Which NITs Can i get at 89 Percentile in JEE Main 2026

Students with 89 percentile in JEE Main 2026 are often surprised to learn that NIT admission is still possible.

This percentile generally places students around the 1.2 lakh to 1.8 lakh AIR range, although the exact rank changes every year.

While top NITs and popular branches like CSE usually close much earlier, several NITs can still remain available with branches such as Civil, Mechanical, Chemical, and Metallurgical Engineering.

In recent counselling rounds, students around this percentile have received options in NITs such as NIT Mizoram, NIT Nagaland, NIT Arunachal Pradesh, and some other newer NITs depending on category, home state quota, and branch preference.

One important thing to understand is that NIT admissions at this percentile are often decided in the later stages of counselling.

The options visible in Round 1 are not always the same options available in Round 5 or CSAB counselling.

As seats get upgraded and vacated across different colleges, cutoff ranks can move significantly in the final rounds.

This is why Round 5 and CSAB counselling become especially important for students in this percentile range.

If you’re still unsure about colleges at your rank, you can check a JEE Main College Predictor to see what NITs people actually got in the past rounds.

NITs You Can Expect at 89 Percentile

Listed below are some NITs where admission may be possible at 89 percentile, especially in later counselling rounds.

NIT	Likely Branches at 89 Percentile
NIT Mizoram	Civil, Mechanical, Electrical
NIT Nagaland	Civil, Mechanical
NIT Arunachal Pradesh	Civil, Mechanical, Electrical
NIT Sikkim	Civil, Mechanical
NIT Manipur	Civil, Mechanical
NIT Meghalaya	Mechanical, Civil

Note:

• Admission at 89 percentile mainly depends on category, home state quota, branch preference, and counselling rounds.
• Most of these options are usually seen in Round 5 or CSAB counselling, while some branches may only open for reserved categories or limited cases.

Students often make the mistake of checking only percentiles. But counselling mainly works on AIR and category rank. That is why rank matters more while predicting NIT options.

Final JoSAA Rounds Can Change Everything

Many students think counseling is almost over after Round 1 or Round 2, but that is usually not true. The biggest changes in JoSAA counselling often happen in Round 5 and later in CSAB rounds.

This happens because thousands of students:

• Upgrade to better colleges
• Leave seats for private universities
• Change branches
• Withdraw from counselling completely

When these seats become vacant, lower-ranked students suddenly start getting options that were not visible in the early rounds. That is why many students with around 89 percentile sometimes get branches like Civil or Mechanical in NITs only during the final counselling stages.

For example, a student who saw “No Seat Allotted” till Round 4 may still end up getting a seat in NIT Mizoram or NIT Nagaland after cutoff drops in later rounds.

This is also why experienced students usually stay till the very end of counselling instead of leaving early after seeing high cutoffs in the beginning.

How to Improve Your Chances at 89 Percentile

Students who get colleges at this percentile usually follow a smarter counselling strategy:

• Fill maximum choices
• Do not lock only top colleges
• Stay till CSAB rounds
• Keep flexible branches
• Use state counselling properly

If you are still unsure about your expected rank, try the JEE Main Rank Predictor to estimate likely AIR from percentile scores.

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