Chennai: One in three engineering toppers who scored 190 and above out of 200 marks in the engineering rank list this year did not get a seat allotment in the first round of engineering counselling. The huge absence of top rankers was mainly attributed to medical aspirants who stayed out of the counselling process after doing well in National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) re-exam.As predicted, computer science engineering and electronics and communication engineering were the two top courses preferred by students this year.Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) rank list has allowed 37,976 students, including 6,627 students who scored above 190 marks out of 200 in the rank list, to take part in the first round. Of them, 28,979 received the provisional allotment.Among the toppers, 4,409 students alone received provisional seat allotments while 2,218 candidates (33%) did not get any allotment in the first round. For example, of the 52 students who scored 200 out of 200 marks in the rank list, 38 alone got the seat allotment.“The toppers might have opted to study medicine and stayed away from engineering counselling. Many students this year also took admissions in deemed universities and other institutions,” career consultant Jayaprakash Gandhi said.However, officials from TNEA said the number of seat allotments remains more or less the same compared to the previous year. “We have invited 2,000 students less compared to previous year for the first round. That’s why the number of allotments also proportionately 1000 less this year. Overall, the percentage of admissions remain more or less the same,” TNEA secretary T Purushothaman told TOI.Of 422 engineering colleges which took part in the counselling, 146 colleges, including 33 autonomous colleges, did not receive a single allotment in the first round.College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) were the two colleges which filled the highest percentage of seats in the counselling with 98% and 97% respectively.Principals said they witness a dip in interest among students in pursuing IT (information technology) course this year. It was in fourth place after computer science engineering (CSE), electronics and communication engineering (ECE) and AI and data science.“Students have preferred AI and data science after CSE and ECE. But, a clear picture will emerge only after the second round in which we expect more admissions in core branches such as mechanical engineering,” said D Valavan, principal of Trichy’s Saranathan Engineering College.Further, experts also urged students to give more choices in the second round for a better chance of getting a seat allotment. As many as 93,116 students who have scored 171 to 135.75 out of 200 marks will take part in the second round of engineering counselling.
