As per the latest reports, in a first, the counselling for lateral entry to Tamil Nadu’s undergraduate engineering programs, and MBA and MCA courses will be conducted online.

This Sunday, K. P. Anbalagan, who is the Minister for Higher Education in Tamil Nadu, made an announcement considering the ongoing unavoidable situations which are still prevailing due to the ongoing pandemic novel Corona Virus, and so to tackle with the situation and conduct the counselling for lateral entry to engineering, Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and Masters in Computer Applications (MCA), the Ministry of Education decided to conduct all the Counselling procedures online.

Before the outbreak of the COVID, 19 pandemics the counselling was planned to be held at the Alagappa Government College of Engineering and Technology, Karaikudi.

More than 15,000 students every year enter into the Bachelor’s in Engineering (BE) or the bachelor’s in technology (BTech) courses through the lateral entry method, so it becomes very much necessary to conduct the counselling.

Similarly, previously MBA and MCA admission counselling in Tamil Nadu was to be conducted in the Government College of Technology, Coimbatore. The minister added that due to the prevailing situation in the state, this process of counselling will also also be completed online this year.

Usually around 10,000 applications are received for admission into the MBA courses in Tamil Nadu every year, while the number for the MCA courses is around 3,000 approximately.

What is Lateral Entry in the case of BE and BTech?

Lateral entry in case of Bachelors in Engineering (BE) or the Bachelors in Technology (BTech) is direct entry into the second year or the third semester of the course, which can be given to only those students who have done a Diploma Course, like a course in Bachelors in Science (BSc).

The process of admission through the lateral entry method differs from college to college. When it’s the case of lateral entry to BE or BTech course, some colleges conduct an entrance exam for the same whereas some colleges give direct admission without any exam, just by taking into consideration the percentage of marks obtained in the diploma or the BSc course.

What is Lateral Entry in the case of MCA?

Lateral entry in case of Masters in Computer Applications (MCA) is direct entry into the second year or the third semester of the course, which can be given to only those students who have done the course of Bachelors in Computer Applications (BCA) or a Diploma Course, like a course in Bachelors in Science (BSc) in Computers or Information Technology (IT).

The process of admission through the lateral entry method differs from college to college. When it’s the case of lateral entry to the MCA course, some colleges conduct an entrance exam for the same whereas some colleges give direct admission without any exam, just by taking into consideration the percentage of marks obtained in the diploma or the BSc course or the BCA course.

What is Lateral Entry in case of an MBA? 

Lateral entry in case of Masters in Business Management (MBA) is direct entry into the second year or the third and the fourth semester of the course, which can be given to only those students who have done a Diploma Course in Management before, which is the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM), a one year classroom course.

The process of admission through the lateral entry method differs from college to college. When it is the case of lateral entry to the MBA Course, some colleges conduct an entrance exam for the same whereas some colleges give direct admission without any exam, just by taking into consideration the percentage of marks obtained in the diploma or the PGDM course.

Eligibility for BTech or BE Lateral Entry

There are a set of criteria which every candidate applying for lateral entry to any BTech or BE course must fulfil, which includes:

• The candidate should have passed diploma examination from any AICTE approved institute in the appropriate branch of engineering and technology. The candidate must have scored 45% marks in the examination or equivalent to it. For reserved category candidates required minimum score is 40%.
• If the candidate is not having a Diploma Course or has passed the diploma examination in the appropriate branch of engineering and technology, then the candidate is required to have completed a course of Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Physics, Chemistry and Maths from a recognized university as per the University Grants Commission (UGC). The candidate must have scored 45% marks in the examination or equivalent to it. For reserved category candidates required minimum score is 40%.
• Apart from all this the candidates are also required to have passed class 12th with aggregate or equivalent 60% marks which must include the subjects Physics, Chemistry, Maths or Physics, Maths, Biology or Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology, in any one of the three groups stated.

Mentioned above are some general guidelines and criteria. It may differ from college to college. Candidates are advised to refer to the official website of the college or university for determining the accurate requirements of admission.

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