Maharashtra has fewer high scores, cut-offs of engineering, pharmacy colleges to drop

Mumbai city news: According to the state CET cell, of 2,84,239 students who opted for physics, chemistry and mathematics (PCM) , only 2,889 (1.02%) scored 150 of 200.

With fewer students scoring high marks in the entrance examination, the cut-offs for sought-after engineering and medical colleges in the city will likely drop by a wide margin.

This year, there will be 13,000 fewer engineering seats because some colleges have closed down in Maharashtra (HT)

The Common Entrance Test (CET), which is the gateway for top pharmacy and engineering colleges, will have less intense competition this year.

According to the state CET cell, of 2,84,239 students who opted for physics, chemistry and mathematics (PCM) , only 2,889 (1.02%) scored 150 of 200. Last year, 4,382 students made it to this category. The overall performance of 2,38,365 students who took PCB (physics, chemistry and biology) was worse, with only 573 (0.24%) scoring above 150.

“The cut-offs in top colleges may decrease by 15 to 20 marks,” said VM Phalle, placement co-ordinator at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Matunga.

However, Phalle believes that the cut-offs in other colleges will largely remain unaffected, because majority of the aspirants continue to be in the 0-100 bracket. The figures show that around 90% aspirants who chose PCM had scored less than 100 last year, compared to 93% aspirants this year.

This year, there will be 13,000 fewer engineering seats because some colleges have closed down in the state. However, experts believe that it won’t have much of an impact on admissions, as there was hardly any demand for those seats. “The colleges have closed down and this will help other colleges with vacancies to fill up,” said Phalle.

Engineering colleges suffer from a supply and demand mismatch, with no takers for around 42% of undergraduate seats. This year, engineering aspirants can choose from 1.3 lakhs seats available across the state.

On the other hand, with the demand for pharmacy courses soaring, 40 new pharmacy colleges will be opened in the state in the next academic year, taking the seat tally to 36,000.