IIT JEE Seats: How Many Are Available and Who Gets Them?

When you hear IIT JEE seats, the total number of undergraduate engineering seats offered across all Indian Institutes of Technology through the JEE Advanced exam. Also known as IIT engineering seats, it’s not just about how many spots exist—it’s about who actually fills them, and why some IITs feel impossible to crack. In 2024, there were roughly 16,000 IIT JEE seats across all 23 IITs. That sounds like a lot—until you realize over 2 million students take JEE Main every year, and only the top 250,000 even qualify for JEE Advanced. From there, the real battle begins.

Not all seats are equal. IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, and IIT Madras grab the lion’s share of top ranks, especially in Computer Science. For example, IIT Bombay’s CS program closes at around rank 50 in JEE Advanced—meaning only the top 0.0025% of test-takers get in. Meanwhile, newer IITs like IIT Jammu or IIT Dharwad might have seats left over because students rank them lower. Home state quotas also play a huge role: 50% of seats in each IIT are reserved for students from that state. So if you’re from Bihar, your odds at IIT Patna are better than at IIT Bombay, even with the same rank.

And it’s not just about the number of seats—it’s about what happens after you get one. The pressure doesn’t end at admission. Around 30% of students who enter IITs switch branches, drop out, or shift to other fields because the workload is brutal. The real question isn’t just how many seats exist—it’s whether you’re ready for what comes after you walk through the gate.

What you’ll find below are real stories and hard numbers from students who’ve been there: which IIT is truly the hardest to get into, how cutoffs change every year, what rank you need for your dream branch, and why some students with top ranks still end up disappointed. No fluff. No guesswork. Just what actually matters when you’re chasing an IIT seat.