What's common between Makkah, San Jose, Palakole, Leesburg, Gudiavada, Belgium, Tanuku and Norway? Applications for Engineering, Agriculture and Medical Common Entrance Test (EAMCET) are being submitted from these remote places reflecting how online application mode has helped the exam cross the boundaries.

The highly popular exam in the State is receiving hits from nook and corner of the world where Telugus from the State reside indicating how it is taken seriously even if parents are settled abroad and how they want their kids to study in the State. An order issued last year has enabled the children of Indian parents settled abroad to take a shot at EAMCET.

All such candidates will be considered as non-locals of course along with those applying from other States within India. But with many seats in the engineering stream going vacant, admission is now almost guaranteed to every applicant. “Online mode has opened up new opportunities and generated lot of interest among Indians, particularly Telugus settled abroad,” says the EAMCET Convenor, N.V. Ramana Rao.

In fact, the number of people visiting the website from abroad is increasing day-by-day. After India, interestingly, it is not the USA that is attracting large number of visitors but Australia. The USA, Saudi Arabia and UAE follow the list.

The website visitors' record show that on Tuesday afternoon the number of visitors from India crossed 18,000 while nearly 1,000 were from Australia. From the USA, applicants and visitors are seen from small towns like Powell, Sugarland, Neenah, San Carlos, Riverview and Jamaica.

That EAMCET still has the charm reflects in the number of page views that has crossed 33 lakhs till Tuesday evening. The number of visitors so far is around 7.42 lakh and more than 30,000 are expected to visit the EAMCET webpage on Tuesday. Among these the first time visitors alone are more than 10,000.

“We have proved everyone wrong who said online applications system will not become popular,” Prof. Ramana Rao says.