DU UG Admissions 2021: Kerala board students with 100% grab most seats while other aspirants left in lurch

The first round of Delhi University (DU) undergraduate (UG) admissions 2021 are underway, with Kerala State Education Board students with 100 percent marks getting most of the seats. Over 6,000 students from the Kerala board have obtained 100 percent marks in their Class 12 results this year, out of which about one-third will be taking admission in colleges across the DU’s North Campus. This has left little scope for students belonging to other boards. According to  The New Indian Express, the BA (Hons) Political Science course at the Hindu College, which had a cut-off of 100 percent in the first cut-off list, saw more than 160 applications for the course, with 106 being from Kerala to date. According to a faculty member of the Political Science department of the college, the course had got applications with 100 percent marks from “33 unreserved candidates, 62 OBC candidates, 4 SC candidates, and 3 EWS candidates, which are either approved or in the process of being approved. Of these, all but one is from the Kerala State Board,” as per the data till 5 pm on 4 October. The faculty member added that all those students would be getting admission under the General category, since they fulfill the cut-off, leading to seats for the reserved category being proportionally increased. He was also concerned over the “extraordinary homogeneity” that the first-year students at the course might have this year. According to the rules of the DU, the varsity considers only the marks of the Class 12 exams and cannot deny admission to any student who meets the cut-off criteria. According to the evaluation pattern of the Kerala board, the Class 12 results this year were calculated by combining the grades obtained in classes 11 and 12. For Central Board of Secondary Education students, the evaluation pattern combined marks from Classes 10, 11, and 12 for the final Class 12 results. The DU had released its first cut-off list for admission to UG courses in 65 colleges on 1 October. The cut-offs were increased in many colleges due to a larger number of students doing well in their Class 12 results. Several colleges such as Hansraj College, Jesus and Mary College, and Hindu College saw cut-off for specific courses reaching 100 percent. On 4 October, the university had received 30,554 applications till 7 pm. However, it had approved only 2,286 of them, while 795 candidates had completed the fee payment.