A number of students returned from Lady Shri Ram College disappointed on Tuesday as they failed to secure admission despite meeting the extremely high cut-offs of the first list that was released by Delhi University. The reason being the “additional criteria” put forth by the college.
According to the criteria -- which the colleges are allowed to customise the qualification requirements under the three-year programme -- students applying to a particular course should have studied that subject till Class XII and include the same while calculating their best of four subjects. Those who did not meet this criteria had 2 per cent negative weightage from their actual score to meet the effective cut-offs.
Students seeking admission to Journalism (Hons.) were worst affected by the criteria.
The cut-off for this course, as displayed on the college notice board was 96 per cent. However, authorities confirmed that a minimum of 2 per cent would be deducted for every student because of the absence of such a subject at the senior secondary level. This left students confused.
“I have scored 96 per cent in Class XII. I thought I had made the cut-off but was just informed that 2 per cent would be deducted from my percentage,” said Eshna, a journalism aspirant.
She was confused about the logic behind the same as schools in India do not offer journalism as a subject in Class XII.
“I hope the cut-off falls in the next list. I knew about the additional criteria but was unaware that it was applicable for a course like journalism,” added another applicant who had just arrived in the Capital from Jabalpur this morning.
Moreover, this course witnessed a lower cut-off when compared to the previous trend. On enquiring about the same, college authorities confirmed that the cut-off list put up by the college this year was the effective list and not the actual list. Effective list is the list declared by the college after considering the deductions and calculations based on the additional criteria.
The only respite for these applicants was to opt for a different course or to move to a different college and wait for the next list. Applicants who preferred the college over the course resorted to seeking admission to the other courses, depending on their eligibility.
“It is easier to migrate within the same college if the cut-off falls in the next list,” said Tanvi, a journalism aspirant who decided to seek admission in History (Hons.) and wait for the second list.
Outstation students had also decided to extend their stay and wait for the subsequent lists.
(With inputs from A.R. Rakshitha)
