High off-campus cut-offs worry pupils

When Deepak Chaudhary, 18, went to Keshav Mahavidyalaya to check the cut-off for BCom (Honours), he got a rude shock. Mallica Joshi explores the dilemma of high cut-offs at off-campus colleges.

When Deepak Chaudhary, 18, went to Keshav Mahavidyalaya to check the cut-off for BCom (Honours), he got a rude shock.

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"Since the college is far away from the North Campus, I had expected the cut-off to be in the 80s. But the cut-offs are as high as 97 per cent," he said.

Keshav Mahavidyalaya, that has its campus in Pitampura, has raised its B Com (Honours) cut-off from 91-96 per cent last year to 92-97 per cent this year.

Most off-campus colleges this year have declared cut-offs that are substantially higher than last year. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College, for instance, has increased its cut-off for BCom (Honours) from 85 per cent last year to 90 per cent this year.

At Bhim Rao Ambedkar College as well, the cut-offs have gone up by three per cent. "We want to attract a good crowd and that's why we declare slightly higher cut-offs," said G.K. Arora, principal, BR Ambedkar College, which is located at Yamuna Vihar.

But towards the end of the admission process, the cut-offs see a dip. At Keshav Mahavidyalaya, for example, the cut-off for Psychology (Honours) was declared as 87 per cent last year. But the admissions were closed at 76 per cent with a dip of 11 per cent.

This year's cut-off for Psychology (Honours) stands at 90 per cent. "A large number of students have been excelling in academics over the last few years and the popularity of the college is also increasing. This is one reason for the high cut-offs," said Madhu Pruthi, principal, Keshav Mahavidyalaya.

Sunil Sondhi, principal, Maharaja Agrasen College explains: "We declare inflated cut-offs as we have to judge the response from students. If we declare a lower cut-off, there is a danger of too many students seeking admission in to the college. We have to move cautiously."