Degree college: 2nd merit list fails to cheer Mumbai students

The second merit list for admissions to undergraduate courses declared by colleges on Thursday brought little relief to the city students. The cut-offs for professional courses in the city saw a marginal drop, while regular commerce and science courses dropped considerably in the top colleges of the city.

Shruti Yadav, who has scored 83%, said that second merit list has not helped increase her chances of getting admission to BSc (IT). “In every college of repute, the cutoffs for this course are almost unshakable. I am pinning my hopes on the third list.”

Professional courses cutoffs have come down only by a 1 or 2%, leaving students without much of a hope. In Ruparel College, Matunga, cutoffs for Bachelors of Science (IT) dipped only by one mark, from 89 to 88, whereas the cut-offs for BMS also dropped only by 4 marks. “The numbers of applications for such courses which are in demand right now are many and students who have scored in their 90s are applying for such courses. The cut-offs are therefore not moving much. There might not even be a third list because of limited seats,” said Dr Tushar Joshi, principal of the college.

Some city colleges have very few seats left. St Xaviers, Fort has hardly any seats left. Frazer Mascarenhas, principal said, “We have exhausted our seats but many applications are still pending with us. There are many students applying for only one seat.”

But there was good news for students who wanted to opt for regular courses, as cut-offs dropped by more than 3%. Avinash Mhatre, a student said, “When I saw the cutoff for Sathgaye I was stunned but luckily it has come down so that I could get admission.”

HR College, Churchgate cutoff for commerce dipped from a soaring 88% only by 2%. However, the cutoff for BMS, still remained high for commerce students.