Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Examination (HSEE)-2014

HSEE-2014,

JEE Office, I.I.T. Madras, Chennai-600036’

Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Examination (HSEE)-2014

The Humanities and Social Sciences Entrance Examination (HSEE)-2014, to be conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, for admission to the five-year integrated Master of Arts (M.A) programme will be held on April 20, 2014 (Sunday) from 10 am to 1 pm at Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Thiruvananthapuram.

The five-year integrated Master of Arts (M.A) programme with 46 seats,is designed to meet the needs of students who seek a broader learning forum and who appreciate the unique design of inter-disciplinary studies. The programme encourages students to engage in critical thinking and research on ideas, people, society and the human condition.

Students will be admitted to two streams,Development Studies and English Studies, through HSEE-2014. The curriculum in first two years is common to all students, after which they branch out into one of the two streams. Allocation of streams will be based on students’ preferences as well as their academic performance during the first three semesters.

Qualifying Examination: Applicant should haveeither completed or should be appearing in 2014 in any one of the following qualifying examinations (QE).

(i) The final examination of the 10+2 system, conducted by any recognized Central / State Board, such as Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi; Council for Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi; etc

(ii) Intermediate or two-year Pre-University Examination conducted by a recognized Board / University

(iii) Final Examination of the two-year course of the Joint Services Wing of the National Defence Academy

(iv) General Certificate Education (GCE) Examination (London/Cambridge/Sri Lanka) at the Advanced (A) level

(v) High School Certificate Examination of the Cambridge University

(vi) Any Public School / Board / University Examination in India or in any foreign country recognized by the Association of Indian Universities as equivalent to 10+2 system

(vii) Higher Secondary Course (H.S.C) Vocational Examination

(viii) Senior Secondary School Examination conducted by the National Open School with a minimum of five subjects.

Courses which are preparatory in nature, without offering any degree are not considered equivalent to 10+2 system. In case the relevant qualifying examination is not a public examination, applicant must have passed at least one public (Board or Pre-University) examination at an earlier level. This is in addition to passing in the qualifying examination with aggregate marks relevant to the category of the candidate. Admission if any granted to a candidate will stand cancelled, if the proof of having passed the QE, as per the eligibility criteria specified, is not submitted to the Institute latest by September 30, 2014.

Minimum marks in Qualifying Examination : Those belonging to the General/OBC category must secure a minimum of 60 pc marks in aggregate in the Qualifying Examination. Those belonging to SC, ST and PD categories must secure a minimum of 55 pc in aggregate in the QE. If any Board awards only letter grades without providing an equivalent percentage of marks on the grade sheet, applicant should obtain a certificate from the Board specifying equivalent marks and submit it at the time of joining. HSEE Admission Committee will decide on eligibility, in case, such a certificate is not provided by the applicant.

Date of Birth: Applicant should have been bornon or after October 1, 1989. In case of SC, ST and PwD applicants, upper age limit is relaxed by 5 years.Those belonging to these categories / sub-categories born on or after October 1, 1984 are eligible.

All qualifying candidates will have to submit a Physical Fitness certificate from a Registered Medical Practitioner in the prescribed format that will be made available to them along with offer of admission letter. They will be admitted only if they are physically fit for pursuing a course of study at the Institute.

Admission to the program for all foreign nationals will be made through HSEE-2014 only. The eligibility requirements for foreign nationals will be same as those meant for the general category candidates in India.

Application: Application for the HSEE-2014 can be submitted online at http://hsee.iitm.ac.in  from December 18, 2013 to January 17, 2014. A computer with internet connection and a printer is needed. Applicant should logon to http://hsee.iitm.ac.in and select from the menu ‘Apply Online' and follow the instructions on the site and enter the required data. The site will prompt the applicant to save the data on the system when necessary. Detailed instructions for filling up the application form are given in the Brochure also.

Applicant may choose two cities as centres for the examination. Generally, the first choice will be allotted. In extreme cases, one may be allotted the city of second choice or a new one. If sufficient number of candidates is not available at any of the listed cities, the same may be dropped and the candidates will be allocated to a centre in any of the other cities.

After successfully entering the data, applicant should click the 'finalize' button. After this, applicant will not be able to edit the application. The system will then generate a printed version of the application along with the Indian Bank challan. Registration is complete only after the payment of examination fee.

The examination fee for GE and OBC (NCL) male candidates is Rs.1600/- and that for SC, ST, PwD male candidates and all categories of female candidates is Rs. 800/-. In addition, a processing fee of Rs.10 will be collected by the bank. Applicant must pay the examination fee as applicable through the challan of Indian Bank, generated during registration process. Applicant must visit any branch of the Indian Bank with the challan generated online and pay the examination fees. Applicant must mention/check the application number on both the copies of the challans generated during the online application registration process. Payment facility using Indian Bank challan will be available from December 18, 2013 to January 24, 2014.

Alternatively, one may pay the examination fee through Demand Draft (DD), in case there is no Indian Bank branch in his/her place. The DD should be drawn in favor of ‘IIT Madras HSEE-2014’, payable at Chennai. Bank charges will have to be borne by the applicant.

Challan or DD Details: Applicant shouldcheck the details of the challan at the specified place in the printout of the application, including Challan No, Branch Code; Transaction No./Journal No, date of paymentetc and also ensure that the seal of the bank branch and the signature of the banker are affixed on the challan at the space provided. If a DD is obtained, the details of the DD need to be provided in the application form in the space provided.

Applicant should affix colour photograph (with white background) at the appropriate place(s) in the application form. Applicant and father/guardian must sign at the bottom of the declaration to complete the application form. Appropriate category certificate(s) if applicable are to be obtained in the prescribed format(s) as given in Appendix-I, Appendix-II and Appendix-III of the Information Brochure that can be downloaded from http://hsee.iitm.ac.in/docs/HSEE2014-IB.pdf

OBC (NCL) certificate must be obtained on or after June 01, 2013.

The Printed application form with photograph pasted, and duly signed by the candidate and the Parent/Guardian should be accompanied by

(i) Paid Indian Bank challan (IIT Madras copy) / Demand Draft for all candidates

(ii) Attested copy of 10thClass Public Examination certificate for Name and Age proof

(iii) Attested copy of 10+2 Class mark sheet (if already passed 10+2 examination)

(iv) Attested copy of category certificate [SC/ST/ OBC(NCL)] (Appendix-I/Appendix-II)

(v) Attested copy of PwD certificate. See Appendix-III

Last Date: The completed application form, attested copy of 10thclass certificate/ 10+2 certificate / date of birth certificate, an attested copy of category certificate (if applicable) and the Institute copy of the Indian Bank challan or DD should be enclosed in an A4 size envelope and sent by Speed Post or Registered Post to reach ‘The Chairman, HSEE-2014, JEE Office, I.I.T. Madras, Chennai-600036’,latest by 5 pm on January 27, 2014.

There will not be any acknowledgement of the application. However, as and when the applications are received, it will be reflected on the HSEE website. Candidates should check the HSEE website for the status of their applications after February 14, 2014. Only one application should be submitted. Options, once selected in the application form, cannot be changed.

Admit Card: Admit Card will be available at the HSEE website for downloading, from 10 am on March 17, 2014 to 5 pm on April 17, 2014.The Admit Card will bear the name, photograph, date of birth, address and category of the candidate along with name and the address of the HSEE-2014 Centre allotted. Candidate should carefully examine the Admit Card for all the entries made therein. In case of any discrepancy, he/she should inform the Chairman HSEE-2014 immediately by phone/email/fax.

Examination pattern: HSEE-2014 will be of three hours duration and has two parts. Part I consists of objective type multiple choice questions for 2½ hours duration (150 Minutes), administered through computer. Part II involves essay writing for 30 Minutes to be written on answer sheet distributed to the candidates at the end of Part I.

Part I covers (i) English and Comprehension Skill (25 pc marks) (ii) Analytical and Quantitative Ability (25 pc) (iii) General Studies(50 pc)  in four parts covering the areas of Indian Economics (since Independence), Indian Society, Contemporary World Affairs (post-World War II) and Environment and Ecology. The detailed syllabus is given in Page 17 of the Information Brochure.

Part II requires the candidate to write an essay on general topic involving description, or/and reflection or/and discussion. The Language of Question Paper will be English.

Electronic devices like mobile phone, calculator, iPod, iPad etc. are not permitted in HSEE-2014. Further, items like log table, abacus, slide rule, book, notebook, geometry box etc. and any other means of calculation are also strictly prohibited in the examination hall.

Rank List: Rank list will be prepared based on the aggregate marks obtained in HSEE-2014. More details are available in the Information Bulletin. The ranks/scores of the candidates will be available for viewing in the HSEE website on May 14, 2014. The scores/ranks cannot be used by any person / institution without prior permission of Chairman HSEE-2014. Separate performance cards will not be sent individually to the candidates. Offer Letters to Candidates will be sent from May 15, 2014.

Seats are reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBC) if they belong to Non-Creamy Layer (NCL), Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Persons with Physical Disability (PwD), based on relaxed criteria and as per Government of India rules. Benefit of OBC (NCL), SC and ST reservation shall be given only to those classes/castes/tribes which are in the respective central list of corresponding states published by the Government of India. More details are given in the Information Brochure.

The programme is designed to expose students to many ideas and perspectives. The students choose their streams after experiencing the competing fields and subjects during the first two years as specialization begins in the third year. A very distinctive feature of the programme is the involvement of the Engineering, Sciences and Management faculties in offering innovative courses as ‘minor streams’ and electivesin collaboration with the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Such collaboration with other departments is also visualized through dissertation work under joint-supervision.

The programme imparts substantial knowledge of Indian economy, literature, philosophy, culture, society, and public management. It provides opportunities for learning a foreign language. Currently German, French and Chinese are offered. The programme requires students to complete 195 credits spread over five years to earn the degree. Discipline-related courses account for a minimum of 46 pc of total 195 credits. This includes core and elective courses and a dissertation. For details, applicants may refer to the Brochure.The Fee structure of the Programme is given in the Information Brochure.

Enquiries can be mailed to hsee@iitm.ac.in

For details, visit http://hsee.iitm.ac.in/