The latest status of EAMCET Couseling was given to us by EAMCET Camp officer Dr.K. Raghunath.

TCG: Please brief us about the status quo of engineering counseling. In how many centers did it begin?

MR.RAGHUNATH: This year’s counseling has started on the 16th of July, in the first phase we have called 54000 ranks. We are conducting for all the categories i.e. OC as well as the reservation categories like SC, ST and BC. As of today we have crossed 35000 ranks (seats so far filled, at the time of the interview 28,870). Among these the seats filled up 8,870, we have 80 to 85% attendance. Compared to the last year it is certainly on the lower side, in 2007 it was 91% by this time. The reason could be that many (1-10,000 rank holders) could have gone outside Andhra Pradesh and some must have definitely opted for the IITs and AIEEE. I can say they have not turned up for the counseling at all.

TCG: With more than 54000 seats gone so far students who are seeking admissions are in a near panic state. What would you say about that?

MR.RAGHUNATH: There isn’t any need for the parents to go through this panic. Let’s take a closer look at this entire scenario. Nearly 2, 70,000 candidates have been qualified for EAMCET. Out these there are 10,000 intermediate board exam failures, 10,000 – 15,000 students have been eliminated as they are Intermediate 1st year candidates, there are at least another 10,000 who will be moving to IITs BITS etc., . In all the categories the ratio of student per seat is 1:1 which is a very good chance; of course the college is granted not according to the student’s choice but the availability of seats/ branches and our allotment rules. The only hitch is that the student has to go to the college decided by us; of course if he/she has a good rank they have a better chance to get into a good college.

TCG: What are the most preferred branches this year?

MR.RAGHUNATH: The most preferred branch is ECE, this year and CSE has taken the second position, EEE is the third. There is a close relation between CSE & ECE as 25% of the syllabus is the same. Students say the recession in the US and the economy made them change their preference. They are very well informed of the world affairs, economics and best suited career options, in fact it was them who told us that the exodus from the US is making them rethink about their options.

TCG: It is seen that there are more number of girls opting for engineering; it almost seems like the order of the day. Can you please comment on this?

MR.RAGHUNATH: There is more number of girls than boys. As we just discussed students are keeping themselves well informed on various happenings around them, more so when it comes to their career. Girls going for engineering have simple reason behind this. It takes roughly 4 years for an engineering student to start earning, whilst a medico needs to spend 6 years, with a specialization of another two years, wait almost for 12 years till he gets established as a good doctor to earn money. Not everybody has that amount of patience. So the best alternative is engineering. Also going abroad is another major attraction for the software engineers.

TCG: How many more phases would be conducted? With which rank would it begin? Is it rank 1 or 54000?

MR.RAGHUNATH: Second phase would commence on the 17th August. For the leftover seats we will continue the counseling. We assume that by the time we each rank 50,000 all the open seats will be filled. We will call from 54,001.

TCG: It is said that candidates appearing for counseling will be given a ‘scratch card’. Can you please give us the details? Could we have a demo card to show it in the magazine?

MR.RAGHUNATH: You must have observed that the number of candidates appearing for the EAMCET is increasing year after year. Last year it was 1, 89,740 and this year 2, 71,440, there is a whopping 1 lakh more to have joined this. Because of the huge number organizing and handling the number is becoming increasingly difficult as candidates can come any number of times depending upon his/her reservation category. For example a candidate of OC category can come under the OC, NCC or sports category, which is already thrice. Similarly for a BC candidate also there is a chance of repeated entry which is not so in other States. In addition to this when there is also a provision of different courses; he/she will come more number of times. In this situation we can handle only 3000 candidates a day and with the repetitions we will have take hundred days to handle 3 lakh students, which is virtually impossible and impractical. Hence we thought of this ‘scratch card’ system, which circumvents this problem. This already being implemented successfully in Chandigarh and other states and we took up in a more organized way. I would like to bring to your notice that in the other states they do not so many parameters like repeated entry, concession for the backward classes etc; we have incorporated that too and running in a more organized fashion.

 A candidate who comes once will receive a ‘scratch card’, which will contain both password and serial number. It is mandatory for the candidate to preserve this card carefully and not reveal the password to anybody, even to his friends. Based on this card he/she can avail the facility any number of times without coming to the centre. Thus it is mandatory to have an e mail id to exercise this. Thus they will avail this facility to complete half of the counseling/ admission process after which they come to the center to complete that. Scratch card will thus save the time, expenditure and travel expenses of students and parents.

TCG: Besides Scratch card what are the other new developments to ensure smooth functioning of the process?

MR.RAGHUNATH: Earlier we used to conduct two different phases of counseling, one phase exclusively for the open competition and the other for the other categories like SC, ST and BC. This was again problematic as students use to come repeatedly. This year we are simultaneously operating both the categories, a candidate can attend both if he/she wishes to and is eligible for that. Next year we are planning to go totally for the web based counseling. So you will not see any candidates here at all. Also I would like to bring to your notice that our internet runs on 32 mbps , which would safely run even if 10,000 candidates log in the same time. We are striving to develop a student friendly system that is perfectly convenient with minimum pressure on them.

TCG: What if a student wants to change the branch? Do they have to remit more fees for the same?

MR.RAGHUNATH: Not at all. It is possible for them to change the branch/ course, college when they come again for the 2nd phase of counseling. 

TCG: Could you tell us more about the Dairy Technology and Agriculture Engineering being introduced in to counseling this year?

MR.RAGHUNATH: No students have enrolled so far for these courses, we still have second phase of counseling to go any way.

TCG: Please can you give us any information on BPC stream?

MR.RAGHUNATH: We will issue the notification on the 18th of August, by then the medical and dental formalities are through.

TCG: Could you give us details of online counseling/ contact / website?

MR.RAGHUNATH: We have all the necessary information on our official website eamcet.dte.gov.in

TCG: When would the classes commence for the Engineering stream?

MR.RAGHUNATH: We are trying our best to start the classes on the 27th of August. Thus we have advanced by one and a half months this year compared to the last year.