DU admissions to begin Aug 2, first cut-off likely in September

The Delhi University on Saturday announced that it will conduct merit-based admission process for 70,000 seats in several undergraduate courses with registrations beginning August 2, putting an end to all speculations over alternative admission modes in view of the cancellation of Class 12 board exams this year due to Covid-19 pandemic.

The last date of registration for undergraduate courses will be August 31 with the first cut-off likely to come out in the first week of September, University officials announced.

Online registrations for the postgraduate, M.Phil, and PhD courses will take place between July 26 and August 21. Like last year, the admission process will be conducted completely online and candidates can visit the admissions portal to submit their applications.

Cut-offs for admissions

“Admissions to undergraduate merit-based programmes will be based on cut-offs as per previous practice. The admission branch is working with principals of colleges on modalities for deciding cut-offs so as to avoid over- and under-admissions,” Registrar Vikas Gupta said on Saturday during a press briefing.

Explaining the process, Rajeev Gupta, chairperson, admissions, said, “Colleges will prepare the cut-offs on the basis of data from board results this year and previous years’ admissions data including the number of admissions and cancellations under each cut-off for different courses. Since around 70% of our students come from CBSE, the Class 12 results will be the major factor in calculating the cut-offs.”

“We are hoping to release the first cut-off list between September 7 and 10. The admission process is likely to be completed in September. We are anticipating the start of the new academic session from October 1, but if the process takes more time, then we are planning to start it latest by October 18 this year,” Gupta said.

CBSE is expected to announce Class 12 results by July 31.

Following the surge in Covid-19 cases during the second wave, the Union government announced the cancellation of class 10 and 12 Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations. CBSE’s revised marking scheme for Class 12 final gives 30% weightage to Class 10 and 11 scores each and 40% weightage to Class 12 internal test scores, including pre-boards.

This had prompted discussions over the possibility of adopting Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) for admissions to undergraduate courses this year. On Saturday, however, DU put to rest all speculations and said the admissions will be conducted on the basis of Class 12 marks only.

“We have faith in the marking system of the CBSE and we will honour it. We are constantly in touch with our colleges regarding modalities of cut-offs. A calendar regarding release of cut-off dates will also be issued soon,” Gupta said.

Acting vice-chancellor PC Joshi said the decision was taken keeping in mind the delay in the admission process. “It would have been difficult to conduct CUCET this year as we need to give time for preparation and other things. The admission process was getting delayed. While there has been no communication from the Union ministry of Education on this so far, most probably CUCET won’t be conducted this year,” Joshi said.

Bar may go higher

Several DU principals said cut-offs are likely to be in the higher range this year. Manoj Sinha, general secretary of DU principals’ association and the principal of Aryabhatta College, said, “The percentages will be more subjective than before as they are being based on internal tests. For instance, there is a possibility of more students being bunched up in the 90% range. Since there may be an increased number of students in the higher percentages, there is a chance that admissions may close at higher cut-offs. Our cut-off margin is likely to be at 92-95%.”

Last year, cut-offs went as high as 100% for some colleges. Lady Sri Ram College for Commerce released its cut off-list at 100% for honours courses in Political Science, Economics and Psychology.

Tisha Mondal, a Class 12 student from a private school in Bangalore, welcomed the decision to conduct merit-based admissions. “While CUCET could have been a great alternative, there wasn’t enough time to implement a new method of examination, especially during a pandemic. The ones with internet access and resources would have access to learning material and be more prepared for the examination. ”

But some students said it will not be fair to judge students on the basis of their Class 11 scores and internal tests, which could put them at a disadvantage during their college admissions. Varanasi resident Shreya Garg, 18, who wants to study Political Science in a North Campus college, said, “While CBSE has given us a chance to reappear for our board exams if we are not satisfied with the results, we don’t know if universities will wait for the revised scores or not. This is why we wanted CUCET to take place so that there will be a level playing field for all.”

Same fees, criteria

The university has also decided to retain last year’s eligibility criteria of various courses and the fees for merit-based and entrance-based admissions, registration, and cancellation will also remain the same. As HT reported on Friday, the university will not conduct sports and extra-curricular activities (ECA) trials this year. Admissions for the 5% of supernumerary seats reserved under sports and ECA categories will be conducted on the basis of certificates like last year.

However, to make the process easier for students, the university has introduced some relaxation. “Only for this year, the applicants will be allowed to upload certificates of the preceding four years (1st May 2017 – 30th April 2021). Students have to choose the best three years’ certificates and upload them,” said Gupta.

Website revamped

The university will also be conducting webinars and tutorials to apprise students of the online admission process. University officials also said the admissions portal has been revamped to include interactive chatbots to help students with their queries. Sanjeev Singh, joint director at DU Computer Centre said, “We have also made the website mobile-friendly as our analysis showed that most of the applicants use mobile phones to access the website during the application process.”

University officials also said that the schedule for the Delhi University Entrance Test (DUET) for all post-graduate and M.Phil/PhD courses and selected under graduate programmes will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the dates for the same will be announced soon. The university is also expected to increase the number of test centres this year.

This year, admissions to Bachelor in Physiotherapy, Bachelor in Occupational Therapy, Bachelor of Prosthetics and Orthotics and Masters of Physiotherapy will be done through DUET, and admissions to five nursing colleges under DU will be done through NEET scores, officials said.

Former dean (admissions) at Delhi University Shobha Bagai said since CBSE has come up with a “robust” marking criterion for Class 12 students this year, inflation of marks is unlikely. “CBSE has come out with a very robust system of marking. One of the worries was inflated marks in internal assessments but since CBSE has said that these marks will be moderated, this will ease out worries for the university and colleges,” she said.