90%,not good enough for DU

Many had pinned their hopes on the subsequent lists after the first cut-off list set high standards. But most courses at DU’s popular colleges recorded a meagre dip of 0.25 to 1 per cent in second and third cut-off lists.

Saurabh Sharma,who scored 91.75 per cent in Commerce in the Class XII Board examination,had to settle for Political Science (Hons) in SGTB Khalsa College in the second list.

“I had the marks to make it this college’s first list itself. But I was busy trying for admission in Hindu,Ramjas and Kirorimal. Hence,I did not look at this college as my first preference,” he said.

He said he could not understand the logic behind keeping the cut-offs as high as 99 per cent for subjects like History (Hons). “I don’t know on what basis Hindu kept its History cut-off so high. I am sure seats in most courses in these colleges must be vacant even now. I chose to study Political Science because I want to become an IAS officer. How many other Commerce students with high scores would opt for another course?” he asked.

Like Saurabh,Drishti Kukreja from Faridabad had to compromise on the college of her choice.

She wanted to do BCom (Hons) from her “favourite Delhi University colleges” — Hindu or Hansraj — and that was one thing which kept her motivated in school.

“In DU,even a minute difference of 0.25 per cent matters. Even after working so hard and scoring 94.5 per cent (best of four subjects),I could not make it to my preferred colleges,” she said.

Drishti had to “settle” for BCom (Hons) in Kamla Nehru College. “I realised that it’s futile for a general category student to wait for the second or third cut-off list,” she said.

She tried to console herself with the fact that whatever the college,she would get a DU degree. “I was initially disappointed,but coming to DU is a big achievement for me. I will be the first in my family to be going to a university where students from across the country come to study,” she said.

Hindu and Hansraj were the top options of Gurgaon’s Shweta Arora,too. She scored 93.25 per cent and was hoping to secure a seat in Physics (Hons) in either of these two colleges.

She couldn’t get through in the first list and,hence,took admission in Maths (Hons) in Sri Venkateswara College.

After the second list was declared,she shifted to Miranda House because her Physical Education marks were taken into consideration there — increasing her best of four percentage.

“In some colleges,they do not consider Physical Education scores. How is one supposed to know which colleges do? The cut-offs are going up every year. Students who can’t flaunt 99 per cent will have to sacrifice either the course or the college of their choice. In my case,I had to sacrifice both,” she said.

Palak Gupta took admission in BSc Maths (Hons) in Ramjas,though her initial choice was Economics (Hons) in either SRCC,Hindu or Lady Shri Ram. “I was planning to withdraw my admission from Ramjas and enroll myself elsewhere in Economics (Hons) if I clear the second or third cut-off. But the cut-offs are still high. I don’t want to compromise on the college,” she said.

Palak secured 94.5 per cent in Science from Wynberg Allen School in Mussoorie.

Abhishek Rastogi wanted to study Physics (Hons) in St Stephen’s College and even appeared for the interview. He was hoping that his 96 per cent in Class XII would keep him in good stead.

“The interview panel asked me some tough questions that I failed to answer. So,I did not get selected,” he said.

Somewhat dejected by the St Stephen’s experience,he took admission in Hindu College in Mathematics (Hons). “I have also been selected in IP University’s BTech course. I am planning to take that up,” he said.