Many of the young aspirants appearing for IIT JEE (Advanced) examination on Sunday experienced thumping hearts and sweaty palms while stepping inside the hall.

As their meticulously planned careers were at stake, the students did not want to leave anything to chance.

Many of them were seen revising their lessons for one last time outside the centres, while there were others who were hurriedly fed by their doting parents outside the exam centres in the afternoon session.

Contrary to the usual lull, Sunday saw additional crowds of students teeming the premises of these five colleges in the city — Maris Stella College on Ring Road, SRR and CVR Government College at Machavaram, and V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College, PVP Siddhartha Institute of Engineering, and Siddhartha Law College at Kanuru.
The examination consisted of Paper-I held from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and Paper-2 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

In all, 1,560 candidates appeared for the entrance test in Vijayawada. Official sources said 92 per cent of the candidates who applied took the test while 8 per cent were absent. In Tiurpati, 1,090 candidates took the test in five centres, three in SVU College of Engineering and two in SVG Polytechnic. Five observers monitored the smooth conduct of the test.

If Saturday brought relief to students who had appeared for EAMCET (Medical)-2016 after a brief period of uncertainty over declaration of the result finally released by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Sunday had tension in store for aspirants of the IIT JEE.

The JEE Advanced exam is the entry point for students aspiring for admission into various IITs across the country.