TN engineering rank list out; 132 score full cut-off of 200

CHENNAI: The much-awaited rank list of students seeking engineering courses in Tamil Nadu was released on Tuesday.

A total of 10 students scored the first rank securing the full cut-off marks of 200.

In all, 132 students scored 200/200 though the Directorate of Technical Education released the names of only the top 10 rank holders.

The top 10 were judged on various other parameters.

A total of 468 students secured cut-off marks between 199 to 200 and as many as 3,023 candidates got cut-off marks between 197 to 199.

This year, the TNEA-2022 process was extended due to the delay in declaring the CBSE Class 12 results.

Releasing the rank list, Higher Education Minister K Ponmudy said of the total 2.11 lakh applicants, 1,58,157 students were on the rank list.

He also said that a total of 22,587 students from government schools under the 7.5% reservation scheme also made it to the list.

“Of the total, 9,981 female students under this quota would get financial assistance of Rs 1,000 under Pen Kalvi scheme,” he said.

Ponmudy said under the sports quota, 1,258 students were on the merit list and 203 wards of ex-servicemen also found place.

Stating that 431 engineering colleges including Anna University and its department institutions were participating in the engineering counselling this year, the Minister said that firstly, the counselling will be conducted for differently-abled students, wards of ex-servicemen, and sports persons besides providing 7.5% quota for government students from August 20.

Counselling for the general category is between August 25 to October 21.

Govt student from Villupuram triumphs

Though it was hard work for Brindha B, a student of a government school in a remote Villupuram district, her persistence paid off and she ended up scoring the full cut-off marks of 200.

Hailing from Salaiagaram Taluk and belonging to the OC community, besides completing her studies in Model Elite School at Valavanur Taluk, she also got 593 out of 600 by securing a centum in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.

She qualified under the 7.5% quota. Brindha lost her father at a young age.

“I am in two minds. I want to study MBBS and am confident of cracking NEET, but my family is not financially secure. Or, I could pursue a Computer Science course, with specialisation on AI, Robotics, Data Science, and Machine Language,” she said.

‘Over 17% jump in TNEA enrolment this year’

Dr T Purushothaman, additional director, Directorate of Technical Education (DOTE) and TNEA-2022 in-charge, said, “This year the total number of applicants, who registered for engineering admissions, was 2.12 lakh compared to the previous year’s figure of 1.75 lakh, an increase of 17.45%.”

This year the TNEA admission process software, which was upgraded, has considered Class 10 marks in a 6-step formula to break the tie in the merit list for admissions. “If more candidates have the same mark, merit will be determined by taking into account the marks scored in different subjects,” he added.

Purushothaman also said that the software also took care of providing 7.5% reservation for students in government schools.

Another chance for students

Those who did not enrol in the TNEA-2022 till now will be given one more chance to register. “Even government school students could also avail of their 7.5% quota,” he pointed out.

Additionally, students on the rank list will be given four days (from Tuesday) to file their grievances about the merit list.

Top rankers prefer Computer Science

K Renjitha, who was the first in the rank list by securing 200 out of 200 cut-off marks, told DT Next that she is planning to pursue a course in computer science at Anna University.

“I really worked very hard for a long time to get centum in all the subjects except for English in the Class 12 board exams,” she added.

The third rank holder, M Lokesh Kannan, who studied in a private school in the Thiruvallur district, said that he secured centum in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science in Class 12 board exams. Lokesh also scored 200 out of 200 in the cut-off marks.

“Though we had very little time to cover the portion, our teachers organised special classes, which helped me a lot to secure such good marks in exams,” he said. “My only preference is to take computer science course with a specialisation in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Machine Language.”

However, the second rank holder Harinika M has different ideas as she preferred to take up the MBBS course after attending NEET coaching classes. “I will be appearing for the NEET exam next year and I am confident that I would secure a medical seat,” she added.