Tough competition for degree admissions as first merit list out

Most colleges in Mumbai announced high cut-off percentages in professional courses for their first general merit lists, indicating a surge in competition among students vying for seats. St. Xavier's College set the cut-off for traditional Bachelor of Arts courses at 92.17%, slightly higher than last year?s 92%. RA Podar College increased the cut-off for traditional Bachelor of Commerce courses to 95.5% from last year?s 92.3%. The trend of higher cut-offs in professional courses is prevalent across city colleges, regardless of academic streams.

Mumbai: Most colleges in the city announced their first general merit list for degree admissions on Monday, revealing high cut-off percentages, particularly in professional courses. This indicates a surge in competition among students vying for seats at renowned colleges.

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St. Xavier’s College, Dhobi Talao, set the cut-off at 92.17% for traditional Bachelor of Arts (BA) courses this year, slightly higher than last year’s 92%. Meanwhile, RA Podar College, Matunga, increased the cut-off for traditional B.Com courses to 95.5% from last year’s 92.3%. This trend of higher cut-offs in professional courses is prevalent across city colleges, regardless of the academic streams.

Although Churchgate-based HR College, affiliated with the HSNC University, has experienced a slight dip in the cut-off for traditional B.Com from last year’s 97% to 96% this year, the cut-offs for professional courses such as BAF, BFM, and BBI remain similar to those of the previous year.

Shobhana Vasudevan, principal of RA Podar College, said, “Cut-offs for self-financed professional courses like BMS, BBI, and BFM are also higher than those for traditional courses, indicating tougher competition for securing seats in such programmes.”

It’s worth noting that last year, during the first merit list, students from non-state board schools were excluded due to delayed results, resulting in significantly higher cut-off scores for some courses. However, commerce and allied courses continue to attract greater popularity. Dr Madhav Rajwade, principal of Sathaye College, remarked, “There is no decline in the cut-offs compared to last year, especially in Commerce and allied courses, where at least 10 students are competing for a single seat.”

As the admissions process progresses, students and their families are bracing themselves for intense competition, striving to secure admission to the college and course of their choice. This year, NM and Mithibai colleges, under the SVKM group of institutions, did not declare their merit list as they decided to offer admission through the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) Common University Entrance Test (CUET). “We are still waiting for the result of CUET, which is supposed to be declared on June 25. After the result, we will declare our merit list based on the 50:50 formula (50% weightage for class 12 marks and 50% weightage for CUET exam marks), which is predetermined,” said Parag Ajgaonkar, principal of NM College.