KEA to hold combined counselling for admission to professional courses

The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), which was conducting the seat allotment process for admissions to medical, engineering, and other professional courses separately, has decided to conduct all of them together at once starting from the current session.

Under this combined seat allotment process, candidates should enroll in their choice of preferred courses while making option entries. If the first preferred course is unavailable, then the next preferred course should be recorded as the second preferred choice. As per the seat matrix, candidates can obtain seats in as many courses as they prefer by making option entries accordingly.

The first round of seat allotment will be done based on the candidate’s merit, reservation status, and option entries. Some candidates may receive seats in both medical and engineering courses. In such cases, candidates will have to select one of the two during the choice entry screen. After that, they must pay the fee through a challan, get the enrollment order online, and report to the concerned college. Additionally, it is compulsory to update the enrollment status on the college portal.

In the second round of seat allotment, based on the option entries made by the candidates, they should receive a seat in any of their preferred courses. For medical and dental courses, candidates who are allotted seats in the second round must mandatorily pay the fee and complete the admission process. Failure to do so will result in the cancellation of the allotted seats with a penalty.

Candidates who receive a medical seat in the second round are not eligible to participate in the mop-up round. However, candidates who get a dental seat in the second round can participate in the mop-up round for medical courses without canceling their seat.

For engineering seats, fee payment is mandatory in the second round of seat allotment.

In the third round of seat allotment, the option entries made in the first two rounds will be deleted for candidates who have been given choice-3 and for those who have not been allotted any seat. Candidates need to make a fresh option entry for the third round carefully. All categories of candidates will be required to pay a fine of five times the fee for canceling the allotted seat in the third round.

This new process includes a ‘Mop-Up Round,’ where candidates who received seats in engineering, nursing, architecture, veterinary medicine, agriculture – in the second round can participate in the mop-up round for medical and dental courses only after paying the penalty and canceling their seats.

Similarly, candidates who have been allotted medical and dental seats in the second round can participate in the engineering mop-up round after canceling their seats by paying the penalty.

The Executive Director of KEA, S. Ramya said that the combined seat allotment process will be conducted for admissions to Medical, Dental, Engineering, Veterinary, Agriculture, Nursing, Architecture, and Pharmacy courses.

The previous separate seat allotment process had several disadvantages, as candidates would secure seats in multiple courses simultaneously, preventing other candidates from accessing those vacant seats until the admission was completed.  The decision for combined counseling for professional courses was taken in the interest of the students and to avoid unnecessary delays, she said.