Junior college admissions: Arts cut-offs plummet by 20% in second merit list

MUMBAI: The second merit list for junior college admissions was out on Sunday evening.With cut-offs in science and commerce dropping marginally by 0.5% to 2% in most top-rung colleges, several students, including high-scorers, were disappointed. However, cut-offs in the arts stream plummeted by more than 20% in a few colleges.Cut-offs in science and commerce at several city colleges remained above 90%.According to data from the deputy director's office, 51,176 students were allotted seats in the second round, of which 34,436 got betterment options-21,196 students in commerce, 11,949 in science and 1,291 in arts. Students, who made it on the second merit list,will be able to secure admissions on Monday and Tuesday.HR College saw a marginal dip in the cut-off for commerce in the second list. The difference in the first two lists was just 0.59%. "There are hundreds of students with a difference in decimal points.The chance of a third list is highly unlikely as most of the students got their betterment options in this list and many students would take up the seats," said Indu Shahani, principal, HR College.At Vaze College in Mulund the science and commerce cut-offs dropped by 2% and 1.5% respectively, said vice-principal Vidyadhar Joshi.At Jai Hind College, the cut-offs fell marginally for all the three courses. "The commerce and science cut-offs at our college are almost the same. As there are more commerce seats, more students are opting for it, including high scorers, and that is why the cut-offs have remained on the higher side," said principal Ashok Wadia.In arts, however, the drop in percentage was between 2% and 10% and even above 20% in a few colleges. "Students opting for arts are very few. While the first list was high as many high-scoring students got through the college of their choice, the number of applicants might be very low in arts resulting in the drop in the second list," said a principal.