<p>Getting admissions to professional courses this academic year will be tougher for students. With a sharp decline in the actual number of seats, the competition to get seats is likely to be even tougher this time.</p>.<p>As approved by the Director of Medical Education, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) on Saturday announced the seat matrix for the academic year 2018-19.</p>.<p>Marking a sharp decline of a whopping 770 seats compared to the previous academic year, this year, only 5,920 seats are available to students in 48 medical colleges.</p>.<p>According to sources in the medical education department, last year, there were 6,690 seats from 54 medical colleges.</p>.<p>On the contrary, the number of dental seats has shot up by 446 across Karnataka compared to the previous year. As many as 2,754 seats are available in 38 dental colleges. Officials revealed to <span class="italic">DH</span> that a drop in the number of seats is attributed to directions by the Medical Council of India (MCI) which refused to permit admission of students to some colleges citing inadequate infrastructure and teaching faculty.</p>.<p>Out of the 5,920 seats, the state government has retained 3,390. Under the private quota, 1,808 seats have been made available. Similarly, 551 seats have been earmarked for students under NRI quota and 171 seats for other categories.</p>.<p>Under the dental category, of the available 2,754 seats in 38 dental colleges across Karnataka, the state government has retained 928 seats and handed over a whopping 1,310 seats to private college managements. While 386 seats have been reserved for students under NRI quota, 130 seats have been kept aside for other categories.</p>.<p>According to KEA officials, NEET-2018 rank holders are eligible to make optional entry for medical and dental courses till July 10 before 5 pm. The aspirants are allowed to exercise their priority options after the verification of their documents at KEA.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Sensitive optional entry</strong></p>.<p>Learning from its previous experience and taking note of the confusion among students over priority of seats, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has asked students to be cautious while choosing courses and colleges. The option entry process already began on Saturday evening and students can make their entries using their logins, according to sources.</p>.<p>“During the optional entry process in the previous years, it was noted that many students had opted for dental even though their preference was medical and later got into arguments. But this year, as the online portal is sensitive and accurate, students and parents must prioritise their choice before clicking the options. There is no scope for any experiments on the online portal,” a senior officer attached with the KEA revealed.</p>.<p>Students must note that the prioritisation should be in descending order starting from 100%. Parents and their wards have been advised to go through available free seats first before deciding on payment seats.</p>.<p><strong>Medical scores over BE</strong></p>.<p>Unlike previous years, KEA will conduct counselling for medical seats first followed by engineering. With several engineering colleges reporting vacant seats last year, KEA has decided to allocate medical seats first.</p>.<p>“Students who are sure of getting medical seats, also pick engineering seats only to surrender it later when they get medical seats. Because of this, several engineering seats fell vacant last year. By allocating medical seats first, it would be easier to fill up engineering seats,” a senior official of the medical education department told DH.</p>.<p>KEA has already announced the seat matrix for about 17,000 seats in various engineering colleges. The final matrix on engineering seats is likely to be published by Monday with the addition of more colleges. However, with KEA deciding to allocate medical seats first, allocation of engineering students is likely to be delayed and might drag on till August first week.</p>
<p>Getting admissions to professional courses this academic year will be tougher for students. With a sharp decline in the actual number of seats, the competition to get seats is likely to be even tougher this time.</p>.<p>As approved by the Director of Medical Education, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) on Saturday announced the seat matrix for the academic year 2018-19.</p>.<p>Marking a sharp decline of a whopping 770 seats compared to the previous academic year, this year, only 5,920 seats are available to students in 48 medical colleges.</p>.<p>According to sources in the medical education department, last year, there were 6,690 seats from 54 medical colleges.</p>.<p>On the contrary, the number of dental seats has shot up by 446 across Karnataka compared to the previous year. As many as 2,754 seats are available in 38 dental colleges. Officials revealed to <span class="italic">DH</span> that a drop in the number of seats is attributed to directions by the Medical Council of India (MCI) which refused to permit admission of students to some colleges citing inadequate infrastructure and teaching faculty.</p>.<p>Out of the 5,920 seats, the state government has retained 3,390. Under the private quota, 1,808 seats have been made available. Similarly, 551 seats have been earmarked for students under NRI quota and 171 seats for other categories.</p>.<p>Under the dental category, of the available 2,754 seats in 38 dental colleges across Karnataka, the state government has retained 928 seats and handed over a whopping 1,310 seats to private college managements. While 386 seats have been reserved for students under NRI quota, 130 seats have been kept aside for other categories.</p>.<p>According to KEA officials, NEET-2018 rank holders are eligible to make optional entry for medical and dental courses till July 10 before 5 pm. The aspirants are allowed to exercise their priority options after the verification of their documents at KEA.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Sensitive optional entry</strong></p>.<p>Learning from its previous experience and taking note of the confusion among students over priority of seats, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) has asked students to be cautious while choosing courses and colleges. The option entry process already began on Saturday evening and students can make their entries using their logins, according to sources.</p>.<p>“During the optional entry process in the previous years, it was noted that many students had opted for dental even though their preference was medical and later got into arguments. But this year, as the online portal is sensitive and accurate, students and parents must prioritise their choice before clicking the options. There is no scope for any experiments on the online portal,” a senior officer attached with the KEA revealed.</p>.<p>Students must note that the prioritisation should be in descending order starting from 100%. Parents and their wards have been advised to go through available free seats first before deciding on payment seats.</p>.<p><strong>Medical scores over BE</strong></p>.<p>Unlike previous years, KEA will conduct counselling for medical seats first followed by engineering. With several engineering colleges reporting vacant seats last year, KEA has decided to allocate medical seats first.</p>.<p>“Students who are sure of getting medical seats, also pick engineering seats only to surrender it later when they get medical seats. Because of this, several engineering seats fell vacant last year. By allocating medical seats first, it would be easier to fill up engineering seats,” a senior official of the medical education department told DH.</p>.<p>KEA has already announced the seat matrix for about 17,000 seats in various engineering colleges. The final matrix on engineering seats is likely to be published by Monday with the addition of more colleges. However, with KEA deciding to allocate medical seats first, allocation of engineering students is likely to be delayed and might drag on till August first week.</p>
