👤 By Dr. Nirbhay Kumar – Educational Consultant | Founder, Early Career Help

Here’s the FULL and UPDATED guide to JoSAA Counselling 2025–26 — detailed, structured, and easy to follow:

JoSAA (Joint Seat Allocation Authority) conducts centralized counselling for admission into:

• 23 IITs
• 31 NITs
• 26 IIITs
• 38 GFTIs (Government Funded Technical Institutes)

Admission is based on your JEE Main 2025 and JEE Advanced 2025 ranks.

✨ Who Can Participate?

📅 Important Dates (Tentative)

👉 After JoSAA rounds, CSAB Special Rounds will be conducted for leftover NIT+ seats.

📋 Eligibility for JoSAA 2025–26

🛤️ JoSAA Counselling Process Step-by-Step

1. Registration
   • Visit josaa.nic.in.
   • Login with JEE Main/Advanced 2025 application number and password.
2. Choice Filling
   • Fill preferred branches and institutes.
   • Fill maximum choices to improve selection chances.
3. Mock Allotment (Round 1 and 2)
   • JoSAA releases mock allotments to help candidates adjust preferences.
4. Choice Locking
   • Lock choices before the deadline.
   • Once locked, choices cannot be changed.
5. Seat Allotment Rounds
   • Based on merit (rank), choices, category, and seat availability.
   • Total 6 rounds of seat allocation.
6. Options after Seat Allotment:
   • Freeze: Accept the allotted seat, do not participate in further rounds.
   • Float: Accept seat, but want to be considered for better options in next rounds.
   • Slide: Accept seat, but want upgrade to better branch in the same institute.
7. Seat Acceptance Fee Payment:
   • ₹35,000 for GEN, GEN-EWS, and OBC-NCL.
   • ₹15,000 for SC, ST, and PwD candidates.
8. Document Verification (Online Upload)
   • Verify eligibility and category claims.
9. Final Reporting
   • After final round, report physically to allotted institute for completing admission formalities.

📑 List of Documents Required

🏛️ Participating Institutes List

IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) – 23 Institutes
NITs (National Institutes of Technology) – 31 Institutes
IIITs (Indian Institutes of Information Technology) – 26 Institutes
GFTIs (Govt. Funded Technical Institutes) – 38 Institutes

(Full list available on request ✅)

🔥 Special Terms in JoSAA

📌 CSAB Special Rounds 2025–26

• Only for NITs, IIITs, GFTIs.
• Fresh registration required after JoSAA.
• Seat acceptance fee for CSAB: ₹37,000 (GEN/OBC/EWS) and ₹17,000 (SC/ST/PwD).
• Two Rounds: CSAB Special Round 1 & 2.
• Good chance for those who missed JoSAA seats or want better branches.

🎯 Pro Tips for JoSAA 2025

✅ Fill at least 100+ choices.
✅ Use Float option till Round 5 if you’re aiming for a better branch/institute.
✅ Keep documents ready in both soft and hard copies.
✅ Watch cutoffs of previous years to plan better (I can provide PDFs too!).
✅ Track JoSAA deadlines carefully: once missed, no correction chance.

🧠 Smart Choice Filling Strategy for JoSAA 2025

If you want to maximize your chances of getting a great seat, your choice filling must be strategic, not random.
Here’s a full-proof plan:

📚 1. Know Your Rank Properly

• For IITs ➔ JEE Advanced Rank matters.
• For NITs, IIITs, GFTIs ➔ JEE Main Rank matters (CRL and Category Rank).

✅ Use Category Rank for NITs if you belong to SC/ST/OBC/PwD/EWS.

📋 2. Collect and Study Previous Year Cutoffs

• Download 2024 JoSAA Closing Ranks for IITs/NITs/IIITs/GFTIs.
• Find your safe, moderate, and ambitious options.

✅ Safe Choices ➔ Branches where last year’s closing rank was way beyond your rank (you’ll surely get it).
✅ Moderate Choices ➔ Branches where your rank was close to the closing rank.
✅ Ambitious Choices ➔ Dream branches/institutes where your rank is higher but you may still try (miracles happen!).

🎯 3. Ideal Choice Filling Pattern

Example for JEE Advanced AIR 5000:

• Ambitious: IIT Kharagpur EE, IIT BHU CSE
• Moderate: IIT Gandhinagar EE, IIT Mandi ME
• Safe: IIT Bhilai CSE, IIT Jammu CE

🏛 4. Categorize by Institute and Branch Priority

• If branch is priority, select CS/CSE/EE/ME, even if in newer IITs/NITs.
• If institute is priority, select any branch in old IITs/NITs (then plan for branch change later).

✅ Tip: CSE, AI/DS, ECE are the hottest — high closing ranks.
✅ Tip: Mechanical, Civil, Metallurgy usually have relatively lower closing ranks.

🚦 5. During Counselling: Use “Float” and “Slide” Options Smartly

📈 Expected Cutoff Trend for 2025 Based on Past Years

• CSE (Top IITs): Closing ranks slightly tighten every year (competition increasing).
• New IITs (like Dharwad, Bhilai): Easier to get core branches.
• NITs and IIITs: CSE and ECE continue to close early; core engineering (Mechanical, Civil) remains available longer.

Short Prediction 2025:

• Competition in JEE Main and Advanced will increase by ~5-7%.
• Top NIT CSE cutoffs may shift slightly upwards (by 300–500 ranks).
• IIT lower branches (Civil, Metallurgy) may stay around similar cutoff as 2024.

🛡 Final Action Plan for You:

✅ Download full JoSAA 2024 Cutoffs (IIT/NIT/IIIT wise).
✅ Make a “dream list” and a “safe list.”
✅ Fill at least 150+ choices carefully.
✅ Prioritize “FLOAT” till Round 5 for best upgrades.
✅ Keep all documents ready before JoSAA starts!

📥 Download JoSAA 2024 Cutoff PDFs

1. Visit the Official JoSAA Website:
   Navigate to the JoSAA Opening and Closing Ranks 2024 page.
2. Select the Desired Round:
   Choose the specific round (e.g., Round 1 to Round 6) for which you want to view the cutoff ranks.
3. Download the PDF:
   Click on the corresponding link to download the PDF file containing the opening and closing ranks for that round.

These PDFs provide detailed information on the opening and closing ranks for various institutes (IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs) across different categories and branches.

🔍 Interactive Cutoff Search

For a more tailored search:

1. Access the JoSAA Seat Allotment Results:
   Go to the JoSAA Seat Allotment Result page.
2. Input Your Preferences:
   • Round Number: Select the counselling round.
   • Institute Type: Choose IIT, NIT, IIIT, or GFTI.
   • Institute Name: Select the specific institute.
   • Academic Program: Choose the desired branch.
   • Seat Type/Category: Select your category (e.g., OPEN, OBC-NCL, SC, ST).
3. View Results:
   Click on the ‘Submit’ button to view the opening and closing ranks based on your selections.

This tool allows you to filter and find specific cutoff information relevant to your preferences.