Hopes dashed as Comed-K counselling dates are unchanged

Officials say KEA cut-offs will give students an idea of what to expect

Several parents and candidates were hoping for the extension of dates for the second round of counselling for Comed-K seats, in order to give them more time to opt for government quota seats through CET.

But, it is now clear that there will be no change in the schedule of second round of seat counselling for the Consortium of Medical Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (Comed-K) seats.

However, this will not pose any problems in seat selection, said officials, allaying fears of the parents.

The second round of counselling for seat selection for engineering courses under Comed-K will be conducted from July 19 to July 24. If students want to surrender the seats they have got in the first round of counselling, they have to do so between July 13 and July 17. On the other hand, for medical and dental seats, the second round will be held on July 26 and July 27.

Second round

The seat surrender for the same courses based on the first round has to be done on July 23 and July 25. Under the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA), the second round of online counselling for government quota seats has been scheduled for July 23.

What many parents feared was that they would not have the benefit of participating in the second round of counselling of KEA and would have to opt for Comed-K seats prior to that.

This problem would not arise for medical seat counselling as the Comed-K seat surrender dates for medical is after the KEA second round allotment of seats. With regard to engineering, candidates will have to decide on whether to retain the Comed-K seat or not before appearing for the second round of counselling for KEA.

Comed-K will go ahead as per its announced schedule. They are not in a position to reschedule the dates further as Comed-K is bound by the Supreme Court direction to complete the admission procedure before July 31.

Failing which, it will amount to contempt of court, said Comed-K executive director A S Srikanth. Officials at both Comed-K and KEA said students would get a fair estimate based on the cut-offs of the first round of counselling. With many students opting for NIT and IIT seats, a few seats allotted in the first round would be vacant for the second round of counselling.

Based on the present cut-off ranks for various courses in different colleges, candidates can get an idea on where they stand and what to expect.

Difference in ranking

“I am estimating that the ranks from the first round to the second round will differ by about 10 or so. We cannot predict the accurate number right away, but it is likely to be in this range,” said a KEA official.

Officials have asked students to research the cut-off ranks before entering the options. In the first round, many students with ranks in thousands, have selected options for seats in colleges where the cut-off ranks are within hundreds.

In such a case, even though seats may be available for their rank in general, they have not been able to secure seats as a result of the options they have entered.

For, the computer allotment of seats will depend on the availability of the best seat among the options chosen by the candidate and will not be based on the overall available seats in the particular course.