Deciphering DU code

After the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets are scanned by the University,the relevant data is sent to each college. At the college,lists are prepared for each course in the descending order of marks. The marks scored by the last candidate on a particular list will be the cut-off for the course.

The last mark on a list does not,however,correspond to the number of allotted seats for a course. This is where the teachers’ role in deciding the number of students to call for admission comes in,and the DUTA’s boycott of the admission process gains significance.

What is the role of the teachers in preparing the cut-off lists?
Lady Shri Ram,for example,calls nearly twice the number of students for its more popular courses like BCom,Economics and Psychology. The ratio of seats to the number of students called is higher for the not-so-popular courses and colleges.

Decisions on the cut-offs are taken by a handful of senior faculty members of each department in every college,keeping in mind that for some courses,many of the applicants do not turn up to finally take admission. They are also guided by the preference a student has given to a particular course and college while applying.

“Only an experienced faculty member who has seen multiple admission seasons would be able to estimate the number of students who will turn up in a particular year. We usually call many more students for Science courses every year,anticipating almost half the number drop to out midway,” says Abha Dev Habib,who teaches Physics at Miranda House. The number of students called for admissions to Humanities courses in elite colleges is closer to the total number of allotted seats.

“Even after making so many concessions,there was a minor crisis two years ago due to the global downturn. Only a handful dropped out since none wanted to take risks during such times,” Habib recalls.

Teachers at women’s colleges also make concessions keeping in mind that some students would prefer to go to co-ed colleges after they release subsequent cut-off lists.

How are cut-offs decided for OBC students?
Colleges are allowed to relax up to 10 per cent marks from the cut-off for reserved category students to fill up the 27 per cent OBC quota this year. Here again,the “accumulated wisdom” of teachers come into play.

The first cut-off list will not see OBC candidates getting a relaxation of the full 10 per cent. Cut-offs will be relaxed only up to the point where the college thinks it can attract enough students to fill up the OBC seats.

Two-way course
I think my preferred college has set its cut-offs too high. What should I do?
Old wisdom would come in handy here: Stick to the one bird in hand rather than go for two in the bush. Even if colleges publish high cut-offs in the first list,they are likely to reduce it in the subsequent lists.

There are two ways forward. If you are going for the college and not the course,get yourself admitted in a different course at the same college and hope that the cut-off would be conveniently lowered in a subsequent list. This is always an easier option compared to the second one,simply because the red tape involved is lesser.

If you,however,prefer a particular course over the college,get yourself admitted in the best among the colleges where you are eligible in the first cut-off list. You can always transfer if and when cut-offs at your preferred college come down to earth.