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    What Are the Most Preferred Programs at IIT Madras? - Top Courses & Cutoff Trends

    What Are the Most Preferred Programs at IIT Madras? - Top Courses & Cutoff Trends

    Team Careers360Updated on 15 Sep 2025, 06:03 PM IST

    Which are the Most Preferred Programs at the IIT Madras? - IIT Madras is the top engineering institute in India. The institute has scored NIRF Ranking 1 for the last 10 years. IIT Madras offers a total of 17 programs in the Engineering field. Each Engineering department of IIT Madras saw a rise in 2025, compared to 2024. The students' choice saw a rise from 8 percent to 16 percent for the engineering courses at IIT Madras. For instance, the most preferred course was the 5-Year Aerospace Engineering, which saw a rise of 16.45% with a total of 11,069 choices among students. The B.Tech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics also saw a significant rise, with 2,692 more students opting for it in 2025. In this article, Careers360 will discuss the most preferred courses with choice numbers at IIT Madras.

    This Story also Contains

    1. Student Program Choices at IIT Madras: 2024 vs 2025
    2. Analysis of Student Choices at IIT Madras
    3. IIT Madras Closing Ranks
    4. IIT Madras Application Process
    What Are the Most Preferred Programs at IIT Madras? - Top Courses & Cutoff Trends
    What Are the Most Preferred Programs at IIT Madras?

    Student Program Choices at IIT Madras: 2024 vs 2025

    Department

    Number of students Opted in 2025

    Number of students opted in 2024

    5-Year Aerospace Engineering

    11,069

    9,505

    B.Tech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

    23,015

    20,323

    4-Year Aerospace Engineering

    15848

    14165

    B.Tech in Physics

    10770

    9627

    Computer Science and Engineering

    26547

    Aproxx 24,000

    Electrical Engineering

    22,443

    20,000

    Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering

    Aproxx 18,000

    Aproxx 16,588

    Biological Engineering

    Aproxx 17,000

    Aproxx 16,000

    Civil Engineering

    15,000

    Aproxx 14,000

    Mechanical Engineering

    19,652

    Aproxx 17,546

    Biological Science

    Aproxx 5,675

    Aproxx 6,234

    Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

    Aproxx 12,000

    10,000

    5-Year Engineering Design

    Aproxx 17,000

    Aproxx 16,000

    Chemical Engineering

    15,000

    14,000

    Analysis of Student Choices at IIT Madras

    There is a significant rise across all the engineering departments of IIT Madras. The 5-Year Aerospace Engineering program witnessed a 16.45% increase. The 4-Year Aerospace Engineering program also rose with 11.8% from 14,165 to 15,848 choices. The other branches, like Computer Science Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, also showed a consistent increment in 2025. Only the branch of Biological Science showed a slight increment of approximately 800 students. This all highlights the preferred choices among the students. This is because of IIT Madras' consistent ranking, growth opportunities, industrial placements, and exposure.

    IIT Madras Closing Ranks

    To get admission into IIT Madras, a candidate must have a rank between 200 and 7,000, depending on the branch. Candidates seeking admission to Evergreen's engineering branches must have a rank of 200 for CSE, 900 for EE, 300 for AI and Data Science, and 2500 for ME. Candidates should also score at least 75% in their 12th class with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. Students should refer to the table below to get an overall idea of the ranks and their chances of admission if they got similar closing ranks. Below are the ranks of the last round in the open category.

    Department

    Category

    Gender

    Closing Ranks

    Computer Science and Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    171

    Civil Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    6112

    Electrical Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    849

    Mechanical Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    2468

    4-Year Aerospace Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    3211

    Chemical Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    4116

    B.Tech in Physics

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    1441

    Biological Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    5261

    B.Tech in Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    306

    Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    5499

    Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering

    OPEN

    Gender-Neutral

    7433

    IIT Madras Application Process

    IIT Madras has a straightforward process. To be eligible, candidates need to have a valid score of JEE Advanced and 75% in their class 12th with PCM. Candidates must upload documents, pay the required application fee, and qualified students are required to participate in counselling and choice filling rounds.

    JEE Advanced Syllabus: Subjects & Chapters
    Select your preferred subject to view the chapters

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    Q: Which is the most preferred branch at IIT Madras?
    A:

    The most preferred branch at IIT Madras is Computer Science and Engineering, with 26547 students opting for it in 2025.

    Q: Which B.Tech branch has the highest closing ranks in 2025?
    A:

    The B.Tech branch, Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, has the highest closing rank of 7433 in 2025.

    Q: What percentage of marks do candidates need to score in class 12th?
    A:

    Students need to score at least 75% marks in their 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics.

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    Questions related to JEE Advanced

    On Question asked by student community

    Have a question related to JEE Advanced ?

    Hi Anupam,

    You can follow these steps:

    • NIOS Enrollment: Register for NIOS 2027 exams and use Transfer of Credit (TOC) to boost your aggregate score.

    • JEE 2027: Use the new NIOS marksheet for JoSAA counseling.

    • Alternative: Qualify via the Top 20 Percentile rule of your board if 75% is not

    Hello student,

    Kindly go through the article to understand what a safe percentile is in JEE Main 2026 to qualify for JEE Advanced.

    Link  - JEE Main 2026 Advanced Qualifying Percentile

    Hope this will be helpful!

    Hello Kapil,

    If you are targeting the JEE Main exam, you should focus on your academic studies and understand the topics well. Your priority should be the NCERT books for Classes 8 to 12, as JEE Main includes questions based on them.

    You can learn basic concepts of Physics, Chemistry,