On the third day of counselling at Anna University, many candidates had no option but to accept the seats allotted to them although they had come with other plans. Many of them said they were satisfied with the outcome though it was not their first choice.
Gauthami, who had come from Sankarapuram near Wallajabad with a cut-off 193.25, had hoped to join a programme in Anna University. Her father, who works in a medical shop, said, “She did not get what she wanted. We decided it was better to study in a college closer to home,” he said. Gauthami has a NEET score of 152 but says she wouldn’t qualify for a seat in a government medical college with that mark.
M. Sriram was allotted a seat at the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology but wanted to study in Anna University. “His first choice was mechanical engineering but he took plastics engineering as it has some amount of mechanical,” said his father. Sriram has scored 170 in NEET but the cut-off for engineering was better at 193, he says.
V. Priyadarshini of Hosur, a candidate belonging to the SC category, has scored 97 in NEET but says, “With a cut off of 185, I won’t get medicine even without NEET. I have been allotted Coimbatore Institute of Technology. I have no opinion about engineering so I am happy with whatever I got,” she said of the EEE seat she got.
D. Inian of Coimbatore, with a cut-off of 191, reached the venue early in the morning although his session was at 7 p.m. “Last year, students with my cut-off got into good colleges in Coimbatore. This year, due to the confusion over NEET, all the seats in these colleges are full,” said Inian, who wants to do Mechanical Engineering. “I am interested in machines and would like to start a business,” he said.
Then, there were those like T.R. Vishnu Kumar, who had to leave a dental college and is now hoping to pursue engineering. After two years at a self-financing college, he left as his father could not afford the fees. “I couldn’t pay ₹4 lakh and the college refused to let me write the exam,” said Vishnu, whose father runs a printing and binding shop in Madurai.
On Tuesday, of the 6,544 candidates called for counselling 4,876 were allotted seats. 30 candidates skipped counselling.
