# IAT prep, career advice for Class 12 student 2026-11-14T20:06:24+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Outlets counted: thehindu.com The Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) admit students through the IISER Aptitude Test (IAT). The exam has 60 multiple-choice questions with four marks for correct answers and a negative mark of one for incorrect ones. Key topics for Biology include Genetics, Cell Biology, Biotechnology and Ecology, Physics covers Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Modern Physics, Waves and Optics, Chemistry includes Organic Reaction Mechanisms, Thermodynamics and Physical Chemistry Numericals, and Mathematics focuses on Calculus, Vectors, 3D Geometry, Probability, Combinatorics and Matrices. Students can also consider NEST for NISER Bhubaneswar and UM-DAE CEBS Mumbai, as well as CMI and CUET-UG for central universities. Private institutions such as Shiv Nadar University, Azim Premji University, Ashoka University, FLAME University and Krea University offer four-year B.S. degrees with interdisciplinary learning. Candidates should check each institution's eligibility criteria, admission process and course structure before applying. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The advice consolidates multiple entrance exams and institutional pathways into a single response, but leaves the relative difficulty and overlap of syllabi unaddressed. Students preparing for IAT, NEST and CUET-UG simultaneously may face divergent question patterns and marking schemes. The next step for Aditi is to compare the eligibility cutoffs and application deadlines of each listed institution before choosing which exams to prioritise. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Straight advice column with no political or ideological slant This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: CBSE, CUET-UG, IAT, IISc, IISER, NEST Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/iat-prep-career-advice-for-class-12-student/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/iat-prep-career-advice-for-class-12-student/#story-in-brief Gate decision: carve_out (pass: utility (exam_or_result, exam:exams), qualifying outlets 1, relevance 8) Utility kind: exam_or_result (exam:exams) Freshness: pass (fresh: newest qualifying source 2026-11-14 08:16Z (feed), 11.8 h old) Image: photograph. Source: https://th-i.thgim.com/public/incoming/ib9izy/article71700950.ece/alternates/LANDSCAPE_1200/OFF%20THE%20EDGE%206.jpg. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/