Don’t play the waiting game, advise experts

Experts advice that students should enroll in the college where they get admission on the basis of the first list.

Didn’t make it to your dream college in the first list and planning to wait for the second list? It’s a bad idea, say those in the know. Their advice: first secure your seat in the college where you have cleared the bar, or else you may be left in the lurch completely.

Some popular colleges like SRCC, Hans Raj, Hindu, Miranda, Indraprastha, Lady Shri Ram and Sri Venkateswara College close their admissions for most courses after the first list and, if you are not smart, you may find yourself left with no option.

“There is very little scope for a second list in Indraprastha. We keep our cut-offs low and try to wind up the admission process by the first list. Students should take admission in the college they get admission in through the first list. You never know if the college of your choice would declare a second cut-off list for your course or not,” said Manasvini Yogi, Indraprastha College media co-ordinator. Mehul Gupta, a Commerce applicant with 93.5 per cent marks, is behind the cut-off marks for B.Com. Honours in colleges like Hans Raj and Hindu and is planning to wait out for the second list, but experts say the likelihood of cut-off marks falling by a whole per cent is non-existent.

“Cut-off marks may fall at the most by a fraction of a percentage in the more popular colleges. There may be 50-100 candidates for every percentage that is dropped,” said S.K. Vij, DU dean of students’ welfare.

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Principals also warn of the scenario where a student with higher marks may be denied admission in the second round if he or she drops out of the first list. “Many colleges do not take in first-list students in the second list even if their marks are higher because colleges prepare their cut-off lists for a percentage slab. If all first list people come for the second list, where will the latter go?” asked Kavita Sharma, principal Hindu College.

But it always is a good idea to visit the college of your choice to see if any admissions are being made on marks lower than the declared cut-off. Principals say that for a lot of well-known colleges it is an ego issue if they close admissions after the first list.

“They declare a very high cut-off (first list) and then hesitate to take out a third or fourth list. This is when backdoor admissions happen,” said the principal of a prominent women’s college. Teachers, however, say that you can always withdraw your admission in the second round.

“Withdrawal is very easy in Indraprastha. You just have to fill a form and your papers are handed to you in 10 minutes. Fee is refunded within 15 days as we have to issue a cheque,” said Yogi. So do not wait, get that elusive DU seat. You can always try for something better in the next list.