All 5 students admitted through Olympiad chose CSE at IIT Kanpur

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IIT Kanpur had offered Olympiad-based seats in five departments — Computer Science and Engineering, Mathematics and Statistics, Economic Sciences, Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, and Chemistry. However, all selected students chose CSE.

The institute has clarified that no special academic mentoring or bridge courses are planned for Olympiad-admitted candidates, who are expected to integrate seamlessly into the standard curriculum alongside JEE-qualified peers.

At present, the Olympiad-based admission initiative is limited to select BTech and BS programmes, with no announced plans to extend it to other disciplines or postgraduate courses. Similarly, the academic senate has not yet considered introducing talent-based admissions for other fields such as arts, sports, or entrepreneurship, IIT Kanpur told the indianexpress.com.

To ensure parity with JEE-qualified students, Olympiad candidates undergo a structured process, including shortlisting based on Olympiad achievements, a mandatory written examination aligned with JEE Advanced syllabus, and oversight by a central admission committee. This ensures that students entering via the Olympiad route meet the institute’s high academic standards.

Notably, 27,285 students have chosen IIT Kanpur’s Computer Science and Engineering branch, as per the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) report 2025. The next popular course after CSE is Electrical Engineering which saw 23,254 choice counts this year. The other top choices (third, fourth and fifth) were Mechanical Engineering (20,261), Civil Engineering (15,846), and Chemical Engineering (Power and Automation) (15758).