Rush for DU: Over 98,000 register for 70,000 seats within two days of portal launch

Admissions to all undergraduate courses, barring 15, are conducted on the basis of merit and scores of the previous qualifying examination. Admissions to postgraduate, MPhil and PhD programmes, and the 15 undergraduate courses, are done through DU entrance tests

Two days after registrations opened for undergraduate courses in over 63 colleges of Delhi University, more than 98,000 students have registered till 8pm Wednesday for the 70,000 available seats, said varsity officials.

70,000 seats are available for undergraduate courses in over 63 colleges of Delhi University. Interested candidates can apply till August 31. (Amal KS/HT Archive)

According to data collated by the university till 5pm Wednesday, 88,994 students registered for undergraduate courses, while 81,610 registered for postgraduate courses, and 11,665 for MPhil and PhD programmes. Sanjeev Singh, joint director at the university’s computer centre, said the number of undergraduate registrations jumped to 98,994 by 8pm – exactly 48 hours after the portal was launched on Monday.

While interested candidates can apply till August 31, university officials did not rule out the possibility of extending the deadline. Last year, the registration window was open for around three months with the result that the university received 353,000 applications, its highest tally till date.

A senior university official, requesting anonymity, said, “Since CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) is holding compartment exams between August and September, we will be waiting for a statutory decision from higher authorities on whether the registration deadline would be extended till then or not. DU entrance tests are also scheduled for September; so it is likely that the registration process might get extended.”

Admissions to all undergraduate courses, barring 15, are conducted on the basis of merit and scores of the previous qualifying examination. Admissions to postgraduate, MPhil and PhD programmes, and the 15 undergraduate courses such as journalism, finance, and music, among others, are done through DU entrance tests (DUET), conducted by the National Testing Agency.

This year, the entrance exams will be conducted in the last week of September.

Since the admission process is completely online this year as well, the university has formed virtual help desks to address queries, including an interactive chatbot that has been introduced this year. “Most students want to ask about hostels, cutoffs, and whether they would get admission on the basis of their scores or not. We have also given the seat matrix of different colleges on the portal itself along with the annual fee for different courses. We have been holding virtual open houses as well to address queries of DU aspirants,” said Singh.

Since DU does not follow a “first come, first-served” basis for undergraduate admissions, colleges are supposed to give admissions to all applicants who meet the announced cutoff criteria. With around 80% of DU applicants graduating from CBSE-affiliated schools, the cutoffs this year are likely to remain high. Around 220,000 students scored 90% and above marks in CBSE Class 12 this year, with around 70,000 of them scoring around 95% or more marks.

Meanwhile, the varsity is also holding discussions on whether to conduct in-person classes for final-year students. “Discussions have been going on about conducting offline classes for students who need them. The final-year students, particularly those in science groups or requiring practical work, will be given priority followed by second- and third-year students,” said Rajeev Gupta, chairperson, admissions.