The Shooin Stars College Explorer changes how MHT-CET families research colleges – and this guide shows you exactly how. Let me ask you something simple. Name the top 15 engineering colleges in Pune. Or the top 15 in Mumbai. Go ahead, try it.
Most parents and students can name 3-4 colleges at best. COEP, VJTI, PICT – the usual names. But here is the real problem. Even for those 3-4 colleges, can you tell me how many branches they offer? What is the intake for each branch? What is the exact fee? What is the cutoff – not a rough number, but the actual category-wise, round-wise cutoff? Is the college autonomous or affiliated? Which university is it under?
If you are being honest, the answer is no. And you are not alone. Almost nobody has this information ready when they sit down to fill the MHT-CET preference form. This is exactly the problem Shooin Stars College Explorer solves.
The College Explorer Information Problem Every MHT-CET Family Faces
A few years ago, DTE Maharashtra used to publish a detailed brochure with complete information about every engineering college – branches, intake, fees, contact details. It was the one reliable source families could depend on. That brochure has been discontinued for several years now.
So what do parents do today? They ask friends, relatives, coaching class teachers, or random YouTube videos. Some pay agents Rs 1-2 lakhs for “counseling” that is basically the same scattered information dressed up in a folder. None of these sources give you structured, verifiable, category-wise cutoff data that you can compare across colleges before filling your preference form.
This is not a small problem. Your preference form decides which college your child gets. Fill it wrong – list too few options, misjudge cutoffs, miss a good college you did not know about – and you are stuck with whatever seat the system assigns. No second chances until the next CAP round, if there is one.
The real cost of bad information: Every year thousands of Maharashtra students end up at colleges below their potential – not because their MHT-CET score was low, but because they did not know which colleges to list in their preference form. A student with 90 percentile who only lists 5-6 famous colleges will get worse results than a student with 85 percentile who lists 30+ colleges strategically using actual cutoff data.
What is Shooin Stars College Explorer?
College Explorer is a free feature inside the Shooin Stars app that gives you complete, structured information about every MHT-CET engineering college in Maharashtra. All 350+ colleges. One place. No scattered Google searches, no outdated PDFs, no agent needed.
Click on any college and you get everything:
College Overview
Official website link, autonomy status (autonomous vs affiliated), affiliated university name, total intake capacity, and fee structure – all verified from official sources.
Branch-wise Details
Every branch offered at the college with individual intake numbers. No guessing how many seats are available in Computer Science vs Mechanical vs Civil.
Category-wise Cutoffs
General Open, SC, ST, VJ/DT, OBC, EWS, TFWS, All India – every category cutoff for every CAP round. Not just Round 1, but Rounds 1 through 4.
Choice Codes
The exact choice code you need when filling your MHT-CET preference form. No more hunting through DTE PDFs to find the right code for your college-branch combination.
Explore 350+ Maharashtra engineering colleges for free
Open College Explorer –>The College Explorer Compare Feature – New in 2026
This year we added something parents have been asking for: side-by-side college comparison. Confused between PICT and PCCOE? Not sure whether Walchand Sangli is better than Government College Aurangabad for your child’s branch? The Compare feature lets you put two colleges next to each other and compare them on every parameter – fees, intake, branches, cutoffs, autonomy status.
This is not a subjective “which college is better” opinion piece. It is raw data, laid out side by side, so you can make the decision yourself. And it is completely free.
How to use Compare: Open any college in the College Explorer, tap the Compare button, select a second college, and instantly see both profiles side by side. Compare fees, branch availability, cutoff trends, and intake capacity on a single screen. No app needed – works in the browser at shooinstars.com.
How College Explorer Fits Into Your Admission Strategy
College Explorer is not meant to be used in isolation. It is one part of a 3-tool system inside Shooin Stars that, used together, makes your preference form nearly bulletproof:
College Explorer – Research phase. Browse colleges, check cutoffs, understand which colleges are realistic for your percentile. Compare colleges side by side. Build a mental shortlist of 20-30 colleges.
College Predictor – Validation phase. Enter your exact percentile, category, gender, and preferred cities. The predictor shows you which colleges from your shortlist you can actually get – ranked by probability (high chance, moderate, reach).
Preference List Generator – Execution phase. Based on the predictor results, the generator builds an optimized preference list with the right order. Choice codes included. You just copy it into the DTE preference form.
This 3-step process is structured, data-driven, and risk-free. No guessing. No depending on someone else’s opinion about which college is “good”. No paying an agent Rs 1-3 lakhs for advice that is based on the same incomplete data you already have.
A note about admission agents: Some agents charge Rs 1-3 lakhs and claim they have “inside information” about college seats or “guaranteed admission” through management quota. In reality, all CAP round seats are allotted purely by MHT-CET rank and your preference list. No agent can change your rank or create seats that do not exist. The Shooin Stars tools give you the same data (actually better data) that any counselor uses – and they are free.
Step-by-Step: How to Use College Explorer
Open the Shooin Stars app or website. Go to shooinstars.com in any browser, or download the Android app from the Google Play Store. No login required for College Explorer.
Open College Explorer. Tap on the College Explorer feature from the home screen. You will see a searchable list of all 350+ Maharashtra engineering colleges.
Search or browse any college. Type the college name – “PICT”, “COEP”, “DJ Sanghvi”, “Walchand” – and tap to see the full profile. Overview, branches, intake, fees, cutoffs, choice codes – everything in one screen.
Check category-wise cutoffs. Tap on any branch to see cutoffs broken down by General Open, SC, ST, VJ/DT, OBC, EWS, TFWS, and All India categories – for all 4 CAP rounds.
Compare two colleges. Use the Compare button to put two colleges side by side. This is especially useful when you are torn between two similar-tier colleges and need data to decide.
Why Parents Need to Check This Before Preference Form Filling
Here is the truth most families learn too late: the MHT-CET preference form is not something you fill in 20 minutes the night before the deadline. It is the single most important document in your child’s engineering admission. The order you list colleges in, the number of options you include, the category and branch combinations you pick – all of this directly determines which college your child gets allotted.
Most parents leave this to the student alone or to a coaching class teacher who handles 200 students and gives everyone the same generic advice. The students who get the best results are the ones whose families sit down together, research each college properly, check actual cutoff data, and build the preference list as a team.
College Explorer makes this possible. You do not need an engineering background. You do not need to understand DTE codes or navigate government websites. Everything is in one place, in plain language, organized clearly.
For parents specifically: Your child may know how to use the app better than you, but the admission decision affects the whole family. Sit with them. Browse colleges together. Ask questions – “Why did you not list this college? What is the cutoff here? Is this college autonomous?” The College Explorer gives you the information to have that conversation on equal footing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Explore Every Maharashtra Engineering College in One Place
350+ colleges. Branch-wise cutoffs. Category-wise data. Side-by-side comparison. All free.
Open Shooin Stars College ExplorerCollege data sourced from DTE Maharashtra official records and verified against CAP Round allotment data. Cutoffs shown are from the most recent admission cycle. Choice codes are updated annually based on DTE notifications.