<p>Bengaluru: Engineering courses appear to be back in fashion among students in the state with 93% of the seats being lapped up in the first round of counselling conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA).</p>.<p>Including seats for medical and dental courses, as many as 1,35,954 seats were up for grabs in the first round of counselling. Of these, 1,09,399 seats found takers. Much to the delight of the engineering colleges, 71,813 from the available pool of 77,140 seats were allotted to students in the very first round.</p>.<p>Data sourced from KEA indicates that courses related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) were the most preferred among the students, along with Computer Science. In fact, colleges outside Bengaluru offering AI-related courses were elated to find seats being scooped up by eager students. Most of the seats for AI-related courses offered at government engineering colleges in Arasikere, Bidar, Gadag and Challakere have already been filled.</p>.Engineering branches: What’s in demand?.<p>“At the Government Engineering College in Arasikere, Hassan district, 59 of the 63 seats for the AI and Machine Learning course were filled in the first round. While 59 of the 63 seats for the AI course were allotted at the Bidar college, 60 of the available 63 seats at the Challakere and Gadag college found takers,” a senior KEA official confirmed to DH.</p>.<p>KEA Executive Director Prasanna H said, “The seats that remained unallotted in the first round will be offered to students in the second and third round of counselling.”</p>.<p><strong>Few takers for nursing</strong></p>.<p>Nearly 48% of the seats for the BSc (Nursing) course found no takers in the first round of counselling. Of the 31,726 seats available for the course, only 16,540 (52%) were allotted in the first round. Meanwhile, 8,321 of the 9,263 medical seats were allotted, while 482 of the 2,619 dental seats remained unfilled at the end of the first round.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Engineering courses appear to be back in fashion among students in the state with 93% of the seats being lapped up in the first round of counselling conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA).</p>.<p>Including seats for medical and dental courses, as many as 1,35,954 seats were up for grabs in the first round of counselling. Of these, 1,09,399 seats found takers. Much to the delight of the engineering colleges, 71,813 from the available pool of 77,140 seats were allotted to students in the very first round.</p>.<p>Data sourced from KEA indicates that courses related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) were the most preferred among the students, along with Computer Science. In fact, colleges outside Bengaluru offering AI-related courses were elated to find seats being scooped up by eager students. Most of the seats for AI-related courses offered at government engineering colleges in Arasikere, Bidar, Gadag and Challakere have already been filled.</p>.Engineering branches: What’s in demand?.<p>“At the Government Engineering College in Arasikere, Hassan district, 59 of the 63 seats for the AI and Machine Learning course were filled in the first round. While 59 of the 63 seats for the AI course were allotted at the Bidar college, 60 of the available 63 seats at the Challakere and Gadag college found takers,” a senior KEA official confirmed to DH.</p>.<p>KEA Executive Director Prasanna H said, “The seats that remained unallotted in the first round will be offered to students in the second and third round of counselling.”</p>.<p><strong>Few takers for nursing</strong></p>.<p>Nearly 48% of the seats for the BSc (Nursing) course found no takers in the first round of counselling. Of the 31,726 seats available for the course, only 16,540 (52%) were allotted in the first round. Meanwhile, 8,321 of the 9,263 medical seats were allotted, while 482 of the 2,619 dental seats remained unfilled at the end of the first round.</p>