:
Delhi University on Wednesday declared its first Common Seat Allocation System (CSAS) list on its admission portal kick-starting the final phase of its undergraduate admission process.
Unlike previous years, there was no cut-of list released publicly by individual colleges as the university has switched to a centralized portal that assigns seats based on Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores that applicants have received and the college+programme combinations they have selected in order of preference.
Students will have till Friday to “accept” the allocated seat. Colleges will then verify and approve the online application by Saturday and students will have to pay the admission fees by Monday.
Under the new admission policy if students are not happy with the seat they have been given, they will be given an opportunity to “upgrade” their seat and even re-arrange their college and programme preference list. However, it they fail to accept the seat they have been assigned, they will no longer be eligible for further rounds.
Vikas Gupta, Registrar, Delhi University said a candidate who is allocated a seat as per the allocation policy stated in the CSAS must "accept allocation" under user action tab and on receiving the "approval from the college principal", proceed to pay the fee to confirm the admission.
“The candidates must ensure that they have secured their admission on the seat allocated to them, whenever offered. Only the candidates who are admitted to a program in a college will be able to opt for upgradation in subsequent round/s.,” Mr. Gupta said. He added that applicants should also keep checking the "query" tab regularly on the portal.
“In case, the concerned college has raised a query, the candidate must respond to it well before the stipulated time. The college will process the application only after receiving a satisfactory reply from candidate,” Mr. Gupta said.
The university has announced three seat allocation rounds. The second round is scheduled to begin on October 30 and the third round on November 10.
Between every round, the university will display the number of vacant seats and students will be able to re-arrange their college and programme preferences. The university has also made provisions for a “mid-entry” window for applicants who missed out on registering on the portal between the second and third rounds.
Students will be able to access on the CSAS portal and see in real-time, the demand for seats between rounds for any particular programme and college combination so that they can make an informed choice while lining up their preferences before the second admission round starts.
Students speak
Some applicants to DU were elated when the list was announced as they got the allotted their first preference and did not have to worry about successive lists. “I’m very happy as I got into Hindu College, as it was my first preference. “The new system is very good but it has been stretched out for a very long time,” said Anoushka Sinha.
However, others like Annika Gwalani said “I got into the college of my second preference, which is Miranda. I’ll definitely be accepting the seat but I’ll also wait for the second round to see if I can get into SRCC, my first preference.”
With 70,000 seats of offer and over two lakh applicants, the competition to secure a seat in one of the university’s premier colleges was fierce.
Shravan Kumar who was allotted the college which was listed as his 24th preference said “I’m not very satisfied. I’ll accept the college but I am waiting to choose the upgrade option when it becomes available. Since there is no guarantee that a seat in another college will be allotted, there is a lot of anxiety.”
The CSAS list scheduled to be released on Tuesday was declared a day late after the Supreme Court on Wednesday passed an order refusing to stay a Delhi High Court order that that asked St. Stephen's College to follow the university's admission policy of giving 100% weightage to CUET scores for non-minority students.
St Stephen's College had been directed to withdraw its prospectus for undergraduate admission in which it had given 15% weightage to the interview and 85% weightage to the CUET score.
