JOIN USCET, NEET cause a dilemma for medical seat aspirants
As results of the Common Entrance Test (CET) are likely to be announced ahead of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET), students waiting to get medical seats are in a state of confusion - whether to take admission for engineering or not.
All these years, students who were not getting medical seats were opting for engineering courses. However, from this year, there are separate exams for engineering (CET) and medical (NEET).
Results
CET results are almost ready and are likely to be announced by the end of this month, while results of CBSE and ICSE class XII are awaited.
Counselling for engineering may start on June 1 and NEET results are likely to be announced on June 8.
Those who have got engineering seats in government or private colleges under government quota have to pay the fees to Karnataka Examination Authority.
Development fee
Students who have got an engineering seat in a private college under government quota have to pay up to Rs 25,000 extra as ‘development fee’.
Students said in case
they opt for engineering and then get a seat through NEET, they will lose the ‘development fee’.
The third or fourth round of counselling for medical seats is set to be complete by September-end. Students are worried that if they decide to leave engineering and join medical courses in this phase, engineering colleges may demand payment of fees for the entire four years. They are also worried that the college authorities may withhold original documents if they do not pay.
Three options
KEA gives three options during counselling. In the first option, students can pay the fee and opt for admission.
Using the second or third option, students can appear for the second and third round
of counselling depending on the availability of medical seats. Such students, however, may not get an engineering seat in a college of their choice.
“In 2016-17, I got an engineering seat in a prestigious college in Bengaluru. After that, I got a medical seat at Sambhram Medical College, Kolar. The engineering college told me to pay Rs 1.5 lakh to return my original documents. I had to pay Rs 75,000 and Rs 25,000 as development fee for getting my documents,” said M Sanjan, a student.