Admissions to degree courses are getting tougher with each merit list being published. The second merit list, which was released on Thursday, has not seen a major dip in the cut-off scores as compared to the first one. Especially in case of self-financed courses, the competition continues to be tough. In view of this, most of the city's renowned colleges feel that there would hardly be any vacant seats left by the time the third merit list comes out.

Speaking to mid-day, Dr Ashok Wadia, principal of Jai Hind College said, "In our college, seats for certain streams are already full. But we have issued a waiting list, as shuffling of seats happen after the second merit list. With candidates getting seats in colleges of their choice, mainly for professional courses, some of the seats for traditional courses fall vacant.