Extended second round, a blessing for students

Parents, students mob minister at KEA, pour out doubts

The second extended round of counselling has come as a boon to a number of students who had almost given up hopes of securing a better option. Parents are, however, adopting a cautious stand, in the light of the fiasco during the first and the second rounds of counselling.  

K Nandagopal’s daughter had been allotted a seat at Government Dental College, Bangalore, but wanted to find out if his daughter had any chances of getting a medical seat in the extended round, which was her first preference.

With the official announcement of the extended round, he immediately vacated his daughter’s seat in the hope of getting a medical seat. “My daughter is ranked 1088 and I am estimating that even if three or four seats fall vacant, she will surely get a seat. With a number of students vacating CET seats for Comed-K due to the confusion, I feel there is a chance,” said Nandagopal. “However, with the way things are going, caution is something we will have to exercise.”
 
Abrar Pasha, whose daughter got a seat at an engineering college in the city, is hoping that she will get a better college in the second extended round.

“I feel that this extended round is for the better. It will give my daughter a better chance,” said Pasha. 

Overall, however, confusion and chaos ruled the day at the KEA office. In fact, the happenings at the KEA office in Malleswaram these past few days became so severe that it forced Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande to pay a impromptu visit to see what the parents had to go through.

The minister had not even stepped inside the KEA, when he was mobbed by parents and students, who seemed desperate to do anything to clear their doubts. A girl who had been allotted a seat at a college in Ramanagar was not happy with the facilities offered and wanted to change the college. A desperate parent appealed either for an extended second or a third round. It was virtually a race against time for others on the day, with a number of students being there to clear last minute doubts, before rushing off to report to colleges.

Madhusudan B A, who was at the KEA office till about 1 pm, wanted to find out whether he had a chance of getting a better college than the one already alloted, in the extended round and how he should go about the process.

“I am here only for a while and will have to rush soon. Coming here has been a lost cause as I have not got my answers yet,” he said. 

According to the KEA, the deadline for reporting to colleges was 4 pm on Monday.