DU admissions begin, high cutoffs make students wait

The much delayed admissions to the three-year undergraduate programme in Delhi University began Tuesday, with the sky-rocketing cutoffs further increasing the students' wait for admission pending the second list.

The first cutoff list was declared Monday with cutoffs going as high as 100 percent.

"I have scored 94 percent and I want to pursue history. But I couldn't qualify for the first cutoff, so I have to wait," Ravi Chandra, a student from Manipur, told IANS.

The high cutoff has forced Mohan Yadav from Madhya Pradesh to wait for some more time.

"I have scored 93.66 percent and wanted admission in B.Com Honours in Ramjas College. But the cutoffs are very high and I have to wait for the second list," Yadav said.

The university has notified that it would release eight cutoff lists this year.

The admission was already delayed due to a tussle between the university and the University Grants Commission over the controversial four-year undergraduate programme, which was ultimately rolled back.

"We had great problems as the admission dates were postponed. My daughter has applied for B.Sc Honours... but the first cutoffs are really high, we are hoping that in the second cutoff, she will qualify," Sharmila Mukherjee from Assam told IANS.

"We are not from here, and have come from Assam. Now after so much wait, we will have to wait further," Megharupa Sharma said.

Kiran Sati termed the delay in admission "mental harassment".

"I have applied for political science. Late admissions are mentally harassing. Though I am from Delhi, my cousins faced a lot of problems," Sati, an aspirant at ARSD College, told IANS.

In the first cutoff list, three colleges in the university's south campus have set their minimum required marks as high as 100 percent for honours degree in computer science.

Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College (ARSD), Acharya Narendra Dev College and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College have set 100 percent as the cutoff for computer science Honours for students belonging to non-science background.

Some students said they were ready to wait till they get the college of their choice.

"I want to pursue B.Com Honours from Hindu College only. So, I will wait till I qualify for Hindu," Ashwani Sherawat, who has scored 96.25 percent in his board examinations, told IANS.

Anauksha Singh, who has qualified for Sri Venkateshwara College, said she was ready to wait to get through in Hindu College.

"I had applied for English Honours in Venkateshwara and Hindu College. I wanted Hindu College but as its first cutoff is high, I will wait for the second list," Singh said.

The rollback of the four-year programme did not affect the cutoff, as it increased by 1.5-2 percent compared to last year.

Followed by computer science, cutoffs for the commerce stream stood as high as 99.75 percent.

In Hindu College, the cutoff for commerce was between 99.75 and 97.25 percent, while it was between 96.25 and 92 percent last year.

Similarly, in Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), the commerce cutoff is between 99.25 and 97.5 percent, while it was between 97 and 93.75 percent in 2013.

Hans Raj College has also set a high cutoff between 99.25 and 97.25 for honours in commerce.

For economics, Hindu College has set its benchmark between 99 and 97.5 percent, followed by SRCC between 98.25 and 97.25 percent.

For English, the cutoff is as high as 97 percent in Hindu College and Miranda House.

Admissions will take place for 54,000 seats in 61 affiliated colleges under the university.