As such no school syllabus teaches you to thinkalong lines of competitive exams. For that you haveto join a coaching class and today, Bansal's is themost preferred.

Why? Because in all 1538 Bansal students gotselected in IITs in the year 2007. The secret of theirsuccess is 'pre selection'. Admission to Bansal classesis based on an entrance exam after class 10. Thereare 2 exams - the first is around April 15th, just afterthe 10th Boards. This exam is called 'Bullseye'.

The second entrance is in the first week of June. Thisexam is called 'Acme'. It is better to give the firstexam, as you will have a 2 month advantage andalso, first batch students get the better teachers.Second exam is of coursean option for people whohave missed the first one.

Majority of students whomake it to Bansal's are fromCBSE or ICSE board. In mytime barely 2 students fromstate board made it! Buteven for CBSE students theChemistry portion is toughas what we are taught inschool is not enough.

Yes, there are 15 day crashcourses to help you get intoBansal classes such as'Garg classes'. Not only do they coach you for theBansal test, they teach you 2-3 chapters of their studymaterial so you can score better in the first few weekly tests. Yup, it's one hell of a competitive environment.

You see the 'merit rank' that you get in Bansalentrance determines which batch you get. The toprankers are part of the 'elite' batches which get thebest teachers. Of course the ranking has to be maintained by your performance in weekly tests. Youget a cumulative ranking based on scores of pastand present tests. Those who scored less in theentrance and therefore got a lower batch do have

a chance to move up.

But in general, the elite batches have an edge. Thecatch is you don't know what rank you've got untilyou've paid your fees in full. By which time it's a faitaccompli.

Aspirants can take heart from the 2007 topper AchinBansal. He is a fresher who joined in S4 batch, whichis one of the lowest. But he worked his way up to A1batch by class 12. It's rare, but it can happen!

The GrindThere are two kinds of students - freshers and 'droppers'. Freshers are those attempting JEE for thefirst time, droppers are those who are repeating

a year to give it again.Some join Bansal's dropperbatch directly and for themthere is an entrance testcalled 'Sterling'.

In the past people woulddrop upto 3-4 years andkeep trying for JEE. Oftenthey repeated to get a better rank. But with thenew rules you can only giveJEE twice.

In class 11 - which consistsof 'freshers' , the topperbatch is P1, followed by P2

and so on upto P6. At the next rung are batches Q1to Q6, similarly R and then S (upto S6). That is 24batches of freshers in all. Then you have an addition-al 9 batches who join through the 2nd test are num-bered from J1 to J9. In 12th standard the batches arenumbered A1, A2 and so on with A1 being thecream of the class.

Before 2007, more droppers used to get selectedthan freshers. Now that you can't keep giving JEE, theratio has improved.47% of selections were freshersand 53% were droppers. Among freshers, most ofthose selected were from the top 6 batches ie A1 toA7. In batches after that only 2-3 students got select-ed. There are 75 students in every batch.

If you are planning to join the ‘JEE Topper Factory’, here’s what you can expect,says Rashmi Bansal

What they really teach you at Bansal classes

www.bheja.in 51Engineering Admissions

www.bheja.in 52Engineering Admissions

Fresher classes start at 2-2.30 pm because officiallymorning is 'school timing'. Of course no one attendsschool, we use that time to do homework of 'DPPs'(Daily Practice Problems). The toughness of theseproblems rises to maddening heights. Of course nowthat JEE pattern has changed solving these problemsis not so important, now many students don't takethem as seriously.

Droppers have no school issue - they study all day.Classes start at 8 am, batches are named X, Y and Z(there were 8 batches per series in my time!)

The TeachingThe main thing is mental toughness and keepingyourself motivated. If you fall behind, you fall behind.You may be lucky and finda sympathetic teacher but mostly you're on yourown. There are all kinds of teachers.

For example there was a Physical Chemistryteacher who was a 25 yrold Chem Engineer fromIIT Bombay. He wasrumoured to earn Rs 1lakh a month and they'dalso given him a Tata Scorpio. Last heard he had leftBansals to pursue a course in fashion design havingobtained an AIR 2 in a national level entrance exam.(yeah, ironic isn't it!)

Also one of the 'maverick' but good teachers, likeMr.Narendra Awasthi aka "Sodium" who taughtPhysical Chem has left (current whereabouts notknown). Mr Jeevan Jyothi Agrawal aka "JJ Sir",anexcellent and extremely committed Maths teacher aswell as a good human being, has left to teach at"Allen's", a very famous medical coaching institute atKota. He was the one from whom I received maxguidance during my 3 yr stint.

So quality of teachers and teaching keeps changing.

Teaching method is quite informal. There is an a/c inthe class but it's never switched on. It's only a showpiece. Also, the original Mr Bansal only teachesMaths. His brother manages the admin.

A roaring businessWhen I gave the Bansal exam in 2004, 5000 stu-dents took the test. Of which 2000 got in. Now theyare taking in more students. Currently there would bearound 10,000 students in Bansal classes. Of which

2800 would be 'droppers', 3000 would be the class12 fresher batch and rest would be class 11 freshers(3800 or so in number).

Earlier there were 75 students in a batch.Now wehave 85 to 90 in the topper batches and 120 to 150in lower batches. They have 2 buildings in whichclasses are held. The new one has classrooms where150 students can be seated.

When I joined 2 years back the fees per year were Rs 35,000 p.a.. Then it became Rs 50,000. Now itis Rs 60,000. Which means an estimated turnover ofRs 60 crores. Two years ago their official turnoverwas Rs 18 crores. And I forgot, they have a correspondence course called 'Locus' as well.

Bansal's main centre isKota - that's where close to1400 of the 1538 selections are from. Thereare only two 'branches' -Jaipur and Ajmer. Of theseJaipur is bigger and morepreferred (had 154 selec-tions vs 8 in Ajmer). Jaipurand Ajmer branches aregenerally offered to those

who don't make it to Kota.

Incidentally, the 1538 selections includes 60 SC/ STstudents as well.

BBaannssaall sseelleeccttiioonn bbrreeaakk uupp::top 100 JEE ranks: 32 studentstop 1000 JEE ranks: 250 students rest rank far lower.

My rank was 4800, there were 860 Bansal studentsabove me, Of course at 4800 I had no chance ofadmission to an IIT. I eventually joined BITS Goa.

The only other JEE coaching class of any repute inKota is Resonance. They take in 10,000 students andboast of 800 selections but there are hardly any inthe top JEE ranks. Also only about 450 of the selections would be through classroom coaching,rest are people who are in Bansal or other classesbut took up one test series from Resonance.

Most students give both Bansal and Resonanceentrance tests and prefer Bansal if they get both.Resonance tries to lure you by offering scholarships.They have a hostel called 'Lakshya' where they offersome of the toppers a free stay, provided they keepup their performance. Resonance has hardly anyselections in the top 100 but many in the top 1000

www.bheja.in 53Engineering Admissions

(includes both classroom and test series). There arealso institutes like Career Point and Insight.

There are barely 300 girls at Bansal classes. iearound 8-9 per batch. The front row is reserved forthem.

There are a lot of students in Kota from UP andBihar. Mr V K Bansal is not very pleased with theBihar students. A couple of years ago they burst a rassi bomb in one of the toilets, But it must be saidBiharis are generally intelligent, good in Maths.

LLiiffee iinn KKoottaaBansal does not have any hostel facility. This meansbooming business for private hostels and PGs. Aroom close to Bansal can cost Rs 4000 p.m. And thisis a tiny room converted from a kitchen. You can geta better room in Vigyan nagar for Rs 2000-2500p.m. and Talwandi for Rs 1500 p.m. But living inTalwandi wastes time as you have to cross a highwayand the signal does not work there.

Yeah, every minute counts!

Hostels are more or less the same. They charge Rs 6000 p.m. for lodging, food, washing clothes.Food starts out ok then deteriorates.Many survive on Maggi - they keep a gas in the room. There is a hot water problem in winter. Often the solar panels don't work. Then people skip baths or heatwater with a rod.

On Sundays the mess has a holiday. The only decentrestaurant close by is Eatos. Many prefer to eat atthelawalas or then at places like Saat Handi,Maheshwari etc further away. There is a new trendwhere sometimes mothers come and stay with thekids to ensure they have no 'food problems' and canconcentrate on studies!.

Bicycle theft (from landlord's homes, hostels andeven parking lots of coaching institutes with securityguards is a very common phenomenon). Studentsare therefore advised to buy second hand bicyclesonly which are readily available everywhere.

Then there is the issue of attending 'school' . Mostpeople join DAV public school - they actually ask foryour Bansal admit card at the time of admission. Oftheir 400 class 12 students, 350 are from Bansal. Ofcourse they are phantom students and they populateimaginary divisions. We only go for practicals oncein a while. You wake up in 12th class around Jan-Feb and cram for exams.

Occassionally there are CBSE 'raids'. But you

generally come to know in advance and rush toschool, complete the books etc. Another schoolcalled 'IL' was raided and shut down Now the schoolis derecognised but Bansal has taken over the building and holds classes there!

Due to these raids no CBSE school is ready to givefraudulent admissions so people are now opting forRajasthan Board or National Open School.

Perseverance is most important. Living in Kota onyour own, many deviate from studies also. There arelots of net cafes, pool and gaming parlours. The nonserious types spend 2 years doing masti, roaming ontheir bikes and bunking classes.

Other Coaching ClassesIn Hyderabad Ramaiah is the most sought after class.They take 150 students, of which 130 students clearJEE. They have stringent rules, including studies from4 am! Classes like FIIT JEE and Brilliant’s are knownmore for correspondence material than classroomnow. Even Bansal students join so names overlap inthe list published by different classes.

Mention must also be made of Vidyamandir Classesbased in Delhi. It is run by three brothers and takesin the creme-la-creme of students in Delhi andadjoining areasn.The focus is mostly on self studyand classes are held only twice a week for which students come from as far as Faridabad.

The entrance test is the toughest of any JEE coachinginstitute in India as they want students who can doeverything on their own. 140 out of 160 VMC students clear JEE every year. For those who don'tmake it, their study material is freely available in themarket for couple of 1000 bucks.

But obviously with all these classes it's more aboutPRE-selecting students who are likely to succeed.

AAnndd hheerree''ss aa nneewwssffllaasshh:: At the end of the day IITs callupto JEE rank 7200 for counselling and classes canclaim all of these as 'selected' candidates. The lastdecent course ends around rank 3500. Therefore thenumbers claimed as 'successful candidates' by class-es is far higher than those who actually get IIT seats.

AAnnootthheerr ppooiinntt ttoo nnoottee:: One disadvantage of studyingat Bansal is you can't compete for your home statecolleges. Your 'home state' becomes Rajasthan asthat is where you gave your board exam. So gettinginto a good college through AIEEE score (where staterank is considered) is next to impossible.

Lastly, in the last one year Bansal's has increased the

www.bheja.in 54Engineering Admissions

intake substantially. The toppers come there anyways, there's no harm in admitting more and letting them live the dream. Why give other coachingclasses any business?

This article is based on the personal experience of a student who spent 3 years at Bansal classes(2004-7).

HHeerree’’ss tthhee ppeerrssppeeccttiivvee ooff aannootthheerr aassppiirraanntt::“I travelled all the way from Guwahati to Kota withjust Rs. 2,000/- in my pocket and a cheque for18,000/- in the name of Bansal classes. I hadcleared the screening with rank 4300, and expected them to welcome me with arms wide open.Instead, I was asked: "How dare you ask about accomodation assistance? First show your screening

card, 12th marksheet, 10th marksheet... then we'llthink about admitting you". And all this while I wasthinking that I was the customer here. I lost my temper, and joined Resonance out of spite. At leastthey were polite.

But even there I couldn't take it for more than amonth. Bad food, no sleep, depressing environment,no friends (everyone crams 15-16 hours a day). I quit and came back home. And I'm glad I did that.I studied on my own. Didn't make to an IIT but got20th rank in my state and made it to a good NIT. Atleast I'm a normal human being today. I can't imagine why parents let their children go through so muchpain at such a young age. I'll never do thisto my kids”