EAMCET -2009 was scheduled to be held on 14th May 2009 with a few modifications in calculating the ranks. This time 25% weightage is given to IPE Score for determining the Ranks in EAMCET – 2009. With regard to weightage, Prof.LVAR Sharma, Convenor, EAMCET-2009, says the marks of both theory and practical examinations will be counted. EAMCET marks will be announced initially and the final rank will be given at the end of July. He said a special software has been prepared that will calculate the final rank of the candidate taking into account both EAMCET and Intermediate marks. “Students need not suspect any manipulations as there will be minimal manual interference,” he assured.

EAMCET – the link between success and so-called failure of students in the State is a different ball game altogether this year.  While the 25 per cent weightage given for Intermediate marks has changed the game altogether, some changes expected to be brought in from this year will open the doors of success to more number of students.

Inclusion of CBSE and ICSE syllabus that has already been incorporated in the Intermediate syllabus to a large extent, is likely to make it a bit easy for students from other syllabi to compete with local students for top ranks. The weightage itself has opened up competition, which earlier was confined to two corporate colleges in the State.

“Changes in the syllabus will not be major despite including certain topics from CBSE and ICSE,” says L.V.A.R. Sharma, Convener, EAMCET-2009. Intermediate first year syllabus was changed in 2007-08 and the second year syllabus in 2008-09 to prepare students to take the all-India tests like IIT-JEE and AIEEE more competently. “There will no change in the examination pattern and the number of questions will also remain the same.”

No CBSE, ICSE in EAMCET:
         
JNTU was forced to withdraw its plan following opposition. The Jawaharlal Technological University’s plan to revise the Eamcet syllabus after a gap of eight years has come a cropper.  In a bid to raise the standard of the Eamcet, JNTU had earlier decided to include material from CBSE, ICSE and Intermediate syllabi. It had also appointed committees to frame the common syllabus. Each committee had four experts and they were asked to frame a common syllabus for Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology, by the first week of February.

However, JNTU was forced to withdraw its plans following opposition from students, parents and college managements, not to mention pressure from higher-ups in the government. Students argued that the hasty decision taken by Eamcet officials will affect their prospects in the entrance examination.

Some college managements approached senior officials of higher education department and demanded that they drop the idea of revising the EAMCET syllabus at this juncture. Under pressure, the government too asked the JNTU not to undertake experiments that would trigger protests from students and their parents, especially during election year. However, Mr D.N. Reddy, chairman of EAMCET-2009, said that the syllabus would be revised. “We need to revise the EAMCET syllabus as per the changes brought in the Intermediate syllabus in 2006 though we will not include the syllabus of CBSE and ICSE Boards,” he said.

EAMCET : 50 p.c. must for medical aspirants
 Students appearing for Engineering, Medical and Agriculture Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) and aspiring to join MBBS, BDS and B.V.Sc courses will have to score 50 per cent aggregate of the optional subjects in the qualifying examination and the EAMCET as well to get eligibility for admission. For SC and ST candidates, the minimum score in 40 per cent.
However, all the candidates are eligible for admission into other courses even if they score the minimum passing mark of both the examinations. EAMCET-2009 Chairman D.N. Reddy, APSCHE Chairman K.C. Reddy and Principal Secretary (Higher Education) Asutosh Mishra told in a press conference that these conditions would be included in the EAMCET notification to be issued on February 12, as per Medical Council of India guidelines.

Lengthy questions test EAMCET aspirants
In the EAMCET-2009, students find Chemistry paper very tough.  Few questions in Biology were ambiguous

Some quality questions and a lengthy paper tested the skills of the candidates who took the EAMCET conducted on Thursday across the State for admission into engineering, medical and agriculture courses.

Students found the Chemistry paper of the engineering stream to be very tough while the Mathematics paper was time consuming with lengthy questions. In the medical stream, six to seven questions in Biology subject were found to be highly complicated by the students and they opined that these questions could
decide the top ranks.
Even the top students of corporate colleges found the examination tough this year compared to previous years. Ashok, principal of the Narayana College in Secunderabad, said the Chemistry syllabus was increased considerably last year but working days remained the same and this might affect the students banking on scoring more in the subject. Some students argued that a few questions in Biology were ambiguous.

Meanwhile, EAMCET-2009 Chairman, D.N. Reddy, said that the preliminary key will be released on May 21 and a week’s time would be given for students and teachers to send their objections. “Expert committees consisting of four teachers in each subject would be constituted to look into complaints received. The final key would be prepared based on that report and results would be published before June 1,” he said. EAMCET-2009 Convenor, LVAR Sarma, said 3,02,488 (97 per cent of registered) appeared for the engineering stream while 62,773 (95 per cent of registered) took the medical stream test. He said there was no major incident reported from any of the test centres except a few incidents of students reporting very late for the test.

EAMCET-2009 key released                            
The EAMCET-2009 Committee has decided to award two marks for all the candidates in the engineering stream and one mark in the medical stream and value the papers for the remaining marks. The EAMCET-2009 Chairman, D.N. Reddy, said that the subject expert committee has recommended removal of two questions – question no 89 and 120 in the Physics paper in the engineering stream as there are no valid answers given in the choices and question no. 47 in the Zoology paper in the medical stream. So the engineering examination would be valued for 158 marks and the medical paper for 159 marks. Prof. Reddy said in the Chemistry paper of engineering stream, answers 1 and 3 for question no. 127 would be treated as correct answers. In Zoology paper of medical stream 1 and 4 would be treated as correct answers for question no. 80.

In the Botany paper, expert committee has decided to treat 1 and 2 as correct answers for question no. 20. In the Chemistry paper 1 and 3 would be treated as correct answers for question no 123.

Web counselling for admissions                         
Admission into EAMCET based Institutions for the Courses like Engineering, Medical, Pharmacy etc., from this year will be totally web-based and the official decision is likely to come in a few days.

In the new procedure, candidates can opt for a college and a course on the net after entering the details. The software will generate options based on parameters like variety of courses and colleges that include NBA-accredited; reservations based on gender, region, caste and sub-divisions within reservations; double payment seats, sliding, sports and NCC quota among others.

Authorities said helpline centres are to be set up in every district to help the students choose a college or course on the web. There will be no limit on the number of colleges or courses or a combination of colleges and courses to choose from. There would be a last date announced and the students can change their options any number of times till the last date.
The system would automatically allot the seats based on the preferences given. Once the allotment is done, candidates would have to download the allotment letter and then pay the fee in a bank.

The counselling procedure and dates for certificate verification will be announced after the EAMCET ranks are declared. Before the student can participate in the online counselling, he has to necessarily get his certificates verified at the helpline centres. Candidates who fail to report for certificate verification will not be considered for the allotment of a seat.

Every candidate has to produce certificates like the hall-ticket, rank card and all original certificates necessary for admissions.

After verification, all the original certificates will be retained and a receipt issued. Students would be informed of the procedure to be followed to exercise options, details of banks and tuition fee after the certificate verification at the helpline centres.

EAMCET + IPE Weightage to Allot EAMCET - 2009 RANKS  -- 29-5-2009
The Government of A.P. has considered giving weightage to IPE Score to the extent of 25% in the EAMCET 2009 from this academic year to benefit the students hailing from rural colleges in the State. 

First the authorities will fix the 75% of weightage to EAMCET Score of 160 Marks. Then they take the 25% of score obtained in the Group Subjects (Including Practical Marks) of IPE. By clubbing both the scores, they ascertain the ranks. 

EAMCET ranks on June 22
Technical Education Minister Mopidevi Venkata Ramana Rao released EAMCET – 2009 results on Thursday, the 1st June 2009. He said that EAMCET ranks based on the EAMCET results, would be released on June 22. Talking to reporters, he said a web-based system had been developed to avoid hours of waiting by students at the counselling centres for allotment of engineering and medical seats in different colleges.