Top entrance exam you should appear for after Class XII

Shiksha educates students, who have recently cleared Class XII, about the various entrance examinations that they could appear to pursue the course of their choice.

Class XII is considered to be the year of higher education after which students get the opportunities to fulfil their dreams of pursuing their career education. After completion of higher secondary, there are multiple options such as degree, diploma or certificate courses that students can opt for. The selection of undergraduate-level courses depends entirely on some key factors, such as educational stream opted for in XI & XII standards, student's interests and their individual career objectives. However, to ease off this burden, we have presented in this article some top national-level entrance examinations that one can appear in right after the XIIth based on respective stream (Science, Commerce, Humanities) and also one’s choice of career. Some of the given entrance examinations and courses are national-level while others are state-level or institution-specific entrance examinations.

List of Top Entrance Examinations after Higher Secondary

In this article, we have categorised all the entrance examinations into the following broad categories:

• Engineering
• Medical
• Architecture
• Law
• Design
• Hotel Management

Engineering Entrance Examinations

• JEE Main: This national-level examination is held by the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) post completion of 12^th board examination and eligible students appear in this exam to seek admission in engineering courses at IITs, NITs, and various other nationally-funded technological institutes such as IIST.
• JEE Advanced:  This exam is held by all IITs and only those students who have successfully qualified in JEE Mains can appear for this exam. Qualifying students will be granted admission in various engineering & science courses across all IITs and ISM Dhanbad.
• COMEDK UGET: COMED-K, as the name suggests, is conducted by the Consortium of Medical Engineering & Dental Colleges in Karnataka. This is an undergraduate entrance examination (UGET) that is conducted for assessing students’ merit while seeking admissions in undergraduate courses in various member colleges of KPCF (Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation Trust)
• BITSAT: Commonly known as Birla Institute of Technology and Science Admission Test, this entrance examination is mandatory for those students willing to get admission in BITS (Birla Institute of Technology and Science) in any of the campuses like Pilani, Hyderabad or Goa. This is an online test conducted by the institution for taking admissions in engineering, Information Systems, Pharmacy, and other courses.

Medical Entrance Examinations

• AIIMS MBBS: This entrance examination is conducted by the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) at the national level right after the 12^th board examination to fill seats in the MBBS course in AIIMs.
• NEET: Commonly known as National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, this national-level examination is conducted for admission in MBBS or BDS courses right after higher secondary. This exam is conducted by CBSE which earlier conducted AIPMT (India Pre Medical Test)
• AIPVT: AIPVT or All India Pre-Veterinary Test is conducted to give admission in B.VSc and AH 5 years’ course in India. This examination is conducted to fill up around fifteen percent seats in government veterinary institutions except for J&K state.

Architecture Entrance Examinations

• NATA – NATA or National Aptitude Test in Architecture is an entrance examination that is preferred for giving admission in Bachelors in Architecture courses in either government or government-aided institutions of this field. This test can be taken at one of the designated centres at a minimum of six days before the cut-off dates of colleges. The application form of NATA is available in March and a student can appear in this exam any day between March and August.

Law Entrance Examinations

• LSAT India – The LSAT or Law School Admission Test is held to give admission in law courses in all participating institutions such as Amity, ITM Gurgaon, UPES Dehradun, RGSOIPL, Faculty of Law Dehradun, for a 3-year LLB course at IIT Kharagpur as well as other institutions.
• CLAT – The CLAT or Common Law Admission Test is held for admissions in various undergraduate as well as postgraduate courses at around fourteen national Law universities. Every year, one of these fourteen universities takes up the responsibility to conduct this CLAT examination. The duration of this exam is 2 hours it mostly covers questions on Current Affairs, English, Numerical Ability, Logical reasoning and also Legal Aptitude.

Design Entrance Tests

• NIFT Entrance Exam – NIFT or National Institute of Fashion Technology is known to conduct its entrance exams for admissions in bachelors’ courses. It conducts GAT, CAT and Situation test for Bachelors in Design course. To seek admission to Bachelor's in Fashion Technology, students need to appear in the GAT test.
• DAT-NID – An entrance test is conducted by the National Institute of Design conducts the Design Aptitude Test for admissions in undergraduate courses across all centres. It is conducted in January each year and the application forms are to be submitted before November. The upper age limit for applicants is 20 years.

Hotel Management Entrance Exams

• NCHMCT JEE: The National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology Joint manages admissions in B. Sc. Hospitality and Hotel Administration and other courses in various central IHM, state government IHM and private IHMs affiliated with NCHMCT. Admissions to various courses are offered by these institutions through Joint Entrance Test (JEE).

Through this article, students can now be aware of the various entrance examinations that are conducted across India to pursue their dream careers.