DU further extends registration dates for admissions till July 31

The Delhi University (DU) on Saturday extended the date of registration for admissions to undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil and PhD courses till July 31. This is

The Delhi University (DU) on Saturday extended the date of registration for admissions to undergraduate, postgraduate, MPhil and PhD courses till July 31. This is the second time in the ongoing admission season that DU has extended the dates of registration, which had begun on June 20, and was scheduled to close on Saturday.

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The decision of extending the date of registration was taken during a meeting of the University’s admission committee on Saturday. A member of the committee said, “While the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) recently announced the results of Class 12, some state boards are yet to announce the results. The committee has decided to further extend the date of registration to July 31 and give some more time to the students.”

Suman Sharma, another member of the committee, said, “We received several requests for extension. The university’s students’ union had also sent us a request, citing the fact that many candidates could not apply due to the prevailing situation. So the committee has decided to extend the registration dates.”

The number of applications has already exceeded last year’s figure. By Saturday evening, 288,900 paid applications were received for undergraduate courses, 131,531 for postgraduate courses and 29,862 for MPhil and PhD courses. Last year, as many as 258,388 paid applications were received for admission to undergraduate courses, 131,129 for postgraduate courses and 20,862 applications for MPhil and PhD programmes.

Principals said that the spike in the number of applications will lead to tougher competition. Anju Srivastava, the principal of Hindu College, said, “It’s good that the University is giving a chance to students whose Class 12 results have not been declared yet. But yes, it will surely lead to high cut-offs.” The college had the highest cut-off of 99% across the University in 2019.

Meanwhile, the number of applications under the reserved categories for admissions in undergraduate courses is still low as of now compared to last year. By Saturday evening, 54,518 applications were received under the OBC category, 33,720 under the SC category, 6,247 under the ST category and 7,662 in the EWS category. However, the number of applications in OBC, SC, ST and EWS categories was 55,457, 34,262, 7,100 and 9,091, respectively, in 2019.

Hansraj Suman, the chairperson of the DU SC/CT/OBC teachers’ forum, said, “Many students could not get their reservation certificates issued amid the pandemic and hence the number of applications is low as of now. The extension will give such students some more time to apply.”

Given the Covid-19 pandemic, DU has shifted its admission process completely online this year. The admission process has also been delayed by over two months this year due to the prevailing situation. Last year, the registration process had begun on May 30 and the first cut-off list was announced on June 27.