How to read the predictor output

The result table is sorted from the most competitive institute-branch combinations you can realistically reach down to the safer ones. Each row is an (institute, branch, category, quota, seat pool) combination paired with the latest historical opening rank (OR) and closing rank (CR) that JoSAA published. Your rank's relationship to those two numbers tells you how reliable a target a given seat is.

The three buckets to think about

• Comfortable — your rank is well inside the closing rank from previous cycles (typically by roughly 10% or more). These are seats you would normally expect to get if you list them high; they are useful as floor anchors on your preference list.
• Boundary — your rank is within striking distance of the closing rank, either above it by a small margin or just below it. This is where the actual decision sits: trends, branch popularity, and seat-matrix changes year-on-year decide whether the seat will fall to you or just past you.
• Stretch — your rank is past the closing rank. The seat was not historically reachable for your slice, but it can still be worth listing for ambition or for a late-round float.

A worked example

Suppose you are a JEE Main rank 8,500 candidate, OBC-NCL category, Gender-Neutral pool, home state Maharashtra, and you also have a JEE Advanced rank of 6,200. The predictor might surface something like:

IIT Roorkee — Mechanical Engineering — OBC-NCL — GN — OR 5,890 / CR 6,310 — boundary
NIT Trichy — Electronics & Communication — OBC-NCL — OS — GN — OR 9,200 / CR 11,400 — comfortable
IIIT Hyderabad — Computer Science — OBC-NCL — GN — OR 4,100 / CR 5,800 — stretch

How to read this:

• IIT Roorkee Mechanical is right on the boundary — your JEE Advanced rank (6,200) is just inside the closing rank (6,310). You should list it high but not count on it; if the closing rank tightens by even 50 places this year, you miss.
• NIT Trichy ECE is comfortable for your JEE Main rank (8,500) against a CR of 11,400. If you list it above your stretch options, you should get it; it makes a solid floor.
• IIIT Hyderabad CSE is a stretch — 8,500 is well past 5,800. Listing it costs nothing if you place it above your safer options, but do not expect it; it goes either in mock allocation or late rounds if at all.

How to actually use the list

1. Pick three or four floor anchorsfrom the “comfortable” bucket. These guarantee you something acceptable.
2. Stack your real targets in the boundary bucket, in genuine order of preference — not in order of likelihood. JoSAA's algorithm only ever offers you the highest-listed seat you qualify for; getting the order right is the entire game.
3. Put a few stretch picks at the top if you would genuinely accept them. They will only be offered to you if a seat opens up; if not, the algorithm moves to your next choice.
4. Cross-check trends, not single numbers. Click into a row to see how the closing rank moved across the last three years. A steadily-tightening seat is riskier than a one-off bad year.

What the predictor cannot tell you

Historical cutoffs are a strong signal but not a forecast. The predictor cannot model this year's applicant pool, sudden branch-popularity shifts (e.g. AI/ML across the system), seat-matrix changes mid-cycle, or your personal eligibility nuances (domicile documentation, EWS recency, PwD certification). For the full walkthrough of the assumptions and limits, see the methodology page; for what the actual JoSAA algorithm does, the counselling rounds guide covers the mechanics.

Related reading

• JEE college & branch predictor: how it works — the long version of what this page does.
• Opening and closing ranks explained — the numbers behind every row of the predictor output.
• JoSAA seat matrix explained — what the category and quota columns mean.

Common questions

Is the RankMatrix JEE college & branch predictor free?

Yes. The predictor is entirely free, with no paid tier, no paywall, and no premium counselling upsell. It never asks for payment, now or later.

Do I need to create an account or enter my phone number?

No. There is no signup, no login, no phone number, no email, and no OTP. You type your JEE rank and the other inputs, click Predict, and see your results. Nothing is collected from you.

What inputs does the predictor need?

Your JEE Main rank, your category (General, EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, with PwD sub-category if applicable), your home state, and optionally your JEE Advanced rank if you qualified. You can also tune how wide a cutoff delta the results span and how many colleges to show.

Where does the predictor get its data?

From the public JoSAA opening and closing rank publications. RankMatrix ingests multiple recent years of official JoSAA data and matches your inputs against historical closing ranks for each institute-branch-category-quota-pool combination.

How accurate is the prediction?

It reflects what the JoSAA algorithm would have done historically, not what it will do this year. Year-over-year cutoffs can shift by several hundred ranks due to exam difficulty, seat matrix changes, and candidate preferences. Treat the output as a ranked shortlist to plan around, not a guarantee of admission.

Does it work for JEE Advanced ranks and IIT admission?

Yes. If you enter your JEE Advanced rank along with your JEE Main rank, the results include IITs matched against the JEE Advanced rank, as well as NITs / IIITs / GFTIs matched against the JEE Main rank.