JEE Main: Students Miss BArch Exam to Focus on BTech, NEET

Several students said they missed Tuesday’s BArch exam since they wanted to focus on BTech & NEET in coming days.

(Photo: PTI)

“I was helpless, if anything goes wrong, I will not be able to appear for NEET on 13 September,” says Parnasha, who had to skip the the JEE Main exam on Tuesday, 1 September. The 19-year-old from Odisha was forced to abandon plans of writing the BArch exam after her family members refused to allow her out.

Seeking to limit their exposure to coronations, several students said that they had given Tuesday’s BArch exam a miss and wanted to focus on either BTech or NEET. JEE Main is held for admissions to two courses – BArch (Architecture) and BTech (Engineering)

Parnasha, who will not be able to appear for the BTech JEE Main exam on Wednesday as well, said that she lost out on these exams due to the ‘stubborn attitude’ of the central government.

She says that her family wants her to focus on NEET UG, which will be held on 13 September.

“After seeing the condition of SOP followed during the exams like KCET, my parents decided that I shouldn’t appear JEE this time because if I get infected then I can’t appear for NEET this year.”

Parnasha, Student 

Parnasha says that although she had appeared for the JEE Main exam in January, she wanted to improve her scores by appearing for the exam in the second phase.

Skipped BArch, Will Write BTech

Many other students who had applied for the B.Arch exam, skipped it on Tuesday, while saying that they would appear for the BTech exam on Wednesday. Delhi resident Divya said that she missed the BArch exam on Wednesday as “Corona is at peak” while adding that “I decided not to risk my health for this exam”.

Divya, who said that she had scored decently in the first phase of JEE Main in January this year, made the decision at the last minute.

Similarly, Vizag resident Madhav said that he missed the BArch exam as he wanted to limit chances of exposure to the virus. Madhav said that he would have no choice but to appear for the high-stake BTech exam on Wednesday, as “it is a matter of career”.

Can’t Write Either BTech or BArch

While for most, BArch was not as important, for those like Vishal Ashdev from Haryana, who had applied both for BTech and BArch, writing any exam is nothing short of putting family members at risk.

“Since my mother is asthmatic, I don’t want to take any risks, so I’m not appearing for either BTech or BArch, which are scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday.”

Vishal Ashdev, JEE candidate 

As a result, Ashdev would have to drop a year. “Had I appeared this year, I would have been able to at least get admission into a decent college.”