JEE Advanced 2025 Top Rankers Skip IITs Over Placements, Salaries

JEE Advanced 2025 top rankers have skipped IITs admissions, a significant shift in student preferences. Several top rankers have either skipped Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) altogether or avoided certain campuses. Placements, salary trends, and international options have played a strong role in this decision.

According to the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) report, nine IITs were not chosen by any candidate up to the 2000 rank. Even more striking, 339 top scorers decided against joining IITs completely.

IITs Preferred by Top Rankers

The report confirms that IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, and IIT Madras remain the most sought-after choices among the top 100 students. The data highlights how strongly top scorers favour older IITs, particularly Bombay and Delhi. However, a large section of students avoided newer IITs, raising concerns about reputation and placement opportunities.

IITs Skipped by Toppers

Education expert Dev Sharma noted that candidates across ranks ignored several IITs. Among the top 5000 institutions, such as IIT Dhanbad, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Goa, IIT Bhilai, IIT Dharwad, and IIT Palakkad, received no admissions from higher-ranked candidates. A closer look at admissions shows a pattern where newer IITs struggle to attract top talent. Below are the significant findings from the JIC report:

• Top 100 rankers skipped 20 IITs, including Kanpur, Roorkee, and Hyderabad.
• Top 200 rankers skipped 19 IITs, including Kharagpur and Gandhinagar.
• Top 500 rankers skipped 16 IITs, with none joining Guwahati or IIT-BHU.
• Among the top 5000, 339 students did not join any IIT.

Reasons Behind the IITs' Shift

Experts believe this decline is linked to placement challenges in smaller IITs. Compared to the top institutions, newer IITs attract fewer recruiters and offer lower salary packages. International recognition is also limited for graduates of newer campuses.

Dev Sharma explained that multinational companies and startups prefer graduates from established IITs. This trend impacts job offers, research opportunities, and startup funding. Many top-ranked students are now attending foreign universities with better scholarships and greater global exposure.