Karnataka MBBS counselling: round-by-round exit rules

Karnataka hands you four explicit options at every allotment, and locks your preference list before Round 1. The single most consequential fact about the state is that you cannot add a new college choice after the first round. The list you build at the start is the list you live with.

This page covers the KEA state counselling for the government, private and open-quota seats it allots, drawing students from across the country to its private colleges.

Who runs it

The Karnataka Examinations Authority conducts counselling at cetonline.karnataka.gov.in. Non-Karnataka candidates compete for the open and management seats but receive no reservation.

Deposits and fees, by category

Fees and tuition are integrated into the option process rather than charged as a single pre-allotment deposit. The application fee is category-tiered, with general and OBC candidates paying roughly double the SC, ST and Category-1 rate, and fee exemption available on an income certificate. A refundable caution deposit of ₹1,00,000 applies to candidates who chose the reject-and-upgrade option in Round 1 and received no seat, to enter Round 2; it is adjusted against tuition if a medical seat is allotted. There is no published category-wise security-deposit table; do not assume one.

How the rounds work: the four options

At each allotment in Rounds 1 and 2 you log in and pick one:

• Accept and freeze. Take the seat, report, and withdraw from all further rounds.
• Accept and upgrade. Pay to hold the seat and stay in the running for a higher preference. If upgraded, the new seat is mandatory; if not, you keep the current one.
• Reject and upgrade. Surrender the seat but stay in the process to try again. This is the free-exit equivalent.
• Exit. Reject the seat and leave KEA counselling entirely.

One-time choice entry is the constraint that governs everything: the priority list you enter before Round 1 carries forward, and in Round 2 you may reorder or delete options but cannot add new ones. The first list has to be exhaustive and ordered by what you truly want.

Reservation and eligibility

Domicile. Karnataka eligibility through schooling and residence; caste-certificate forms are prescribed by category. Non-Karnataka candidates get no reservation.

Reservation. Karnataka uses the categories GM, SC, ST, Category-1, 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B, with EWS, on the state roster: broadly SC 15%, ST 3%, Category-1 4%, 2A 15%, 2B 4%, 3A 4%, 3B 5% and EWS 10%, with women 30%, rural 15% and Kannada-medium 5% as horizontal quotas. KEA publishes category codes rather than a percentage table, so treat these as the state roster and confirm the 2B and 3B split, on which sources differ. Under Article 371(J), the Kalyana-Karnataka region carries up to 70% local reservation within its own colleges and an 8% reserved share for its locals in colleges elsewhere.

What this means for your choices

Spend your effort on the first choice list, because a college you forget to add before Round 1 is a college you can never reach. Use the four options deliberately: accept-and-freeze ends the game, accept-and-upgrade keeps you in it at the cost of holding fees, reject-and-upgrade is the way to surrender a seat and stay in. If you are a Kalyana-Karnataka local, the 371(J) quota materially changes what you can reach, both inside the region and outside it.