They may be getting to study at universities such as Oxford, Stanford and Cornell, but International Baccalaureate (IB) students fare as good or as bad as any student hoping to get into Delhi University.
The problem — the IB declares its final results in July, which is too late for DU and most of its 61 colleges.
According to the varsity’s rules, the students can be given admission provisionally on the basis of their grades using an equivalence formula. But only once their results are declared.
“The school has given me a predicted grade. My final results will be out only in July. By then, all the seats in well-reputed colleges will be taken up. It is unfair,” said Kaveri Krishnan, a DU aspirant who has made the grade at Oxford University but wants to complete her graduation from Sri Ram College of Commerce. She has a predicted grade of 7, the highest in the IB system.
Students from Shri Ram School, Gurgaon, have also had similar experiences. “Many of our students are planning to accept offers from foreign universities. DU’s lackadaisical approach may be prompting more to seek admission abroad. Others who choose to stay behind face a lot of trouble in gaining admission to DU,” said Manisha Malhotra, vice-principal in charge of the IB curriculum at the school.
{{/usCountry}}Students from Shri Ram School, Gurgaon, have also had similar experiences. “Many of our students are planning to accept offers from foreign universities. DU’s lackadaisical approach may be prompting more to seek admission abroad. Others who choose to stay behind face a lot of trouble in gaining admission to DU,” said Manisha Malhotra, vice-principal in charge of the IB curriculum at the school.
{{/usCountry}}Even DU officials acknowledge the rise in the number of applications from IB students over the past few years.
“There are a number of educational boards in the country and making special rules for each one of them is impossible for a university of our size,” said a senior DU official.
He added that they had not stopped any college from admitting these students. In fact, some colleges such as Lady Shri Ram College for Women and Sri Venketeswara College admitted IB students last year.