COIMBATORE: Almost half the number of engineering seats in the state under the singlewindow counselling found no takers. On Monday, when the 28-day process came to an end, almost one lakh seats were vacant, up from last year's 80,000.It is not yet known how many of the 70,000 seats under the management quota have been taken. While colleges have extended the admission period till August 20, experts warned the situation might not change. "You can't expect more seats to be taken as most students have got admission by now, and some colleges have begun classes," said educational advisor J P Gandhi.Some felt that students from other states might seek admission. The supplementary counselling on August 6 - for students who passed the Class 12 board examination through supplementary exam - could fill some seats. At the end of the counselling on Monday, only 20 of the 546 colleges had filled all the seats allocated under the counselling quota, of which four are self-financing colleges.Interestingly, among those which filled the seats is PSB Institute of Technology and Applied Research, Coimbatore, which opened this year, with 195 seats allocated for counselling. It turned out to be one of the most sought after colleges during the first session of counselling, when three out of ten students on an average chose the institution. On the flip side, 22 colleges could not fill more than 10 seats at the end of the counselling that started on July 7. Another 10 colleges got just two students each. At least eight of the 12 courses listed had less than 50% of the allocated seats filled on Sunday evening.Though experts said mechanical engineering continued to be a favourite among students, 135 colleges could not fill all their seats in the stream. "If this is the status of mechanical engineering, other courses may remain untouched in some colleges," said a principal of an engineering college in Chennai.About 128 colleges had seats across all branches to be filled even in the open category."When 10% drop was seen in the applications sold over last year, it was an indication of things to come," said Gandhi. A senior administration officer of Anna University said the trend showed that students havestarted thinking beyond engineering. "There are new courses coming up and students are exploring new fields," he said. This has reflected in the turnout for counselling too.This year, 59,300 (36%) of applicants stayed away. Last year, absenteeism was around 30%. In the last four days of counselling this year, it was 42%. After the supplementary counselling and allotment of seats through management quota until August 20, experts felt, 5,000 more seats could be filled. The number of management quota seats filled remains unknown."With the vacant seats increasing every year, it is a lesson for AICTE, Anna University and the colleges. They should work on improving the quality of education," said Gandhi.