Computer Science, ECE preferred choice as over 35,000 candidates get tentative allotment after round 1 of TNEA counselling

Computer Science and Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) seem to be the streams of choice for candidates this year, as 35,125 candidates were given tentative allotment of seats after the first round of counselling for Tamil Nadu Engineering Admissions (TNEA) for the academic year 2025-26.

Early trends indicated an uptick in demand for the ECE stream when compared to last year. According to R. Ashwin, an education counsellor who has been following the engineering admissions closely, ECE has overtaken IT and AI courses as a preferred choice for candidates this year, as indicated by the first round trends.

In the top 10 colleges in the State, almost all seats in core engineering streams – Computer Science and Engineering, ECE, Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE), Mechanical Engineering, and Civil Engineering – have been filled after the first round itself, Mr. Ashwin said. What is interesting is that circuit-related courses like Computer Science and ECE were on demand even in colleges lower down the ranking list.

Also, Chennai and Coimbatore remained the destinations of choice for candidates, as top colleges in these cities witnessed a spurt in preference during the first round.

While the top constituent colleges in Anna University such as College of Engineering Guindy (CEG) and Madras Institute of Technology (MIT) remained top on the preference list of candidates, the various university colleges of engineering of Anna University found themselves lower down the pecking order.

TNEA officials said 32,663 candidates under the general category and 2,462 candidates from the government schools (7.5% reservation) category were given tentative allotments. They will release provisional allotment order for those candidates who have confirmed their tentative allotment by Friday evening. Candidates who did not get their seat of choice and have opted for the upward option while accepting the allotment would have to wait for the residual seats after the first round of admissions get over on July 23.

In the vocational stream, 1,416 candidates were given tentative allotments, including 214 from the government schools (7.5% reservation) category.