Single Window Admissions System

The Single Window Admissions System is a process through which students completing 12th Std (2 Years in Kindergarten + 5 years in Primary School + 5 years in Secondary school + 2 years in High school) apply and gain admission to Engineering Colleges that are located within Tamil Nadu, India.

The process

The following are categories of colleges within the state of Tamil Nadu.

Category 1

Anna University and its constituent colleges

Category 2

Government or Government-aided Colleges such as PSG Tech, Government colleges in Thirunelveli, Madurai, Salem and Vellore. There are 10-12 such colleges. Regional Engineering College, Trichirapalli has 50% of its seats reserved for students from other states.

Category 3

Self-Financed Engineering colleges. There are around 250−300 engineering colleges in this category. With around 80 - 100 in Chennai (Madras).

Students are graded for a total score of 200. This score is a weighted average combination of Mathematics (100), Physics (50), Chemistry (50) scores in the Plus 2 (XII Std) examinations. A student's score determines his rank. Students are then invited, by the Department of Directorate of Education, Anna University, for an Engineering Admissions Counseling Process (also called Single Window Admissions System), according to their rank. The counseling process is held in the months of June–July every year. Students are invited to participate in this counselling process to elect the college they want to join. This is a highly visible process and is given close media attention and scrutiny. This process is frequently marred by libels and litigations of various kinds every year.