Best-5 policy pushes cut-offs beyond most students’ reach

With best-five coming into effect, top colleges in the city may be out of reach for even the 90%-plus scorers. The colleges are expecting their cut-offs to shoot up by 2-3% in the current scenario, with some of them expecting it to cross even the 95% mark. Moreover, with most prominent colleges having minority quota and in-house quota, the seats left in open category is only 12-25%.

“With so many students crossing the 90% mark, it will be ridiculous to refuse admissions to students. The bubble will burst, if not during this admission season, it will when these students reach class XII or appear for competitive exams,” said Sunil Mantri, principal, NM College. “Students’ scores are not reflecting their actual capabilities.”

Principals are worried about refusing admissions to students.
Kavita Rege, principal, Sathaye College, which is preferred by students aiming for science courses, said: “I don’t know how it will be like to refuse admissions to students scoring above 90%. I am already dreading the admission season.”

The students face a strange dilemma. Even after clearing the Std X exams with flying colours, they are unsure of getting admission to colleges of their choice. “I want to follow in my father’s footsteps and become a charted accountant, but even after scoring more than 90% there is uncertainty,” said Pratik Porwal, a student of St Xavier’s School, Fort. Porwal’s percentage has gone up from 89% to 91% due to the best-five policy.

“Due to the ‘best-five policy’, students have almost perfect scores. We are expecting commerce cut-off marks to be as high as science — around 95%,” said Kirti Narain, principal, Jai Hind College.