Do you know what is the common thread, which binds the likes of Vinod Khosla, co-founder, SunMicro Systems, Kanwal Rekhi, TiE chairman, Gururaj Deshpande, founder of Sycamore, Victor Menezes, senior vice chairman, CitiGroup, Rajat Gupta, senior partner worldwide, Mckinsey and Co, Manoj Singh, managing director for America, Deloitte Consulting, Arun Sarin, CEO, Vodafone, Purnendu Chatterjee, founder, Chatterjee Group, Arjun Malhotra, chairman, TechSpan, Nandan Nilekani, chief operating officer, Infosys Technologies and R Gopalakrishnan, executive director, Tata Sons, together? Well, they are all, distinguished alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
And, if you wish to be one among the company of such illustrious people, then the first step towards it is to crack the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) next year and enrolling for an undergraduate-engineering programme

Successful clearance of both the phases of JEE will enable the students to pursue B Tech programme of a four-year duration, integrated programmes of M Sc and M Tech of a five-year duration or a dual degree in M Tech, of a five-year duration at IITs in Delhi, Roorkee, Kanpur, Kharagpuar, Guwahati, Bombay and Madras. The disciplines offered include computer science and engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, electronics engineering, aerospace engineering and many more. Apart from IITs, the students get admission at the Institute of Technology - Benaras Hindu University and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, for the undergraduate engineering programmes through IIT-JEE.
Qualifications
The minimum academic qualification for admission through JEE is a pass grade in the final examination of a 10+2 system or its equivalent.

Preparation
According to a first-year student of mechanical engineering at IIT Delhi, who secured an All-India Rank (AIR) of 588 in IIT-JEE held this year, "It's still not too late to start preparing for the IIT-JEE 2008. Be it physics, chemistry or mathematics (PCM), aspirants need to ensure that they do not miss out on any topics, while preparing for both, the screening as well as main test."
Another first-year student of electrical engineering at IITD who secured an AIR of 203 in IIT-JEE, said: "The route to tackle the screening and main test becomes easier if your basics are right. If you are a CBSE student, the best thing is to clear your concepts from NCERT books in PCM. It's important for an aspirant to read the syllabus of IIT-JEE, so that he or she does not end up leaving out relevant topics."
Another key aspect of IIT-JEE preparation, as pointed out by a first-year student at IITD, civil engineering department, was that as the exam pattern varied every year, the orientation of JEE was towards judging a person's analytical ability and intelligence. "The focus should be on being clear on concepts rather than memorise topics, while preparing for IIT-JEE,"
Tips
The next few months are going to be crucial for IIT-JEE aspirants, who will gradually move into top gear as the D-day approaches. "The key to do well is that aspirants should not lose confidence at any stage of the preparation. I know students who did very well in mock tests and tests at different coaching institutes, but couldn't clear IIT-JEE or their AIRs were considerably low. Then, there are those who didn't do well initially but got high AIRs in IIT-JEE,"

During the screening or main examination, the students tend to panic at the sight of tough questions. "There will always be questions, which cannot be solved. There is no need to lose heart if you have started off badly as there is always a possibility that your competitors may not have been able to do the same. Aspirants need to have confidence in their ability"
 "The aspirants need to ensure that they are not under pressure just because their peers have done well during the preparation stage. One should be on guard against the so-called friends who misguide or scare you during the different stages of examination."

 
Institute fact-file
IIT Bombay http://www.iitb.ac.in/jee
IIT Delhi http://www.iitd.ernet.in/jee
IIT Guwahati http://www.iitg.ernet.in/jee
IIT Kanpur http://www.jee.iitk.ac.in
IIT Kharagpur http://www.iitkgp.ernet.in/jee
IIT Madras http://jee.iitm.ac.in/
IIT Roorkee http://www.iitr.ernet.in/jee
IT- BHU Varanasi http://www.itbhu.ac.in
ISM Dhanbad http://www.ismdhanbad.ac.in