A ticking clock and unseen bottlenecks are testing Karnataka’s admission machinery this year. The Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), currently navigating its second round of engineering counselling, may soon formally ask the AICTE to extend the admission deadline beyond the earlier cutoff of September 15, potentially up to September 30. 

The key issue? The delay in medical counselling schedules by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) whose second All India quota round isn’t slated to start until August 29. Since Karnataka conducts joint counselling for professional courses (engineering, medicine, dentistry), any delay in one stream reverberates across all. This dependency has left KEA grappling with compressed timelines. 

Adding to the rush is pressure from the Karnataka Unaided Private Engineering Colleges Association (KUPECA). In a note to KEA, they reminded that, by agreement, all rounds should conclude 10 days before AICTE’s deadline, ensuring sufficient time to fill management quota seats. KUPECA suggested a September 5 cut-off but KEA considers that aspiration increasingly unattainable. 

KEA officials, including Executive Director H. Prasanna, emphasized that unless medical seat counts stabilize and dates firm up, the counselling schedule can’t progress smoothly. Hence, the extension request is pragmatic not polemic. It aims to ensure no student is left behind due to procedural delays outside their control.

In essence, this delay isn’t just administrative it's about fairness and transparency. For students anxiously awaiting seats, extra time could mean the difference between rightful admission and disappointment. As KEA negotiates the extension, families watch closely, hoping that the academic year doesn't get derailed by scheduling ripples.