sought-after the world over and are always highly paid than students of other backgrounds. It is for this reason that they're willing to spend huge sum of money to get coaching to help them crack these exams.

Let us examine top 10 engineering exams in India-:

1) IIT-JEE: Considered as the toughest engineering entrance examination in India, IIT-JEE is a gateway to prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology. IITs are the only institutes, besides IIMs, that figure in top 50 institutes of the world. It has produced some very well-known alumni. Speaking about the change in difficulty level of IIT-JEE, Shyam Mohan Gupta, Founding Director of Vidyamandir Classes, says, "Until few years back IIT-JEE was the most dreaded entrance exam for engineering. It was very difficult, lengthy and required lot of thinking on-the-spot. However, I have been seeing that in the last five years the paper is becoming easier."

Seats: Approximately 10,035

Exam format: The current pattern, which has been followed since 2006, consists of two objective type papers each containing Maths, physics and chemistry sections.

Eligibility: The age limit for appearing in IIT-JEE is 25 years, and should be 10+2

Number of institutes accepting admission through JEE: 15 IITs, ISM Dhanbad, IIT-BHU

2) AIEEE: This is the most popular entrance examination for engineering aspirants. Every year lakh of students take AIEEE in a hope to at least making it to prestigious engineering institutes, if not IITs. Approximately, 26816 seats for BE/B.Tech & 936 seats for B.Arch/B.Planning in various institutions, namely National Institutes of Technology, IIITs, Deemed Universities, Technical Institutions, Delhi Technological University, Delhi and other Govt. funded Institutions are affiliated through this examination. Talking about AIEEE 2011, Aakash Chaudhry, CEO and Director of Aakash Educational Services Ltd, says, "Despite having a large number of seats in AIEEE, the number of seats in top NITs and other top colleges affiliated with AIEEE remain limited. Therefore it is essential for a student to achieve a higher rank in the exam."

Seats: Approximately 26,816

Exam format: Objective, questions from physics, mathematics and chemistry. The duration is 3 hours but maximum marks and the number of questions vary every year. Equal weight is given to all the three sections.

Eligibility: 10+2 with an aggregate of 50 % marks with Physics and mathematics as the compulsory subjects. For architecture, aspirants should have passed their 10+ 2 with an aggregate of 50 % marks with Mathematics as a compulsory subject.

Number of institutes accepting admission through AIEEE: 5 Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIITs) and 30 National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

3) BITSAT: An online, objective type of exam held for engineering courses in BITS Pilani Campuses in Pilani, Goa and Hyderabad, BITSAT is also very popular among engineering aspirants across India. Usually it is held for a month and is considered simpler to crack than compared to JEE and AIEEE. BITSAT exam is based on the prescribed NCERT syllabus of Class 11th and 12th. The duration of the exam is three hours. It has four sections and total 150 questions are asked in the exam. The pattern on the exam is objective type, multiple-choice questions.

Exam format: Objective type, multiple-choice questions: There will be 150 questions asked in the exam. Each question carries 3 marks and for every incorrect answer one mark will be deducted

Eligibility: Candidate should have passed 12th Class examination of 10+2 system from a recognised central board/state board or equivalent with physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Number of institutes accepting through BITSAT: BITS Pilani

4) GATE: Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is an all India examination which is held for admission in postgraduate engineering courses in prestigious institutes like seven IITs and Indian Institute of Science. One should note that while JEE, AIEEE and BITSAT is a gateway to undergraduate engineering courses, GATE is or those students who want to pursue M Tech programmes.

Eligibility:

1) Should have a bachelor in Engineering/Technology/Architecture (4 years after 10+2) and those who are in the final or pre-final year of such programmes

2) Should have a master's in Science, Maths, Statistics, Computer Applications or equivalent and those who are in the final or pre-final year of such programmes

3) Candidates in the second or higher year of the four-year Integrated Master's degree programme (Post-B.Sc.) in Engineering/Technology or in the third or higher year of Five-year Integrated Master's degree programme and Dual Degree programme in Engineering/Technology

Exam format: GATE exam is an objective, multiple choice questions paper

Institutes associated: Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technology

5) VITEEE: If you want to take admission in engineering courses in Vellore Institute of Technology, you will have to take VIT Engineering Entrance Examination. The institute offers IGNITE scholarship to students with a waiver of fee for entire 4 years.

Exam format: Objective exam with questions in Physics, Maths, Chemistry and Biology

Eligibility: The applicant should be a Resident/ non-resident Indian national. He should have completed the final examination of 10+ 2 system of Higher Secondary Examination conducted by the State Board; Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE, New

Delhi): ISCE

Other Popular Engineering entrance exams in India

6) COMEDK-UGET: Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka- Under Graduate Entrance Test

7) MHT-CET: Maharashtra Entrance Test: If you are keen to be a part of Maharastra Technological Studies scenario, then it becomes mandatory for you to appear for the MHT CET examination.

8) EAMCET

9) DELHI CEE (Delhi Engineering College)

10) BCECE Exam: Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination Board

• The story behind Vidyamandir's Success
• Haven't done well in IIT JEE 2011? Check other alternatives
• Top ten competitive exams after 10+2

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