Pre-admission registrations to most of the first-year professional courses ended on Thursday.
While MBA and Bachelors in Technology (BTech) courses witnessed a dip in demand despite the delay in admissions, most other courses such as architecture and computers managed to attract more applications compared to 2019.
As per figures shared by the state common entrance test (CET) cell, registrations for MBA stood at 41,259 in 2020 as compared to 42,586 the previous year. Similarly, first-year engineering course applications for institutes across Maharashtra stood at 94,087 in 2020 – almost 4,500 lower than the 98,676 registrations seen in 2019.
While the demand for engineering courses has been on a decline in the past few years, experts believe the delay in admissions in 2020 could have discouraged more students from opting for admissions to BE/BTech courses.
“In all probability, the first-year batch will have their first lecture only by the end of January and that will follow a condensed academic year. I’m sure many students must’ve opted to appear for their entrance exam again in 2021 and seek admission for the first-year course in the next academic year,” said the dean of a private engineering institute.
Registrations for admissions to the courses began last month.
{{/usCountry}}Registrations for admissions to the courses began last month.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Masters of Computer Applications (MCA) witnessed 5,706 registrations in 2019, which rose to 10,027 in 2020.
“Most courses have managed to retain the number of applicants and some have even attracted more students, especially courses such as MCA, for which the pre-admission registration is almost double compared to 2019. Architecture and some other courses have also attracted many students,” said an official from the state CET cell, adding that the cell will share the admission schedule for all courses soon.