The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) (deemed university), Pilani, is an all-India Institute for higher education. It is fully residential and awards its own degrees. Admission to all the integrated first-degree programmes of BITS, at Pilani and Goa, is made on the basis of an online test conducted by BITS, Pilani.

Students now need to take BITSAT at the Pilani Campus, to apply for the following bachelors in engineering (BE) honours programmes: chemical, civil, computer science, electrical and electronics, electronics and instrumentation, mechanical and BPharm (honours). The BE (honours) programmes for which the students can take the test at the Goa campus are: chemical, computer science, electrical and electronics, electronics and instrumentation, and mechanical.

The sale of the information bulletin starts in the last week of December and the last date for receipt of completed application forms is in January. For more information on the exam, you can contact the office of the BITS at Pilani, Rajasthan 333031 or log on to: www.bits-pilani.ac.in.

Eligibility

You should have passed the Plus-Two exam from a recognised central or state board or its equivalent with adequate proficiency in English and with a minimum of 80 per cent marks in physics, chemistry and mathematics combined and at least 60 per cent marks in each of the subjects. Students who are presently studying in BITS at any of its campuses are not eligible to appear in the BITSAT.

The top-ranking students of all the central and state board examinations in India are given direct admission to the programme of their choice, irrespective of their BITSAT score. Their subjects should include physics, chemistry and mathematics, in addition to other subjects considered by the board as required to pass the Plus-Two examination.

Entrance exam

The entrance exam is a computer-based online test conducted by BITS, Pilani. The questions are presented on the computer monitor and the candidate submits the answers through the use of keyboard or mouse.

Pattern of exam

BITSAT is of three-hours duration. It consists of four parts ? Part I : mathematics, Part II: physics, Part III: chemistry and Part IV: (a) English proficiency and (b) logical reasoning. There are 150 objective-type questions. You score three marks for each correct answer and lose a mark for an incorrect one.

If you answer all the 150 questions, then you have an option of attempting 12 extra questions. These questions will be from parts I to III only, four questions from each. But once you have opted for extra questions, you cannot go back for correction of any of the earlier answered 150 questions.

How to prepare

The BITSAT is conducted on the basis of the NCERT syllabus for Classes XI and XII. You may refer to the NCERT textbooks for preparation. You can also refer to Mathematics by S.L. Loni, I.A. Maron and Tata McGraw Hill publishers, Physics by I.E. Irodov, H.C. Verma and Tata McGraw Hill publishers, Chemistry by Arihant publishers and Physical Chemistry by R.C. Mukherji. Logical reasoning can be practised from Reasoning by R.S. Agarwal, and Quantitative Aptitude and Mental Ability by Edgar Thorpe. For English proficiency, go through books by A.S. Hornby and Norman Lewis.

sample test paper

Mathematics
For positive integer x, 10per cent of x per cent of 1000 equals:
a) x
b) 10x
c) 100x
d) 1000x

Physics
The physical quantity that does not change, when a sound wave enters from one medium to another, is
a) Wavelength
b) frequency
c) velocity
d) amplitude

Chemistry
Sulphur exhibits its highest oxidation state in
a) SO 4
b) [SO 4 ] 2
c) SO 3 2-
d) both a & b

Reasoning
Six persons A, B, C, D, E and F took up a job with a firm in a week from Monday to Saturday. Each of them joined for different posts on different days. The posts were of — clerk, officer, technician. manager, supervisor and sales executive. F joined as a manager on the first day. B joined as a supervisor but neither on Wednesday nor Friday. D joined as a technician on Thursday. Officer joined the firm on Wednesday. E joined as a clerk on Tuesday. A joined as a sales executive.
Who joined the firm on Wednesday?
a) B
b) C
c) B or C
d) A