High cut-offs saw many disgruntled students and one such student, Rishabh Chaudhry, who had applied for admission in B.Com (Honours) but was unable to make the first SRCC cut-off even after scoring 98 per cent, said he was not satisfied with the admission he had managed to secure in Hans Raj College. But many other high-achieving students were not as fortunate. “Cut-offs are exceedingly high,” said Economics (Honours) applicant Sanchita Jain, who believes that cancellation of the FYUP has only increased cut-off expectation. Despite scoring 96 per cent, Sanchita did not make the 98 percent cut-off in Hans Raj College. “I may have made the cut-offs if it was a four year programme,” she added. “I think we should have a more holistic admissions procedure,” said Economics (Honours) applicant Puja Shukla, adding that admissions should include an interview process as well. Currently, St. Stephen's College, a minority institution within DU, offers one such model in which applicants must complete an interview after clearing cut-offs. However, other alternative models to admissions, such as the process of applying through the Extra Curricular Activity (ECA) category, have remained convoluted for applicants.
Aishwarya Sauhta, an applicant for B. Com. and Economics (Honours), has had to travel almost three hours a day from Sonepat, just to check the listings of the ECA trials which she said are not available online. The first day of cut-offs has disheartened the parents of these aspiring students as well. A couple expressed visible frustration over cut-off expectations. One parent demanded that a reservation be made for applicants residing in Delhi, similar to other State universities in India which reserve spots for local students.
(Inputs by Pooja Miglani and Maggie Krueger)
