  The COVID19 pandemic has forced Indian engineering institutions (EIs) to
bring their previous half shut shades completely down. Fetching new admissions
to EI campuses during the pandemic has become a now or never situation for EIs.
During crisis situations, institutions have struggled to return to the normal
track. The pandemic has drastically changed students behavior and family
preferences due to mental stress and the emotional life attached to it.
Consequently, it becomes a prerequisite, and emergencies need to examine the
choice characteristics influencing the selection of EI during the COVID19
pandemic situation.
  The purpose of this study is to critically examine institutional influence
and pandemic influence due to COVID19 that affects students choice about an
engineering institution (EI) and consequently to explore relationships between
institutional and pandemic influence. The findings of this quantitative
research, conducted through a self-reported survey, have revealed that
institutional and pandemic influence have governed EI choice under the COVID19
pandemic. Second, pandemic influence is positively affected by institutional
influence. The study demonstrated that EIs will have to reposition themselves
to normalize pandemic influence by tuning institutional characteristics that
regulate situational influence and new enrollments. It can be yardstick for
policy makers to attract new enrollments under pandemic situations.
