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Delhi University’s North Campus was crowded on Friday, 28 June, as applicants from across the country made a beeline to admission desks of various colleges, a day after DU released its first cut-off list for undergraduate courses.
The cut-off for Political Science (Hons) at Hindu College was the highest at 99 percent, followed closely by a 98.75 percent requirement for Economics (Hons) at Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), and for BA Programme and Psychology (Hons) at Lady Shri Ram College (LSR).
Some aspirants were ecstatic and some disappointed but cautiously hopeful after the first list was announced. The Quint visited various prominent colleges of the University to ask students what they thought about the cut-offs, the delayed admission process, and the row over the eligibility criteria.
Catch all the live updates on Delhi University admissions here.
Cut-Offs Too High?
With Hindu College recording the highest cut-off of 99 percent this year for Political Science (Hons), Shivika Singh, an applicant at SRCC said that such a figure is "something which you would not even think of". "The cut-offs are surely increasing at a high pace, but it's directly proportional to the marks that people are scoring," she added.
Meanwhile, Satyavan Kaushik, who aspires to get into Hindu College, pointed out that he was struggling even after he secured a 96.5 percent best of four score in his Class 12 examination.
“I’ll wait for the second cut-off... when it’s released, I’ll see. If admissions at Hindu College close, then I won’t have any other option but to consider other colleges. Cut-offs are really high. I feel like my high marks haven’t proven to be beneficial... Had I scored less marks, I wouldn’t have had any option but to enrol at a private institute. What’s difficult now is that even after having got high marks, I don’t know whether I will get into a good college.”Satyavan Kaushik, Hindu College Aspirant, to The Quint
Fardeen Rafi is facing a similar struggle. He hails from Assam and is hoping to secure admission at Hansraj College for BSc (Hons) Chemistry. With 95 percent in PCM, he fell short of the 96.33 percent requirement in the course for the general category, and is now hoping to fill the eligibility requirement in the second or third lists.
Eligibility Criteria Row: What Do Students Think?
One of the controversies Delhi University is grappling with this year is the changes made to the eligibility criteria for some courses. The changes were made right before the admission process began. Among the many changes, the one which attracted most outrage was for enrolment to BA (Hons) Economics, for which it became compulsory to include Mathematics in the best of four subjects.
The controversy reached the Delhi High Court which eventually directed the University to allow students to apply for admission to undergraduate courses for the current academic session based on the eligibility criteria of 2018-19.
The court also extended the deadline for students to apply for UG courses in DU from 14 June to 22 June, which led to the first cut-off list being released a week later than announced.
About the row, Shivika Singh said, “I feel the whole concept of including Maths in Best Four (for Economics) is very logical but unprecedented inclusion of these subjects or a specific subject in the Best Four subjects is unfair.”
Agreeing with Singh, Vrishti, another Economics (Hons) applicant at SRCC, added that students should have been intimated of the change in the criteria at least one year previously by the authorities so that students could prioritise their subjects and prepare accordingly.
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