Following the midnight hour declaration of the first merit list for Std XI admissions, chaos followed in colleges, but dip in cut-offs helped boost morale and place 35% students already
Serpentine queues were seen at Mithibai College among others after they didn't receive the merit lists till past noon on Tuesday. Pic/Sayed Sameer Abedi
After an indiscriminately extended delay in the declaration of the first merit list for Std XI admissions on Monday, the admission process began on Tuesday, amidst chaos and panic. But, on a positive note, the cut-offs for the first merit list have seen a drop, due to which even candidates with scores below 90 per cent managed to find a seat. Meanwhile, those who opted for offline admission were not considered in the online process this year, which is why, more than 35 percent students have already got admission.
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Chaos reigns
On Monday, the first merit list for Std XI online admission was scheduled at 5 pm, but was finally declared only after midnight. Then, students started receiving seat allotments messages past midnight. As students and parents reached colleges to claim seats, there was chaos due to changes in the system. Further confusion was created when the merit lists did not reach colleges till late noon and colleges were eventually instructed to give admissions based on the allotment receipt students were carrying.
"I reached Jai Hind College as per the allotted seat. But, it took time to begin the process as at first, the college was still waiting for the merit list," said Vaishnavi Joshi, who scored 90 per cent in SSC, and has taken admission in the commerce stream. Another student, Rashmi Joglekar, who scored 88.5 in SSC, has been allotted a seat in her first preferred Vaze-Kelkar College. When she reached there, she had a similar experience. She said, "We reached the college at 11am, but waited till 1.30 for the admission process to finally begin." Parents were equally hassled. Rohini Jadhav, mother of a candidate who has been allotted seat in her third preferred college, said, "Initially, there was confusion about whether we need to take the admission, as earlier, the system was to take provisional admission. But, it was different this year."
Cut-off sees drop
But there is a silver lining to this dark cloud. Amidst fear that the cut-offs have soared, city colleges saw a drop in the cut-offs of the first merit list. Hinduja College, which closed its first merit list at 86.20 per cent has seen a drop of 6.16 per cent this year. Incidentally, the highest cut-off for the first merit list has been recorded in the St Xavier's College Arts stream, which closed at 94 per cent this year.
Authorities say
BB Chavan, deputy director of education, said, "There was no big confusion at the colleges. Colleges were instructed to check the valid seat allotment receipts that students received to confirm admission." When asked if there will be an extension to the schedule now, due to the delay in declaration, he said, "That won't be needed, as days allotted for admissions remain same. We have given students three days to be able to take admission in their allotted seats."
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