The first merit list for admissions for graduate courses was declared by most city colleges on Monday. With slight changes, cut-offs in first merit lists of various colleges remain high, especially in professional courses; indicating tougher competition to grab seats in popular colleges. At St Xavier's College, the cut-off in the first merit list for traditional Bachelor of Arts (BA) courses is 92.17 per cent this year, which was 92 per cent last year. Whereas at RA Podar College the cut-off for traditional BCom course is 95.5 per cent which has risen considerably from last year's 92.3 per cent. Following a general trend, city colleges are seeing a higher cut-off for professional courses irrespective of the streams. At HR College, affiliated to HSNC University, the cut-off for BCom has dipped slightly from 97 per cent last year to 96 per cent this year. But professional courses such as BAF, BFM and BBI remain almost similar to that of last year. Principal of HR College, Dr Pooja Ramchandani, said, "Cut-offs for self-financed professional courses such BMS, BBI, BFM are higher than traditional courses, indicating tougher competition to grab seats in such courses." A similar trend is seen at KC College affiliated to HSNC University. Cut-off for BAF has increased from 93.5 per cent last year to 94 per cent this year. In Biotechnology, the cut off has risen to 90.67 per cent from 85 per cent of last year. At 93 per cent, the cut -off for Biotechnology at Ruia College has witnessed a slight rise from last year's 92 per cent . At the time of the first merit list last year, students from non-state board schools were excluded as their result was delayed. This led to a sharp increase in cut-off scores of some courses. But Commerce and allied courses continue to remain most popular. Dr Madhav Rajwade, principal of Sathaye College, said, "There is no dip in the cut-off of the first merit list as compared to last year, especially in Commerce and allied courses where at least 10 students are competing for one seat." While the cut off for Commerce and Arts streams has increased, science is not so impressive. Noting the observation, Dr. Ashok Wadia, principal of Jai Hind College said, "Most high scorers from science stream go for engineering or medical and opt put of traditional degree college admissions. Studying pure science is more hard work and less lucrative."
