New Delhi: The gates opened yesterday, queues started forming and the race has now begun! The race to the hallowed corridors of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), through one of the most popular entrance examinations in the country, the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) - IIT JEE 2012 begun on October 31, 2011 with the application forms out on sale.

Day 1 of the Online Application Process for IIT JEE 2012 saw 3,800 applicants registering themselves for the examination, to be conducted on April 8, 2012 across the country.

About 7,000 in 15 IITs are up for grabs through IIT JEE 2012, which has two modes of registration. The online mode will be active on the IIT JEE website from October 31, 2011 to December 10, 2011 and the offline mode, i.e. physical sale of application forms, will be from November 11, 2011 to December 5, 2011.

The last date for receipt of completed application forms (offline or printed copy of the Online Form) is December 15, 2011.


GB Reddy, Chairman, JEE Office said, "About 3,800 students have completed their application process on Day One. While many others have registered and not paid their application fees, their process is considered complete only when the fees is paid".

IIT JEE 2012 will also work on a different method of qualification marks in which candidates will have to score at least 10% marks in all the three subjects and a minimum aggregate of 35% to make it to the common rank list.

A separate rank list will also be prepared for OBC and SC/ST candidates, with OBCs getting a relaxation of 10% in the minimum marks required to crack JEE 2012. Some more changes to the JEE format include allowing a candidate to circle their answers in the answer sheet using a pen instead of pencil.

The answer keys for IIT JEE 2012 will be published online at least three weeks after the examination.