Scored 64 marks in JEE Mains and wondering what’s next? You’re not alone. Many students find themselves asking — what percentile does this translate to? Can I still get into a good college? What should I do now?
While 64 marks might not seem like a top score, it’s important to understand exactly where you stand. Your percentile, college options, and next steps depend on several factors, and knowing them can help you make clear decisions.
In this guide, we’ll break down your expected percentile, the colleges that may accept this score, and practical tips to boost your marks if you plan to retake the exam. If you’re looking for answers and a way forward, let’s tackle it step by step.
Understanding JEE Mains Scoring System
To plan your next steps after JEE Mains, it’s crucial to understand how the scoring system works. JEE Mains doesn’t just give you a raw score — it calculates a percentile, which decides your rank and college options. Let’s break it down step by step.
1) Raw Score
Your raw score is the total number of marks you earn based on correct and incorrect answers. The marking scheme for JEE Mains is simple:
- +4 marks for every correct answer.
- -1 mark for every wrong answer (only for MCQs).
- 0 marks for unattempted questions.
For example:
If you answer 20 questions correctly and 4 incorrectly, your raw score will be:
(20×4)−(4×1)=80−4=76
The raw score is the direct result of how many questions you got right and wrong, without considering the difficulty level of the exam.
2) Normalized Score
Since JEE Mains is held across multiple shifts and days, the difficulty level may vary from one session to another. To ensure fairness, NTA uses a process called normalization.
Why is normalization needed?
- A student scoring 64 marks in an easier session might have a lower percentile than someone scoring 64 marks in a tougher session.
- To balance this, NTA adjusts scores based on the relative difficulty of each session.
The formula used for normalization involves statistical methods, comparing your performance with others in your session and across all sessions. The normalized score may be slightly higher or lower than your raw score, but the change is usually small unless there’s a big difference in paper difficulty.
3) Percentile Score
JEE Mains ranks students using the percentile system, not percentages. A percentile score shows how you performed compared to others.
Formula for percentile:
Percentile=(Number of students with score ≤ your score/Total number of students​)×100
What does this mean?
- If you get a 70 percentile, it means you scored higher than 70% of all candidates.
- A higher percentile means a better rank.
Key points about percentiles:
- Percentiles are not the same as percentages. A 70 percentile does not mean you scored 70% of the total marks.
- Two students with the same raw score can have slightly different percentiles if they appeared in sessions with different difficulty levels.
- Your All India Rank (AIR) is decided by your percentile score, not your raw score.
How These Scores Work Together
- Your raw score comes from your answers.
- It is normalized to balance session difficulties.
- The percentile score ranks you among all test-takers.
- Finally, NTA releases a rank list based on these percentiles.
Estimated Percentile for 64 Marks in JEE Mains
Based on previous years’ data, a score of 64 marks in JEE Mains typically falls in the range of 75 to 85 percentile. This means you have scored higher than about 75-85% of the total candidates who appeared for the exam. Here’s a rough estimate from past years:
JEE Main Marks vs Rank vs Percentile 2025 (Expected)
| Marks out of 300 | Rank | Percentile |
| 288- 294 | 20-11 | 99.99826992- 99.99890732 |
| 280-284 | 44-22 | 99.99617561 – 99.99790569 |
| 270-279 | 107-63 | 99.99034797 – 99.99417236 |
| 252- 268 | 522-106 | 99.95228621- 99.99016586 |
| 231-249 | 1385-546 | 99.87388626-99.95028296 |
| 215-230 | 2798-1421 | 99.74522293-99.87060821 |
| 202-214 | 4666-2862 | 99.57503767- 99.73930423 |
| 190-200 | 6664- 4830 | 99.39319714- 99.56019541 |
| 175-189 | 10746-7151 | 99.02150308 – 99.3487614 |
| 161-174 | 16163-11018 | 98.52824811-98.99673561 |
| 149-159 | 21145-16495 | 98.07460288-98.49801724 |
| 132-148 | 32826-22238 | 97.0109678-97.97507774 |
| 120-131 | 43174-33636 | 96.0687115-96.93721175 |
| 110-119 | 54293-44115 | 95.05625037-95.983027 |
| 102-109 | 65758-55269 | 94.01228357-94.96737888 |
| 95-101 | 76260-66999 | 93.05600452 -93.89928202 |
| 89-94 | 87219-78111 | 92.05811248 -92.88745828 |
| 79-88 | 109329-90144 | 90.0448455 -91.79177119 |
| 62-87 | 169542-92303 | 84.56203931-91.59517945 |
| 41-61 | 326517-173239 | 70.26839007-84.22540213 |
| 1-42 | 1025009-334080 | 66.6590786-69.5797271 |
The percentile is not directly linked to your raw marks because it depends on multiple factors, such as the number of candidates and the difficulty level of your exam session. Let’s explore what influences your percentile.
Factors Influencing Percentile in JEE Mains
Your JEE Mains percentile doesn’t just depend on your raw score — it’s affected by several factors that work behind the scenes. Understanding these factors helps you figure out why two students with the same marks might have different percentiles and how your score of 64 might shift depending on the conditions.
Let’s break down the key factors:
1) Session Difficulty
JEE Mains is conducted in multiple sessions over several days to accommodate the large number of candidates. However, not all sessions have the same level of difficulty.
- If your session had tougher questions compared to others, fewer students would score high, pushing your percentile up even if your raw score was average.
- In an easier session, more students would score higher marks, pulling your percentile down.
Example:
- In a tough session, a score of 64 might translate to a 74-75 percentile.
- In an easy session, the same 64 marks might result in a 70-71 percentile.
To balance this, NTA uses score normalization to adjust for varying difficulty levels, ensuring fairness across all shifts.
2) Number of Candidates Appearing
The total number of candidates taking the exam directly affects percentile calculation.
- If fewer candidates appear, the competition decreases, and a given score may result in a higher percentile.
- If more candidates, especially well-prepared ones, appear, the percentile for the same score may decrease.
Example:
- In a session with 1 lakh students, a 70th percentile means your rank is roughly 30,000.
- In a session with 10 lakh students, the same percentile places you at 3,00,000 rank.
The number of candidates tends to be higher in later sessions since many students reattempt the exam, often with better preparation, making the competition tougher.
3) Yearly Variations
JEE Mains percentiles can also shift due to annual changes in exam patterns, syllabus weightage, and student preparation levels.
- If a particular year has a more challenging syllabus or unpredictable questions, average scores tend to be lower, pushing percentiles up for moderate scores like 64.
- In a simpler paper year, more students score higher, lowering the percentile for the same marks.
Keeping an eye on exam trends helps you understand why percentile cutoffs may differ from year to year, even for the same raw score.
4) Performance of Top Students
Your percentile is not just about your performance — it’s also influenced by how others perform.
- If the top scorers in a session perform exceptionally well, the score-percentile mapping gets tighter, pushing mid-range scores like 64 to a slightly lower percentile.
- If the top scores are lower (perhaps due to tougher questions), your 64 marks might fall into a higher percentile bracket.
This is why JEE Mains isn’t just a test of how well you did, but how well you performed compared to others.
Colleges Accepting 64 Marks in JEE Mains
With 64 marks in JEE Main, students may not have access to top-tier NITs and IIITs, but several other opportunities are still available. These include state-level institutions, mid-range private engineering colleges, and alternative technical or non-technical career paths. Here’s a breakdown of the options students can consider.
NITs and IIITs: Admission to the most competitive NITs and IIITs is generally out of reach for students scoring around 64 marks due to their higher cut-offs. However, lower-tier NITs and certain branches that are less in demand (like Metallurgical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, and Textile Engineering) may still offer options, especially for reserved category students. Students from states that host NITs may also have some advantage due to the state quota, which allocates a portion of seats to state-domicile candidates.
State-Level Engineering Colleges: Many state-level government engineering colleges offer seats through their own counselling processes, and the cut-offs are often lower than those of NITs and IIITs. With 64 marks, students may find good opportunities in state colleges, especially in states with abundant engineering seats like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. Admission prospects improve further if students have domicile status in the state, as many state colleges give preference to local candidates.
Private Engineering Colleges: Private colleges can be a viable choice for students scoring around 64 marks. Many tier-2 and tier-3 private engineering institutions accept students in this percentile range. Private institutions may have slightly higher fees than government colleges but often provide good infrastructure, experienced faculty, and placement support. Students can also explore financial aid options or scholarship programs that some private colleges offer to support academically inclined candidates.
List of Colleges that Accept 64 Marks in JEE Mains
| Name of the College | NIRF Rank 2024 | Annual Fees (Approx.) |
| KIIT University – Bhubaneswar | 39 | Rs 14.91 Lakhs |
| Lovely Professional University (LPU) – Phagwara | 38 | Rs 2 Lakhs |
| Amity University, Gurgaon | 99 | Rs 3.58 Lakhs |
| Brainware University – Kolkata | – | Rs 1.16 Lakhs |
| NIMS University – Jaipur | – | Rs 30,000 |
| Sanjay Rungta Group of Institutions, Bhilai | – | Rs 75,000 |
| Dev Bhoomi Group of Institutions – Dehradun | – | Rs 73,000 |
| Parul University – Vadodara | – | Rs 2.20 Lakhs |
| Invertis University, Bareilly | – | Rs 1.50 Lakhs |
| Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering & Technology – Chandigarh | – | Rs 1.05 Lakhs |
| Mangalmay Group of Institutions – Greater Noida | – | Rs 1.29 Lakhs |
| ABES Engineering College – Ghaziabad | – | Rs 2.20 Lakhs |
| Vikram University | – | Rs 30,000 |
| Radharaman Engineering College | – | Rs 1.70 Lakhs |
| Pimpri Chinchwad Education Trust – Pune | – | Rs 1.95 Lakhs |
| Glocal University – Saharanpur | – | Rs 1.70 Lakhs |
| JK Lakshmipat University – Jaipur | – | Rs 2.75 Lakhs |
| Laxmipati Institute of Science & Technology, Bhopal | – | Rs 1.82 Lakhs |
| Rajiv Gandhi Prodyogiki Mahavidhyalaya, Bhopal | – | Rs 1.78 Lakhs |
| Gyan Sagar College of Engineering | – | Rs 1.82 lakh |
| Jawaharlal Institute of Technology | – | Rs 50,000 |
| Shri Ram College of Technology | – | Rs 11.57 Lakhs |
| Astral Institute of Technology and Research (Astral, Indore) | – | Rs 2.30 Lakhs |
| Chandigarh Group of Colleges (CGC), Jhanjeri | – | Rs 1.37 Lakhs |
| Rewa Institute of Technology | – | Rs 1 Lakh |
| St. Aloysius Institute of Technology (SAIT JBP) | – | Rs 48,000 |
| Maharana Pratap College of Technology Institutions | – | Rs 1.92 Lakhs |
| Pallavi Engineering College – Ranga Reddy | – | Rs 70,000 |
| Shivpuri Institute of Technology | – | Rs 90,000 |
| Chandigarh University – Chandigarh | – | Rs 2.10 Lakhs |
| Graphic Era (Deemed-to-be-University), Dehradun | 89 | Rs 2.26 Lakhs |
| Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore | 11 | Rs 1,98,000 |
| University of Technology | – | Rs 45,000 |
| Sri Balaji College of Engineering and Technology | – | Rs 45,000 |
| SAGE University Indore | – | Rs 50,000 |
| Seacom Skills University | – | Rs 60,000 |
| Sir Padampat Singhania University (SPSU) | – | Rs 72,000 |
| Visvesvaraya College of Engineering & Technology | – | Rs 60,000 |
| Terna Engineering College | – | Rs 59,500 |
| Aalim Muhammed Salegh College of Engineering | – | Rs 65,000 |
| Dr. Subhash Technical Campus (DSTC), Junagadh | – | Rs 62,000 |
| IMS Engineering College | – | Rs 70,000 |
| Centurion University Bhubaneswar | – | Rs 70,000 |
| Mansarovar Global University | – | Rs 65,000 |
| Accurate Institute of Management and Technology, Noida | – | Rs 70,000 |
| Marudhar Engineering College | – | Rs 77,000 |
| Marwadi University | – | Rs 75,000 |
| United Institute of Technology | – | Rs 80,000 |
| B.H. Gardi College of Engineering & Technology, Rajkot | – | Rs 80,000 |
| Dream Institute of Technology | – | Rs 92,500 |
| RK University | – | Rs 1,00,000 |
| People’s University | – | Rs 86,000 |
| Geeta Engineering College | – | Rs 90,000 |
| Brindavan College | – | Rs 1,03,000 |
| GIET University, Gunupur | – | Rs 1,14,000 |
| The ICFAI University, Jaipur | – | Rs 1,00,000 |
| Gandhi Engineering College | – | Rs 1,00,000 |
| Vishwabharati Academy’s College of Engineering | – | Rs 1,94,000 |
| Siddhivinayak Technical Campus | – | Rs 1,60,000 |
| Vidya Niketan College of Engineering | – | Rs 2,56,000 |
| Pallavi Engineering College | – | Rs 54,000 |
| Sagar Group of Institutions | – | Rs 60,000 |
| Amrutvahini College of Engineering | – | Rs 4,16,000 |
| Pillai College of Engineering | – | Rs 4,86,000 |
| Ashoka Group of Institutions (AGI) | – | 65,000 |
Preparation Tips to Improve Marks in JEE Mains
If you’re planning to retake JEE Mains or simply want to boost your score, having a clear, focused preparation strategy is essential. Scoring higher requires more than just studying hard — it’s about studying smart. Let’s break down effective preparation tips to help you improve your marks in the next attempt.
1) Identify Weak Areas
The first step is to figure out exactly where you’re losing marks.
- Review your previous attempt: Look at your JEE Mains scorecard and analyze which subjects pulled your total down.
- Use mock tests: Take full-length mock tests and carefully check which topics caused mistakes — was it integration in Maths, thermodynamics in Physics, or organic chemistry reactions?
- Categorize mistakes: Separate them into careless errors, conceptual gaps, and time management issues.
By pinpointing your weak areas, you can prioritize what to fix first.
2) Strengthen Core Concepts
JEE Mains often tests the basics in a tricky way. Strengthening your core concepts will help you solve both simple and complex questions.
- NCERT books: For Physics, Chemistry, and Maths, thoroughly study NCERT textbooks — especially for Chemistry, as many direct questions come from there.
- Concept-first approach: Don’t just memorize formulas. Understand how they work — why does a formula for motion have that particular structure?
- Solve conceptual problems: Use books like HC Verma for Physics, RD Sharma for Maths, and MS Chouhan for Organic Chemistry to dive deeper into concepts.
Solid basics mean you can tackle tricky application-based questions without confusion.
3) Time Management
Many students know the concepts but struggle with time during the exam. Practicing effective time management can boost both speed and accuracy.
- Mock test drills: Set a timer and take mock tests in exam-like conditions — 3 hours, 90 questions.
- Question selection strategy: Don’t spend too much time on a single hard question. If a question seems confusing after 2 minutes, move on and return later.
- Divide time smartly: Allocate time for each subject — for example, 50 minutes each for Physics, Chemistry, and Maths — leaving 30 minutes for revision.
Mastering time management prevents panic during the real exam.
4) Coaching vs. Self-Study
Decide whether you want to prepare through coaching classes, online courses, or self-study.
- Coaching classes: Useful if you need structured guidance and daily motivation.
- Self-study plans: If you prefer working at your pace, create a daily timetable — mix subject revision, problem-solving, and test practice.
The key is consistency — whichever method you choose, stick to a routine.
5) Regular Mock Tests and Analysis
Taking tests regularly is one thing — but analyzing them is where the real progress happens.
Daily/Weekly tests: Aim for 2-3 full-length tests per week.
Post-test analysis: After each test, check:
- How many questions did you skip or get wrong?
- Which concepts led to errors?
- Was time management a problem?
Error notebook: Maintain a notebook where you jot down all your mistakes and their correct solutions — review this weekly.
For the best practice experience, consider enrolling in the Phodu Club JEE Main Test Series. Their test series is highly recommended because:
- It mirrors the exact JEE Mains pattern, helping you get used to real exam conditions.
- Detailed performance analysis pinpoints your weak areas.
- The tests cover all difficulty levels — easy, moderate, and tough — preparing you for any kind of paper.
- With regular rank predictions, you can track your progress and set realistic goals.
Practicing with Phodu Club’s test series sharpens your problem-solving skills, boosts exam confidence, and ensures you’re fully prepared for the big day.
Conclusion
Scoring 64 marks in JEE Mains might feel challenging, but it’s not the end of the road. With an estimated percentile of around 70-75, you still have options. While admission to top NITs and IIITs may be tough, several state engineering colleges and private institutes can be within reach.
If you’re determined to aim higher, a focused preparation plan for the next JEE Mains attempt can help boost your score. Identify your weak areas, strengthen core concepts, and practice with regular mock tests.
Remember, JEE Mains is just one path. Other entrance exams like BITSAT, VITEEE, and state-level tests offer alternative routes to quality engineering programs.
Stay focused, keep working hard, and choose the path that best suits your goals. Whether it’s retaking the exam or exploring other options, what matters most is moving forward with confidence and determination.
