How Delay in JEE & NEET Could Disrupt Delhi University Admissions

Delhi University fears that a large number of students may vacate seats after JEE & NEET results.

(Photo: Shruti Mathur/The Quint)

Colleges affiliated to the University of Delhi could release their respective cut-offs latest by early October 2020, as the central varsity is awaiting results for competitive entrance exams like JEE Main and NEET (UG), which too have been pushed back to September, an official told The Quint.

While the University has closed registration for the Delhi University Entrance Test, those applying to courses for which cut-offs are calculated on the basis of board examinations, can continue applying to the varsity till 31 August 2020.

According to fresh dates announced by the Union Ministry of Education (Formerly known as the Human Resource Development Ministry), JEE Main examination will be held between 1-6 September, JEE advanced on 27 September & NEET (UG) 2020 will be held on 13 September.

However, there have been growing calls to postpone them further, with the India Wide Parents Association writing a letter to ministry on the matter.

What happens if NEET & JEE are delayed further?

According to the official, in case these exams are not held or postponed, then the University of Delhi may not be in a position to defer these exams any further.

But, it is not higher-cut offs that DU is worried about, the official says.

“If JEE & NEET exams are not held in time and if aspirants from these exams take admission to DU, we will have an abnormal year where students may leave the science sources en-mass after the declaration of results for entrance exams,” the official added.

What will be the impact on cut-offs at DU?

At the moment, there are several factors that could contribute to a high cut-off in Delhi University. The first and the most obvious factor is the high percentage of students who have scored above 90 percent in CBSE Class 12 board exams this year.

While the number of students scoring above 95 percent is the Class 12 CBSE exams has risen from 17,690 in 2019 to 38,686 in 2020, the number of students scoring 90 percent and above has increased by 63,000 to 1,57,934.

Most Delhi University colleges feel that a steep jump in those scoring above 90 percent could well result in higher cut-offs.

How many students have applied to DU this year?

At the time of publication, over 3,28,000 students had applied for UG courses in DU, which is 40,000 more than the 2,80,000 students who had applied in 2019.

This is only going to reduce the success rate further, as DU only has about 70,000 odd seats across its constituent colleges.

Hence, given the present number of students who have enrolled, around 2,58,000 students will not make it to the university, simply because there aren’t as many seats.

As Miranda House Principal Dr Bijayalaxmi Nanda puts it, this is going to make admissions even more difficult for those securing admissions to some of the most prestigious colleges.

Why have the number of applicants in DU increased?

• The University of Delhi usually keeps it’s admission process open for a month. However, this year, the registration portal went live on 6 July and will continue to remain open till 31 August. Such a long window has led to more applications
• As mentioned above, students seeking admissions to professional courses like JEE and NEET may have applied to DU, amid uncertainty over these entrance exams
• A large number of students planning to study abroad have had to put their plans on hold. Some could have applied to DU this year