Which is tougher, JIPMER or NEET?

Getting admission in an MBBS course in a medical college of your choice is a task that requires great hard work and dedication. With lakhs of students battling for some thousand seats, the competition is increasing every year. Exams like JIPMER 2018, NEET 2018 and AIIMS are gateways through which one attains the dream of getting admission into the top medical colleges of the country.

Each of these medical entrances are relatively tougher or easier than the other. While the competition level of NEET is higher than the other two, difficulty level of AIIMS is more. Irrespective of the same syllabus, these exams can be distinguished on various parameters. For better understanding of the aspirants, below we have compared the two most prominent entrances, JIPMER and NEET.

Exam Pattern

To begin the analysis of the two exams, we should first look at their relative paper pattern wherein we would look at the areas/subjects from which questions are asked and the number of questions asked from each section, time allotted for attempting the paper etc.

JIPMER entrance exam tests the candidates for their knowledge and skills in tackling questions from areas like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, and reasoning. A total of 200 questions are asked cumulatively from all the five sections which are required to be attempted in 150 minutes.

Apart from testing candidates in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology, candidates are also tested on their Logical & Quantitative Aptitude and English language & Comprehension. It is in this context that the JIPMER exam differs from NEET and requires students to prepare general aptitude topics apart from the technical science-based topics.

On the other hand, NEET exam assesses candidates on the basis of their knowledge and skills in Physics, Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology with a total of 180 questions asked from these four subjects. Candidates are required to attempt the question asked in a time span of 180 minutes. Unlike JIPMER, NEET does not have a section for assessing reasoning and English comprehension abilities of the candidates and limits itself to the assessment of conceptual clarities in the subject.

Marking Scheme

After exam pattern, we must assess the relative toughness of the exams in terms of marking scheme of the two exams. The points mentioned below highlight the marking scheme of these two exams.

• In terms of marks allocated for a correct answer both the exams allot four marks for a correct answer.
• One mark is deducted for the wrong answer in both JIPMER and NEET exam.
• No marks are deducted for an un-attempted question in both the exams.
• Maximum marks allocated for JIPMER exam is 800 whereas NEET is a 720 mark exam.
• The time allotted for JIPMER is 150 minutes whereas for NEET is 180 minutes.

Thus, in terms of marking scheme both the exams seem to lie on the same platform.

Seats available

JIPMER exam is conducted for admission on 200 seats in Under Graduate/ bachelor’s course in medicine that is MBBS. However, NEET exam incorporates all the seats in government and private medical colleges in India apart from the seats in AIIMS, JIPMER, and AFMC (as a separate exam for them is conducted) and hence the intake is higher as compared to JIPMER exam.

Paper Analysis

As the last parameter of comparative toughness analysis, we would have a look at the paper analysis of JIPMER 2017 and NEET 2017 in this section.

JIPMER 2017

JIPMER 2017 was held on June 04, 2017 in two shifts in which around two lakh candidates appeared. The exam was held in online mode at different centres across the country. The section-wise analysis of the paper is as follows.

• Physics: The section was lengthy and comparatively difficult from the other two science-based section in the paper. The difficulty level of the section remained approximately the same during the second shift of the exam. Too many calculations and tricky questions made the section a tough nut to crack.
• Chemistry: Chemistry was easier as compared to the other two science-based section in both the shifts. However, 5 to 6 questions in the section were tricky and required the candidates to do some brainstorming.
• Biology: Biology section saw a good number of questions asked directly from NCERT which made it easier for candidates to score in this section. However, the first shift saw some complex question in this section. In first shift, it was observed that there was a balance between moderate and tough questions.
• Logical and Quantitative Reasoning: Barring a few questions in both the shifts, the section was of moderate level and provided an opportunity to score well out of the allotted forty marks to the candidates.
• English Comprehension: The section was the easiest among all the five sections in both the shifts with questions ranging from easy to moderate level. Candidates can easily score above thirty marks in this section.

NEET 2017

NEET 2017 was conducted on May 7, 2017, at different examination centres across India in offline that is pen and paper mode. The exam was held from 10:00 AM in the morning to 1:00 PM in the afternoon.

• Physics: Physics section was moderately difficult in 2017 as compared to its toughness in the previous years of the exam. The lengthy section synonym associated with Physics was also not the case this time as the section was of moderate length. However, a lot of calculation based questions added to the difficulty of the section.
• Chemistry: The section saw questions of moderate difficulty with more focus on conceptual and application-based analysis. The section was moderate in terms of difficulty and maintained its trend from the previous years.
• Biology (Botany + Zoology): Biology section (that is 45 questions of Botany and Zoology each) was difficult and tricky as compared to the previous year. The questions were based on conceptual understanding and required candidates to be conceptually sound in order to tackle them.

JIPMER or NEET?

Though, both the exams face a cut-throat competition, it is clear that NEET is a tough nut to crack in comparison to JIPMER. It has secured its position as one of the most preferred entrances in the medical field. However, clearing NEET is not everyone’s cup of tea since it requires rigorous practice, hard work and dedication. Candidates who have been studying tirelessly for medical entrance exam since 11^th and 12th grades are more likely to succeed than those who have just started their preparation.

Both, NEET and JIPMER also attract a negative marking of 1 mark for every wrong answer. Therefore, students need to remember that getting admission into the best medical colleges through NEET is tough but provides various opportunities to grow your career in the medical field. There is a wide scope as students compete for approximately 52, 305 MBBS and BDS seats across India. The success rate is thus higher and this option safer for a lot of candidates.