For the first time in five years, mechanical
engineering has emerged as the favourite among engineering aspirants as
nearly 29, 319 have chosen the stream, followed by 27,082 who chose ECE
and 18, 706 who opted for computer science and engineering.
With
nearly 1.4 lakh students allotted engineering seats in over 500
colleges across the State, the general counselling of Tamil Nadu
Engineering Admissions 2012 came to an end on Saturday.
This
year, there are 15,000 more takers for engineering, compared to 2011.
There were indeed many more seats than required here, and students had
ample choice, much to the relief of those who had their counselling
dates this week, the last of the counselling that lasted over a month.
S.
Kumar, a parent from Salem, said he was uncertain whether to wait for a
seat through counselling process or get through by paying donation.
“Many of my sons’ friends did that, but I was hoping we would get
through general counselling,” said the relieved father, proudly
showcasing his admission document for a seat in SRS, Salem.
Many
others had their share of problems. For instance, a candidate chose a
college in Tiruvannamalai, not knowing it was facing legal problems.
“They then told me that Anna University won’t be responsible if there is
a legal issue. I was shocked. But thankfully, I reversed my decision
and took another college,” he said.
"There are many
vacant seats but most of these colleges are not the known ones. So we
had to be extra careful," said Rudran, another student, from Perambalur.
Ajith Kumar, the last student to be allotted the engineering seat, got
one in Anna University in Panruti.
As many as 55,813
engineering seats will go vacant this year, of which 55,168 are in
self-financing colleges, and 644 in colleges under Anna University.
“There is one vacant seat in the ST category in the textile technology,”
said an Anna University official.
This year, the
number of seats available through single window counselling was 1.73
lakh. Self-financing institutions surrendered 14,000 seats before
counselling started.
“Last year, the allotment for
1.50 lakh students was done in 35 days; this year, the same task was
accomplished in the same time for 1.24 lakh students. We hope all those
who got in enjoy and learn something substantial in their course,”
said V. Rhymend Uthariaraj, secretary, Tamil Nadu Engineering
Admissions.
The officials expect the number to go up
to 1. 26 lakh, with two more days — vocational phase II and
supplementary counselling — scheduled on Sunday and Monday.
