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On the cut-off point

A seat to pursue some of the regular undergraduate degree courses in the University of Delhi is indeed as prized as perhaps securing in one of the famed Ivy League universities in the United States.



Tribune news service

A seat to pursue some of the regular undergraduate degree courses in the University of Delhi is indeed as prized as perhaps securing in one of the famed Ivy League universities in the United States.

To the purists in the world of academia, the comparison may appear bordering on blasphemy, but it does convey intense competition that the students have to face even when their marksheet shows a healthy 95 per cent score. Such A grades do not  necessarily translate into a seat in some of the popular courses.

The reason is not difficult to seek. The annual intake capacity of the University of Delhi is around 56,000 seats and this year over 2 lakh candidates – 2,21, 309 to be precise – had applied  by the time the June 7 deadline to apply online ended. Of course, hidden in the figures are the multiple applications that students fill in across various courses just in case.

Savour this. The most popular courses include BA (Honours) in Economics and Political Science BCom (Honours) and BCom (Program) and BA (Program) besides Journalism. In the sciences stream, courses BSc (mathematics, chemistry and physics)  are among the most popular ones. Colleges in North Delhi Campus are the most preferred, while some famed colleges in South Delhi are known for better faculty in niche subjects.

This year’s admission season arrived with a package of surprise for Delhi University’s administration as well. When the first list was declared on June 19, more than 16,000 cases of admissions were approved, out of which, over 15,000 admissions had taken place till Friday evening last week, Dr. Sukanto Dutta, member of Students welfare department told Jobs and Careers.

“This is a huge turnout in comparison to last year where merely 2,000 admissions had taken place by this time. It’s almost seventimes greater this year”, Dr Dutta said, as the authorities extended deadline for admission until Saturday midnight, some 24 hours before the second cut-off percentages were to be released.

Tuesday saw more than 5,000 students taking admission in various colleges under the Delhi University, a day after the second cut-off lists were released. While the first day after the announcement of the first cut-offs was marred by technical glitches, candidates were relieved as the admission process went smoothly on June26.

Delhi University attracts students from across the country, especially from the  neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, and there is hope for students till fifth and the final cut-off list is put out by July 12, some eight days away from the start of regular classes on July 20. After the last cut-off, colleges come out with seats in courses where some vacancies exist.

Yet if past is any indication, the prospects for lowering of cut-off percentage points remain bleak in popular courses in preferred colleges. However, courses like BSc (Honours), in specialised streams like Instrumentation and Polymer Science or BVoc in Software Development, wait for students.

The third list will be out this Friday.

Towards realistic cut offs

Well for those who estimated that a drop in cut-off percentage as the rationale behind such great turnout the second cut-off offered little solace. The drop varied from mere 0.25 to 0.75 percentage points for the most sought-after courses in popular colleges. The first list hovered above 97-98 per cent, filling some 25 per cent of the seats.

After facing criticism for high percentage cut-offs in the past years, some colleges made efforts to be ‘realistic’ with their cut-offs this time. This resulted in approval of applications at an “unprecedented” rate in the first two days of admissions this year.

The university released its first cut-off list, which recorded a drop in minimum required marks as compared to those last year. The highest cut-off this year stood at 98.7 per cent by Lady Shri Ram College, a slash of 0.5 per cent from last year when Ramjas kept the cut-off marks still high with 99.25 per cent. The second list of Delhi University (DU) admissions has come as relief to many students with reports of cut offs for some courses witnessing a drop of as much as five per cent. 

Popular courses like BCom (Hons), Economics and English  registered marginal drop in cut-offs. Cut-offs for other courses like Geography and Psychology, have seen a marginal  dip. 

This year, the university noticed a change in the trend regarding the courses popular among students. BA emerged as the most sought-after course closely followed by English (Honours), a university official familiar with the admission procedure said.

Housefull 

Some of the colleges that had the maximum admissions after the first cut off are: 

  • Hindu College
  • Miranda House
  • Kamla Nehru College
  • Lady Sri Ram College
  • Shaheed Bhagat Singh College

Fact file

  • The total number of male applicants for admissions are 1,44,248, women 1,34,297 and other applicants 29.
  • According to an official from the university, 2,78,544 aspirants have made payments.
  • Last year, around 2.20 lakh candidates had made payments. 

Fresh courses

  • The university runs diploma courses along with its regular degree ones. From this year, the university will be starting a Five-Year Integrated Programme in Journalism in Hindi and  English,  under the newly established Delhi School of Journalism. The school was inaugurated by Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu in December 2017.
  • The Postgraduate Diploma in Cyber Security and Law is being offered for the first time from this academic session. This course will teach students about vulnerability assessment and penetration testing, and check the resilience of systems in the face of data breach, hacking and privacy issue.
  • The university’s website stipulates eligibility criteria for the course as: “All graduates or above in science (chemistry or physics, mathematics, IT; BTech in computer science, IT, electronics, and communication are eligible to take up this course. MTech, MCA and BCA graduates or those in the final year can also apply”. 
  • There are 50 seats on offer and admissions will be merit-based. The university has extended the application  deadline for PG Diploma in Cyber Security till June 30. 

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