Cut-offs for popular Mumbai University degree courses jump by 10-13 percentage points
The first general merit list for first-year (FY) undergraduate courses announced on Tuesday saw cut-offs increase by 10 to 13 percentage points on an average compared to last year, according to data shared by city colleges.
The first general merit list for first-year (FY) undergraduate courses announced on Tuesday saw cut-offs increase by 10 to 13 percentage points on an average compared to last year, according to data shared by city colleges.
Increasing Covid-19 cases forced most school education boards to scrap their class 12 exams this year and instead assessed students based on their performance across Classes 10, 11 and 12. The final results saw a massive increase of students in the 90% club. While ICSE and CBSE schools boasted of nearly 50% or more of their Class 12 students scoring above 90-95% this year, the number of 90% scorers across the state jumped by 12-fold, compared to last year. For the first time ever, 46 HSC students managed to score a perfect 100% this year.
While some colleges reported an increase of six-eight percentage points across courses, the cut-off for BSc course at Vile Parle’s Mithibai College witnessed a hike of 29 percentage points - from 55.1% last year to 84.1% this year.
At St Xavier’s College, one of the most popular choices for Bachelor of Arts (BA) aspirants, the first merit list for FYBA course ended at 98% for state board students and 99.17% for non-state board students—the state board list witnessing a jump of six percentage points. The biggest jump, however, was seen in BSc Biological courses at Dhobi Talao college where the list ended at 92% for state board students, up 13 percentage points from 79% last year. Even the minority quota merit list for FYBA ended at 91% for HSC students and 95.8% for non-state board students at the institute this year.
“All seats in the FYBA course have been allotted in the first merit list itself. Vacant seats, if any, will only be revealed once the round ends when we will find out how many students don’t confirm their admissions,” said Rajendra Shinde, principal, St Xavier’s College.
Once again, self-financed courses including Bachelor in Management Studies (BMS), BA in Mass Media and Communication (BAMMC, formerly BMM), BCom in Accounting & Finance (BAF), BCom in Banking Insurance attracted top scorers across different streams and colleges.
At Narsee Monjee College, Vile Parle, the first merit list for BMS ended at 95.8% (for Arts), 95.2% (for Science) and 97% (for Commerce), nearly two-three percentage points higher compared to last year. At RA Podar College, Matunga, another popular choice for commerce and BMS aspirants, the BMS merit list ended at 94.6% (for Arts) 94.7% (for Science) and 96.8% (for Commerce), nearly three to ten percentage points higher compared to last year.
“We knew admission to top colleges would be a challenge this year, but the first merit list has shocked us all. In many cases, the first merit list has ended at 95-98%, which means this year, even a 90% won’t assure anyone a seat in a college and/or course of one’s choice,” said Riddhi Parikh, an ICSE student who scored 93% in her boards and missed a chance to be allotted in a college of her choice. “I have been allotted a seat in another college, which was not high on my priority list. Any other year I would have cancelled this admission and waited for the next merit list, but this year I’m not sure anyone can take such a risk,” she added.
At Jai Hind College, Churchgate, cut-offs across streams also witnessed an increase and the hope for students in the next two lists remain low. “We are a minority college so we have already completed the in-house, minority quota admissions and the remaining seats have been allotted to the open category in the first round itself. I’m sure we will have to announce a second merit list in order to fill up all seats but I highly doubt there will be a third merit list for popular courses,” said Ashok Wadia, principal of Jai Hind College.
Additional division for colleges
Earlier this month, the state government released a circular, allowing colleges to add an extra division to certain popular courses to accommodate all students owing to a higher number of class 12 students clearing their exams this year.
“This option will be available to colleges only for the 2021-22 academic year and can continue for the current batch until the completion of their graduation,” said the circular. College principals, however, have not shown interest in this move, with many saying it will be impossible to add divisions in terms of infrastructure in space-starved institutes, once colleges reopen for physical classes.