3 courses,many seats,few seekers

The poor response is being attributed to the fact that the UoP had got into the act late,this being its first attempt at conducting a CET for these courses.

The CET,originally scheduled for May 17,will now be held on May 31 as other entrance examinations have been lined up for the day. The deadline for submitting online applications was April 15.

These courses are normally in high demand as they are considered the gateway to postgraduate management courses. And there was always a rush for these courses when the students had to sit for entrance tests in different colleges. The decision to conduct a CET had been taken to ensure that students do not have to run from one college to the other seeking admission.

“We expected around 15,000 applications. The below-par response can be attributed to the late start of the procedure,” said Babasaheb Sangale,dean,Commerce,UoP,under whom the BBA,BCA and BBM (IB) courses come.

Sangale said by the time the process for the CET got under way in March,the 12th standard classes had been over by almost two months. “Even the class 12 exams were over and we could not reach as many students as we wanted,” he said.

Sangale conceded that many students are still in the dark about the CET though the last date for submitting applications was over.

“They will get another chance as the colleges can conduct the CET for the vacant seats in their colleges. This is the only option left for those students who have failed to apply,” he said.

Pradeep Brahmankar of Apex Careers said the UoP could have further extended the deadline. “In many cases,the applicants for these courses are those who cannot make it to the engineering/ medical stream. Moreover,many students decide on taking admission to these courses after the class 12 results. Not many students can decide if they want to do BBA or BCA while they are in class 11 or 12. The UoP should reschedule the CET admission cycle,keeping these factors in mind,” he said.