FAQs on Physics after Engineering

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs) in our community on various platforms. We’ve asked some of our community members who have eminent knowledge to answer them. I am extremely thankful to them for obliging and taking time out to answer the questions.
Here is the list of questions, answers are given below it:

1. Can I study Physics after Engineering (B.E/B.Tech) in <Any> branch?
2. I want to do a BSc in Physics after Engineering? How should I go about it?
3. Can I pursue MSc Physics in IITs after Engineering, what is the eligibility criteria for admission?
4. What are the preferred books for JAM?
5.  What are the preferred books for JEST?
6. What are some good books for practicing problems?
7. Is it worth buying Fiziks or any other material? If I want to buy second-hand ones where can I get them?
8. What are exam dates and application deadlines for JAM/JEST/TIFR-GS etc. ? 
9. Is coaching necessary for JAM? 
10. Which coaching institute is better, Career Endeavour or Fiziks?
11. Which exam is better JEST or JAM?
12.  Is there any age limit for the entrance tests?
13. Has any IIT taken engineering grads in MSc Physics course?
14. Is it possible to study for JAM while working and get into IITs?
15. Can I do a direct Ph.D. in Physics after Engineering?
16. Up to what rank in JEST will different institutes call us for interviews?
17. Will our ranks and score in the entrance exam be given a weighting along with the interview process during selection?
18. Are there any good test series for JAM and JEST, which one would you recommend?
19. Which Institutes offer IPhD to BTechies after JEST?

Q1: Can I study Physics after Engineering (B.E/B.Tech) in <Any> branch?

Yes. Absolutely, In fact many people are doing it. Please go through this post for full details https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2018/03/physics-after-engineering.html
 Many top colleges and institutes accept Engineering students into their MSc/IPhD or Ph.D. programs. Through JEST almost all the best research institutes take engineers in New Physics IPhd programs. TIFR accepts engineers through their own exam TIFR-GS and JEST for their Integrated. Ph.D. program. IIT Indore accepts Engineers to their Astronomy program. Apart from that many esteemed Universities like JNU, Pune University, DU, University of Hyderabad, etc.., accept Engineers for their MSc Physics program. There are also a few universities where you can do MSc Physics after engineering. For more details and exhaustive list please go through the blog post above.

Q2: I want to do BSc in Physics after Engineering? How should I go about?

Technically, you don’t have to, since there are institutions that take Engineers directly. Besides, you will be familiar with most of the syllabus. If you see the JAM syllabus, you’ll notice that the majority of it will already be covered in your 12th class. So it is advised to go for an MSc.
https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2018/03/physics-after-engineering.html

           Q3: Can I pursue MSc Physics in IITs after Engineering, what is the eligibility criteria for admission?

 There used to be a requirement of having Physics courses in Bachelor’s degree for all, but from JAM 2021, all engineers are exempted from this rule. That means all engineers are eligible for admission in MSc Physics in IITs, given they have a minimum of 55% in Bachelor’s degree, they don’t need to have done any physics courses. We believe that PAE community has played a major role in bringing about the change, You may read the full story regarding that.

             _Dussy

Q4: What are the preferred books for JAM?

https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2019/07/on-preparation-for-jam-and-physics.html
This a post by Niket Shah with book recommendations for JAM preparation.
You can find some lists of many other good books in the ‘Book recommendations’ section here
https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/p/all-posts.html

Q5: What are the preferred books for JEST?

https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2019/07/books-lectures-and-notes.html
This a post by Chintan Patel on book recommendations for JEST preparation.
Also, you can find lists of many other good books in the ‘Book recommendations’ section here
https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/p/all-posts.html

Q6: What are some good books for practicing problems?

YK Lim Series (For NET JRF, Interviews and GS), Previous Years are enough for other exams.

Arihant JAM last 10 yrs book: Don’t refer the Arihant publication for previous years JAM papers. Horrendous solutions and copious printing errors. Better to refer papers provided along with study material by respective coaching institutes (career endeavours provides one book with study material which is good).
Also, topic wise question books are provided separately for practice by career endeavour – separated acc to various entrance exams jam, du, tifr, jest, hcu etc.

Another version:
I highly recommend solving problems from this site:
https://sites.google.com/site/likharevegp/part-em-classical-electrodynamics
You can find Problem sets for all subjects in it.
I have also uploaded some pdfs of amazing problems: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1n3QR6ngbPlV9sDv-m7szxRKksw5ghAQk
An excerpt from Chintan Patel’s (AIR 6 in JEST 2019) post on JEST preparation

Q7: Is it worth buying Fiziks or any other material? If I want to buy second-hand ones where can I get them?

Fiziks: Material is okay but significant printing errors present.
Career endeavour: Material is good for exam preparation, errors are much lesser.
Eduncle: Not recommended

<add more material reviews here and others opinions are welcome on the comments provided above – sudipta>

Second hand material (career endeavour, fiziks) can be found in shops near Jia Sarai, IIT Delhi. Also found in a photocopy shop Arvind photostat, Hauz Khas Delhi. Class notes – 2k; Study Material – 4k.

You can also request on facebook, whatsapp groups if someone has an old second hand material.

Q8: What are exam dates and application deadlines for JAM/JEST/TIFR-GS etc. ? 

All the information required is present here
https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2018/04/exams-and-probable-dates.html

Q9: Is coaching necessary for JAM?  

Coaching is not necessary for JAM but mileage will vary from person to person. If you have spent a good amount of time practicing and perfecting basic physics topics in 12th and seriously attempted competitive examinations like JEE Mains, JEE Advanced etc, you can prepare on your own according to JAM syllabus and coaching material. If one is taking this route, it is suggested to take up an online test series as well.

If you feel you need to work significantly on your basics or want a peer group, coaching can help immensely. Also it will help invoke discipline.

Kunal Vyas, like he said, was an average student in college. But he prepared on his own and secured 9th rank with a massive score of 79. You can read his Blog post :- https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2019/06/a-little-insight-into-my-journey-into.html

Alternate:– If you can maintain focus for six months and study religiously, then no, coaching is not necessary. You just need the right books.
If you easily get distracted and need a schedule, a time table, then you can opt for coaching.

Alternate answer:

I want to bring attention to the fact that most(if not all) people from our group who topped JAM or JEST have not been to any coaching, you can read their preparation strategies that enabled them to achieve the feat. You can read them from the link below. We also bring to you their personal journey into Physics, all exclusively for you only in our Blog ‘Physics after Engineering’, this is a feature for premium members only. You can get a premium membership by paying 9.99$ per month. Just kidding. It’s all available here, for free of course. Thanks to those writers.
https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/p/all-posts.html

Q10) Which coaching institute is better, Career Endeavour or Fiziks?

Career Endeavour:
Good study material covering almost every concept in each topic with a lot of problems.
Classes are hectic. 9am to 5 pm for four months or so.

I have been to fiziks so I can answer about it in depth.

Fiziks:

Staff: Staff is nice and polite.
Study material: It has a lot of errors. Questions are relatively easy. Most of the questions are taken from FIIT-JEE and RESONANCE booklets.
Class timings: 9am-1pm usually. Classes are not hectic. 5 days a week, 5 hours a day.
Faculty:Except a few, most of the faculties are just plain pathetic. They have a motto of not solving doubts and just insult you instead. So if you have doubts, you’re mostly on your own.

They have a very “just study for the entrance not physics” mentality. Yes, it somewhat helps in the exam but also leaves you with a lot of unclear concepts. It might also haunt you in the exam.

I’d also like to mention that lectures on Quantum Mechanics are pure gold. That’s the only plus point of Fiziks for me.

If you’re not from Delhi then,
Cost of living: About 5000 rupees housing rent per month
1500-2000 tiffin service(twice a day) per month

Q11: Which exam is better JEST or JAM?

https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2019/07/which-exam-to-prepare-for-jam-jest-tifr.html
This is the link to the post in our Blog specifically for answering this question

Q12: Is there any age limit for the entrance tests?

A: It’s mostly a no. Main exams like JAM, JEST and GATE have no age limits, same is the case for most other exams. Only CSIR NET has age limit of 28 (for general category). This is as far as eligibility for exams is concerned, apart from that, Institutions might have a seperate eligibility of their own for admission, however, As far as we’ve checked, there are no restrictions on age limit on in any institute. You may check again in the official website of your institute of interest to make sure. There are people of age over 30 taking admission in MSc courses at IITs and other universities as well.

Q13: Has any IIT taken engineering grads in MSc Physics course?

A: Yes, they do have the history of taking engineers, this year (2019) we’ve made a list of candidates from our group who made it to IITs. Here’s the link to the list
https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2019/09/a-catalogue-of-our-group-membersor.html

Q14: Is it possible to study for JAM while working and get into IITs?

(Not answered)

Q15: Can I do direct PhD in PAE?

https://physicsafterengineering.blogspot.com/2018/03/physics-after-engineering.html

This blog post has a separate section listing all the places that accept B.E/B.Tech grads for Direct PhD.

Q16: Upto what rank in JEST will different institutes call us for interviews?

2019:

• HRI:- Under 96 students.
• IMSc:- About110 students.
• IISER-Pune:- Under 500.
• IISER-Tirupati:- Under 200(and JAM under 800).
• IISER-Thiruvananthapuram:- Qualify for JAM and JEST.
• IISC:- Under 170.
• ICTS:- Under 110.

Q17: Will our ranks and score in the entrance exam be given a weighting along with the interview process during selection?

In top institutes(TIFRs, IISc etc), no. It is purely based on the marks scored in written test and interview. In institutes like IISERs where they call about 500 students, might be.

Q18: Are there any good test series for JAM and JEST, which one would you recommend?

Test series of Career Endeavour is till date the better test series from the rest as per my knowledge. It’s harder than an actual JAM paper but it helps in clearing concepts. Test series of Fiziks contains few errors but is much easier. It might help in building confidence. But don’t expect any of the questions from test series to repeat in JAM. They most likely won’t. This is for JAM and I don’t think there is a separate test series for JEST.

Q19. Which Institutes offer IPhD to BTechies after JEST?

IISER Pune , Kolkata(MS Space Sc, IPhD) , Bhopal , Mohali , TVM , Tpt , IMSc , IISc , HRI (2yr MSc which can be upgraded.) , TIFR , ICTS , TIFRH , NCRA TIFR , BOSE INSTITUTE , JNCASR(Material Sc IPhD) , IIA

Alternate: Refer to official JEST website for the full updated list.