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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/25-of-IIT-toppers-pick-electrical-engg/articleshow/6623455.cms

Hemali Chhapia, TNN, Sep 25, 2010, 03.35am IST

MUMBAI: For years, computer science was a rage among those who made it to the top of the selection list of the joint entrance exam (JEE), which is the passport to the Indian Institutes of Technology. Anumula Jithendar Reddy from Hyderabad  who topped the competitive entrance test, didn't take that road much travelled. Instead, he decided to pursue electrical engineering at IIT-Bombay.

There were many like Reddy, whose preferences have shifted with the IT shimmer fading. Picture this: While electrical engineering opened at all- India rank (AIR) 1 and closed at rank 98, computer science, on the Powai campus, dragged on and closed at rank 116.

"One will notice the same trend picking up in other IITs next year. But telecommunication is on the top, at least neck-and-neck with computer science. And electrical engineering is as much a rage as computer science, at least in the IITs. After that we have most students opting for mechanical engineering," said an IIT faculty member.

While computer science still attracted a large chunk of the JEE toppers, this year, however, of the top 100 JEE-2010 rankers, about 25% opted for electrical engineering, while they could have got a seat in computer science. Interestingly, pure sciences too seem to have attracted some top rankers. AIR 33 signed up for physics in IIT-Kanpur and engineering physics, too, moved up the popularity charts and opened at rank 48 in Bombay; last year's opening rank for this stream was 303. The trend was noticed in IIT-Madras too where engineering physics opened admission at rank 494 (last year's opening rank was 832).

Statistics on the opening and closing ranks of candidates admitted into the IITs in August 2010 on the basis of their scores in the JEE also revealed that mechanical engineering has been steadily climbing the ratings. At IIT-B, the opening rank in the general category is 56 against last year's 72 and 2008's AIR 171. On the other hand, chemical engineering and civil engineering have descended in the preference list.

At IIT-B, chemical engineering opened at rank 561, as against last year, when rank 244 was the first one to opt for it. AIR 887 at IIT-B took up civil engineering, a stream which opened admission at AIR 665 a year ago.

"However, one should not interpret this as a sign of declining preference for the course. You must take into account the fact that some of the aspirants would have opted for other courses at the new IITs as a result of which they would have ranked civil or chemical slightly below in order while exercising their options at the time of admission," explained a dean at the IIT Madras.

Among the new IITs, Patna and Hyderabad were among the first to admit students, most of who signed up for electrical engineering and computer science.

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