Waiting breathlessly: DU’s second cut-offs are making students nervous

Admissions under the first cutoff list closed on Wednesday and experts have said the second list may see a dip of 0.25% to 3% across the courses.

Thousands of students are breathlessly waiting for the University of Delhi’s second cutoff list, expected to be released on Saturday, for admissions in the various undergraduate courses offered by over 60 colleges.

Some of HT’s Campus Journalists are waiting for Delhi University’s second cut-offs to wait for a college or programme of their choice. From left (sitting) Ramsha Khan, Shivam Jha, (second row, left) Malvika Singh, Sabika Syed, Sehba Mohit, (standing) Sagar Dawar, Khuisangmi Konghay, Remya Nair and Vrinda Saxena(Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

The university announced the first list on June 23 and it was the first time in many years that the colleges released cutoffs lower than that of the previous year in almost all courses. There will be five cutoff lists this year and the classes will begin on July 20. DU received around 2.2 lakh applications for about 56,000 seats in its 63 colleges.

Admissions under the first cutoff list closed on Wednesday and experts have said the second list may see a dip of 0.25% to 3% across the courses.

Many students, including the Hindustan Times’ Campus Journalists, are looking forward to the next round. Some of them said they even chose not to take admission under the first list and decided to wait it out hoping to get into their “dream” college.

Ramsha Khan from Jamia Senior Secondary School says it is good that the first cutoffs registered a slight dip but points out that students with scores above 90% are not sure whether they will get admission to a college of their choice even after the second or the third list is announced. She is targeting a BA English (hons) at a college in north campus or Lady Shri Ram College.

The young woman, who loves reading, writing and is learning to play the guitar, feels that the competition among students trying to get into DU has “just about intensified.” Khan plans to pursue a career in journalism and is anxious to see where the fifth cutoff stops at.

Sagar Dawar of St Columba’s School is also among those students who decided to wait for the next lists. He plans to take up zoology honours and is all geared up to “take action (applying to colleges) on time when the second or third cutoffs are announced.”

Though his heart is set on pursuing an MBBS course someday and working with the World Health Organization (WHO), Dawar is determined to also pursue his passion for English and reading, “a thing of beauty,” after he completes his graduation.

Holy Child Auxilium School’s Khuisangmi Konghay is interested in taking up BSc (Hons) in statistics and like Dawar is hopeful of making it to her dream college in the subsequent lists. She says the dip in cutoffs was a huge relief but she was not motivated to finalise her decision to take admission in the few lesser known colleges she qualified for.

Then there are students who want to change their tracks completely.

Shivam Jha, who studied in Ramjas School and spent some time at Delhi Technological University, wants to switch to humanities and take up English in college. Though Jha is still not sure of the college he is likely to get a seat, he wants to wait and see how “things unfold in the next list before taking admission.”

“Being a student in India you can say one thing for sure: There aren’t many kids who take up the science stream on their own wish. Unfortunately, I was one of them,” he says on his decision to switch to arts.

Once thrust into the world of quantum mechanics and organic compounds, Jha says he was expected to take the road most taken. “After two semesters of mechanical engineering in Delhi Technological University and intensely doing nothing but cramming up a thousand-page textbook on the morning of the exam, I eventually figured out that this was not what I wanted to do,” he says.

“I have been told that it’s never too late to change your fortunes and get on the right track so here I am trying to find purpose in my life,” he adds.

Remya Nair of Holy Child Auxilium was also delighted after the first cutoff list because “even a .25 to 2.0% plunge can make it or break it for thousands of students across the country.” Nair, who has half of her family members working in the medical field, surprised everyone at home by taking non-medical subjects in Class 11.

“I have applied for BTech programmes and because I like to keep my options open I will also be applying for various DU courses,” she says.

For Vrinda Saxena, also of Holy Child Auxilium, as well the slight dip in this year’s cutoffs came as a huge relief. As a majority of the best colleges in north campus kept their cutoff at 97.5% for economics in the first list, she is hopeful about making it in the second or third list.

For Saxena, the initial feeling of not getting through a college in the first list was a little heartbreaking but she is expecting some improvement in her Class 12 Board marks after the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has opened the re-verification process.

“I’ve been giving a lot of entrances and interviews lately and what I’ve realised, beyond cutoffs giving us the chills, is that the admission process is not very smooth for the uninitiated. It is quite ironical that students and so called “veterans of admissions” helped us and not the college ‘help-desks,” she says.

“On the brighter side, nonetheless, I am waiting for the best and in the meantime having a good laugh at the memes - after all, that humour is based on us,” says Saxena.

For those making a beeline for the colleges of their choice after the second list is out, an interactive College Explorer with institutes’ address, programmes, websites etc will make the search easier.

Click here for more. http://www.hindustantimes.com/static/du-cutoffs-map/