There is no preference as such because when you score low you have very few options for some good colleges.



Some top colleges in South with less fees and high ROI are as follows :



Nit Calicut

Nit surathkal

Nit Trichy



All of these accept jee main scores with cutoff closing ranks under 35000 to convert seat.



https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/top-engineering-colleges-in-india-2014