JEE Main, Advanced: What Not To Do In JoSAA Counselling, Choice-Filling

JoSAA Counselling: What To Avoid

1. Minimal or no preparation: Choice-filling requires candidates to choose the colleges and courses from the list provided. The list of colleges and courses in JoSAA visible to candidates will be on the basis of their eligibility. However, with seats in over 100 top engineering colleges at stake, a good amount of preparation is needed on which colleges and courses must be entered in the JEE choice-filling along with the order of their preference.

There are 118 participating institutions in the list of JoSAA colleges, each offering a wide range of BTech courses. Such a huge number must always be dealt with offline, ideally on an Excel sheet, where all options are clearly marked and students sort them as per their preferences. A proper sheet that lists the chosen options will also allow students to make the JEE choice-filling process smooth as the options are at hand and it’s a matter of just entering them during the actual choice filling.

2. Lack of proper order of preference: This is a very crucial step and all candidates must be careful. The reason is applicants are allowed choice-filling only once during JoSAA process and the six rounds of JEE allotment are based on the choices filled during the given time. Once the choice-filling process of JEE is closed, there is no chance to enter new options or edit existing ones. The allotment for each round considers choices higher on the list of preferences. The other factor is allotment of an unwanted institute. If it is entered and allotted, candidates will have to take the seat or withdraw.

For example, say a candidate has entered NIT Agartala and NIT Trichy one after the other based on the courses. If NIT Agartala is allotted, there will be no chance of NIT Trichy being allotted in any of the six rounds as it is listed below NIT Agartala. Allotments are always on the basis of the order of preference, with each round of JoSAA considering the institutions higher on that list. This is exactly why candidates must carefully make the list of institutes and their courses.

3. Entering a limited number of colleges or courses: This is a very common mistake made by many students. Most enter a fixed number of colleges that come to mind during choice filling for JEE. This may restrict good chances in better institutes.

Since there is no restriction on the number of colleges that one can add while filling the JEE counselling forms, students must fill as many choices as they can to increase their chances of JoSAA seat allotment.

4. Limiting seat-choice based only on the cutoffs: While JEE cut-off ranks from previous years are indicative of the seats in which one can get admission in the current year, they are not fool-proof. Allotments depend not just on cutoffs but the number of seats, number of applicants to name a few factors. For example, IIT Hyderabad had introduced BTech in Artificial Intelligence a year ago which means addition of seats to the JSAA pool. So, candidates must also estimate and incorporate colleges with cut-off ranks that are close to the ones they have been looking at. This increases the playing field to cover some more good colleges and courses in JEE counselling.

5. Choosing colleges on the basis of just one course: Many times, students choose institutes on the basis of a popular course and enter choices based on that only. Getting into an IIT or a NIT is tough and it is advisable to also enter branches that are equally popular or are closer to the chosen one to widen the chances of seat allotment. For example, candidates interested in Computer Science Engineering can also add in Information Technology (IT) or Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) in their choices. They can also look at branches that seem less popular but are very much in demand, for example, Mathematical Computing, Engineering Physics and Data Science and Engineering. These branches have very good placement records and are widely sought-after. Petroleum Engineering can be an option for students otherwise looking at Chemical engineering.

6. Wrong estimations based on seat matrix: One of the commonly-made mistakes in the choice filling process is estimating seat allotment based on seat matrix. However, this is not a correct method as the seat allotment depends not just on the number of seats available but the number of applicants and their merit.

7. Forgetting to save choices: Many times, students modify the options in their choice-filling but forget to save the changes. The system only retains the saved choices. It is important to always save after editing and then take a printout or keep a copy. This helps in tweaking the choices and allows students to clearly see the changes made, especially when there are a lot of choices to be made.

8. Rank and College predictor: Careers360 provides a AI tool which can be used to get and understanding of expected college and rank based on you percentile and some basic details. Students can use this tool simple by clicking on the JEE Main college predictor.

The above-mentioned mistakes are easily corrected if students put a good amount of effort and thought into JEE choice filling. After the effort of studying and preparation for the exam, it is only right that students exercise caution, plan their JEE choice filling to get the best results and a seat in one of these reputed institutes of the country.