Even after completing the three rounds of centralized admission process (CAP), more than 40,000 students are still to confirm their admissions in the first year junior college (FYJC). Most of these students have received an allocation in one of the colleges of their choice but are still holding out in the hopes of getting admission into the top college of their choice. However, a comparison of the cut-off marks shows that cut-offs have remained the same or even increased for the top colleges.
Kanchan Shinde, vice-principal of SP College, explained why the cut-offs are rising. “…Students assume that cut-offs will drop and wait to get into a college of their preference in the next round. But our cut-offs have risen with every round and we observed the same trend last year. In the current system, students are allowed to change the list of preferred colleges after every round. High-scoring students who didn’t get admission into a particular college in one round may change their preference in the next round. That’s why cut-offs don’t always fall and students with lower marks, who are hopeful that in the next round they will get into a preferred college, should now adopt a practical approach while choosing colleges…,” he said.
The numbers show that in every round of admission only one-third of the students confirmed their admissions. Most of the students who did not take the admission were blocked for the next rounds.
C N Rawal, principal of BMCC, said, “Yesterday, I was having a chat with some principals of colleges located on the Mumbai-Pune highway, and they said not even 10 percent admissions have been completed in their institutes. We have students from Talegaon and Lonavla coming to Pune for admission in FYJC. I advise their parents not to waste their time and money in sending students so far, but instead to enroll them in additional courses, like accounting or taxation, which will lead them to better employability. Usually, students want a particular college of their choice, and even if the difference in their marks and the cut-off is high, they refuse to take admission elsewhere. I think the government should revise the rule and start granting region-wise admissions,” he said.