Mumbai: The degree college cut-offs rose in the first round of admissions at the institutes across Mumbai, as CBSE and CISCE board students were back in the admission race this years alongside state board students.
Last year, students from the national boards had missed out on several city colleges as their results were delayed, though some colleges had reserved seats for these students and had carried out separate admissions for them later while a few colleges put their admissions on hold until their results were out.
The first merit lists for academic year 2023-24 released by the top city colleges show anywhere between 1% and 7% increase in the cut-off percentages for the Commerce and Arts courses, even as the minimum required score for Science programmes plummeted by 7-10% at some of the top institutes.
The cut-off for BCom at KC and HR Colleges belonging to HSNC Cluster University in Churchgate rose to 95% and 96% respectively. Last year, the state board students were admitted to these colleges with a minimum score of 93% and 93.5%, while a separate merit list was prepared for CBSE and CISCE students. Similarly, both the two colleges declared a 96% cut-off for BMS for Commerce stream, up from the 94% threshold at HR College and 95.3% at KC College for the state board students.
RA Podar College in Matunga also recorded a hike in BCom cut-off from last year's 92.33% to 95.5%, while the BMS (Commerce) cut-off rose from 93.5% to 95%.
The cut-off for BA (Psychology) at KC College also jumped from 92.2% (state board) to 96.6%, while the admission threshold for BA (History/Economics) was 87.5%, up from last year's 86.2%. However, there wasn't much change in the BA cut-offs at St. Xavier's College in Fort, as the college has separate merit lists for Maharashtra state board and other boards. There was a marginal increase from 92% to 92.2% for state board students and 98% to 98.2% for the non-state board students.
At Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga, the applicants had to score a minimum of 93.5% to find a place in the first merit list of BA in Multimedia Mass Communication (BAMMC). Last year, the cut-offs for the course ranged from 87.1% for Science stream to 89% for Arts.
According to Hemlata Bagla, Vice Chancellor of HSNC University, the higher cut-offs this year aren't just due to the inclusion of national board students in the admission process. She points out that even the state board students scored better than last year. "We received a lot many applications compared to last year. In fact, many students wanted to apply at our colleges even after the registration process was closed," she said.
However, the Science courses seem to buck the trend of higher-cut offs. The BSc cut-off at Ruia College dipped from last year's 74% to a mere 63%, while at St. Xavier's College, it dipped from 82.17% to 72%. At 80%, Ruia College also recorded a lower cut-off for BSc Computer Science compared to last year's 87.5%.
Ashok Wadia, Former Principal, Jai Hind College, Churchgate, attributed the lower Science cut-offs to stuents' prefernce for competitive exams such as MHT-CET and NEET. "Less students with high percentage opt for pure Science as it is is considered requiring more hard work and less lucrative," he said.
