First round of JC admission over; 70,000 yet to grab seats

With the first round of admissions for the general merit list in junior college admissions coming to an end, over 70,000 students are yet to secure a seat.

There will be more vacant seats in the second general merit list to be declared on August 1. However, principals of city colleges warn that these cut-offs will be lowered only slightly.

At the end of round one of admissions, several seats were lying vacant even in top colleges of the city. Close to 150 seats remained empty in DG Ruparel College, Matunga from all categories, while 175 seats — 75 seats for Science, 35 for Commerce and 70 for Arts - remained in St Andrews College, Bandra. Meanwhile, a total of 98 seats from aided and unaided sections were vacant in Hinduja College, Charni Road.

The education department has extended the deadline for colleges to surrender their seats till Thursday morning. Sunil Mantri, principal of NM College, Vile Parle, said that there were a few seats remaining in his college as well. Tushar Desai, principal, Ruparel College, added, “Many students have not yet made up their minds about which stream to opt for and hence have secured provisional admissions in more than one stream.”

Even though a considerable number of seats will be added to the second round of admissions, principals remain firm about the cut-offs.

“Due to the best-five system and sports quota, everyone has scored high marks, making the competition cut-throat. The second list cut-off will fall by only a few marks,” warned Marie Fernandes, principal, St Andrews College. The college for the first time in its history had recorded a high cut-off of above 90% for Science and 85% for Commerce.

Interestingly, only one third of the total number of students who received allocation in the first round have taken admission. “These students might have already secured an admission in the minority quota or they might be waiting for betterment,” said an education official.