Which Branches Got Harder in Karnataka? 5-Year GM Cutoff Trends for CS, EC, ME, CE and EE

Every KCET season the same question comes up: is my target branch getting harder or easier? Instead of anecdotes, we computed two numbers for each of the five biggest branches — Computer Science (CS), Electronics & Communication (EC), Mechanical (ME), Civil (CE), and Electrical & Electronics (EE) — from the official cutoff data for 2021 through 2026 (GM category, General quota): the median GM closing rank across all colleges offering the branch, and the best (lowest) GM closing rank in the state.

Median GM closing rank, 2021–2026

Year	CS	EC	ME	CE	EE
2021	41,566	74,299	175,094	171,132	157,588
2022	43,122	78,329	161,612	165,436	154,743
2023	40,164	63,601	188,644	191,404	83,924
2024	69,734	187,514	247,151	261,492	217,978
2025	73,966	159,629	238,960	240,305	193,987
2026*	80,665	91,901	151,409	153,705	93,898

Best GM closing rank in the state, 2021–2026

Year	CS	EC	ME	CE	EE
2021	315	1,303	7,801	22,445	4,031
2022	454	1,737	14,590	34,548	8,103
2023	310	969	6,137	18,500	3,532
2024	501	1,354	8,395	16,279	4,202
2025	499	1,100	5,812	10,832	2,783
2026*	144	375	4,935	5,266	721

*2026 figures are from the Round-1 allotment; earlier years reflect the last published round, which typically closes at more relaxed ranks.

Three trends worth noticing

1. CS is harder at the top, easier at the median. The best CS seat in the state has never closed looser than rank 501 in six years, and hit 144 in Round 1 this year. But the median CS seat drifted from ~41,500 (2021) to ~80,600 (2026). That is not CS becoming unpopular — it is supply: the number of GEN-quota CS offerings with a GM close grew from 194 rows in 2021 to 218 in 2026, and every new tier-3 CS program pulls the median outward. Lesson: "CS somewhere" keeps getting easier; "CS at a top college" keeps getting harder.

2. The core branches' comeback is real at the selective end. Civil's best closing rank tightened from 22,445 in 2021 to 10,832 in 2025 and 5,266 in Round-1 2026. EE's best seat went from 4,031 to 721 over the same window, and Mechanical from 7,801 to 4,935. Top government and autonomous colleges are filling core seats with far better-ranked candidates than five years ago — likely a mix of fee-conscious choices, PSU/government-job aspirations, and top colleges' brand outweighing branch.

3. 2024 was the outlier year. Medians blew out across all five branches in 2024 (Civil's median touched 2.6 lakh) as candidate registrations surged, then partially recovered in 2025. Treat any prediction built only on 2024 numbers with suspicion.

How to use this

If your GM rank is inside the state's best-seat range for EC or EE (roughly under 1,000 this year), you are effectively choosing between top-college CS aspirations and guaranteed top-college electronics — a much closer call than it was in 2021. If you are near the medians, remember the median CS seat now sits past rank 80,000: a good non-CS branch at a strong college will usually beat a CS tag at a weak one.

Data compiled from official publications; verify with KEA (Karnataka Examinations Authority) before decisions.